For more than 30 years, I’ve been learning how to live closer to the land – growing, foraging, preserving, making things from scratch and questioning how much of modern life we actually need.

My story started at 18, when I knew the conventional path I was following in Canada wasn’t for me. With $400 and a deep longing to figure out where I belonged, I started travelling the world .

A few years later, I was diagnosed with a lifelong condition that caused severe sensitivities and chronic pain, and my journey took on a new purpose. I began studying traditional herbalism, holistic health, nutrition, movement, natural body care and the ways different cultures used food, plants and traditional knowledge to care for themselves.

That journey eventually took me through more than 37 countries and to a small off-grid beach village in Bali, where I stayed for 10 years. Bali changed the way I lived.

Life there was beautifully simple. We cooked over fire, ate what was fresh and in season, lived close to the land and made use of what grew around us. I lived without many of the conveniences I had grown up believing I needed. Life was stripped back to the essentials and I loved it!

I learned to look at a garden differently. Plants became food, medicine, skincare and ingredients for the home. Meals were made from scratch. Seasons mattered. Community mattered. Traditions mattered. And somewhere along the way, something remarkable happened: my health soared.

My studies eventually led me into Bali’s wellness industry, where I worked in luxury resorts and wellness centres helping people discover new approaches to their health and well-being. It was also where I fell in love with natural body care. I watched fresh ingredients arrive from local farms and skilled Balinese practitioners transform plants, flowers, roots and oils into beautiful creams, infused oils, herbal preparations and traditional treatments.

They taught me the beauty of simple formulations and how a handful of thoughtfully chosen ingredients could become something useful for the skin, body or home. That philosophy changed the way I made things, and I’ve never looked back.

Eventually, I returned to Canada, married my husband and had our daughter, Ocean. Motherhood gave everything I had learned a new purpose. We wanted to give our daughter a childhood rooted in family, nature, practical skills and the confidence that comes from knowing how to do things for herself.

Today, we’re building our own version of a modern homestead in the mountains of British Columbia. We grow food, forage, preserve and can our harvest, cook from scratch, hunt and source food locally, homeschool our daughter and make many of our own herbal, skincare and household products. We are self employed and lead a life off the beaten path for sure.

For me, self-sufficiency isn’t about doing everything yourself. It’s about knowing how to do more for yourself  and passing that knowledge on. Knowledge shouldn’t disappear simply because a generation stopped teaching it.

I founded Oceans Bliss in 2020 to share what more than three decades of studying, practicing and living this way have taught me. Here you’ll find practical ways to live more seasonally, naturally and self-sufficiently from foraging, gardening, canning and preserving to herbal preparations, natural skincare, non-toxic home products, movement and from-scratch living and even tips on self employment and homesteading.

Oceans Bliss is an invitation to step off the conventional path and create a life rooted in nature, greater self-reliance, and the freedom to decide for yourself what a healthy, happy and meaningful life looks like.

The Mission Behind the Bliss.

When my daughter was born, I wanted to bottle up her baby bliss.
She had this pure, uninhibited joy, a light that seemed to spill into everything around her. Watching her made me think about my own life: how naturally we begin with that spark, how easily it can become buried when we don’t have the guidance to nurture it, when our health begins to struggle, or when we simply follow the conventional paths laid out for us – and how long it had taken me to find my way back to mine.

I made a quiet promise to her: I would do everything I could to help her hold onto who she truly was. Not by creating a perfect life for her, but by giving her strong roots. A deep connection to God, nature and family. Practical skills. Confidence in her own abilities. The freedom to think differently, follow her curiosity and know that there is more than one way to build a beautiful life.

Then one day, while she was napping, I decided to make bread. As I stood in the kitchen slowly kneading the dough, two words came into my mind: Oceans Bliss.
And suddenly, everything I had spent decades learning felt connected to something much bigger than myself.

Oceans Bliss was born from the love I have for my daughter, Ocean, but its mission has grown far beyond us. It’s about protecting that spark we begin life with — and creating a life where it has room to stay alive.

A life with strong roots and an open mind. A life connected to nature, family and purpose. A life where we know how to care for ourselves, trust what we’re capable of and aren’t afraid to choose a path different from the one laid out for us.

Because maybe bliss isn’t something we need to spend our lives searching for. Maybe it’s something we were born with and were never meant to lose.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

When I travelled the world,  I often exported goods to Canada and sold a variety of items like knitwear, jewelry, wood carvings, and blankets at markets whenever I visited. When I moved back home, I decided to stop exporting goods and instead create a handmade marketplace of my own. This allows me to indulge my creativity, spend time with my daughter while teaching her, and be a part of our local handmade community.

My Maker, Artist Story

My superpower is definitely my creativity. I’m always looking for ways to bring life to my ideas. From a young age, I’ve always loved making jewelry, pottery, drawing, photography, graphic art, and writing. I’ve evolved my skills over the years through studying across the globe, and by reconnecting with the energy of my home. I produce pieces that authentically represent me and celebrate the seasons, local holidays and festivals. I’m proud to share them with others online and at my hometowns famous market which is the largest in our province.

Handmade in Penticton With Bliss

Every item I sell in my SHOP are unique and beautifully hand crafted original products made with bliss! I take pride in every step of the creation process, from sourcing the highest quality materials, to drawing inspiration from nature, to thoughtfully bringing each piece to life and sharing it with others.

Where I Sell My Work

You can find my work in a few beautiful places—online through my website, where I share seasonal handmade collections year-round. In person, I’m part of the Penticton Farmers’ Market every Saturday, the largest market in the Okanagan, where I love connecting face-to-face with the community. You can also find a curated selection of my pieces at several boutique shops around the Okanagan.