Spellbinders’ Design Team

Hailing from several countries, these diverse women design projects for Spellbinders Idea Gallery, trade and consumer events, and advertising. Their work has been featured in nearly every major paper crafts magazine and they have taught paper crafting classes at small stores, consumer conventions, and events. They are real women who have families and jobs, and have a passion for using Spellbinders products in innovative ways. Get to know them by reading their personal blogs and experience their art in the Idea Gallery.

Cathy Chlebana, Design Team Coordinator

For as long as she can remember, Cathy has been involved in one type of craft or another. Her introduction to mixed media paper arts began more than 20 years ago when she purchased her first rubber stamp. As her passion grew, she tried her hand at a number of paper arts, including bookmaking, collage and altered art. "I especially love working with metals in conjunction with die templates and Impressabilities™." Cathy first became part of the Spellbinders family when she joined the 2006 Design Team. She continued as a Design Team Member until the spring of 2009, when she became the Design Team Coordinator. Along with those duties, Cathy is also a member of Spellbinders Marketing Team. She is married to Ron, an architect. They have one married daughter, Stacey, and and adorable grandson. “They give me limitless encouragement to pursue my passion and are my biggest fans.”

Angela Ploegman

Christine Emberson

Christine resides in a town neatly placed between London and the seaside, in Kent, England. Her home is a Victorian terrace, and is alive with two teenage sons, a new puppy named Bella, and "far too many cats!" Christine works part time in London as a Legal Secretary. In her spare time she loves to craft. She learned to sew and knit as a child, and most recently Christine had a bead jewelry business. Once she discovered paper crafting she was instantly hooked. "I had discovered a way to 'gift wrap life', capture special moments and beautify them with craft." Christine describes her personal style as somewhat vintage with a slightly out of control addiction to butterflies. Christine can be seen demonstrating Spellbinders on UK’s Create & Craft TV on a regular basis. Flutter by Christine's personal blog at Hope & Chances.

Darsie Bruno

Darsie is a lifelong crafter, although she started stamping in 2004. She considers herself a cardmaker, but loves a good mixed media project! She describes her style as elegant, frilly and Victorian inspired. She spends her days as a papercrafting teacher, creating handmade crafts to sell, and is a member of multiple design teams. Her work has been published in many of the leading stamping magazines. Darsie lives in upstate New York and is a mom to three, Nessa, Lee, and Al, all adults now. She is encouraged and inspired by them, as well as her brother Scott and sister Robin, and the memories of her parents. In her spare time Darsie loves reading mystery and romance novels, watching old movies and relaxing by the lake. Visit her blog at Crafting with Darsie.

Debbie Seyer

Debbie’s affair with paper crafting began with a home party in 2000. Always crafty but frustrated with longer term projects like sewing and knitting, she was thrilled to discover card making. She has grown to love scrapbooking and mixed media too! Debbie has been published in magazines and the Spellbinders Nestabilities and Beyond Book and serves on a design team. Her signature style is classic and clean, or at least she starts that way and builds upon it. Debbie, her husband Keith, and their three daughters reside outside of St. Louis, MO. With one daughter in college, she keeps busy with the other girls’ school events, her church community, and reading. This is Debbie’s second term as a Spellbinders Design Team Member. Take A Peek into My Stamping Room with Debbie’s blog.

Heidi Van Laar

Heidi, a graphic designer turned stay-at-home mom, started scrapbooking as a creative outlet. She began selling cards at a local coffee shop to earn extra money about 8 years ago. She now considers herself a cardmaker, but finds mixed media art to be a fun challenge. Heidi designs for several popular companies and has been heavily published in major magazines. She describes her style as “clean and cute with a healthy dose of pretty thrown in!” Heidi is married to a super supportive husband, and they have three busy boys, Scott, Alex and Jack, ages 10, 7 and 5. They live in a tiny farming community in Southern Washington State. When her ‘mom duties’ are done, Heidi likes to craft and make jewelry, and does freelance illustration and graphic design from home. Heidi blogs at Van Laar Designs.

Iwona Palamountain

Born and raised in Poland, Iwona now calls Australia home, with her husband and young daughter, Zuzia. Formerly a Landscape Designer, Iwona is now a full time mom and professional crafter. She is a member of several design teams and has been published extensively in Australia and US magazines. She enjoys scrapbooking and mixed media projects, but considers herself a cardmarker. Her signature style includes layered, textured and colorful cards, with a bit of shabby chic, but she loves to try new things. Ribbon, lace and patterned papers are some of her favorite supplies to work with. When not crafting, Iwona reads, watches movies and spends time with friends and family. Explore Iwona’s Random Acts of Creativity on her blog.

Judy Hayes

Judy and her husband Dennis live in southwestern Minnesota on an old farmstead. She is mother to Jennifer, Derek and Sarah, and grandmother to Joshua, Logan and Alyssa. Artistic endeavors must wait for evenings and weekends, Judy works full time for the Postal Service. “Creating, especially paper crafts, is nourishment for my artistic spirit! I try to make time for some sort of art every day.” Judy has always enjoyed creating; her favorite mediums are metal embossing, soldering, sewing, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, gardening and rubber stamping, which she discovered in the late 80’s. “When I saw a demonstration of heat embossing, I was hooked!” Judy now teaches workshops and creates samples for her local stamp store as well as manufacturers. Judy’s work has been published in magazines and won contests too! As member of several design teams, she started blogging to share her passion. “Making the Spellbinders DT is a dream came true! I look forward to a wonderful year of challenges and opportunities on this part of my creative journey!" This is Judy’s third year as a Spellbinders Design Team Member. Follow Judy’s journey at Creating…My Style.

Lesley Langdon

Lesley, a wife and mom of three, resides near Toronto, Ontario. She fell in love with paper crafting five years ago by chance, when she met a new friend who loved stamping. It didn't take long to invest in stamps, ink, paper and flowers: the bare essentials! Lesley thrives on challenges, working with new products and carving out a new path for crafting. "I enjoy teaching, and using my digital camera to take unique shots of people and things, and of course, my finished projects!" she says. Her creative process always starts with a vision. She considers the combination of products she has and can usually see the end result in her head even before she begins. She loves the agelessness of working with the various labels and standard shapes in the Spellbinders Nestabilities® line, and she is drawn to the possibilities of the many flower die templates that Spellbinders has to offer. Lesley has been designing in the paper crafting industry for several years and serves as a design team member for several companies. Hang around Lesley's personal blog, Lesley Langdon Creative.

Michelle Woerner

Michelle was introduced to stamping through a home party consultant and never looked back. She considers herself a card maker and enjoys the satisfaction of finishing a card and giving it to a friend. Her style has evolved to be clean and simple. "But, I love to play around with embellishments and layers," and creates in a variety of styles. As a stay at home mom to two boys, Michelle stamps for her sanity. It also serves her desire to indulge in things girlie, frilly and pink. She crafts every day. Michelle and her husband, Bill, along with Daniel and Ryan, ages 8 & 6, reside outside of Portland, Oregon. Michelle is in her second term as a Spellbinders Design Team Member. Be sure to Stop and Stamp the Roses with Michelle on her personal blog.

Teresa Horner

Theresa has been crafting since she was young. She has graphic design and costume design background, and uses that in her job as a teacher at a scrapbook store. She’s been on design teams, a DT Coordinator, and has been published online and in books. Her style, she says, is more on the clean Victorian side, with bling and lacy looks. She loves to show off the photos on her scrapbook pages, and loves working with Spellbinders dies. She sees artistic opportunities all around her, and appreciates the experiences she’s had in working and volunteering in her community. She dreams of becoming a professional sports or nature photographer. Theresa and her husband have 2 kids in college and 2 dogs. Sunny Southern California is home to them, and they love to spend time at the beach, hike, and travel. She loves to visit aquariums and zoos too! At home Theresa likes to garden and cook. Spend some time with Theresa on her blog, Victorian Paper Queen.

Theresa Momber

It only took a year for Theresa’s sister to convert her into an obsessed stamper; that was 2007 and she hasn’t looked back. She’s primarily a card maker but enjoys 3D projects, and admits to finding scrapbook pages challenging. She’s on a stamping design team, illustrates her own line of stamps, and has been published in major magazines. Theresa describes her style as clean lines and layers, and loves to add sponging to her projects. Theresa is has been married to Mike for nearly 25 years, and they have one daughter, Stephanie. At home in Northern California, she enjoys reading, hiking, kayaking and drawing when she’s not making cards. Spend time Crafting the Web with Theresa on her blog.

Tina McDonald

Tina leads a busy but exciting life in New Brunswick, Canada, with her hubby of 12 years and five wonderful children. They range in age from 22 months to 9 years old. Tina's escape from everyday reality is scrapbooking, and she's been doing it for over 8 years, and teaching it for almost as long. "I draw inspiration from life around me! Everything from the looks on my children's faces, to their clothes, music we listen to, and emotions in our daily life!" says Tina. Her style can be described as romantic, clean and simple. She loves distressing, black and white photos and journaling strips. Her first love is scrapbooking, but she has grown to enjoy cardmaking and mixed media. Tina currently serves several companies as a design team member and has been published in many popular magazines. This is Tina’s second term as a Spellbinders Design Team Member. When not crafting, she makes time to cook, read and spend time with family. Escape to Tina's personal blog, My Sanity.

Windy Robinson

Windy and her husband Brian are proud parents to seven-year old Campbell, who is unique, intelligent and musically inclined, and Hadley, who is creative, athletic and comedic at the age of four. They reside in Cincinnati, Ohio. Windy holds a BA in Art History and an MA in Museum Education, concentrating in Art Museum Education. Currently a stay at home mom, Windy finds ways to engage herself and her children in creative endeavors and instills the importance of art education in their lives. "I've been scrapbooking for about 13 years, and started making cards a couple of years ago. Since then I have fallen head over heels in love with card making," Windy said. Her style ranges from classy and elegant to homespun and cute, and her designs include layers, distressing and stamping. Her daughters enjoy crafting alongside her, and are learning to share their cards with loved ones. Windy serves as a design team member for several popular companies and has had her work published in magazines. In her spare time she spends time with family and volunteers in her community. "If I can do something helpful and creative every day, I'm a happy girl!" Hang out with Windy on her personal blog, Card and Page.

Yvonne van de Grijp

A simple promise to send a handmade card in 2008 opened the doors to the “wonderful world of stamping” for Yvonne, now a full-fledged craft addict! She taught herself many coloring techniques with pencils, markers and inks. While originally a card maker, Yvonne has found a few items that could use a mixed media makeover. Yvonne is on two design teams and has created samples for both German and UK television. Yvonne’s describes her style as romantic and nostalgic, with “old-looking” soft colours with some distressing. She likes to stamp and color images on her projects, and strives for originality in her work. Yvonne comes to us from the Netherlands and assures us that no one wears wooden shoes! She and husband Harrie have three adult children Suzanne, Jeroen, and Marjolein, along with Phoebe, her rescued English Cocker Spaniel. Originally a lawyer, Yvonne now takes care of her family, parents and pup. She enjoys long walks in the woods with Phoebe, and appreciates nature in all four seasons. She keeps busy with cooking, gardening, reading, traveling and movies with happy endings. Yvonne speaks Dutch, English, Spanish and some French. “Being creative is a way of life too…” on Yvonne’s blog, Phoebeez.

*Photos by Allison Tyler Jones Photography