About the Artist
My name is Buffy and I am a Chicago based illustrator, designer, fiber artist, and product developer. I have professional experience in a variety of industries, including giftware, home decor, apparel, publishing, toys and gaming, and even courtroom sketching! When stepping away from the screen, I enjoy hand embroidery, knitting, needle felting, drawing and of course doing puzzles. Now with our Handmade by Buffy shop I hope to marry my side projects with my work experience to create products others can enjoy as well.
See more of my art and design work:
Behind the scenes
*We are not interested in consultations or solicitations. Serious inquiries about our services only.
As my cohort and "enabler", my sister, Lynn, is based in Northern Wisconsin. She plays a huge supportive role with the Handmade by Buffy shop as brainstormer and sounding board -she gives a lot of the inspiration behind subject matter and promotions! She has experience in retail, customer service, and management which brings focus on the point-of-sales perspective of running our shop. As we grow to live events you'll also see her behind the table selling our products.
The Evolution of Handmade by Buffy
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Handmade by Buffy has been a long evolving project.
It started with hand sewn dolls (1) and greeting cards (2) sold in coffee shops and gift shops in Northern Wisconsin.
When I moved to Chicago for a job opportunity, the focus became custom dolls (3) and magnet paperdolls (4) sold by order at an gallery, craft/art markets and by referral.
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As Etsy was developing as a platform for artists and crafters to sell their services, I focused on online markets. Less traveling and worrying about tracking stock in various locations. When I first opened my Etsy shop in 2010, I sold stylized oil paintings and then paintings with embroidered detailing (5) for a couple years.
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But as my professional work absorbed more time and energy, I focused more on using the computer as a medium; selling digital products vs physical. I started illustrating custom pet and couple portraits in vector (6) and offering design services as a side hustle.
Then a new position I began working at allowed me more creative freedom and inspired me to revisit my outside creative pursuits. A time of renaissance so to speak began.
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When a friend introduced me to enamel pins and how to have them made, I developed a line of soft enamel pins (7). This line was themed with Native gardened vegetables with my mother, who was a master gardener, to sell at farmers markets and in my Etsy shop.
This job also rekindled my love of designing repeat patterns and textile designs. In 2024 I started creating patterns (8) for fabrics and wallpaper on Spoonflower.
I also found myself revisiting the embroidery on canvas as a tactile distraction. Instead of just embellishments, I started embroidering the whole piece, skipping the oils, to create hand embroidered illustrations on canvas (9) and I've begun experimenting with needle felting (10) -but it's still a learning curve.
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Itching to delve into a new product development project, I've joined forces with my sister, Lynn, to marrying my fiber art illustrations with our love of doing jigsaw puzzles. We pooled our money to produce a line of puzzles (11) and plan to keep adding more products and lines featuring fiber arts and illustrations. Keep following our journey!!
-Buffy
