I am a Fashion Design graduate and originally from Philadelphia, PA. I am 41 years old and I have always been compelled to create something. In 2005 I developed M A Design Concepts as a catalog order business featuring women's apparel and handbags based on concepts that I thought were important to the experience of enjoying or even loving fashion. For me, a wonderful bag or article of clothing represents something that I consider to be beautiful, self expressive, unexpected or unique and fun. I try to articulate these concepts in every design, I never want to be part of the trend and I would hope to find customers who share this sentiment. I now have a website and although I am still struggling with how to better market my products, personal deadlines and production expenses I am in this for the duration.

My handbags are constructed mostly of a combination of tapestry and leather. Although I most recently designed a bag entirely of leather I consider the design details of the interior equally as important as the exterior and I incorporate a combination of tapestry, canvas and cotton print fabrics. I try to utilize interesting shapes and colors for handles and beading details. I hand sew every bead which can sometimes take up to 10 hours for each piece depending on the size of the bag. The most important factor to me is to create a "one of a kind" and "well constructed" handbag.

I started making handbags in 2005 with the purchase of a remnant tapestry fabric that I couldn't resist. I have always been creative, drawing, painting and I still day dream or have dreams about a handbag design or article of clothing which sometimes wake me from my sleep to make a quick sketch even though I almost always remember in the morning. I love fashion, it gets me excited and I want to create handbags and apparel that express that.  Because of the materials that I use it is often difficult for me to make an exact duplicate of the same bag. Most of the tapestry fabrics that I use are not available in bulk and my bead work revolves around the fabric motif or print so any client would almost always have something uniquely their own.

I don't really have any nightmare stories yet, I am still struggling to make my business work and very accustomed to having my fingers pricked.  I can't say that I have a "greatest" achievement yet but I do enjoy compliments and interest from strangers and a very exultant phone call from a friend that showered me with praises because I gave her an Atiram handbag as a birthday gift. If I could make every customer express that kind of joy and satisfaction this would all be well worth it.