In addition to the classic styles of old products that fill her home, Sheri is inspired by the shapes and colors of nature and often incorporates them into her own creations.

Children are another source of inspiration for Sheri, who taught art to elementary students for four years. “There is a simplicity and directness to what children create that I enjoy seeing and talking with them about,” says Sheri.

And having children herself motivated Sheri to create original designs for toys, fabrics, wastebaskets, and clothing imprints that reflected both the interests of her kids and her own tastes, a look that she wasn’t seeing in stores.

Now, Sheri’s young son and teenage daughter are both idea sparkers and a valued test audience for her latest creations.

One example of this collaboration is a game Sheri and her son play in which one draws a random squiggle design for the other to turn into an illustration. In one round, Sheri’s son turned her squiggle into a creature that ended up spawning a character which appeared on scrapbooking papers for a major manufacturer.