Maybe it all started with the kitty kat dress. It was my fourth birthday and my Aunt Nana gave me this wonderful jumper with kitties on the skirt and an umbrella to match. I will remember it always.

I also remember my mother making pj’s for me from a wonderful red flannel, and then there were the baton costumes, including the one that the skirt fell off of, during the performance! I remember, too, taking a pair of jeans, and cutting them up to make an appliquéd skirt in high school. Then, there were the Christmases when I remember mom and her friends getting together and making felt stockings, candles, and other homemade gifts. I’m sure this helped lay the foundation for what I have the joy of doing now. I also remember a Christmas when all I wanted was the little Singer sewing machine from the window of the local fabric store. My parents said there wasn’t enough money in the budget but it still found its way under the tree.

I am also inspired by children’s artwork. I’ve had the great fortune of helping teach after school art enrichment programs and other projects with and for my son Sam and friends. Children combine colors and patterns in a way most grown ups forget how to. Picasso said, “It takes a lifetime to become young.” …and I aspire to have my work look like a child had a hand in it. When grownups like my work I am flattered, and when children like my work I know I have done something right. Thank you for all your wonderful pictures and comments of your children in Sweetie Pies clothing! It is also my motivation and inspiration.

My wish for my son and all children is that they are able to do for a living, that for which they have a passion. I am blessed to be able to do for a living the things I love to do. I get to combine a love of children, whimsy, design, and color into a business that allows me to play with them all.