I am a 60year old, retired elementary classroom teacher, I retired in 2001 after 30 years of service with the Seattle School District. I taught 1st and 2nd grades, but my last 12 years were in kindergarten. I took a class in 1998, at a fabric store and learned the art of fabric origami; I'd been doing origami since high school, but pairing it with fabric was an exciting transition for me. I'd undergone a painful divorce in '98 and was terribly depressed and in 6 months, I'd made 300 boxes. One of my girlfriends' who was a school principal insisted that I participate in her schools' craft fair and my next career was launched. My posse of girlfriends and I got together one evening and came up with the name of my company which is: Absolutely Lerna's. I've sold my fabric origami gift boxes at local craft fairs and even appeared on HGTV as one of 19 artists in the Seattle area on a show called "That's Clever" in 2006.