A bit about my background...........My name is Arlene Cano,  and many years ago, I rode a Vespa motor scooter from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California to study fashion and costume design at Los Angeles Trade Technical Institute.  Unfortunately, I was not able to finish the course, because life had different plans for me at the time.  When I was able to go back to school, I decided to take the safe, sensible road and go into the medical field to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant - which I did for 25 years.  During those years, I did continue to take classes in pattern making and millinery, and design and make clothes and costumes for myself, my friends and their children. 

I began designing cloth dolls and selling the patterns on-line and in catalogs as well as designing dolls and crafts for such magazines as, Better Homes and Gardens, Crafts and Things, Cloth Doll, and Soft Dolls and Animals.  Now I am at an age where I don't have to be sensible any more and can do anything I please (which is nice, but it took a long time to get here).  I now live in Bellingham, WA and have begun to design new dolls and have added something new to my repertoire, hats and fascinators. 

I love making hats and fascinators because it is pure creativity, when I finish a hat, I can go on to the next without writing and drawing patterns.  It also gives me an excuse to go back to L.A., Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., or where ever I want to shop for materials, and what is better than shopping for beautiful things and being able to charge it to your company.          

I hope you enjoy all of my creations as much as I enjoy making them for you.