I'm a designer, maker, contemporary craft educator and librarian.

As a one woman operation, I design and make a line of books, stationery and textiles for sale through my online shop and select boutiques. I also create bespoke works for a range of clientele.

Using a variety of traditional bookbinding and textile techniques, I blend long-established methods with inventive materials and a heavy dose of design. Recognizing craft as a skilled practice cultivated and developed over great expanses of time, I attempt to highlight the wit, ingenuity and artistry that can be manifest by a pair of dexterous hands.

Providing an alternative to the machine-made and mass-produced, I design and make quality, stylish and functional items that people will take pleasure in using. Whether it's a hand-bound notebook used to compose and tick off to-do lists or a hand-pieced hexagonal quilt designated for afternoon naps on the sofa, I hope people delight in using my items again and again, admiring the aesthetic and knowing the source and maker of the item.

All of the materials I use are personally selected from a range of places at home and on my travels. I often incorporate both new and recycled items in my work, but all materials are selected with a discerning eye for their quality, tactility and aesthetic.

Encouraging the growth of a diverse community of makers, designers, craftspeople and artists, I develop and teach a range of group and private workshops in both book and textile arts. I've had the pleasure of teaching in a variety of countries including Canada, the US, Taiwan and the UK. Some of the workshops have been formal classes in colleges, universities and community centres, while others have been held in less conventional locales like bookshops, airstream trailers and leafy parks. In addition to teaching, I'm a contributing author to a variety of publications and am currently working on an instructional bookbinding book.

As a designer, maker, contemporary craft educator and librarian my background is a bit of a mixed bag. A seemingly unrelated assortment of interests, pursuits, work experience, education, travel, random happenings and encounters have blended to inform my appreciation for traditional craft techniques and contemporary design.

Originally from the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada, I was a crafty kid with a Fisher Price weaving loom and a habit of personifying felt pens as if they were dolls. Always obsessed with stationery and paper, I remember sneaking a look at an xmas present hidden in my parents' closet and discovering it was a pack of assorted types of paper. I was thrilled. Ridiculously thrilled. A few years ago I walked into the stationery section of Muji, a Japanese department store, and broke out into a gleeful fit of laughter. It was the same thrill I had as a kid.

I was first introduced to bookbinding in my early twenties while living in Montreal. After a one day bookbinding class as part of a fine arts degree, a friend taught me what she had learned and it all progressed from there. Self-taught from that point on, I expanded the breadth of my bookbinding knowledge to include a range of binding techniques, book design, bookbinding and paper history, rare books conservation and restoration. In addition to designing and binding my own range of books, creating bespoke items and teaching bookbinding classes, I have participated in a variety of exhibitions, contributed to numerous publications and have been featured in a mixture of media including television, newspapers and blogs.

Not long after my introduction to bookbinding, I began formal studies in textile arts back in Vancouver. Blending my new knowledge with book and paper arts, I was immersed in a wide range of traditional and contemporary textile techniques including weaving, dying, screen-printing, needlepoint, knitting, crochet, tapestry, drawing, and graphic design.

A few years after completing my textile arts diploma, I switched directions and finished a BA in communication and publishing and added more skills to my growing list including critical media studies, editing and book and magazine design.

Then back to contemporary craft again. I completed an intensive one-year course in fashion arts studying illustration, pattern making, garment construction and textile science.

And finally back to academics. In 2011 I completed an MA in library and information science.

Throughout the time from my textile arts diploma to my MA in library and information science I've travelled and moved around a bit; living in Canada, Germany, Taiwan and the UK. I've held a variety of jobs and met an remarkable array of people. I've consistently maintained my practice in both book and textile arts through all of my endeavours and plan to continue to do so.