"It felt like I was in diapers when I first started sewing" said designer Allison Richter on how her career making Handcrafted Collections first began. "My mom was a Home Economics teacher before she started having children and decided to become a stay-at-home mom. She is the one who first taught me how to sew. I always frustrated her because I wanted to sew my way rather than using a pattern", she recalls.

The American born artist attended Marshall University in Huntington West, Virginia and completed her degree with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Fashion Merchandising. After graduation Allison moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where she started on her career path, which eventually lead to working in Visual Merchandising. She later took a job as a Regional Visual Merchandiser for a fashion retailer, which moved her to the Charlotte, North Carolina area. It was a co-worker with the company that convinced the designer to change careers to "the one thing I said I would never do — teach school. And I never thought that I would teach high school for six years!" As the designer explained, "I realized that it isnít just about me. I wanted to help students that maybe did not have things as good as I had growing up. It is absolutely amazing what someone can do when someone else believes in you."

May of 2005, Allison officially started her sole proprietorship as a second career. Allison explained that, "My evenings, weekends, holidays off, and summers were pretty much consumed with sewing until- this handsome German guy came along." A business trip to the States is what had brought her future husband to North Carolina when the couple first met. Allison then moved to Germany in November 2006 and the couple was married in January 2007. "The great thing is that my husband is not only my best friend, but he is my business partner as well." The couple has "re-launched" Still Water Designs in Germany and now live in Hamburg.

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