I've always been creative. My favorite gifts to give have always been handcrafted. One holiday season a friend asked why I didn't sell the things I made. One thing led to another and The Mendez Group, Inc. shifted from a marketing and training consulting company (with me traveling way too much) to the design, development, and production of contemporary crafts.

Calling my original website Contemporary Crafts was an easy decision. My husband and I have always decorated our home in a contemporary style -- so country crafts never really fit in. I love bright, vivid fabrics and textures. Tropical prints are a favorite as are bold geometrics, along with what I call understated elegance.

I have always been intrigued with aromatherapy and the soothing effects it can have on you. When one of my Too Cool Collar customers asked if I could make an aromatherapy collar for her dog -- the concept of Calming Collars was born! Dog anxiety is fast becoming ancient history.

In 2008, and continuing into 2009 -- my time and energy has really been focused on Calming Collars. I still enjoy beading, but the demand for Calming Collars has really taken off. When you personally design and manufacture what you sell, you only have so many hours in the day. In fact, we recently took Contemporary Crafts back to its roots and are only selling sewn products. It became too cumbersome to keep so many supplies for all of the beaded products I was making -- when the majority of my sales were Calming Collars. When enough Calming Collars customers asked if I could make a relax blend for their spouse -- I decided I needed to offer aromatherapy products for people -- again! ToastyToes heating pads and ice packs were the very first products I ever made and sold online.

Although I am a one-man (okay, woman) shop, you'll see I use we and us quite a bit through out the websites. Sometimes it just sounds better than I, I, I. Or it could be that my cats help me out so much, that I feel inclined to include them! Actually, since my dear Aunt Patty died, we are up to seven inside cats! Yipes. Click here to meet them.