Featured Designer: Bev

November is here and today we're introducing our Featured Designer for the month!  Are you ready?!  Please give a warm welcome to Bev from Happy Dance!

She's been a supporter of CASology since it launched clear back in the summer of 2012!  It's truly an honor to feature her and we can't wait to see what she has to share!

Hello from the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan in southeastern Wisconsin. My name is Bev, and I am so delighted that Melissa has asked me to be the Featured Designer for November! Thank you for having me!! I'm a Christian wife, mother of eight (plus some incredible sons and daughters in law), and grandma to twenty wonderful people. My house gets filled with the most wonderful laughter when even a few of the kids and their families come for the holidays or family gatherings. Last Thanksgiving, in between my cooking duties, I helped the little ones make place cards for everyone. They had a blast, and it was a good inclusive craft; they felt like an important part of the family! And yes, I still have some of the place cards tucked away for their memory boxes!

I started out as a scrapbooker, and was introduced to stamping and card making by my darling, sweet friend, Sandy. But I didn't want to make cards...I wanted to scrapbook. Then, several years ago, about a week before Valentines Day, my darling husband spent $24 on cards for some of the grandchildren, and that was it. I made a few cards for the rest of them, and haven't looked back since. I was immediately and forever hooked on this aspect of papercrafting. I remember googling 'handmade cards,' and jackpot!! There were blogs, and online stores, ideas, tips and techniques, and I wondered if I could create a blog and join this community. Scary thought, that. But I did. Jumped in with both feet and "Happy Dance" came to life. I was welcomed into the kindest, most fun and encouraging place in all of the internet. Like you, I've made special friends, and have been enjoying your company, and have been inspired by you for a number of years. And playing in challenges has been both fun and inspirational. I don't really have a particular 'style,' as I tend to make cards to fit the recipient's personality, but I am a huge fan of CAS. That beautiful white, uncluttered space is so appealing to me, but I can get my froo-froo on with the best of them, too. 

Designing and creating. That sense of accomplishment. Having fun. Knowing that someone will smile when they open the envelope. For me, that's what cardmaking is all about. Thank you, Melissa, for asking me to be CASology's November Featured Designer; I am truly grateful to be able to share the next four weeks with you. Happy dances everyone.

She's sharing some of her CAS designs today on her blog, Happy Dance!  Stop by and say hello!