WELCOME

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read my "About Me" page, I appreciate your time.

FAMILY

 I'm lucky to have a very supportive husband, Randy, and a wonderful and thoughtful daughter, Heather and her husband Paul. I spent my working years as a police dispatcher before deciding it was time to get out of the rat race and do something less stressful.  I had a great time working for the Springfield Police Department in Oregon and met many, many wonderful people.  Randy spent his career as a police officer and retired from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office in Bend, Oregon at the rank of Captain.  Randy, Heather and I are all graduates of the University of Oregon in Eugene and follow the Duck sports teams closely.  Next to my family, painting and making soap Duck football and basketball are near and dear to my heart.  I'm fortunate to have my both my parents still living, and even more fortunate to have them living near us in La Pine.  I also have 3 brothers and 2 sisters who live in various places around the state and country.

We live in Central Oregon in a small unincorporated town called La Pine, about 20 miles south of Bend.  This area is known for it's perfect weather all year round, winter sports at Mt. Bachelor and swimming, skiing and fishing during the summer and fall at the dozens of lakes within a few miles drive.  We get quite a lot of snow during the winter and it's hot and dry during the summer here in La Pine.  I can't imagine a nicer place to live!

PAINTING

I began painting about 12 years ago and as the times have changed so have the things I enjoy painting most.  I started out doing craft shows and displaying my things in craft malls but with the work from my web site and painting things for eBay I don't have time to do shows any more, and the craft malls in my area have all closed down. It's really a shame that so many people have gotten away from purchasing truly hand crafted items in favor of the cheaper imports.

One of the activities involved in painting that I most enjoy is the hunt for just the right vintage item to paint on.  We haunt the local second hand stores, yard sales and flea markets in search of  new and interesting surfaces to paint on.  I'm not willing to put  something up for auction that is not of  the highest quality.  If I don't want it in my house I'm sure you probably wouldn't want it in yours either.

I also make soap and lotion from scratch.  I haven't used a bar of commercial soap in years, at least since 1998 when I began making my own.  I only use top quality oils and butters in my soap making and have received rave reviews from friends, family and customers from my web site.

If you have any questions, comments, etc please don't hesitate to write me as I'm always happy to help with whatever I can and I enjoy hearing from you.