Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved collecting beautiful things. Perhaps it was a lovely lace hanky, or a beautiful piece of my Mother’s jewelry ,or even the “pretty “ stones I used to collect in a bucket from the neighbors driveway.

My Mother, who wrote childrens books, named me “Junky Julie “ and wrote a story about me. Apparently, that name and passion stuck because I still love collecting beautiful things.

Not only do I love collecting, but I love embellishing some of the treasures I find. That is why I have decided the name of my store will be “Bricolage”. Bricolage is the French word for tinkering. The actual dictionary description is “ the creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available (or a work created by such a process).

Besides paint, I have used lace, faux pearls, rhinestones, beautiful fabrics and trims and whatever else I can find to embellish my one of a kind pieces.

It should come as no surprise that my background is in Art & Design. I have a degree in Art History from the University of Wisconsin and also studied Interior Design. I have worked for an auction house in Chicago, an upscale consignment store in Hartland, Arhaus, Calico Corners and a paint and wallpaper store. I also sold fine wine in Chicago for over twenty years. My goal is to open my own brick and mortar store.