Born and raised in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York, Karen's artistic flair was evident at a very early age. As a young girl, her bedroom walls were strewn with sketches and drawings, mostly of animals and in various mediums. After high school, Karen choose to pursue a career in Accounting. Back then computers were not household items and web design was barely a flash on the horizon.

After finishing college, Karen settled in Rochester, New York. In the fall of 1996 a very special being entered her life. Tessa, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, brought many new experiences to Karen's world and the two became engrossed in the sport of pure bred dogs. Karen's parents bred Labrador Retrievers in the 1980's under the kennel prefix of Shadowlake so although dogs were not new to her, the pursuit of confirmation titles in AKC events was. After being given a laptop computer to tinker with, Karen created a small site to share Tessa's accomplishments and happenings. Things spiraled from there.

Over thirteen years later, Karen is still involved in the sport of dogs and devoted to dog rescue. Karen is a member of several rescue organizations and is an active participant. She currently resides on Long Island (NY) where she shares her life with a herd of Cardigans and a very opinionated parrot.