I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I was always crafting and setting up little “shops” in the driveway, selling anything I could create with my hands. While other kids played with dolls, I was busy creating entire personalities for my stuffed animals. Each one felt like its own character. Looking back, it makes perfect sense that I’d end up making ornaments that feel like tiny creatures with stories of their own.

Modern as Folk began when I wanted a small, fun item to sell at art fairs. I had long loved the look and feel of wool appliqué, but most of the patterns I found were traditional folk art — beautiful, but not quite the quirky, modern vibe I had in mind. So I started designing my own from my workspace in Paris, Kentucky. What began as “just a few ornaments” quickly took on a life of its own as people kept gravitating toward them.