2012 was a year of growth, public awareness and realizing that people were actually looking forward to seeing us at the expo's that we attend. I went to my first CHA in 2012 and that was such an experience and an eye opener. We attended 4 expo's this past year, returning to Portland Oregon twice, Puyallup WA and for the first time, the CKC Bellevue WA show. I was so amazed at how many scrappers travel (or are wiling to travel) several hours to visit one of these shows and how many of them were actually following The Hens' Den. We are so blessed to have the followers who appreciate what we bring to the expo's.
We brought on a wonderful Design Team at the first of the year (more on them in a bit) and then in June we branched out and added 2 more mid year. We have so much growth and exposure that we needed to fill in some gaps. Again, what a blessing to have such a problem...lol
2012 year end does bring about change and tears but growth always has it ups and downs. We are losing two extremely talented Design Team members. Krystle Thomas, an attorney, is so busy that she is going to focus on her own personal projects when she has the time so she made a difficult decision to not stay on for 2013. I will miss Krystle's style!!!. She has such a clean look to her layouts and she stuns us all the time when she completes a project. She does amazing work. You can follow her work on her blog, I am sure she would love it. Krystle will return throughout the year as a Guest Designer for The Hens' Den.
Cheri Piles - WOW.. what can I say that most of you don't already know? Cheri will also be leaving The Hens' Den to take on her own venture and a new business that she will be focusing on during the coming year. Cheri has helped The Hens' Den so much over the past 2 years and she will be missed a lot. Cheri has a wonderful endorsement from Teresa Collins and it is well deserved. She is very talented and her work will be missed here at The Hens' Den. If we are lucky, Cheri will return during 2013 as a Guest Designer.
2013
Moving forward, I want to introduce you to the 2013 Design Team and give you a little insight as to who they are, in their own words.
Returning are the following Design Team Members:
Lori McClellan -
Lori McClellan, heard of me? I am
a wife, and mother to 4 great kids.
a student studying Graphic and Web Design.
the CEO and Designer at Graphik Xpressions, my own small business.
a published paper crafter and hoarder of all things scrappy.
lovingly called Mrs.Craftypants by all the young girls I used to work with.
under the age of 40.
going gray.
a chubby girl in recovery who hates exercise, but does it every day anyway.
the funny friend, with lots of great one-liners.
excited by finding a great deal.
I hate to clean. I would rather be creating something.
In love with all things Disney.
Clever, creative, witty, original, compassionate, outgoing, ambitious and fun.
I can't wait for a great 2012 with The Hens Den
(My comments: Lori is a hoot and always is making funny wise cracks.
Carolyn Lontin
My name is Carolyn Lontin. I am married to Rick; we have one son, Seth and two crazy dogs! We live in gorgeous Colorado, in a suburb just south of Denver. I began scrapping in October 2001 to preserve my son's childhood memories and it quickly became an obsession!
I love capturing my family's "real" moments in both my photos and in my journaling on my layouts. I have found the creative outlet of scrapping to be incredibly relaxing and quite addictive, which is shocking to the previously dominate non-artistic side of me!
Over the past few years, I have had the honor of having my work published in major publications and being on some fantastic design teams!
By day, I am a Corporate Controller for an international manufacturing company. I also enjoy spending time with family and friends, photography, cheering on my son's baseball & football teams, exploring in the mountains, playing with our dogs, and reading.
(my comments: quiet, sweet and right on top of her assignments)
Nicolle Grabowski Kramer
Hi my name is Nicolle and I am so happy to be asked back for a 2nd year as part of the design team for The Hen's Den. I am a 38 year old stay at home mom of four children. I have 2 boys(19,18) and 2 girls(16,10). My husband and I have been married for almost 20 years and have been together for 23. I also have 3 fur babies a Beagle(Roscoe), Mini dachshund (Otis) and a Yorkshire Terrier (Clyde). They all bring such joy to my life and are the main subjects in my layouts. I have lived in Buffalo NY my whole life. If you are wondering about the snow/cold it is not as bad as the media portrays it to be. I love living here and enjoy all 4 seasons. Scrap-booking was introduced to me 8 years ago by a friend of my husband. I also enjoy many other hobbies but my main passion is for paper crafting at the moment. If I had to describe my style is would be that I am an ever evolving scrapper who loves using bright bold colors,textures and lots of embellishments to enhance the story being told on my page in a unique and creative way that keeps the viewer continually discovering new details every time they see one of my pieces. I enjoy learning new techniques and using new tools and elements to enhance my pages. I have made a few very good hopefully life long friends from this hobby. If you would like to see some of my work you can find it on my blog
(my comments: Nicolle loves challenges and takes them on with my full admiration)
(my comments: Nicolle loves challenges and takes them on with my full admiration)
Moriah Larson Macdonald
Hi! My name is Moriah. Although I've lived in NY, SD, and SC, I currently reside outside Boston in MA's apple orchard country with my fabulous (and artistic) husband, our loyal (can't-fetch-to-save-his-life) corgi Cadfael, and a fabulous (give-me-the-catnip-and-nobody-gets-hurt) kitty Amy.
My day job is as a Reading Specialist and I love getting the chance to help my students develop a love of reading! When I'm not teaching reading, I teach adults how to craft their own cards in an effort to spread the stamping addiction. :)
(my comments: What a sweet lady!!!! and her craft is amazing)
Anita Mulcahey
Anita here from Medway, MA a sweet small town that I love. I have been paper crafting for over 19 years and love playing with paper. I love designing for Charlie for The Hens’ Den and look forward to 2013 and all the fun things we have planned for you. Happy New Year everyone and let’s get ready to party.
(My comments: Anita is not giving herself enough credit here. She is AMAZING at her craft and I am so lucky to have her)
NEW TO THE TEAM:
Stephanie Wagner
Asst Design Team Lead
I am Stephanie Wagner. I have been married to my husband
Andrew for 7 years! We live in Southwest Washington, near Portland, Oregon with
our adorable 3 year old daughter who makes us laugh everyday.
I am a graphic and web designer by trade. I have been a graphic
designer for over 12 years,
another reason why I love scrap-booking and design layouts and of course all the paper.
I have a passion for all crafts, mostly expressed with double scrapbook layouts, card making and an alter project here and there.
another reason why I love scrap-booking and design layouts and of course all the paper.
I have a passion for all crafts, mostly expressed with double scrapbook layouts, card making and an alter project here and there.
What truly made me interested in scrap-booking, besides paper
and layout was stamping.
I fell in love with inks and stamps, card making and paper crafting. I enjoy getting my hands all inky.
I fell in love with inks and stamps, card making and paper crafting. I enjoy getting my hands all inky.
When I am not getting my hands all inky, I love spending
time with my family, being a mom and traveling. My other interests include
music, design and refurbishing furniture. I enjoy volunteering with my
community and helping out with local marketing and design events. I can always
be found at a local crop hanging with friends too.
With all my techniques I have learned over the years, I am
excited to be sharing them with you on The Hen's Den design team. You can find me also known as Scrappin Posse. I
blog at
(my comments: Very tech savvy and her art is awesome)
Janet Bagnall
I am a mother of three wonderful children, 2 boys (26 and 13) and one daughter (25). My wonderful husband, Jim, and I have been happily married for 29 years and he, still to this day, makes my heart go pitter-patter every time I see him. After the birth of our youngest, I started scrap-booking as a side hobby amongst being mommy and wife, but about four years ago, I thought I would try making my own Christmas cards and realized that I had a knack for it and haven’t looked back since. It has been a blessing and a fabulous hobby that I hope to be able to continue and become even better at. I grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and am the oldest of 5 children, but now make my home in Gilbert, South Carolina, which is near Columbia. I look forward to working with these wonderful ladies at The Hens Den. Hope to see you often. Have a blessed day.
(my comments: She will amaze you with her craft, just wait and see)
Owner
Charlie LaBonte
Design Team Lead
What is coming for 2013?????
January CHA is the10th through the 15th and YES... I will be there!. I am so excited, more so this time than last year. I know what to expect, what to see, what to focus on and best of all....HAVE A GRAND TIME!March - we will be at the CKC expo in Portland Oregon
April - This is so exciting!!... we will be hosting our very first weekend crop. " Fly the Coop Retreat". We will hold this April 19th and 20th at Dancing Bear Lodge located at the beautiful Mt. Rainier in Washington State.
July - Scrapbook Expo in Puyallup WA July 19th and 20th
September - Fly the Coop Retreat in the Porland OR area - to be announced.
October - Scrapbook Expo in Portland OR October 25th and 26th
November - CKC expo in Bellevue WA November 8th and 9th
There are so many other things planned and I hope you will follow along with us and come visit when we are in your area. You can find us on FB at https://www.facebook.com/TheHensDen. We will post the dates and other happenings there, so please go "like" us so that you can follow along.
I look forward to seeing all of you in 2013!!!
