A few years ago, my creative life took an unexpected turn. While on a road trip with my sweetheart-and-love-of-my-life, Bill, we wandered into a tobacco shop in Old Town San Diego. On a bottom shelf were several empty cigar boxes for sale. I was immediately attracted to the boxes’ beauty and also, their potential. I can do something with these, I thought, and right there, even though I didn’t know it yet, Trail’s End Collection was born. I bought the boxes, and embellished them with old buttons and coins from my collection. You should sell these, I was told. Encouraged by my children and by Bill, I started selling my creations online in August 2011. I expanded to craft fairs a few months later, and then began selling in a brick-and-mortar shop late in 2013. As my shop grows, so does my commitment to using secondhand and used items in my creations, to save them from the landfill and to give people a chance to appreciate the beauty of these things.
I live in a small house in a suburb of Los Angeles with two of my three kids, mother-in-law, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and lots of visitors (two- and four-legged). My work space right now is a bit limited: shelves in a corner of my bedroom, a folding table that I stash behind the door when not in use, and lots of under-the-bed storage bins. Hopefully I’ll have a dedicated workroom one day but for now, I make do. This keeps me from going overboard at flea markets and estate sales, at least!