Meet your editors

CraftGossip relies on its bunch of dedicated editors to bring you the latest in craft gossip. Each sub-blog has its own editor so that you know that you are getting the best information possible. This page tells you a little about each editor so that you can know the faces behind the gossip!

Jewelry Making: Mardi Robyn (jewelrymaking@craftgossip.com)

Bio coming soon.

Knitting: Sarah White (knitting@craftgossip.com)

Sarah White

Sarah E. White comes from a long line of crafters, back to the time before they called it craft and it was just what people did to get by. Her mother and grandmother taught her the rudiments of knitting, sewing, cross stitch, baking and canning, and she’s since built up her knitting skills (less so the other ones) and taught herself to crochet. She’s the Guide to Knitting for About.com (http://knitting.about.com) and blogs about crafting with kids and crafting for kids at http://sarahewhite.com, where she’s on a quest to find the perfect recipe for homemade playdough. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with her husband and daughter, who is the beneficiary of much crafty goodness and always asks “is that for me?” when she sees crafting going on. Their house is full of yarn, fabric, beads and, now that she’s getting into art journaling, an increasing supply of paper, stamps and embellishments.

Sarah is the author of Picture Yourself Felting Your Knitting and has a second book, all about knitting for babies, due out in 2013.

Candle Making: Heidi Gustad (candlemaking@craftgossip.com)

Heidi Gustad

Heidi Gustad is a librarian and lifelong crafter. She shares how-to’s, vintage crafts, inspiration and handmade news at her blog, Hands Occupied. She lives in Chicago with her husband, pets and craft supply collection.

Indie Crafts: Rosie Bromberg (indiecrafts@craftgossip.com)

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Rosie Bromberg probably would have crafted in the womb, had the lighting been better.  She spent her formative years crafting with her parents and gluing sequins anything that didn’t move. After studying art and multimedia, she decided that a B.A. in English was the best degree. Now, she crafts between writing and working, dabbling in many different mediums. Her favorite part is mixing multimedia technology and traditional techniques with her DIY attitude to create new things. (And the glitter.)

Her favorite part of the indie craft movement is seeing the community of amazing artists and crafters come together to share their work and ideas with each other and with the public. She loves connecting globally through the internet to find like-minded crafters and locally at bazaars, farmer’s markets, craft shows, and indie craft stores. With more and more people becoming connected to the indie craft movement everyday, she sees the future for crafting as very bright and probably glittery

Cross-Stitch: Connie Barwick (cross-stitch@craftgossip.com)

Connie Barwick

Connie Barwick has been stitching since she could hold a needle.  She’s tried her hand at crocheting, embroidery, quilting, painting, mixed-media, needlepoint, but always comes back to her favorite medium – CROSS STITCH. Over the years she’s stitched 100s of projects and created close to 1000 designs for About.com Cross Stitch and Connie Gee’s Designs and she never tires of it.

Connie loves the tight-knit family feel of the Cross Stitch Industry and enjoys attending tradeshows and consulting with Cross Stitch companies, especially regarding social media.  From her home-base in Northwest Georgia, where she lives with her DH (dear husband) and her furry little Lhasa Apso Girlie, her travels always include a stop at a local needlework shop.  She also loves to travel far and wide online to search out the latest, greatest, neatest, coolest gadgets, charts, and tools.  She can’t wait to share them with her Craft Gossip friends.

DIY Weddings Crafts: Kimberly Jonessand (weddings@craftgossip.com)

kimberly-jones
Kimberly Jones has a passion for writing, reading, photography, vintage junk, and paper crafts. She teaches workshops, runs a booth at a local antique mall, and is currently a member of the May Arts Ribbon design team. Kimberly loves to rescue timeworn castaways and incorporate them into collages, handcrafted journals, and dimensional art pieces. She rambles on about her artful journey on her blog: Serendipity Vintage Studio.

Kimberly has been married to her high school sweetheart for 28 years, but she still loves the sparkle and magic of a beautiful wedding! She is constantly amazed by the creativity, imagination, and vision of today’s DIY brides, and can’t wait to share the inspiration she finds with the readers of Craft Gossip.

Home and Garden: Amanda Formaro (homeandgarden@craftgossip.com)

Amanda

Amanda Formaro is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four children. She and her husbajend live in southeast Wisconsin. Amanda loves to bake, cook and make crafts. She is the craft expert for Disney’s Kaboose.com and her work has appeared in several large online magazines over the years. Amanda enjoys making all sorts of crafts and has a special love for tole painting. You can see her crafty creations on Crafts by Amanda and her delicious recipes on Amanda’s Cookin’.

Quilting Editor: Scarlett Burroughs (quilting@craftgossip.com)

ScarlettBurroughs

I’ve dabbled in many a hobby over the years, but one has remained freakishly
consistent – quilting. I was drawn to it by the usual things, there’s a
beauty and comfort you can touch. When my sister was a child, she used to
love resting under one of our grandmother’s scrap quilts. She would pass the
time admiring each patch when she didn’t feel well enough for any other
activity.

But there is more to it. Creating quilts provides me an artistic outlet like
no other. The process and end result are equally rewarding. I’m so crazy
about it, I teach it to anyone who wants to learn. I especially enjoy
collaborative projects that evolve as participants contribute. It
demonstrates a situation where differences are valued and ways are found to
unify the parts as a better whole.

Tuesday is quilt night at my house. I live in the American Southeast which
is known for it’s stormy weather. One Tuesday evening alarms started going
off meaning a tornado was on the ground. We all gathered in my tiny kitchen
to wait it out. We had been there for only a few minutes when one of the
women said, “I’ll be right back”. We asked, “Where are you going?” She said,
“I’m going to get my quilt.” “I’ve put too much time in it for it to blow
away in this storm.” If you understand her sentiment you belong in my club.
If not, you will if you hang out with me long enough. Do join me in
exploring the many faces of quilting.

lessonplansphotoLesson Plans Editor: Kristen Stephens (lessonplans@craftgossip.com)

Kristen recently moved from Northern California to South Florida with her husband and two young girls. As a mother of a 3 and 1 year old,  Kristen finds her sanity and outlet through crafting, computers and cooking. She is a self-proclaimed “internet search geek” and loves finding the newest crafts and activities to do either for herself, or to use to as a homeschooling tool her oldest.

A secondary science teacher by trade, and a mother at heart, Kristen has found the best of both worlds by staying at home with her children, making her house a home, and homeschooling her girls.

Fairly new to the crafting world, Kristen uses the computer to learn new skills, ideas and hopefully one day become come up with her own “creative crafting” ideas… one can dream right?

She is constantly in awe of the talent and creative people she finds when perusing blogs and crafting sites.  Kristen can’t wait to share the many ideas and crafting projects she finds with you in the hopes that you will be encouraged and inspired to create too!

During her tremendous amount of free time, Kristen also works on her own two blogs:
Thyme at Home and 52 Week Preschool where she shares recipe, homeschooling lesson plans and some crafty things she has made

Edible Crafts Editor: Meaghan Mountford (ediblecrafts@craftgossip.com)

Meaghan Mountford

Meaghan is a writer who ended up making lots and lots of cookies. She worked for ten years as head decorator for a cookie shop outside of Washington, DC. Her first book on the art of cookie decorating, Cookie Sensations, was published in 2007 and is getting harder and harder to find. Luckily, she has a second cookbook, Sugarlicious, to be published in 2012, filled with not only decorated cookies, but silly cupcakes, party cakes, painted marshmallows and many more treats. When she’s not at Edible Crafts, find her crafting sweets at her other blog, the decorated cookie (www.thedecoratedcookieblog.com).

She also has an MFA in Literature and an MA in Liberal Arts. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, daughter and three cats.

Glass Art Editor: Cathi Milligan (glassart@craftgossip.com)

cathi-milligan

One of Cathi super powers is her ability to create tasty treats out of glass and fire. With over 15 years of experience, she forms hot glass into little cupcakes and pie slices, sweet little fruits as well as other types of glass beads. In addition to these talents she designs jewelry, fuses glass and has recently finished a how-to book on the craft of macramé.

Besides Cathi’s new book, Mod Knots, she has written for Craft magazine and her work has been seen in In Style magazine, Glass, Bead & Button as well as some Japanese fashion magazines. She has also appeared on the DIY Network’s shows, DIY Jewelry Making and Craft Lab. She has also been seen on TLC and Lifetime demonstrating her crafting abilities.

Cathi is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, CA. and teaches a number of classes in bead making, metal clay, macramé and other jewelry making techniques through out the Southern California area. Cathi also has a background in graphic arts, which manages to spill over into all aspects of her life. She sells her beads and jewelry on line, which can be seen on her website www.beadbrains.com or go directly to www.beadbrains.etsy.com. She also blogs at www.pixieindustries.blogspot.com with information on her upcoming classes and other interesting events.

 

Bath and Body Editor: Valerie Silverthorne (bathnbody@craftgossip.com)

Valerie Silverthorne is a long-time journalist turned small farmer, web designer and cold process soaper. Valerie found her inner soaper (and bath products addiction) after relocating from California to New England…nothing like those long cold winters to make you want to practice home chemistry. Her day job as a web designer/writer gives her time to chase chickens and donkeys and a pig around, as well as dream about her (short-season) garden. Her farm products — from goat’s milk to herbs, flowers and crushed eggshells — often find their way into her soap.

Scrapbooking Editor: Francine Clouden (scrapbooking@craftgossip.com)

Francine hails from the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada and has been making cards since 2001 and scrapbooking since 2002. Scrapbooking and other paper crafts are her creative outlet. Never considered good at art as a child, she is happy to finally find a medium to express her artistic side. She loves yummy patterned papers, buttons, chipboard, stamps and anything textural. She doesn’t mind getting her fingers covered in ink and paint, and will try just about any technique once! Her pages reflect her daily life, travel, thoughts and dreams and random moments. She is also an avid amateur photographer, and you will rarely find her without her trusted Canon 350D. Her work has been published in major magazines such as Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Scrapbook Trends, Cards and Memory Makers. She blogs almost daily at Callaloo Soup and bi-monthly at Tuesday To-Do.

Francine currently lives in France with her husband Lucas and their cats Mozaique and Naâla. They are currently expecting Babe #1. Truly an island girl, she spends the winter months holed up at her desk, scrapping her heart out.

Sewing: Anne E. Weaver (sewing@craftgossip.com)

Anne is a sewing maven and internet addict.  She frequently sends emails to her friends with the heading, “Hey, check this out!” and includes a link to some project or sewing approach that really blows her mind that day.  She loves it when she sees a new twist on an old idea, or when an unusual material is put to more traditional use.  She gets thoroughly giddy when she sees an otherwise complicated technique simplified so that it’s within the creative reach of mere mortals like herself.  The only problem is, there are far too many sewing projects that fall into these categories, and too little space in her friends’ in-boxes.  When the sewing editor position at Craft Gossip came open, she jumped at the opportunity to expand her sphere of influence.

Anne hoards fabric as if it were Belgian chocolate.  At least once a day she opens her fabric closet and gazes upon the veritable candy store right there in her own house.  Sometimes, if a piece of fabric has been very good that day, she’ll take it out and sew it into something really pretty.

Needlework: Denise Felton (needlework@craftgossip.com)
Denise Felton Denise is always happiest with a needle between her fingers. Her personal specialties are hand embroidery on paper and bead embroidery; but she has meddled with everything from candlewicking to bargello, and she’s always looking for new needle-media experiments. She compulsively cruises craft sites and blogs, hunting for bargains, tips, and new twists. She is relieved to have a spot at Craft Gossip that justifies her addiction and makes it appear to be normal behavior. Denise is based in Maumelle, Arkansas, USA. She would love to have your input about all things needlework related.

Polymer Clay: Elaine Robitaille (polymerclay@craftgossip.com)

I’m a self-employed web developer and professional creative type from a small town on the Canadian prairies. My days are split between helping fellow crafters, artists and micro businesses set up their web presences and creating my next piece of art, all in the comfort of my home office and studio space. We often have deer eating in our yard and the creek just past the road provides inspiration every day. My daughter and my partner are moral support, guidance and a continual reality check. Our Siamese cat is my adorable but unhelpful assistant.

For the last 13 years, my medium of choice has been polymer clay. I started with clay when I searched for a way to make my handmade jewellery more unique and found that you could make your own beads without any specialized equipment. I was hooked! In 2002, I found polymer clay on the internet and my work began to develop more quickly. Being able to tap into the collective sharing of the online community gave me the chance to see what was happening, to explore techniques I’d never heard of and eventually to begin giving back to the polymer clay community by teaching and providing tutorials of my own.

These days I teach polymer clay classes to children and adults, do craft shows regularly and sell my work online. My hobbies vary! We are continually renovating here so I’ve become a bit of a DIYer. I read endlessly, play video games, cook, try other crafts, walk, photograph and spend far too much time on the internet. You can see what I’m up to on my own art blog at: http://www.tooaquarius.com

Stamping: Heather Holbrook (stamping@craftgossip.com)

heather100x100
Heather Holbrook has a real passion for paper. She’s always been crafty but her love of stamping and paper arts began in 1996 when she went along with her mother and some friends to her first stamping class and she has been hooked ever since.

She owned Stamps Galore, a rubber stamp store in Lexington KY for three years and has taught stamping, scrapbooking and altered arts classes for the past 10 years. Her work has been published in several magazines including Somerset Studio, Altered Arts and Vamp Stamp News.

When she doesn’t have scissors in her hands or ink on her fingers she enjoys reading, web surfing, watching movies and spending time with her husband, their cat and three dogs.

You can see Heather’s collage art and soldered jewelry at: www.PisforPaper.com and at her shop on Etsy: www.PisforPaper.etsy.com.

Felting: Linda Lanese (felting@craftgossip.com)

Linda Lanese

I am from the Midwest and I am a freelance graphic designer and I work for companies and individuals designing their logos, banners, flash and web designs. I have been a long time member with Art on The Net where I have my art gallery. The following is my web site: www.studiolou.com .

I adore most arts and crafts and have tried my hand at most of them to see what appeals to me. When I discovered felting I found a new world of creative crafting, that in my opinion is just being tapped. New books arrive on the market each month and I have purchased my share of these wonderful volumes and was overwhelmed by what you can do with felting.

The felting I am reviewing has nothing to do with knitting, as it is an art unto itself. I hope to offer you the newest in felting ideas and the latest tools for this craft. Hearing from you with ideas, questions or your projects will be a real pleasure for me and everyone else on the site. If you know of a neat link or project please let me know. I hope this felting area opens up a new world of crafting for many people. Here is a site that shows some of the items I have felted.

www.studiolulu.com-a.googlepages.com/felting

I am thrilled to be one of your felting editors.

Crochet Editor: JD Wolfe (crochet@craftgossip.com)

JD Wolfe

I’m a Midwesterner who has crocheted for 8 years. When I first learned to crochet, I knew no other crocheters, so I started the St. Louis Crochet Club which still prospers. Since then, several other crochet groups have popped up in the St. Louis area and I’m in touch with many crocheters locally. I love all sorts of crafts, including beading, quilting, sewing, and papercrafts. I have a huge stash of crochet books and patterns that I have acquired during the past 8 years. Fortunately, my husband is very indulgent and my children are tolerant of the stacks of magazines, stray skeins of yarn, and repeated reminders to not step on my work as it lingers on the floor of the family room! I MUST work on more than one project at a time so I can take a break from a project to regain my enthusiasm. Crochet has pretty much taken over my craft life, leaving little time for my other crafts.

I am in LOVE with freeform and have a strong bent toward reusing, recycling and repurposing materials for craft. I call this Re-Crafting. I own my own business, a learning center for teens in substance abuse recovery, work in my husband’s office, and referee at home with my three kids and their many friends who seem to enjoy hanging out at our home. I have taught several of my students to crochet as I find crochet to be both creative and spiritual. There is nothing else quite like the feeling one gets upon completion of a difficult project! I use patterns mostly as suggestions of how to make things, so I often become involved in a lot of frogging and reworking. It’s a learning process that seems endlessly intriguing to me.

In past lives, I have been a highschool English teacher, Assistant Director of a Hospital Medical Records Department, homeschooling mom, homeschooling mentor, and spent seven years writing and editing reports of litigation and publication for a firm of forensic engineers involved in accident reconstruction and causation, including testifying in court on many cases. I look forward to retiring sometime in the next 10 years so I can devote more time to crochet and pattern design.

Recycled Crafts Editor: Stefanie Girard (recycledcrafts@craftgossip.com)

stefanie-girard-plaidcrafter

Stefanie Girard has been “cutting up” and re-purposing stuff since she learned to use scissors. She has a degree in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. She has authored 4 jewelry making book/kits for Walter Foster Publishing in addition to her latest book; Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things With Old Sweaters for Quarry Books. Originally from Connecticut she move to California and worked in the entertainment industry first as a set decorator and prop master specializing in kid’s TV and then moved into producing How-to TV shows including Knitty Gritty, DIY Jewelry Making, Simply Quilts, Sew Much More and Embellish This! for HGTV and The DIY Networks. Along the way she designed hundreds of craft projects for industry clients including The Walt Disney Company, Wrights, Westrim Crafts, Blue Moon Beads, Plaid Enterprises and the JoAnn and Michaels craft stores. Currently she is Craft Marketing Specialist for the Quayside Publishing Group and writes their blog-http://craftside.typepad.com/ and her own http://sweatersurgery.blogspot.com/

CraftGossip Editor: Shellie Wilson (shellie@craftgossip.com)

Shellie Goyal

Shellie Wilson is the founder of Craftbits.com and CraftGossip.com.

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