Hi!

Thanks for stopping by!  My name is Tami and when I'm not teaching elementary art or spending time with my husband and dog, I love making stuff (a fancy, technical term meaning a variety of objects).

I loved creating from a young age, especially with my grandma, who is a very talented sculptor.  When we visited, my sister and I would always work with her in the studio.  My grandma inspired me to try so many different mediums and encouraged me to pursue a career in art.

I first tried machine sewing in home economics class, where for some reason, we were forced to make elastic waist shorts.  After those lame shorts were finished, I spent all my free time before the bell making simple tote bags out of the discarded curtains from our new house.  I wish I had kept one for myself, but it's not a huge loss since the fabric was hideous.  I didn't have a sewing machine at home yet, but I loved sewing band patches onto backpacks and shirts by hand.  I even tried making a shirt by hand (with no pattern and using stretch fabric, of course!)...the results were not great, but I did wear it once.

Quite some time after that, I had a minor knee surgery and decided to try embroidery and do some sewing to pass the time.  I was off for the summer, and started churning out various projects including embroidery, small stuffed toys and needle felted animals. 

I was really inspired by the movie "The Yes Man," (I may have been the only one) and decided to challenge myself to do things that were outside my comfort zone.  My physical goal fell flat after my one trip down the mountain on a snowboard ended with a sprained wrist, so I decided to challenge myself to do something that was a little more my style.  I would make a quilt, despite the fact that I had sewn only small Christmas ornaments on my machine.  As I tried, messed up, and ultimately succeeded at making my first lap quilt, I had such an invincible feeling.  Making a quilt had seemed so impossible before I started, but I had done it!  Since then, I have jumped right in to a variety of different sewing projects including purses, pouches, curtains, stuffed animals, more quilts and even a dress (that turned out MUCH better than my hand sewn shirt).

As I got more interested in sewing, I started voraciously reading all the craft blogs I could find.  I have been so impressed and inspired by the blogs I read, and am looking forward to carving out my own little corner of the internet!

Thanks for reading!

Tami

P.S. Let's go Caps!