Crafty Lady Abby

Who is Abby? I'm a crafter and artist in Richmond, VA. I come from a very creative family. I love making anything, but my favorite things to make are fashion related. I have been hand sewing since I was 4 years old, according to my great aunt. I started machine sewing at 12, and making clothing at 15. I took this love of sewing and fashion, and obtained a degree in Fashion Design. I'm a wife and a mother. When my daughter was in Kindergarten, I decided to rekindle my love of fashion and created this blog. I write tutorials for mostly fashion and home based arts and crafts, follow the seasonal runway shows, keep on top of latest trends while infusing my own style, and discuss beauty. I occasionally teach classes for a variety of crafts, depending on the needs of the request. I love learning new crafts and adding them to my existing skill set. I currently sew, crochet, decoupage, create jewelry using a variety of materials, upcycle old things into wearable items, paint, and what ever else strikes my fancy. As my daughter transitions into being more independent, I've been able to focus on expanding my crafty career. I am part of the Fairfield World design team, DecoArt Bloggers Outreach Program, and an Oriental Trading Blogger. What is a "Crafty Lady"? When my daughter was a baby, I met up with a couple lady friends at my parents' house to make a craft. My mom made the comment that we were a group of "crafty ladies", and it stuck. I'm not fond of the term "woman" to describe me. I prefer "lady". My best friend, Kit McSmash, and I started meeting up regularly and having "Crafty Lady Days". The "Crafty" part refers to someone who is very creative and perhaps a bit sneaky. My mom has also commented that my paternal grandma, if she was still alive, would have enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of stuff I make. She was a very creative lady and fantastic cook. She made mostly quilts, of which I still use 2 of them daily. The quilts I use are comfortable, warm, and keep my deep connection to her. All of the ladies (and a few gentlemen) in my family share similar talents and an insatiable desire to create, making us all Crafty Ladies and Gentlemen. When I created this blog and was trying to think of a name, I didn't want to use my normal moniker, "Azurafae", so I came up with "Crafty Lady Abby", since that was also suitable. It's what some people call me now, which always amuses me, because only Kit, my mom, my husband, and I knew what the name came from. Now you know too.