Deborah started her design career with the suggestion and encouragement from a friend.  Although she has a BA in Business/Accounting (Go Figure!) from Boise State University, she found that she needed to exercise her creativity.  And, given the fact that “creative accounting” can get you into a lot of trouble, she followed her heart and took her friend’s suggestion!

She decided to focus on design work for one year.  Her goal for that year was to have one design published.  She set that goal in December of 1994.  In January, she sent her first six designs to Crafts Magazine and waited anxiously.  With in a few weeks, she received a phone call from the magazine.  They wanted to purchase four of the six designs that she had queried. That was the beginning of Deborah Spofford Designs™. 

Her first design was published in the July 1995 issue of Crafts Magazine.  In August of the same year, Crafts Magazine featured Deborah in their Designer Details article.

Shortly after that she attended an educational seminar for the Society of Craft Designers.   During that seminar she was contracted to write two “How to” books for Plaid Enterprises.  Many books, pattern booklets, and magazine publications followed.  Her designs have appeared on the cover of eleven different magazines.

In addition to her published works, Deborah works with several manufacturers to find creative ways to use and promote their products. She also shares her craft and decorating ideas each month on AM Northwest, a regional television program in the Pacific Northwest

In 1996 she won second place in the “Design Sells Product” contest sponsored by the Society of Craft Designers.  That same year, her felt book was a finalist in the PJS Excellence in Design awards in the Quilting and Fabric Craft Book category. Deborah has earned the industry’s designation of Certified Craft Designer, Professional Demonstrator, and Certified Fiskars Representative. 

Deborah’s first design “studio” was a walk in closet in their home in Corvallis, Oregon.  She was known to her family as the “Closet Crafter”.  Although it was “cozy”, she enjoyed many creative hours in that closet.  After several moves around the country her family is now settled in Vancouver, Washington.  With the help of her husband’s handyman skills and her children’s willingness to eat many fast food meals, she opened her new studio in July 2003.

Deborah has been married to her husband Tim for 25 years.  She is a mother of two active teenagers, loves to play tennis, and is currently training to walk in the Portland Marathon.  She is a member of Society of Craft Designers, Woman’s Entrepreneurial Organization, a Philanthropic Educational Organization, and First United Methodist Church.

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