Bonnie Rose Kempenich

Name: Bonnie Rose Kempenich

Age: 48

Location: Fargo ND USA

Profession: Professional and Passionate Card Designer

Craft(s) of Choice: Cardmaking, Papercrafting, Stamping, Scrapbooking, Writing, Journaling

Blog: alifeunrehearsed2.blogspot.com

My life is unrehearsed. It’s the name I gave my personal and creative blog, and it’s something I truly believe.

I am a passionate card designer and papercrafter. Love playing with paper and ink. I’m a writer at heart, and love journaling my life in countless journals.

My style is clean and simple and also, clean and graphic, love using bold punches of color in my creations! I believe a handmade greeting/card is so much better than an email anyday. Any day. Getting real mail in your mailbox is something I wish more people treasured. I believe in the handmade greeting.

Carly

Name: Carly

Age: 32

Location: Minster,Ohio

Profession: Stay at home Mommy

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, crochet, scrapbooking

I wanted to learn to Knit soo bad.. I bought a kit at Joann Fabics..Took it home and gave up after hours of trying to just do a SLIPKNOT!!! Pathetic i know.. About two years later took the kit to my Mother in laws house and said teach me the basics…So she did.. And my LOVE of knitting grew.. I bought books and learned all I could.. Found an amazing show Knitty Gritty.. And Vickie Howell”s charm reeled me in….Now i am a KNit and Crochet FREAK!!!!!!!!! YAY

Carmen Shirkey

Name: Carmen

Age: 30 something

Location: Virginia

Profession: Web Editor, Professional Twitterer and Award-Winning Novelist!

Craft(s) of Choice:: *Digital* Scrapbooks

Blog: http://photostorybooks.blogspot.com/

I have shelves and shelves (and shelves) of scrapbooks – created through the years as my travels took me around the globe. Whenever I’m feeling down, sad, blue – whatever – looking at my scrapbooks always picks me up.

I always joke with people that if the house catches on fire, the first things out the window will by my scrapbooks (then the diploma, the cat, and us. Some priorities, right?) What they don’t know is that it’s not really a joke – I keep some empty garbage bags stuck behind the shelves for just an occasion, so I can quickly stuff ‘em in and get ‘em out quickly! Anyone who scraps knows how EXPENSIVE each book can be. There’s the cost of the book itself, then the papers, then the pictures, then the embellishments – each of my books is probably a representation of hundreds of dollars!

Over the years, I’ve still loved my scrapbooks, but the cost – and the time (oh the TIME!) spent on creating them started to get to me. The economy is in the crapper, the boyfriend was laid off with thousands of others, could I really justify the cost? Ta-da! I find out about digital scrapbooking, and I’m hooked! The books are just as nice, much smaller in size and bulk, and will more easily fit in the garbage bags if, God forbid, the cat starts playing with matches.

Christina Carr

Name: Christina Carr

Age: 36

Location: Escondido, CA

Profession: Special education teacher

Craft(s) of Choice: scrapbooking, cards, quilts

Blog: http://christinascreation.weebly.com

I’ve been making crafts forever. I’ve made so many crafts for Mother’s Day gifts and Christmas Gifts. I made most of the items that we used at my wedding. I also helped most of my friends with their weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, and birthday parties. I started scrapbooking in the early 90′s and my style has evolved over the years. This past summer I decided to step out of my comfort zone and see if I could sell my crafts. It’s been awesome to meet new people, to learn new craft techniques, and to even design my own website and open up my own online business.

Diane Long

Name: Diane Long

Age: 40+

Location: Pocono Mountains, PA

Craft(s) of Choice: Rubber Stamping, Scrapbooking, Polymer Clay, Decorative cakes & cookies

Blog: http://www.creativedestinations.blogspot.com

Coming from a large family with little means. my mon was very creative with a needle and thread, and with cooking up a feast out of few ingredients. My dad was a DIY’er long before we knew who Bob Villa was.

Jaime Martinez

Name: Jaime Martinez

Age: 26

Location: Sonoma, California

Profession: Professional Crafter

Craft(s) of Choice: knitting, scrapbooking, sewing, and other needle and paper crafts.

Blog: http://www.welshgrl2.com

My life has been filled with crafting since I was a little girl. My mom sewed matching clothes for me and my American Girl dolls, my aunt sold her elegant Santa Claus dolls on the craft fair circuit, and my grandma taught ceramics out of her home. Her studio was filled with shelves of stark white figurines of ballet dancers, lambs, rabbit, churches, and anything else sweet and pure, just waiting to be painted, glazed, and fired into a masterpiece. Whenever I had a sleepover at grandmas, all I wanted to do was paint ceramics. She let me paint any piece I wanted, an act of trust that was not always extended to my cousins with shorter attention span and a weaker passion for the arts. She taught me skills- how to make snow on my church nightlight clumpy, and how to add a little blush to the cheeks of a little girl figurine.

My taste in craft projects has changed over the years- now I’d rather sew a monster or knit a hat than paint a bunny- but my love of creating beautiful things has remained the same.

Jessica Serra

Name: Jessica Serra

Age: 20

Location: Wallingford, CT

Profession: College Student

Craft(s) of Choice: jewelry making, scrapbooking, screenprinting, mixed media

Blog: www.jessicasjewelier.com

My earliest crafting memories are from when I was really young and my grandma would teach me how to make butterflies out of magazine/newspaper pages and pipe cleaners, rings from the stoppers to orange juice containers, and purses from scraps of material. I have always been a crafty person, doodling and making all sorts of creations, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered crafting has been the only constant in my life that makes me feel just plain happy. No matter what I am feeling or going through I can work it out through my art and crafts. Crafting is both my addiction and my drug of Choice, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Kerry Lynn Yeary

Name: Kerry Lynn Yeary

Age: 30 something

Location: northern california

Profession: sahm & entrepeneur

Craft(s) of Choice: scrapbooking, sewing, thrift craft + more

Blog: http://blog.kennerroad.com

i had always thought that scrapbooking just puffy hot dog stickers, but as the owner of kenner road {a monthly scrapbook kit club} i now know it’s about documenting your life, how ever you choose to create.

Krysten G

Name: Krysten G

Age: 24

Location: Colorado

Profession: College studen

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, Crochet, Sewing, Embroidery, Quilting, Jewlery, Drawing, Painting, Scrapbooking

Blog: http://littledevil-666.blogspot.com/

My Grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was 10 as another craft to try. I was always a crafty child and loved to try new things and she never said no. The first major thing that I made was at her house it was a cross made of burned matches, i think it was about 200 of them.

Linsay Cocker

Name: Linsay Cocker

Age: 31

Location: Marysville, WA

Profession: Accounting Manager

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, Crochet, Sewing, Scrapbooking and more

Blog: http://mommieof4munchkins.blogspot.com

Growing up I was surrounded by crafts, my mom loved to sew and create for others. You can say it was born into me to craft. My grandma taught me to knit and sew at a very young age.

I put a lot of crafts on the back burner for a long period of time. When my mom passed away in 2006 I was given her sewing machine. I have since started sewing again and each time I am at her machine I feel as though I am with her. I can sell her, I can see her and I can feel her in the room. I may not have my mom any more but I do have her spirt and her gift of crafting.

Currently I am working on two rag quilts, multiple knitting projects and some new items for my etsy store.