thanks for stopping by! let me tell you a little bit about myself:

i’m holly ann mcbride, aka the ham in hamster, by way of my initials. i always hated that they spelled ham, but as an adult, i’m trying to embrace it. (ham is kind of funny, you know? think about it… ham.) and really, there are worse things that one’s initials could spell, right?

i’ve always been a creative person and a maker. i’m an only child, and i spent a lot of time playing by myself and using my imagination as a kid. so much so that sharing isn’t really my best personality trait, about which my husband teases me mercilessly. (i’m getting better, i swear!) i’ve been sewing since i was 12, knitting and weaving since college, and cutting and pasting since pre K.

i have a BFA in sculpture and an MS in textile design. my graduate school thesis was on woven textiles for children’s apparel and interiors, with a smattering of printed and nonwoven stuff thrown in for good measure. i’ve always been really drawn to designing for kids (the colors! the patterns! the small, manageable size of the projects!). after graduate school, i worked for 10 years as a textile designer in new york, designing for the contract industry (hotels, casinos, offices and hospitals – that’s exciting stuff people!). during that time, i met a boy, we got married, had a baby (the bee was born!), and i started sewing tiny clothes and less-tiny stuffed animals. about three years ago, my husband and then 1.5-year-old daughter moved from brooklyn to maine, and i started hamster and the bee.

i’m pushing (mumbles some absurd number) and i’m still not sure what i want to be when i grow up. i like learning new skills. i like designing silly things or comfy things or useful things – or best, all three. and i really, really, REALLY like fabric. i don’t particularly enjoy making the same thing over and over, and i kind of suck at committing. i’m trying to be more proud of my accomplishments, to be nicer to myself, and to have fun while i get wherever it is i end up.

during the day, i work as marketing director for an architecture and construction firm focusing on energy efficient design, and i’m on the board of directors at my daughter’s school. i spread myself too thin, make crude jokes, and curse too much. i love things too hard, am soooooper sappy, and i like cheese. a lot.