In every way, Duck and Goose Designs has been inspired by my children.  I first entered the world of digital photography after the birth of my daughter, Maggie, in 2002.  I began dabbling in digital scrapbooking using PhotoShop in the summer of 2005.  I found that I truly enjoyed the creative outlet.  I have absolutely no ability to draw (even my stick figures are barely recognizable!), but I have a good eye for design.  PhotoShop allowed me to be artistic in a way that I never had been before.  And I loved taking pictures of my beautiful daughter and making them even more beautiful!

As I learned more about how to use PhotoShop, I discovered that I preferred making frameable art over scrapbook pages, because it allowed me to make photo projects in standard photo sizes to give as gifts.  That winter, I also made my own Christmas cards for the first time.  The following summer, a friend who had seen my Christmas cards and some of the projects I'd done asked me to design her birth announcements for her, which made me realize that perhaps I had a marketable skill here.  The rest, as they say, is history! 

However, my art is not the only thing inspired by my children; my business name is, too.  When my stubborn daughter would not reveal whether she was a boy or girl at the "big ultrasound," my husband and I began calling her "Duck" as a substitute for "the baby" or "it."  To this day, she is still our little Duck!  So four years later, when Maggie's brother Gus came along, we jokingly began referring to him as Goose, so that we could say things like, "Can you get Duck and Goose in the car while I get my shoes on?"  Hence, Duck and Goose Designs!

You'll see my children's smiling faces on many of my sample designs, but because I can never resist a chance to brag about them, here are a couple more pictures of my angels: