Donya, welcome to the Designer Spotlight! How’s the weather out there in Iowa? Let’s get some hot chocolate and spend a little time together.

Tell us about your crafting life.
I’ve been pretty much crafting since birth. I’m not sure if it would qualify as nature or nurture, but everyone in my family is amazingly crafty, for example: my uncle built his own unicycle when he was a kid and my mom restored furniture. They are great role models and teachers.

Did you go to school for art or design?
No, but did always sneak out of pep rallies in high school so I could spend a little extra time in the unattended art room!

What inspires you?
I’m an extremely visual person (surprise) so going to museums is a great way for me to get inspired. The last time I went, I wound up coming home and everything I made that week had gilt frames on it! When I can’t get to an art museum, historical museums are great. I went to Amelia Earhart’s childhood home in Atchison, KS, and got totally inspired by the great, funny family photos in a scrapbook they had laying on a dresser. That and the wallpaper, I took a bunch of pictures of their great floral wallpapers!

What is your favorite die template?
My favorite die template….well I am completely in love with all of the Label dies, but if I had to pick one single favorite it would have to be the 12″ Classic Lace Border. It is so perfect for all my frippery needs.

Favorite Technique?
Reverse Stenciling! Oh, it just makes the nicest borders on the Spellbinders Nestabilities, and is such a neat effect with the shaped dies. Plus, I tend to get a bit inky when I’m doing that technique. You can always tell I’m having a good time if my fingers are inky.

Preferred Product?
Websters Pages is my favoritest of all my favorite preferred product. I am a sucker for their paper. Swoon. But aside from my paper addiction I go through TONS of Kokuyo’s Tape ‘n Roller plus refills, it is the best tape runner (and I’ve tried dozens)!

Do you prefer to make cards, scrapbooks, or altered?
I like to make cards because I can do them in a day and share them. My scrapbook pages are really disjointed chronologically and topically, since I end to just scrapbook whatever photo appeals to me that day, but I love the idea of passing on not only the photo, and the basic information of the event, but also the feeling you had about it (through color and style choices). I’m still really intimidated by altering objects, but I think I love it the best since it makes me stretch my abilities the furthest.

Martial status, offspring, city?
I’m a single chicita living in extremely rural eastern Iowa. My black cat, Jack, and I just love it up here. I live and work at my family’s bed and breakfast while I restore the “house in town”, and old Victorian with a huge yard full of peonies and other wonderful old fashioned flowers left by the original owners of the house.

Do you shop for supplies locally?
I shop for supplies VERY locally I own a scrapbook shop with my Aunt Michelle. It’s very convenient to just be able to to cross the room and pick out whatever I need from stock, but nothing beats the thrill of the hunt I get from trying to hunt down uncommon supplies for customers who can’t find what their looking for anywhere else.

What have you been working on this week?
A diet journal. Sigh. I decided to bite the bullet and start counting calories, but the prospect is a lot more cheering when I get to keep all my information in an art journal.

Besides paper, what other materials have you used?
I love paint and soft gel medium. Oh, that stuff is fun! I’m pretty sure if you could eat it with a spoon without having to call poison control, I’d try. You have to try using it with a palette knife through the Spellbinder die templates. Way cool dimension.

Where do you look for inspiration for starting something new?
I have a huge folder on my desk full of ideas I pulled from galleries online (like the Spellbinders Inspiration Alley). Anytime a technique or new style catches my eye, I print it out for future reference, then when I need a quick jump start on my creative process, I thumb through the file and say- Oh, yeah, I wanted to try that!

What has been the most difficult aspect for you to learn?
I have trouble keeping projects simple.  I always work myself into a lather trying to do one more thing with a project, when really, my best stuff are things I got frustrated with, went for a walk, came back and decided that that one thing more would have been one thing too much.

What do find most pleasing about crafting?
Sharing it!

What else do you like to do aside from scrapbooking?
I am a baker. Cupcakes, layer cakes, biscuits, bread. Hmmm, and I wonder why I need a diet journal, lol.

What are two craft tools that you could not live without?
Paper piercer. Useful for poking holes in paper for brads, and making beautiful designs.  I’d probably hyperventilate if anything serious ever happened to my tape runner. Glue sticks just don’t cut it for 99% of projects.

Thoughts regarding a favorite piece?
The longest and hardest part of any project is getting inspired. Layouts themselves go very quickly once I have an idea. I pick a photo, then pick my paper to show it off. Embellishments set the theme. Usually the last thing to go on is the title for me, which is funny since it’s such a huge design element, but by the time I get the layout done, usually the title comes to me in a flash (and usually a fit of giggles). I’d say on average, I’m a slow scrapper. It will take me a whole day or longer to do a layout, but I don’t just sit there and stare at it either. If my ideas aren’t moving, then I get up and move myself. Go do something else, it’s the best way I know to get unstuck.

I love putting one big picture on a page so you can really get the detail. If I’d had this photo any smaller, you would be able to notice the horse (Dude) is watching the rainbow. I also love the fresh colors on this layout with all the fun, funky fresh green four leaf clovers made from Heart Nestabilities.

This is one of my favorite projects because I kept it simple and it came out fabulous! Plus shaped cards are so fun.

Spellbinders Die Templates do heritage and elegant better than any other dies on the market, I think. Look how great the cameo frame and rose border look on this may basket. The elements make it very pretty, without being overly “cute”. As a bonus I was able to make one of these for each of my neighbors without having to sacrifice my favorite metal bee charm, I was able to replicate with some foil with the Wizard.

To follow Donya’s artistic journey, see her bio and visit her blog, Puckish.

Tags: Donya Schroeder

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