Anna Maria grew up in a house full of her dad's paintings and with a closet full of her mom's handiwork. Beds were warmed by the hand-loomed wool blankets sent by her grandmother from Greece. She and her siblings were warmed by the beautiful hand-knits sent from her grandmother in Indiana. As a kid in the 70's, she passed store-bought Barbie dresses and instead created her own from her mother's fabric scraps.