I've always been crafty. My home ec teacher kept "creating" courses for me so I could continue to take sewing as a class all four years of high school. I made my own prom dresses and crafted log cabin quilts from scraps of fabric. Ultimately, though, my creations took a back seat to higher education when I attended Boston College to become an educator. And then twenty-five years of teaching went by in a snap. Because I was struggling with some health issues, I retired from working in public schools after a quarter century. I was looking for something that I could do when I was feeling good, and my craftiness took back its sacred space in my life.

Together every Thanksgiving, my beloved mother-in-law and I collaborated on handcrafted Christmas gifts for our families; in 2018, we saw a how-to-make-a-gnome YouTube post. We liked it, but we said, "We can improve on the design!" Our early prototypes used old socks and leftover notions--not great-looking, I can admit now. My first customers improved my work by challenging me to make more creative gnomes: Could I make a biker, retiree, chef, angel, Cinco de Mayo, birthday, and horseback riding gnome? Turns out, I could! Making my little guys kept me from watching the news, and they were my solace when COVID hit. My business really took off that year on Etsy. Now, every few days, I open the shop and work on the latest custom orders for my clients. Gnoming keeps me happy and sane, and brings me a ton of joy. Thanks for taking the time to listen to my story and check out my shop!