What is your full name?  sunshinesketches, but you can call me Karen.

How did you get that name?  It’s part of the title of a book by a wonderful Canadian author, Stephen Leacock. The book is called "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town." Good book, you really should read it. Leacock was Canada’s answer to Mark Twain.

What is your most recent news?  I got married in September 2005 and moved from Toronto to Pennsylvania.

Do you have a web site?  Yes, it’s still under construction… but please feel free to check out the link on this page, and come back often as I make changes and additions.  It’s a portfolio site, showing my artwork, and will have photography and my fabric designs, jewellery and accessories.  And maybe a personal pic or two.

What do you usually wear? Anything black or denim, with a sprinkling of cat fur.

Describe yourself.   A tomboy (in the most delicate ladylike way). Somewhat reclusive. You won’t catch me posting blogs out on the net.

What is your second language? English.

When is your birthday?   That’s not a very polite question to ask a lady.

What’s your best bowling score?   What is this thing you call "bowling?"

Favorite mall store?   What is this thing you call a "mall???"

Okay then, what’s your favorite gemstone?   That’s an easy question. It’s the ring I wear on my left hand, ring finger. I couldn’t have picked one I love more than my engagement ring.

Favorite season?  That’s easy too, winter. I was a winter baby… uh-oh… I’m starting to give away my birth date…

Pepsi or Coke?   Ginger ale.

If someone were to set a trap for you, what would they use for bait?   Chocolate… or Sushi.

What do you have under your bed?  Boxes of vintage fabric, waiting for time to be made into replicas of vintage clothing. And dust bunnies. Lots of dust bunnies, occasionally including my cat, who resembles a dust bunny.

What do you collect?   Kitty whiskers (I'm gonna have my kitty cloned after he is gone); vintage couture clothing; fabric and buttons; anything vintage or antique.

What do you do for a living?  I’m a designer… clothing, accessories, jewelry, anything else that strikes my fancy. The most difficult part of being a designer is that you’re forever trying to remake the world. It sometimes makes you want to poke your own eyes out with a fork.

Were you always a designer?  No. I started my own company about seven years ago when I opted to drop out of the corporate rat race. I’ve never looked back since. And also yes. I’ve always designed, photographed and painted. My minor in university was Fine Art including Art History, and I also studied clothing design and marketing at another university later, as well as classical figure drawing.

If you could meet and spend a whole day with one person, alive or dead, who would it be, and why?  That’s a very difficult question, but I’d have to say Jeanne Poisson, Mme de Pompadour. She was a strong woman, ahead of her time in implementing shaping society and architecture during her time.

Any favorite sayings?  "Success is getting up one more time than you fall down"

and

"Living well is the best revenge."