Patti Moore

Name: Patti Moore

Age: 54

Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Profession: Self-Taught Artist, Preschool Teacher

Craft(s) of Choice: Drawing, Digital Art, Paper Arts, Mixed Media, Painting

Blog: http://pholkartblessings.blogspot.com/

I’m a self-taught artist who LOVES creating colorful illustrations and whimsical childrens’ art! I specialize in creating Digital Stamps for
Papercrafting, which I offer in my Etsy shop, PHOLKART*BLESSINGS.

I work during the school year in a preschool as a teacher’s assistant… Last year I had a great time with 3 year olds, especially enjoying their music & art-making! In the summer months, I “put on my Artist’s Hat” & work on new digi stamp designs for my small-but-growing Etsy shop. My “studio buddy” is our rescued black lab, Winnie, who is super-sweet & laid back.

I actually didn’t begin drawing ’til my oldest son went to preschool (I was 28 at the time). He HATED Lunch Bunch, so I started doodling little pictures to put in his lunch box each day. I don’t honestly know if that helped him at all, but I fell in LOVE with drawing! I think of my style as a little bit cartooning, a little bit folk art, & a whole lot of color!

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.

Vanessa Coppola

Name: Vanessa Coppola

Age: 26

Location: Peoria, AZ

Profession: Family Counselor, Crafter Extraordinaire, Amateur Wanna-Be Photographer, Wanna-Be Writer

Craft(s) of Choice: Jewelry, Paper Arts, Sewing, Scrapbooking

Blog: http://designsbyvanessa.blogspot.com/

My love for all things crafty comes from a long line of crafters in my family. As a young child I can remember sitting down to color with my dad but in addition to the typical crayola crayons, he would bring out water colors, tile pieces for mosaics and other supplies to fuel my creativity. Creating is how I have learned to express happiness, sadness and all other in between emotions-it is my outlet.

Leslie Wind, photo by Marilyn Humphries

Name: Leslie Wind

Age: 59

Location: Rockport, MA

Profession: Jeweler

Craft(s) of Choice: jewelry making, crochet, knit, paper arts

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

The year was 1968 and my high school boyfriend’s sister, Sue Levine was just back from CA. She had been making earrings with brass wire and glass beads. After showing me her pliers, hammers and wire cutters and giving me some beads to play with she set me loose. I have not stopped since. I guess that is why I have started teaching shawl pin making workshops geared for knitters, crocheters and weavers with no experience with working in metal. It is a wonderful feeling to see that same look I had so many years ago. And, it combines my two loves.

Aileen Roberts

Name: Aileen Roberts

Age: 44

Location: Modesto, California

Profession: Small Arts & Crafts Business owner and Altered Artist

Craft(s) of Choice: Altering the ordinary and turning it into something unique extraordinary using paint, paper and found objects.

Blog: http://aileensmusings.blogspot.com

Having grown up with a mother who was a high school art teacher/artist it seemed perfectly normal to me to come home on any given day and find that my mother had made a hanging lamp out of paper mache or that she had painted big swirls and stripes of paint across her bedroom wall and continued it on into the bathroom and across the toilet seat! I grew up surrounded by creativity and remember feeling luckier then most kids because of it. As an adult I truly appreciate and am thankful for my creative upbringing. I’ve raised my own kids in a creative environment  as well and there’s rarely a day that goes by that we aren’t all creating, designing, inventing and/or building something. I feel strongly that every child’s creative door should be opened and kept open.

Eileen Bellamo

Name: Eileen Bellomo

Age: 60

Location: The Bronx, New York!!

Profession:  I am now retired, but I was an elementary school teacher for nearly 35 years.  More time to craft now.  Yea!

Craft(s) of Choice: I’ll try anything.  I knit, scrapbook, make cards, am obsessed with ATCs, have done fused glass, I take painting classes, and was a potter when I was younger and had a better back, lol.  Right now I pretty much confine myself to anything to do with paper.  I love paper and collect it shamelessly.

Blog: http://www.artsaveslives-paperqueen.blogspot.com

What got me started:  I was not quite 5, in kindergarten, and busy copying a picture of Abraham Lincoln that hung in front of the classroom. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be doing something else.  Instead of getting angry, the teacher called my mother and said, “get this child some art lessons.”  My mom registered me in a great children’s art program at the Brooklyn Museum, and every Saturday we went to a different gallery there,  and drew what we saw.  I mostly remember the African section, sitting on the floor, sketching the masks in a sketch pad that was almost larger than I was,  then going home and trying to make one myself with brown paper bags and assorted scraps.  Loved it then, love it now! Crafting frees me from day to day worries, gets me out of my own head for a while.  Like my blog name says:   Art Saves Lives!

Shirley Pando

Name: Shirley Pando

Age: 48

Location: Longwood(Orlando), Florida

Profession: SAHM, Independent Scrapbook Instructor with I Remember When, Creative Arts Instructor with My Creative Classroom(online crafting site)

Craft(s) of Choice: Scrapbooking, Paper Arts, Mixed Media

Blog: shirleypando.blogspot.com

I have been a crafter of many kinds for most of my life.  In fact, I still have some of my drawings, sketches and decoupage projects from my pre-teen years!

I started scrapbooking after I found huge boxes of old family photos at my parents’ house.  For ten months I created seven identical scrapbooks for my siblings and parents for Christmas that year.  Imagine the tears and surprise when they opened the 42-page books I had made.  Well, there was no turning back for me…I was absolutely hooked on my new artistic hobby.

I have an at-home scrapbooking business where I host monthly crops in my home, vend at local events, scrap-4-hire and have sold handmade items on eBay.  I have been a product demonstrator for Xyron, Inc. and have created projects for the company’s website and product packaging. I have also worked the consumer scrapbook shows for a few years with two different scrapbook companies.

I love being able to preserve memories of my family and my life, but I extremely enjoy the artistic side of the craft.  Altered items, hand lettering, machine stitching on paper creating books from scratch.  I could go on about the love I have with paper.

I am extremely thrilled to have the opportunity to teach online crafting classes at My Creative Classroom.  I get to create what I love and share my passion with others.  It really can’t get much better!!

Tara V Lisciandro-Hornich

Name: Tara V Lisciandro-Hornich

Age: 36

Location: NJ

Profession : Educator, Artist

Craft(s) of Choice: Collage, Paper Arts, pieces of this and that…

Blog: www.rossellajayne.com

As a child and student, crafting and art weren’t very important to me, which probably disappointed my artist-mom. She could do anything with some pain and a brush! But that all changed when I was 22 and off to Italy for a year of study – Art became my life and I soaked it up as much as I could. After coming back to the US, five years later, I opened a little crafts studio in NJ. I loved it, I had great clients, great customers, great classes and just an-all-around GREAT time. Sadly, divorce struck, store had to close. Now, it’s six years later and I’m considering going into  business again. I have done a number of invitations and cards, memory books and pieces for many clients. I have started to put a website together and I have become an Etsy-crazed surfer – finding so many talented people and beautiful things there! I also adore teaching and I love sharing my creative talents with others, encouraging them to find their creativity too!

I have a one-year old daughter – she already ADORES paper – good signs!!! I’m hoping so anyway! Maybe she won’t need to find art in Italy, well, maybe she will. But hopefully she’ll enjoy arts and crafts with mom and keep encouraging me to build another creative arts business.