Bundles of Joy

Name or Nickname:
Cindy

About Me:
I am a stay at home Mom with a need for a creative outlet. I focus on creating things that appeal to both parents and children with my sometimes modern, sometimes retro, sometimes playful, always graphically appealing colorful cotton prints and soft plush fabrics. Given to fits of whimsy, I also feature onesies appliquéd with prints of art by young artists and will sometimes throw other things in the mix from my varied interests. Call it artist ADD, and you won't be too far off. The artist gets paid for each onesie sold – part for now, part for college.

How did I get here? It was a pretty twisted route. I started sewing when I was four. I first used a machine when I was seven. I first altered a pattern to make it mine when I was eleven. When I got to college, I got all practical and came out with a Bachelor's in Accounting. I am very, very good with numbers. I started researching and making Historical costumes when I was just barely 19. It wasn't until I was 34 that I ditched the life of a CPA to go to Fashion Design School. I really wish that I hadn't been so practical the first time around in college. People in their early twenties are much more suited to the kind of abuse the fashion industry dishes out than is someone confronting 40.

One Semester away from completion, I had a Ford F150 truck turn left across my lane just I was entering an intersection. Needless to say, that was the end of my 11 year old Mazda 626. It was also the end of my ability to do the intense work required to bring my final collection to completion by the end of the next Semester. On the strong recommendation of my Doctor, I took an incomplete in my Collection class and started the long process of healing. I worked out religiously with a trainer twice a week and walked a lot.

It was a year and four months before the Doctor declared me healed enough to resume either the intense work of finishing my degree or the equally intense work of getting pregnant. We were already into the Spring Semester of the following year by that point, and I was 38 years old. Since I couldn't start my collection classes over again until the Fall anyway, we opted for trying to get pregnant. We didn't figure our window of opportunity on that front was going to be open much longer. One month later, I was pregnant with Gabriel and lazing down the Mississippi River on the Delta Queen. It was a very slow and lazy cruise - good thing, that. I have never slept so much or been as lethargic as I was during that pregnancy. I never did get back to school to finish that last project, but I now have two beautiful boys and am working on pushing my new business forward.

In addition to my clothing design work, I have renovated two houses - the one we currently reside in, which was originally built in 1900, and one that we sold, which was built in 1927. Both houses are now fabulous, and my husband has declared that we will never do a whole home renovation again. I'll admit, these two houses were extreme - they required just about every re- thing you can imagine - re-plumbing, rewiring, re-roofing, remodeling, restoring, renovating, re-painting, re-flooring, re-landscaping, redoing in nearly every way imaginable. It was a lot of work. I only came out of it with three, maybe four contractors that I would ever recommend anyone ever use. Our wall paper contractor was absolutely amazing. No one else came close.

Etsy Address:
http://www.cindyjoy.etsy.com

Other Website:
http://www.geocities.com/cynthia_and_corwin/

Blog:
http://cindyjoy.blogspot.com/

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindyjoy/

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade cindyjoy.etsy.com