Divine Diva Special: Meet the Team!

We have an extra Thursday this month, so unfortunately it's not yet time for our next challenge. But I have something a little special for you today. I've asked the Divine Divas to answer a few questions about themselves so we can get to know them a little better! These are the questions I came up with:

(1) Where is your hometown?
(2) Where do you live now (if different)?
(3) How long have you been stamping?
(4) What is your favorite stamping/cardmaking style?
(5) What do you find most challenging or difficult when you're making a card?

Then for fun I gave the Divas the option of suggesting a question for us to answer:

(6) What is your all-time favorite color? (from Chat)
(7) What is your favorite technique? (from Chris)
(8) What is your favorite embellishment? What do all of your cards have to have? (from Keri)
(9) What do you usually start with when designing a card? The colors, the image, or something else? (from Julie)

Ready? Here we go!

Angela

1) Where is your hometown? Brampton, ON

2) Where do you live now (if different)? Brampton, ON

3) How long have you been stamping? It's getting close to four years since I was introduced to stamping.

4) What is your favorite stamping/cardmaking style? Clean and Simple

5) What do you find most challenging or difficult when you're making a card? Colouring images. I just can't get the hang of shading.

6) What is your all-time favourite colour? Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chip

7) What is your favorite technique? I'm not much into techniques but I guess I'd have to say embossing.

8) What is your favorite embellishment? What do all of your cards have to have? It's a tie between dimensionals and ribbon. It's unusual for me to make a card without one or the other.

9) What do you usually start with when designing a card? The colors, the image, or something else? It depends, but I'd have to say the image most often. I like to do challenges, though, so I can have different starting points based on them.

Chat

I consider Glendale, Arizona as my hometown since I have lived here for so long, although I was born in Manila, Philippines. I have been stamping for the last 13 years and became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator shortly after. It has been the most fun and rewarding job ever.

My style in stamping: I love the clean and simple look but every now and then I go for some detailed elements that combine colors, technique and my signature style.
What is challenging for me: more than anything is following directions. I am so visual that sometimes I can't seem to follow directions and measurements. But once I see a card or a project, I can pretty much copy it and alter it.

My all-time favorite color is Chocolate Chip.

Chris

1. and 2. I was born in Newton, New Jersey, and lived there with my parents, older sister and younger brother on a dairy farm until I was 13 years old. At 13 we moved to upstate New York. I attended college in Grand Rapids, MI for my BA in Elem. and special education. When I returned home to New York I met my hubby who lived downstate New York. After 6 months of a long distance relationship, I moved downstate as well where we married (11 years ago). I currently live in downstate New York in Bloomingburg, 60-70 miles from the city.

3. I began stamping when I was introduced to stamping by my sister who is a Stampin' Up! Demo 6 years ago. I have been addicted ever since. It is a hobby and a way of escape or relaxing for me.

4. I have been told that I have a certain style about my cards and you can always tell that I made a particular card because of that style. What that style is I am not sure. I like to make shabby chic, elegant and cutesy cards with a lot of detail.

5. What I find most difficult when stamping is making clean and simple cards. I love the details and embellishments so clean and simple is difficult for me.

6. My favorite colors are Baja Breeze, teal, and pink.

7. My favorite tool is the cuttlebug because I love using my embossing folders to create textures and my nesties for die cutting. It adds so much detail to a card.

8. My favorite embellishment is bling, lace, and ribbon. I love extra glitz!

9. I usually start with an image and cardstock or designer paper when I begin my card. I guess I look at my image and think of what colors would go and then go from there.

Julie

1) Where is your hometown? I was born in San Antonio, TX but I grew up in Corpus Christi, TX

2) Where do you live now (if different)? northeast of Atlanta, GA

3) How long have you been stamping? seriously about 10 years, but casually a lot longer. I guess I was first exposed to a form of stamping way back in High School art classes. We carved linoleum blocks for our images. For years after that, I carved erasers, made lino blocks, even used felt glued onto wood for stamps.

4) What is your favorite stamping/cardmaking style? I love it all, but I'm partial to lots of layers and lots of details. I love to make backgrounds.

5) What do you find most challenging or difficult when you're making a card? The most difficult kind of card for me is a CAS (clean and simple). I love them, but they are hard for me.

6) What is your all-time favorite color? That's easy, GREEN (any shade). I love color, especially jewel tones and brights. I have a little trouble w/ pastels.

7) What is your favorite technique? Watercoloring, particularly watercoloring w/ markers

8) What is your favorite embellishment? What do all of your cards have to have? I'm terrible about remembering to use embellishments. But my cards almost always have to have the edges finished. I like to edge my layers w/ a marker to finish them off.

9) What do you usually start with when designing a card? The colors, the image, or something else? For me, it's usually the image first, then the color. But I love doing the sketch and inspiration challenges.

Keri

1) Where is your hometown? Cleveland, Ohio

2) Where do you live now (if different)? Fort Gordon, Georgia

3) How long have you been stamping? For about 6 years

4) What is your favorite stamping/cardmaking style? Not sure but I like the look of fresh, clean lines and images

5) What do you find most challenging or difficult when you're making a card? Starting with the color or stamp set. I never know what to do and have a hard time deciding.

6) What is your all-time favorite color? It is a toss up for me between purple, pink and green. I love them all together :)

My favorite embellishment would have to be ribbon or primas.. It is much a tie between the 2 and all of my cards seem to have to have layers.. Lots and lots of layers...

And not to be left out, here is mine:

I grew up in Elkhart, Indiana. I've lived in a lot of places since then but now I call Littleton, Massachusetts, home. Believe it or not, I've not yet reached the two-year mark since I first picked up a stamp. I was hooked the first time I tried it, and I became an SU demo in September 2007. I love every minute of it!

My favorite style of stamping I would classify as elegant, shabby chic, vintage... or all of those at once! But I also like to mix it up and do cute and whimsical sometimes too. The biggest challenge for me has to be layouts. That's why you find me doing lots of sketch challenges - they take that problem out of the picture and allow me to create more freely. But sometimes I go out on my own and do OK. I'm learning. ;)

My all-time favorite color... that is a toughie. I really adore a lot of colors but right now I think I'd have to say Baja Breeze is my favorite. My favorite technique lately is coloring - I'm really having fun with my Copics. I love embellishments of all kinds but ribbon has to be my favorite, and I hardly ever make a card without dimensionals.

I have a lot of different ways I start a card - often it's from a challenge so that gives me a starting point. I probably start with layout, image, or colors, in that order. I rarely sit down without some kind of plan or idea, and if I do, I'll usually chase down a challenge to get me going!

I hope you've had fun getting to know all of the Divine Divas a little better. Come back in a week for our next challenge on May 7!