I am a retired school teacher who has always had a creative streak. After retiring, I needed things to occupy my time. I became a "Master Gardener" and devoted the first couple of years of retirement to developing the gardens of my home. But, even though I still garden, I have always had a love affair with both bags and interesting fabrics--and it wasn't long before I made my first bag. I've been making them for over a year and currently, I have only sold at private events and some through limited catalogues and e-mail orders. In other words, I am really just getting started.

The materials I use are based a lot on the seasons. I use cottons and heavy linens for the Spring and Summer and velvets and heavier fabrics for my Winter bags. My target audience is really anyone with a sense of style, who loves bags and loves being the only person who has something--no two of my bags are ever exactly the same. My bags are special because no two are alike and each one has a unique style--I spend hundreds of hours in material stores. As a result, each bag is totally original. My inspiration, really, has to do with a love of bags and a love of fabrics, color and texture.

I got started when I saw material in a store and thought it would make a great looking bag. Also, I found a shoe buckle in my basement that had been my grandmother's and thought it would really complete the look. I loved and still love that first bag. The most interesting thing about my bags is that no two are exactly alike. No one will ever walk down the street and see her bag carried by someone else.

The only real nightmare story I have is when I had a show coming up and was in the middle of a new bag. I tripped on my sewing machine's cord, ripped the machine from the table and both machine and designer crashed to the ground. I was fine, but the sewing machine needed to be sent for repairs and I had to wait two weeks to get it back. Luckily, there was still enough time before the show.  I am really just at the beginning of this journey and organizing the business part of it has been my Achilles heal so far. But, I think that my greatest achievement so far would be being Designer of the Day for Handbag Designer 101. The biggest thrill I had, though, was walking through a random Long Island town and seeing a total stranger carrying one of my original designs. That was great and really inspiring, and I hope that my business acumen improves so that this will happen to me more and more often.