We thank Becca Feeken for all her inspiring projects using the S5-018 Poinsettia Frame! WOW! Remember to enter our Frenzy contest by sending an email by July 21st (11:59PM EST). The email link is in Becca’s blog!

For Day Thirteen, we have Design Team Member Jennifer Davis giving us her take on our newest reveal, S7-015 Holiday Lights Border Grand and S4-225 Holiday Cheer®.

Your favorite color combination to work with?
I love creating with the color RED. I have to work hard not to use it on every project I do. I gravitate towards bright bold colors in general.

Your first paper craft piece you made with Spellbinders™?
I purchased my first Wizard™ in early 2004 and immediately started to use it to make many layouts of my son. I recently posted about this on my blog. Please check this post to see my first page made with Spellbinders™!

Do you shop for supplies mostly online or locally?
A little bit of both. The nearest scrapbook and craft stores are at least 40 minutes away, so I don’t shop as much as I’d like. I find it diffcult to shop online unless I know exactly what I need. I’m a tactile person. I like to feel and touch paper before buying. Lack of nearby shopping (and budget) is partly what makes me a hybrid scrapper. If I don’t have something, I create an alternative and print it rather than driving all that way to the store to get it.

Your favorite Spellbinders™ storage tip?
I’m not sure if I could cope without magnet sheets. I punch holes in them and have them in 3-ring binders. I’ve seen people put them into page protectors, hang them on walls or just keep the sheets loose. Magnets Rock!

Are you a messy crafter or an organized crafter?
I have to start a project with my area clean but by the time I’m done, it’s a disaster. If I’m working on a large project, sometimes I have to stop in the middle and clean up. But usually only if I lose an important tool amidst the chaos!

Here are some of Jennifer’s creations!

Sherry Cheever did a wonderful job about snow that some of us are getting chills! Thank you, Sherry, on all those inspirational projects made with S4-222 Create-A-Flake One and S4-224 Snowflake Border Petite! Remember to enter our Blog Frenzy contest by sending in an email by July 18th (11:59 PM EST) - the link is on Sherry’s blog!

On Day Ten, we have Design Team Member Debbie Seyer revealing our newest one, S4-233 Labels Nine die template.

Do you have a scrap room or a scrap area?
I have this nice little corner of my basement. My husband, Keith, fixed it up with cabinets and a small counter (where my Wizard™ sits) plus room for extra tables and my computer.

Are you a messy crafter or an organized crafter?
I am an extremely messy crafter. I usually have my kids help me clean up all the bits of cardstock, glitter, etc. every couple of weeks. My supplies are pretty well organized. At least, I know where they are!

Favorite color combinations to work with?
I love the Pink/Brown color combo and variations of it! I use it a lot and just love those colors together.

Are you an altered arts, scrapbook or card kinda gal?
I am definitely a card kinda gal. I love to make cards and find it’s the easiest part of my design team projects to fulfill!

Who is your favorite promotional partner?
I actually have two favorites. My Mind’s Eye is one. I just love the beautiful patterned papers. It’s all so colorful and easy to work with. I like Core’dinations cardstock. It is such a unique product to work with. I love all the different looks you can get with it when sanding, embossing or distressing.

Just some of Debbie’s most recent creations!

Talk about Christmas in July! Julie Overby reminded us of the holiday season with her use of the S7-016 Poinsettia Border Grand…great projects, Julie! Don’t forget to enter our Frenzy contest by sending in an email by July 17th (11:59PM EST)…the email link is in Julie’s blog.

To continue with the holiday theme, Sherry Cheever will be showing us the next reveal for Day Nine which is S4-222 Create-A-Flake One® and S4-224 Snowflake Border Petite.

Sherry has been doing some sort of crafting since she was a little girl. Craft items were always available to her as a child from crayons to paints by numbers. From a kind neighbor, she learned how to knit. Her aunt taught Sherry how to embroider and cross-stitch. She painted with oils and watercolors for many years. Even earned some spending money in college by selling watercolor paintings of race cars at the local speedway. Sherry was introduced to rubber stamping when her girls were young and eventually became her craft of choice. Sherry’s favorite Spellbinders die template (for now) are the S4-138 Petite Ovals, Large and S4-085 Snowflake Wonder (how timely!). She enjoys creating cards and dabbling in altered items. Sherry considers her style to be very eclectic.

Some of Sherry’s creations to share with you!

Greetings!

Today is the start of our CHA Blog Frenzy and it’s a biggie! Not only did we have a Frenzy about our Pendant Collection but now we’ve got 17 more new items to be frenzied about! For details on rules and schedule, please look HERE.

Design Team Member, Debbie Olson, will kick off with her take on our first reveal….S5-019 Labels Eight Nestabilities®!

Debbie has a B.A. in Commercial Art/Graphic Design plus an M.S. in Secondary Education. Much of what Debbie learned in art classes still applies to her today (basic designs, color theory, drawing and coloring skills). A busy mom, she home-schools during the day and creates mostly after 10pm. Debbie describes her style as eclectic - she appreciates so many different styles from clean and fresh to detailed and vintage. We hear she is rarely without a sanding block at her finger tips!

Here a sampling of Debbie’s beautiful work of art!

Toss aside those parkas and bask in the beautiful South Carolina sunshine, and grab yourself a tall glass of Pink Lemonade with Keri Lee Sereika.

Do you like to make cards or scrapbooks or altered? - I love to create Altered Items but find that I don’t have as much time as I would like right now…so I get more cards than anything else done these days!

Marital status/Kids/? I am married to a USAF Pilot and have three kids with the fourth expected in June

Aside from paper, what other materials have you used? I work with Clay, Fabric, Wood, Tile…you name it, I have probably used it at some point!

Where do you look for inspiration when you are about to start something new? I tend to just look around me…I love to go outside for fresh air and sunshine then I like to get a good magazine and scan for fresh color palettes and design ideas.

What kind of workspace do you have? I am blessed to have a 16 x 10 studio that is attached to my kids play room. I can keep an eye on them and work at the same time!

Is there anything you would like to add? Can’t think of anything! LOL Other than I write for two magazines - Crafts N Things and Scrap & Stamp Arts Magazine perhaps.

Visit Keri Lee’s blog, Pink Lemonade, for a refreshing new die template!  Yes, there is another drawing for the ever increasing prize package, don’t forget to send in your entry!

Today we travel to the frozen tundra, um, I mean the Chicago Suburbs to meet Beth Pingry…hey, that’s me!

My experience in paper arts started as a child. “I kept scrapbooks for as long as I can remember and I always had a camera nearby,”  (My first was a Brownie Hawkeye!). My four years in high school were filled with art classes and I earned a marketing degree in college. Until the births of my boys, she worked in the business world. As a stay at home mom, I reconnected with my creative muse when I discovered a scrapbook store.  My college sweetheart and husband of 19 years supports my habits cheerfully (most of the time). I love heritage, timeless traditional styles in her crafts and at home. I started out as a scrapbooker, but have become passionate about altered art and digital designs.  I’ve been designing with Spellbinders for 3 years, and will be co-writing this blog, along with some other fun stuff.

Here is sample of some of my favorite art.

Come visit my blog, Cookies for Breakfast, to see what I’ve cooked up today, and enter to win some fabulous die templates.

Spellbinders would like to welcome Becca Feeken to our Blog Team.

How long have you been crafting? What led you to it? How did you start?
I’ve been crafting all my life. My mother was the leader of my brownie troop and crafting was the entertainment in our household. She taught me to knit and crochet and by the age of 13 I began to sew my own clothes. Let’s just say I was never bored as a child. Fast forward to today and I still love all my childhood crafts and have added quilting, cross stitch, beading, machine embroidery, machine knitting and stamping.

Did you go to school for art or design?
I didn’t go to school for art, but found myself spending a good deal of time working with Community Theatre. During those days I enjoyed helping on costume and set design. Years later I worked for a hotel company in Sales and often sold weddings complete with decorations and catering. I was often pressed into service as the gift buyer for corporate gifts, so I developed a style and loved for our gifts to have flair!

What is your inspiration?
I’ve always been drawn to color and texture and over the years it led me to collect yarn, fabric, thread, paper, ribbons and coloring tools. When you hold these things in your hands, it’s easy to dream of the possibilities…

What is your favorite die template? Favorite technique? Favorite Preferred Product?
My favorite dies are the label die templates because of their versatility. They have a classic feel and their shapes draw the eyes in to focus on whatever you want to highlight. My favorite technique with dies is framing and adding layers. I like using the clean cut lines of one to cut the frame and then either like my main image to rise above or to sit lower – it simply adds interest and texture to an otherwise flat card. My favorite product are die cuts – probably because I’m absolutely horrible at hand cutting – worse than a first grader – and die cuts are easy to use and give a clean and professional finish. Of course my favorite dies are Spellbinders – the ability to cut, emboss and stencil all on one die grabbed me in the infancy of the company.

How would you describe your style?
I love classic elegance and flair and am mindful of those qualities when creating. For each piece I try to do something on the piece that is unique or I try to use something that is not normally found in the card and scrapbooking section. I try to be as meticulous as possible when cutting, constructing and situating pieces and often lean towards a less is more mentality. Dies cuts, punches, ribbon and pearls are my every day tools.

This is one of my all time favorite projects and from the initial inspiration to the end, only took several hours. I wanted a piece to actually use at Thanksgiving that would lend some elegance and organization to the meal so I produced this program. It let our guests know what was on the menu as well as the customs that my family observes at Thanksgiving. It was so easy to put together using the Spellbinders Long Rectangles and Long Scalloped Rectangles. The menus were printed on my computer and the background was achieved with one large background stamp. My set is going to be made into a scrapbook page so that we can remember the festivities of this year.

This is one of my favorite cards because the shapes I used allowed me to make a frame. Framing with Spellbinders is my favorite die cutting technique because it adds depth and interest to the card. In this one there are so many borders to pull your focus in to the center of the card. The die cuts make the card clear and crisp.

Thank you, Becca! Don’t forget to visit Becca’s blog, Amazing Paper Grace to see today’s new Spellbinders Die Template!

Introducing Sherry Cheever!

Its Sherry’s day to celebrate Spellbinder’s 5th Anniversary with a Sneak Peek and give away!  Be sure to visit Sherry’s blog for all the goods!
Sherry was kind enough to submit to my inquisition, and here’s what she had to say:

How long have you been crafting? What led you to it? How did you start?
I’ve been doing some sort of crafting since I was a little girl.  Craft items were always available to me as a child, whether they were crayons, paints by numbers, etc.  I learned to knit from a neighbor and my aunt taught me how to embroider and cross-stitch.  I have always been involved in some type of crafting since then.  I painted with oils and watercolors for many years and earned my spending money in college by selling watercolor paintings of race cars at the local speedway.  I was introduced to rubber stamping when my girls were young, and after some time it became my craft of choice.

Did you go to school for art or design?
Yes, my minor was art.  I wanted to teach.

What is your favorite die?
I think my favorite dies at the moment are the petite ovals.  Of course, I love the snowflakes.

Do you prefer to make cards or scrapbooks or altered?
I prefer card making and altered items.

Are you married? Kids? Where do you live?
I live in Jeffersonville, Indiana and have been married for 30 years.  We have two daughters 20 and 22.

Do you work outside home?
No.  After having worked full and/or part time for many years, I became a stay-at-home when my youngest daughter was in high school.  Now I suppose I qualify as an empty-nester.

When do you usually craft?
Afternoon and evening.

Do you craft alone or with friends?
I craft alone.  I need the freedom to move around.

What do you use most - paper, hybrid or digital?
Paper

How would you describe your style?
I consider my style very eclectic.

What kind of craft room do you have?
I have a separate room in the basement (my oldest daughter’s former bedroom) that is now my space.

Thank you, Sherry!  Now run over to her blog and see what fabulous die template Sherry is revealing today.  Be sure to enter to win today’s prize package, which includes all the die templates from days 1-4!

Check your email!  If you entered, you could be a winner!  We will announce winners here, once we have contacted them.

Today we welcome Michelle Wooderson, a Spellbinder’s Blogger, stamper, scrapbooker, wife, mother and teacher, AND our hostess of Day 2 of Spellbinder’s 5th Anniversary Party. Be sure to visit Michelle’s Blog Mish Mash to see today’s reveal of the latest die template from Spellbinders Paper Arts, AND to enter to win yesterday’s and today’s die templates, AND qualify for the grand prize, see details and rules here.

Michelle, where do you get your inspiration?

I get inspiration from looking through magazines of all kinds, browsing through store aisles like Target, looking through catalogs, visiting junk stores and antique stores, and browsing my favorite web sites and blogs. I love vintage and antique items and often look for new ways to use old, found objects.

Where do you get ideas for a new project?

When I’m starting a new project, I am often inspired by a simple piece of new cardstock, a snippet of ribbon, a stamp set or some item I’ve found at the junk store or a garage sale. That one little tidbit of inspiration inspires me to create my Inspiration Stations. I gather up other crafty items that will coordinate and work with my item. By gathering all the goodies together in one spot, I can easily pick and choose what I want to work with.

Besides paper, what other materials have you used?

I have recently taken up quilting and other sewing projects. I can’t wait to incorporate fabrics, wools and other materials into my upcoming projects. I think the combination of paper crafting and sewing works hand in hand.

What do you enjoy most about crafting?

The thing I love most about crafting is that usually I am creating something for someone. I use my crafting in my every day life so that I can make gifts for teachers, friends and family. I also love to decorate my home with my hand made items. I really love the one of a kind feel that you get when creating something hand made.

Introducing Debbie Olson!  Visit Debbie’s blog Thinking Inking,  today to see the first die template revealed for Spellbinder’s 5th Anniversary Party.

I had a chance to catch up with Debbie, and here is what she shared with me.

Did attend school for art or design?
I have a B.A in Commercial Art/Graphic Design, and an M.S. in Secondary Education. I learned much in my art classes that I still apply today–basics of design and color theory, as well as drawing and coloring skills.

When do you usually craft?
I craft any time I can slip away undetected during the day, as well as half of the night! I am a home-schooling mom by day, however, so most of my craft time is after 10pm.

What kind of craft space do you have?
Right now I’m working in a makeshift [disaster] area, but my wonderful husband is working on finishing a studio for me!  The stud walls, insulation, and wiring are now in. It’s almost time for drywall. . .  I can hardly wait to have a place for everything!

Can you describe your style?
In a word, eclectic. I appreciate many different styles, from clean and fresh, to detailed and vintage. I probably lean toward the slightly shabby, however. A sanding block is rarely far from my hand.

Where do you shop for supplies?
Because I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, about two hours from any crafting superstore, the majority of my goodies come by UPS or USPS. Sometimes it’s hard to choose papers that way, not being able to see them in person and touch them. But getting to see them at CHA, or simply knowing what companies’ products I gravitate toward is a help.

Debbie is sharing a few of her recent cards.  Click on title of the cards to read more about them.

Beauty for Ashes

For My Son

No Winter Lasts Forever
Beautiful work, Debbie!  Thank you for sharing with us!
Don’t forget to visit see Debbie’s Sneak Peek today and enter to win that die template!

Remember, you need to follow the instructions for sending the email to enter the contest.  We love your comments, but we cannont enter you from the comments sections.  The contest is sponsored by Spellbinders Paper Arts, not the individual artists.