Meet the Divas: Guests Heidi and Sarah

Hello High Hopes Fans!

We are starting something new today!

Once a month we will showcase two of the Design Divas in a "Meet the Divas" Q &A.

We thought you might want to know more about the people who work for High Hopes and learn about how they got their start in the world of Handmade Cards!

This week it only makes sense to start the Meet the Divas with our two newest members -

our Guest Divas...

Heidi

1)How long have you been crafting? Did you start as a child? Did someone inspire your creativity?

I cannot remember a time when I was not involved with something crafty. I inherited my creativity from my mum! The ceramic ornaments we painted when I was young still hang on the Christmas tree every year. I was introduced to stamping by Sherri, my best friend from University through Stampin' Up.

2) When did you buy your first stamp? What were the circumstances surrounding that purchase?

My first Stamp was a Snowman that I purchased to make Christmas Cards. My first non-Stampin' Up Stamp was H.M.S. Noah's Ark!

3) What is your favorite stamping medium? Waterproof ink, Embossing Ink/powder? Glitter?

I love embossing with ink and powder and dry embossing.

4) When in your local stamp shoppe or online stamping store, what is your guilty pleasure that you end up buying although you know you already have tons of? Ribbons/Papers/Inks/Pens... etc.?

My guilty pleasure when it comes to stamping is designer paper. Though, I would buy it and never want to use it for fear of it running out! Now, I am actually using it on projects and cards!

5) What coloring medium do you prefer? Prisma's, Tombow's, or Copic's? Other?

I love to stamp a bunch of images with memento Tuxedo Black and colour them with Copic Markers while watching television in the evening!

6) Future goals of things you want to learn to use with your stamping... or try.. .be it a technique or submitting to a magazine, or teaching classes, starting your own shoppe...etc..

My future crafting goals are to try water colouring with Twinkling H2Os and to see if I can get published.

7) Other crafting you do? Job? Hobbies or interests?

Outside of my crafting world, I am originally from England and have lived many places in the U.S. I now live near San Francisco California. I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in engineering. I got my MBA four years later from the University of North Carolina. I am a program manager for a transportation start up. I love riding my bicycle, listening to music, watching Formula One and American College Football (Go Hokies!), driving my convertible, snorkeling, cooking and baking. I love animals and I play servant to four cats!

8) Share with us your favorite project, and the techniques you used...

One of my favourite High Hopes projects was this Holiday Gift Tag that uses two of my favourite techniques, colouring with Copic markers and Dry Embossing.

Supplies Used:

High Hopes Stamp: Three Pane Christmas

Stamped with Black Memento Tuxedo Ink Coloured with Copics

Tag Shape: Tag and Bookplate Sizzix Die by Tim Holtz

Dry Embossing: Cuttlebug Snowflakes Folder

Silver embossed material: Shimmer Sheetz by Elizabeth Craft Designs

Large hole cut with Long Rectangle Nestabilites

Clear Acetate sheet used to cover the rectangle hole

Star Confetti from Michaels Arts and Craft

3M Foam Tape

¼ Inch White Grosgrain Ribbon for edges of the tag

Red Poppy Polka Dot Ribbon from Papertrey Ink

Silver Cord from Stampin' Up

Here are a few of Heidi's other High Hopes cards...

Sarah1)How long have you been crafting? Did you start as a child? Did someone inspire your creativity?

I have always done some form of crafts – even as a child, although I wasn't necessarily very good at it! I think it skipped a generation, because my mom's mom paints and my dad's dad painted. I used to love pastels when I was really young, and did still life mostly as well as animals. My favourite childhood Christmas presents were my Prismacolor pencil crayons and my easel. My crafting got a little more "serious" when I got married and made my menus, place cards, etc. That's when I got into stamping and embossing and I discovered vellum (oooohh!).

2) When did you buy your first stamp? What were the circumstances surrounding that purchase?

My first rubber stamp that I can remember (apart from the childhood collection) was "Love" in script from Michaels that I used as a theme for my wedding, and I embossed it in silver on everything. I still have it. I got more into the stamping "world" when I discovered Stampin' Up while on maternity leave with Samuel. I went to one party and was instantly HOOKED. I loved being able to create a greeting card myself, start to finish, that actually looked decent and I could give to someone! I give a LOT of greeting cards and I keep a book with everyone's birthday, anniversary, etc (ok – not that I actually REMEMBER them all, despite the book – oops!). So I knew this was the hobby for me! Then, a few years ago, I discovered Scrappin' Great Deals and a new world was opened up to me! I could not believe the array of stamps and products that were out there, beyond Stampin' Up. I took a Copic class with Andrea Murdock and Kim Reid and fell instantly in love with Copics and with the "open" stamp images that I could colour.

3) What is your favorite stamping medium? Waterproof ink, Embossing Ink/powder? Glitter?

My favourite stamping medium is definitely the Tuxedo black Memento ink on Copic XPress It paper – that I colour with my Copics. I haven't embossed in a long time, but I do still like a nice black embossed outline.And I like to add 3D glaze and Stickles to almost everything!

4) When in your local stamp shop or online stamping store, what is your guilty pleasure that you end up buying although you know you already have tons of? Ribbons/Papers/Inks/Pens... etc.?

I buy (almost) everything at Scrappin' Great Deals. I'm on the design team and I teach Copic classes there. I do order some new things online though to try out and to see if I want to suggest them for the store. I've ordered some really beautiful things from My Favorite Things (I love their dies) and Magnolia-licious (new fave is Yoga Tilda). My guilty pleasure is tied between 6x6 paper stacks and stamps. I always think it's "investment" because I might teach with it or blog it, hee hee! But I do love all things "antiquey", "vintage", "French", "European", "old world". Can't resist. And I must admit that I do feel the need to keep adding to my Tim Holtz for Ranger distress ink collection. And Copics, of course, but I do think of these as "needs" because I teach with them! And I do use them every day.

5) What coloring medium do you prefer? Prisma's, Tombow's, or Copic's? Other?

I'm 100% a Copic girl. I do try other mediums, but always, always come back to my Copics. I do LOVE distress inks too though. I find they work really well together.

6) Future goals of things you want to learn to use with your stamping... or try.. .be it a technique or submitting to a magazine, or teaching classes, starting your own shoppe...etc..

My goal for the longest while has been to be on a design team, and now I've joined two in the past two months alone!So I'm REALLY excited about that!My other goal was to teach – and I'm starting on September 22, so I'm thrilled to be achieving that milestone!My next goal is to be published in a magazine, so that will be my project for the fall/ winter.I would like to master watercolouring, which is something I haven't succeeded with so far.We may be moving house next year and if we do my DEFINITE project will be to create a proper craft room with built in storage and lots of work surface!

7) Other crafting you do? Job? Hobbies or interests?

I work full-time in marketing, so that is VERY busy to say the least.I travel a lot for my job too, so it makes it tough to find time for hobbies when I'm out of town.I also have a 7 year old son, who is into karate and swimming, so that takes up a lot of time as well.And I'm taking a certificate course at UWO starting this week, so that will be consuming a lot of my time as well!I'd like to find more time for sleep actually, and to read.If I do get some down time, I love to read and I'm in two book clubs.

8) Share with us your favorite project, and the techniques you used...

This is my most recent, and favourite. I always find that my newest project is my favourite! Because it reflects what I'm into at the moment. Right now, you can see in this card, that I'm really into my distress inks.I use my Spellbinder dies all the time – and am in love with my Big Shot.I've used glimmer mist all over this card, which is a current favourite, as well as Smooch gold ink.Lots of die cutting here, distressing, Copic colouring, layering.I've doubled up my dimensionals to make my frame sit even higher.I've printed my own sentiment on cardstock rather than stamping it, which I've been doing a lot lately.I found a great book with lots of sentiments and card texts – I think it's awesome.I'm trying to make my cards more like "frameable art" and less like flat cards.

Here are a few more High Hopes Cards from Sarah...

Happy stamping!