Worker Bee Design & Studio
From Graphic Design to Craft Creator
Worker Bee Design started back in 1987 as my freelance graphic design entity while I would work full-time for larger shops. I retired from Texas A&M University as a Graphic Designer after 18-years of maroon and white.
After all those years working away in a pretty hi-tech environment I decided to go as low-tech as I could find and I discovered stained glass.
With stained glass you need Band-Aids! And the graphic designer in me still loves to do logos, but now in stained glass, especially those university logos. So far, I've done custom requests for stained glass logos of the University of Florida, LSU, University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M, University of Washington, Alabama, and, of course, the University of Oregon. Go Ducks!
We discovered Eugene when we spent the summer here back in 2015. I couldn't take my stained glass studio along for the trip so I found myself admiring the cool boho look of wrapped bracelets. It was a very Country Fair, Saturday Market, Eugene kinda feeling. I just loved it. I did some research and taught myself some techniques and got hooked on making the wrapped bracelets. I would joke that it kept me off the streets. (Truth be told, it sort of put me right back on the street. Right between Oak and 8th.)
The felting? Well my baby sister taught me to felt. After I poked myself with a felting needle she famously said, “Carolyn, if you’re not bleeding, you’re not felting.” It certainly appears as if I’m attracted to the arts because of the danger. ;-)
When the quantity of my creations outgrew my space and I had people ask “Do you sell that?” I knew that “retirement” was not really retiring and I started selling. I even had one woman buy a bracelet right off my wrist. I was thrilled to be able to return to the Eugene Saturday Market in 2018, but this time as a vendor.
I hope you enjoy looking around my shop. And I hope you come see me in my booth. I'll probably be poking at a new felting creation and I'll be happy to show you how it's done.
And, yes, I still am a Graphic Designer. Just ask.
Carolyn
