I've enjoyed drawing, painting, sculpting and making things by hand for as long as I can remember. And I've always been a bit of a pack rat. That combination seems to have resulted in the 'perfect storm' for running an art studio where my work is made from recycled, upcycled and repurposed paper and ephemera. Rather then throwing away scraps of paper, maps, cardboard, postcards, magazines, etc. I'd squirrel them away in boxes, thinking 'I'm going to make something out of that someday." My little sister has said "Carrie you can make something out of anything." And I pretty much agree with her. I enjoy the creative challenge of recycling old scraps into something beautiful and new. Plus, I like knowing that I'm keeping those items out of the landfill. As a little kid, there were times when my creative ideas were a little more destructive then my parents would have liked I'm sure.

One of the images that stands out in my mind is the wallpaper border from my childhood bedroom. The border had a repeating pattern of Noah's ark and a big blank yellow sun, just begging to be filled in. Well, I took it upon myself to fill those blank suns with full smiling faces drawn in red crayon. (The wallpaper was a chair rail- height, just perfect for my portrait making.) My mom redid the border in my room, but saved a few of my sun portraits for posterity.

I became known as the 'artsy fartsy' one of my family and pursued art in college. (I even worked as a portrait artist at Hershey Park during the summers between college.) After graduating with BFA in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon, I worked at Walt Disney World for a few years as an artist and then missing my home and my family, moved back to Pennsylvania.

That's really where the story of Yellow Bear Studios begins. I was making paper garlands, pendants, the cake topper and other decorations for my wedding in the fall of 2011. I enjoyed being able to personalize my husband's and my special day and I thought that I could do that for other people as well. My own wedding's paper crafts have expanded into the items you see in my shop today.

I'm supported and helped and encouraged and sometimes even prodded into action by my ever-loving husband and high school sweetheart, David, who never hesitates to help me transport packages to the post office or carry heavy boxes of supplies or vacuum up the never-ending supply of paper scrap confetti I seem to trail all over the house. He's even been known to help me set up for a craft show or two. My studio has completely taken over our home office, except for the computer chair which, Ellie our kitty cat has reserved as her domain.

I'm a computer-bound graphic designer by day and craft away on items for my Etsy store by night. Joining Etsy has allowed me to get back in the rhythm of creating things by hand again and I am loving every minute of it!

Oh, and in case you were curious, my studio name comes from my obsessive love of the color yellow and my nickname: Care Bear. So welcome to Yellow Bear Studios. I hope you enjoy what you find here and feel free to drop me a line to chat about your wedding plans, crafting, recycling, the color yellow or anything that strikes your fancy!