I was born to a highly creative family, marked by my mother's love of sewing, singing and imagination. I grew up in this environment, where we were encouraged to make each other Christmas presents rather than buy them, play in the sand and mud with little repercussion for stained clothes, and create works of art out of whatever fantastic medium my mom threw at us.  I made up songs and jokes for audiences of family members as soon as I could string sentences together. My passion was (and still is, somewhere deep down) theatre.

I was blessed to be part of an amazing community theatre "family" that provided me with countless opportunities to learn and grow - from acting and directing to costuming and makeup.  I ran the box office, chose a season's worth of plays, built giant peaches out of paper mache and forests from carpet tubes.  I learned how to build and paint sets and how to operate a light board.  From the ages of 12-20 if I had a spare moment, I'd be at the theatre.  I did theatre, forensics and musicals in high school. I learned from some of the most amazing mentors and teachers who only encouraged and heightened my passion.

I majored in theatre at college.  I was either on stage, backstage, in makeup or sewing in the shop at nearly every opportunity.  My entire formative years and early adulthood were spent honing, building, training and flaming this love for the creative process.

Just before planning garduate school auditions, I met the man of my dreams, and in a whirlwind, my life changed dramatically.  

Responsibilities of adult life - you know, the money-making job/having kids/paying bills/keeping the house up type of responsibilities - forced theatre into the backseat, but that drive to create couldn't be stymied.  

It was 6 years ago that my sister introduced me to the idea of creative blogs, and encouraged me to start my own.  And so I did. My original blog - bugaboo, mini, mr & me - is still live and if you want to see my early forays into crafting, sewing, cooking and the like, please feel free to jump on over there!  My life continued to evolve, however, and numerous DIY projects, a whole ton of "firsts" and two kids later, I found I'd outgrown my little blog.  Plus, after four years it became "bugaboo, mini, pip mr & me" and I've decided that "bugaboo, mini, pip, mr & me - and squish too!" was just too long for a reasonable blog header!

So that is how Bugaboo Creates was born. Since venturing into blogland 6 years ago and getting back to my creative roots, so to speak, my skills have grown by leaps and bounds! Even so, I'm no profressional - just a WAHM in need of a creative outlet.  If I can learn to use a woodburning pen, so can you!  My entire point in starting a blog in the first place was to encourage and inspire - I truly believe that everyone has a creative drive inside of them.  It may not be sewing or making wreaths.  Perhaps it's playing the piano, painting sunsets, designing bridges, computer graphics, or a whole slew of other things.  Feeding that creative drive is crucial to a happy, fulfilled life and anyone - ANYONE - can create.  I hope there are tutorials here that speak to you and help you understand my creative philosophy.