Who are you?
I'm a
teacher, wife, artist, and hope to become a mom through the miracle of adoption
soon. I live in a cheery yellow cottage
in the suburbs of Chicago along with my high school sweetheart husband and our
spoiled yellow lab, Romeo.
I spend
my days as a middle school special education teacher. I love my job- most of the time. It is very challenging but also very
rewarding. I am blessed to work with
amazing colleagues who I also call friends.
My goal each and every year is to instill a sense of wonder and a thirst
for learning into my students who have struggled in traditional classrooms.
My love
of arts and crafts started at a very young age.
I can't remember a time when I wasn't creating something. As my life has become more demanding, I've
learned that having a creative outlet is such a vital part of my
well-being. There's just something
magical about being able to create something that feeds the soul.
I've
always loved creating things with paper. It started with making my own
Christmas cards back when I was a young bride. I became known for my handmade
cards among friends, and my cards were often requested for holidays, and life
events. I started teaching at local stores and developing kits for the stores.
Now I just create things for friends & family... and my customers at PB Creations!
PB
Creations came about as a way for me to feed my soul through creating while
also adding some extra funds to our adoption fund. My husband and I are anxiously hoping to
adopt in the very near future. We've had
a long road of infertility and miscarriage that unfortunately required us to
use up a great deal of our life savings. We've been blessed through the support of friends and family as we
started our adoption process. The
profits from PB Creations are used to cover our monthly advertising costs for our
adoption profile and our attorney fees.
Whats your favorite way to relax?
I love
spending time with my husband. We both
have very demanding jobs and work opposite shifts, so our time together can be
limited. We love lazy summer afternoons
on our motorcycle wandering through country roads. We also love watching TV show marathons on
Discovery or History channel.
On the
other hand- you just can't beat a bubble bath and a nice glass of wine! :)
Where would you love to be in 1/3/5 years?
We're so hopeful
that we will be parents soon- so hopefully you will find me loving life as a
mom. Hoping that I will also be able to
teach part time while spending much more time creating and supporting our
little family through PB Creations.
Where is your favorite place to create? Why?
I am so
fortunate that my husband created a studio for me in our home. It truly is my little piece of heaven on
earth. He built the desk into the front
of the room where the natural light is just amazing in the afternoons. I have all of my ribbons and flowers sorted
by color in glass jars- it just makes me happy looking at them! I am very messy when I create, so it is so
nice to have the space to spread out and leave my mess when life calls me back
to reality. Our yellow lab, Romeo loves
his spot under my desk.
Tell us a few of your favorite sites/blogs to lurk on
a daily basis?
I'm
almost embarrassed to admit that the first place I usually check is Facebook.
:)
I also
spend lots of time on Pinterest. I can
honestly say that I have found some inspiration for some home projects that
we've recently completed on pinterest.
I also
spend time stalking Ali Edwards, Cathy Z, and Janna Wilson. I love their sense of design even if it is
very different from my own.
Dealing with
infertility can be a very lonely road. I
am so fortunate to have found some amazing bloggers who have become virtual
friends through the past several years.
One of the first stops I make each morning is also to check out Mel's blog. She is
a true voice for the infertility community and has created so many
opportunities for the community to support one another.
What do you want to learn?
I've always
wanted to learn to play guitar and speak Spanish.
Best advice you have been given for your artsy
career/shop/creative endeavor?
Take time
to be creative EVERY SINGLE day. Even if
it is something small or something as simple as being creative with the way you
put dinner on the plate- do something!
Lets be honest ; n*sync or the Backstreet Boys?
Backstreet
Boys all the way! :)
Where else can we find you?
______________________________________________________________________________
time for the giveaway!
patience is giving away a super-cute handmade 5x5 frame featuring mixed media collage cottage. just add your 3x3 photo to make it perfect! a custom insert can also be created to replace the one shown. this would make an adorable wedding or housewarming gift! the frame will be made to order and can be made with any color palette.
patience is giving away a super-cute handmade 5x5 frame featuring mixed media collage cottage. just add your 3x3 photo to make it perfect! a custom insert can also be created to replace the one shown. this would make an adorable wedding or housewarming gift! the frame will be made to order and can be made with any color palette.
