I have always had a passion for creating things and doing art since I was very little. I mentored with an ad executive in High School and it was the most inspiring experience. It showed me you can actually have a job using your creative talents. So I got a degree in Art and Journalism from the University of Iowa. After college my first real design job was for a non profit, my church, as their graphic designer. It was incredibly rewarding working somewhere where my gifts were benefiting an organization that meant a lot to me. I learned so much at that job design wise and life in general. After I got married and moved to Portland, Oregon I got a job with the amazing paper company Oblation Papers and Press. I worked with customers one on one designing custom invites for them. I had started my own company, Spilling Beans, before we moved there and was designing and doing orders in my spare time for people all over the world. The name Spilling Beans comes from my love of coffee and my favorite book, "Spilling Open," by Sabrina Ward Harrison that has been an inspiration to me. I feel so blessed to now be working full time for myself, but all my previous jobs helped pave the way to be able to do what I do. Spilling Beans has traveled from west coast to east coast but now we are back in the midwest and boy are we happy to be back. We hope to stay here for a very long time. I have 2 children who fill my days with laughter and my husband keeps us busy with adventures in traveling.