Bayflower is born!
I began collecting shells initially just for fun with my boys but soon I decided I had enough to actually make something. My mother in law came over and brought me a seashell mirror she had made in Guantanamo in the mid eighties and told me I could make one similar. I started making wreaths and trivets and stockpiling to do a craft show and Bayflower Design was born.
The word Bayflower comes from the Bay, the Chesapeake that is, because that is where I get most of my shells and pebbles. Flower is a nickname gived to me by my son Jack when he was four. It stuck and now all of my kids call me Flower, as well as the neighborhood kids, the ballfield kids, kids @ their schools etc..
I like to make things that remind me of the coast which is my favorite place to be. I have so many wonderful memories of beach vacations and I like to surround myself with the natural beauty of the ocean. I also like natural fibers like burlap, cotton and jute cord. I love creating my wreaths, they are like a jigsaw puzzle to me and making my trivets from beach pebbles is like adult legos for me.
I am so lucky to be able to be home with my children but also to be able to create. I took art in 1986 and I got a 'D' so finding my artistic ability was very rewarding. So I can't draw, big deal, I can make beautiful things and I am very proud of my work. My husband is my biggest cheerleader, worst critic and absolute best friend. I could not do any of this without him. He is very supportive but I see the look in his eyes when he starts looking at my shell collection..he doesn't use the word hoarder but I wonder if he's thinking it! haha
A typical day for me is to get up, piddle around the house for an hour drinking coffee, and head to the beach for a couple hours. If the kids are home, they grab their fishing poles or boogie boards and jump in the truck. When they are in school, I am joined by my two rescue dogs, Bruiser (chihuahua) and Rocky (Akita). I go when its cold, although usually alone, and I love to go in the rain because the shells look better when they're wet. I live a block from the beach and can go anytime I want, which makes me really lucky. When I come home I dump it all in bleach, rinse what was in the bucket before, and go through my treasures. Then its time to create. I have to sort all the shells from the pebbles, I separate by size, type and color, add them to the correct bins and I am ready to work. (If you can call it that!) I travel through different moods so I can go back and forth from sewing, making trivets and wreaths. I am always looking to make new items.
Flower
