Mouse began life as a bookmark. He came into my life nearly twenty-five years ago when a classmate gave him to me as a souvenir from her trip to the Philippines. For many years, he served as a toy and suffered many crash landings on the pavement and an overnight stay on a neighbor's roof, thanks to my habit of whirling him around by the tail and launching him into the air! As I got older, Mouse came to be something of a totem. Everything changed on an idle afternoon in the fall of 2007 when I was testing out the macro setting on my father's new digital camera and decided to use Mouse as my model. I started taking hundreds of photographs simply for my own pleasure. I liked the way Mouse was able to point to the minute details of everyday things, the textures and colors that I am keenly aware of, but that most people miss. I took Mouse with me on vacations and made photo books for people as a way of showing them their world in a new light. I also started working on a children's book about colors featuring Mouse, but I never thought about selling photos until my life underwent a major change.

In the fall of 2009, I developed disabling chronic migraines. I had to quit my job as a floral designer, halt my studies in graphic design, and withdraw from the world almost entirely. I'd previously directed most of my creative energy into writing, drawing, and my work as a designer, but the migraines left me unable to pursue those activities. Fortunately, I was still able to take photographs and it became a central aspect of my happiness. Deciding to launch an Etsy store featuring the Mouse photos I had been taking for years was a way to reach out to the world I could no longer interact with face to face. While I had to work very slowly because of the migraines, building a business was a very satisfying enterprise that filled my largely empty days with purpose. It's been very rewarding to see the little mouse I've loved for years and the photos that I began taking strictly for my own amusement being embraced by total strangers.

The migraines have made further progress with Mouse projects a slow and difficult process, especially after I had the bad luck of sustaining a concussion in a household accident in 2011. I have very limited time and energy to put into creative work, so that means children's books and more upgrades to this store have been on hold while I concentrate what strength I do have in building up a second, non-mouse macro photography store on Etsy. Photography, creativity, and selling on Etsy have been crucial to my sense of well-being during this tough years and it's been very special to have Mouse be a part of it!