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.

Christy Nelson

Name: Christy Nelson

Age: 33

Location: Lincoln, Nebraska

Profession: former Spanish teacher turned mom that gets some extra cash hawking her crafts on etsy and local craft fairs.

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, stamping, sewing

Blog: http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com

“I made it myself!” That is one of my favorite things to say and has been throughout my life.  About four years ago, crafting became even more important to me.  After a long struggle with infertility, we adopted a beautiful baby boy.  Things started getting a little rough and just after our second adoption (a little girl) we found out that our son has autism.  Knitting became my therapy.  It was something I could control.  It kept my mind and body calm when I needed a break.  A few years later it turned into a way that I could make some extra money to help out with therapies and doctor visits.  Last year I started raising money for Autism Speaks by having an open house where I showcased some of my items.  Through that and some generous donations, I was able to raise over $1000 in one month.  My crafting has gone from just being a benefit to me, but to helping others as well and that makes all the difference!

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.

Diane Long

Name: Diane Long

Location: Pocono Mountains, PA

Profession: Freelance Crafter

Craft(s) of Choice: Rubber Stamping, papercrafting,collage, polymer clay, writing, cake decorating

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

Growing up in a large family, we didn’t always get what we wanted so we learned to get creative. We would make it, paint it, decorate it, fix it, or cover it. I always say “necessity spurs creativity” That skill has helped me find solutions to a myriad of challenges.

I’ve done many crafts but none has hit me like rubber stamping. It is truly addicting!

In this age of electronics and impresonal emailing and texting, I find it deeply rewarding to make something with my hands then put it in the hands of the one for whom I made it.

Whenever I am creating, I am most alive, and fulfilled.

Joan Hajek

Name:   Joan Hajek

Age:   51

Location:   Ellicott City, MD

Profession:  SAHM

Craft(s) of Choice:  Rubber Stamping & Knitting

Blog: http://www.stamping-cooking-knitting.blogspot.com

I have always been a crafter. Always dabbling in something since I was a young girl. Loved Art in school. Now I am a SAHM who loves to rubber stamp and knit. I am an Independent Demonstrator for Stampin’ Up! and in the last few years have taught myself to knit. Now I have two obsessions! My husband doesn’t understand why I need so many rubber stamps or skeins of yarn. They speak to me, and plead with me to take them home! How can a girl resist?  So I get to teach others my love for rubber stamping and earn money at it!  I also get together with a great group of women (and some men) in Columbia, MD for a Wednesday Sit & Knit. We share and help one another and make new friends while we are at it. I also have an Etsy shop and have sold some things there.  What a great resource!  I have even found some knitting rubber stamps so I can combine both of my passions.  

Julie Anderson

Name: Julie Anderson

Age: 38

Location: Joliet, IL

Profession: Knit Handbag Designer, Retail Rubber Stamp Store Owner & Stay at Home Mom.

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, Sewing, Paper Crafts. . .you name it, I’ve most likely tried it!

Blog: www.boogaj.com

When I moved back to my hometown to start a family, it was lonely.  I was used to working and living in the city (Chicago) and suddenly I was in the suburbs and spending a lot of time at home with my new baby girl.  That’s when I discovered the online crafting community and started up my own blog (www.boogaj.com) – this was back in 2002.  As a result I met many great crafters and even started up a business selling patterns I designed for handknit and felted, or fulled, handbags (www.blacksheepbags.com).  It all started when I posted a picture of a bag I had made on my blog.  Lots of people wanted the pattern and the next thing I knew I had a business I was running out of my living room!  I can definitely say that the internet has changed my crafting life for the better.

Lisa Filion

Name: “Upstatelisa” aka Lisa Filion

Age: 46

Location: upstate NY (Queensbury)

Profession: SAHM, Landlord, Jack of all trades, a speech-languate pathologist in my former life

Craft(s) of Choice: first passion is quilting but I sew, knit, scrap, stamp…..

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

When I was 13, my paternal grandmother gave me $100 (which was a lot of money waaaay back when) to buy my first sewing machine. She did this for all of her granddaughters- I was the third of five. My grandmother was awonderful knitter, smocker, sewer, crocheter!

The purchase of this first sewing machine sparked something in me. Mymother registered me for sewing lessons that first summer at a local Singer Sewing store (mom would later be a sewing class drop out- sorry Mom!- but she knits a mean pair of socks). I was hooked! I think that first project was a bib front sun dress with a ruffled skirt (aww the 70s!).

Then I took Home Economics in 8th grade followed by Family Studies (a new name!) in high school. I sewed mostly clothing for awhile. After I married, I took a quilting class at a local community college and that opened a whole new world for me!!! While I might have been hooked on sewing, I quickly became addicted to quilting! Of course, I had 3 children and for awhile, my productivity was cut waaaay down! But now, I have a sewing room, a wonderfully supportive husband, 3 (usually) great kids, and a whole lot of fabric.

On Thanksgiving Day, 2005, my youngest daughter, 6 1/2 years old at the time, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I was shocked and sad but soon learned that we could deal with this chronic disease. Her life is full and crazy; but diabetes constant vigilance and has just become part of life. I have become involved in raising funds for research to cure diabetes. I don’t have all the money in the world but quilting has allowed me to make a small contribution. I have made two quilts for fundraising events (our local chapter of JDRF hosts a gala each January) which have raised $3600 and $1700 (I have attached photos of those two quilts), as well as a smaller one that was raffled off the day of our annual Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Thanks to my wonderful grandmother who so many (many) years ago provided me with the materials to start creating. I wrote a tribute to her in a blog post this past February.

Lisa Somerville

Name: Lisa Somerville

Age: 40

Location: Manhattan IL

Profession: SAHM, Design Team Member for Various Stamp Companies, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

Craft(s) of Choice: Rubber Stamping

Blog: www.lisasomerville.com

I’ve been crafting one thing or another since I was little.  I can vividly remember my mom coming into my room when I was little, looking for me.  I was under the bed crocheting an chain to start an afghan to put on my bed.  As I grew older, I did rug latch kits, cross stitching, you name it, I’ve dabbled in it.  About 5 years ago, I started rubber stamping….one stamp let to another, and yet another, now I have a studio full!  I’m blessed to work with some great companies doing design work with their images.  I’m also an Independent Demonstrator for Stampin’ Up!, and teach classes out of my home.

Stamping, scrapbooking, and all Paper Arts

Name: Lynn Mercurio

Age: 51

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Profession: Executive Assistant

Craft(s) of Choice: Stamping, scrapbooking, and all Paper Arts

Blog: http://stamperosity.com

As a child, I always had a pencil or crayon in my hand. Being the only child at home, I had to occupy myself a good deal of the time, and paper, paste, scissors and crayons were my plaything of choice. Well, I’ve move on from Crayons to Copic markers and from paste to a variety of adhesives, but my love for all things papercrafting hasn’t changed.

I was introduced to stamping in mid 2005 and soon after became a demonstrator sharing my love for my newfound hobby with anyone who would listen. This hobby quickly turned into a passion for all things related to papercrafting. I work full-time as an executive assistant, but I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do than spend time in my crating space enjoying the feel of paper and the joy of releasing my creative mojo.

Mary Lynn

Name: Mary Lynn

Age: 54

Location: Ohio

Profession: Relocation Manager

Craft(s) of choice: Knitting, Crocheting, Sewing, Scrapbooking, Stamping

Blog: http://isnoacompletesentence.blogspot.com

For my 8th birthday, my Gramma decided that I should learn to knit. Being that she believed that making small stuff was a waste of time, the pattern and yarn she gave me was a cabled sweater in pink mohair.

The thing is, I did it.

Later (about two years), our Girl Scout Troop had knitting lessons as part of a badge at a local department store (remember when department stores had yarns/fabrics, etc.). The woman teaching the course did not expect or appreciate a 10 year old who already knew how to knit.

Years later, when my Mom was having problems with her hands, a friend introduced her to Continental knitting and Elizabeth Zimmerman. My Mom, in turn, did me the same favor.

In the past ten years or so, knitting has become my passion. It saved me when I returned to school and eventually went all the way through graduate school to get my MBA. Nothing like a little knitting break to make the Finance and Statistics courses make sense!