Meet the New-ish Design Team!

February 1st - July 31st, 2015

I can't believe it's been six months since my very first Design Team started (art)working for me! I can't believe I never had one before!! Honestly, I was quite nervous about how it would work out - I've never been on a DT myself, so I had no idea what to expect or what they would expect of me! I did quite a bit of research before I wrote the DT Call back in the spring of 2014, looking at a numerous amount of other DT Calls, and after weeks of drafting, rewriting, editing and starting all over, I was finally relatively content with my own DT Call, put my brave hat on and published it ...

It didn't take long before the first application arrived. I was blown away when I saw her artwork and I asked myself why such a talented artist would want to be on MY Design Team! Seriously! I had just recently launched my blog, my stamp company was not well known at all, and all I could offer in return for being on my DT was a few lousy stamps ... (OK, perhaps not lousy, but you know what I mean). The applicants knew all that, and yet applications continued to arrive in my inbox, one after the other, all from super talented women from all corners and nooks of the world who wanted to be on my DT. I couldn't believe it! 

Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I had a very difficult time choosing between so many applications from so many wonderful people! What a luxury problem, right? After much struggle (seriously, it was HARD!), I ended up with seven ..., which was two more than I could afford, but I'm lousy at math anyway (I just knew that would come in handy some day! Ha!)

Anyway. Why so long-winded, Bibi? Weren't you going to announce the new-ish team? What do you mean about new-ish anyway? 

Arright. I can't believe it's been only six months since (here she goes again..) my DT started working for me. I can't believe it's only been a couple of months more than that since I sat here reading all those applications last summer! Like I said, it was hard to pick out just a few, but I'll pat myself on the back for doing a good job at it - it's been a FABULOUS team!!! So, why fix it if it ain't broken? The only changes are that two members from the "old" team are leaving, and one new is joining the ranks.

Please welcome our new teamie, Susanne Rose!

Susanne has had several appearances as a guest designer, and I'm so happy that she's joining our team!

I'm Susanne Rose from Germany, mum of two lovely kids and a full time crafter and mixed media artist. I started painting with acrylics when I was about 15 years old. I took a break with "messing around" after my study because I started with photography and some graphic design. After my daughter was born, I became a scrapbooker and my passion started growing. Now I love creating cards, mini albums and different mixed media pieces. I am addicted to stamps, dies, colors and papers! My style is most of the time very colorful. I try to express my mood in everything I do. I am very proud to be part of this awesome and talented design team!
My Blog: http://clayscrapkreativ.blogspot.de

The rest of the team .... *frantic drum roll*

 I'm very grateful that the following five will continue on my DT!
It's been a great pleasure working with these women, who keep impressing me with all the stuff they make with my stamps. I look forward to seeing what they'll come up with in the months ahead!

Hello, I’m Majo Wybranietz. I live in Germany with my husband and our two lovely kitten. I started scrapbooking in 2008 and was addicted right away. I’m an "all-rounder", I scrap layouts and cards, love to create tags and ATC’s and get my hands into mixed media projects. I love trying new and different things and techniques.  I'm on a number of design teams and have had my work published in a number of magazines. When not crafting, I enjoy reading a thrilling book and working in our garden. I'm so excited to be a part of the RUBBER DANCE design team!
My Blog: http://majos-art.blogspot.de

My name is Katy Leitch and I live in the UK with my beloved dog and almost as beloved husband. I’ve been papercrafting for about nine years now and my love for it (and ability to shop for stash!) doesn’t diminish. I am totally nuts about stamping and so this DT is just perfect for me! I’d describe my main style as shabby – I love soft colours and vintage things but I like to try different styles and have recently been dabbling with more arty looks and brighter colours. My favourite stamps are definitely those inspired by nature and a lot of my work reflects this love of the natural world. As well as stamping, I also enjoy scrapbooking and jewellery making. My craft room is definitely my happy place! Besides crafting, my other obsessions are collecting early 20th century pottery, food (eating it and cooking it) and all things Disney!
My Blog: http://postcardsfromtheattic.blogspot.co.uk



My name is Irit Shalom and I am from sunny Israel. In my "real life" I am a dentist, but for the last 5 years I do it as a part time job, because I need some extra time for my scrapping and crafting addiction and I have a lot of fun doing something else after 25 years of dentistry. I have been married for 31 years to a retired high police officer, who is the full time family cook these days. I am a mom to 4 grown ups: 2 sons and twin daughters. The empty nest is probably the main reason for my obsession for crafting - finally I have some time for myself. My oldest son is an army officer, married and a father of my 2 adorable grandchildren. My second son is "a world traveller" - for the last 7 years after his army service he is out of Israel for at least 9 months a year - lives and works in Spain. My twins are college graduates and just got their first real jobs. For many years it was a polymer clay and jewelry making artist, but after I saw a scrapbook layout for the first time in my life (only 6 years ago during my visit to USA), I finally understood that I am in love with paper. Today I mostly scrap, stamp and do altered art. I have been a design team member for about 20 manufacturers in the past. Right now I design for mainly stamp and tool companies around the globe. I was published in print in Israel, USA, UK and Australia and web published in every possible on-line magazine around the world. Last, but not least- my other addiction is..... Folk dancing. So if I am not in my crafting room - I am probably dancing. I am totally thrilled to be a part of this great DT!
My Blog: http://iritshalom.blogspot.co.il

My name is Helen Allen and I have a passion for all things paper crafting and love nothing better than to design a project and then to teach someone else how to make it. I teach a card making class in the real world and have great fun designing cards to explore lots of crafting techniques with my students. When I am not doing that I am busy making tutorials for my The Craft Project ETSY shop and for my You Tube Channel. When I look back over my blog it documents the huge journey I have taken learning how to share my passion for crafting on the internet. It is a wonderful place to share ideas and it is exciting to think of crafters anywhere in the world choosing to purchase my online tutorials and then having fun crafting along with me in my virtual classroom. The social media environment is an ever-changing one so it keeps me on my toes! I started my blog initially to learn how a blog works in the crafting industry. Little did I know how addictive it would be! The crafting blogging community is a caring and sharing one and I love being part of that. I am married to Ivan who I met in school in Cyprus and we have two gorgeous sons. Damian the eldest now lives in Spain and Callum the youngest who is still in school….oh…. and not to forget our crazy lovable golden retriever Comet! We have been very lucky to live in Gibraltar, Cyprus and Germany and we have loved every moment. We are now settled in the UK and the best bit about that is I finally have a craft room!!!! I am really excited to be part of the Rubber Dance Design team and look forward to sharing my creations with you and I am thrilled to be working with Bibi’s fabulous Rubber Dance stamps.

My Blog: http://acraftproject.blogspot.co.uk 

My name is Gabriele Langfeldt-Feldmann and I live in Germany with my husband and our dog, Luna. I paint, mostly with acrylics, but also with oil, watercolors and many other materials I can use on paper, canvas and wood. I almost forgot the computer, I really love to work with. My style? Hard to say. Almost anything from abstract to realistic. With every day I make new experiences and they flow into my work. At the moment I dig into art journaling, a very interesting thing for me. I have studied art at several art schools, both in England and  Germany, and since 2013 I have also attended many classes online. I find it very interesting to use rubber stamps together with paint and I'm very happy to be on this Design Team! I hope the way I use stamps in my artwork will give you some new ideas.

My Blog: http://artatag.wordpress.com

And then there is me, the owner of Rubber Dance:

My name is Bibi Lindahl and I live in Norway with my two sweethearts - my man Tom and our dog, Ulrikke (aka Ullaskrulla = Woolly Crackpot). Ulla follows me wherever I go, which usually isn't very far.... My studio is in a separate building from our house, but shorter than 10 giddy steps away - gotta love a short commute! Rubber stamping has been my passion for decades, and I've made stamps for sale since 1999. I sold my first stamp company in 2005 when I went back to college, but Life had other plans for me... Due to health problems I eventually had to take a reality check and learn to accept that I couldn't have a "normal" job. So, here I am with my "abnormal" job as a stamp maker :-) 

I could never have done this without my FABULOUS Design Team, and I am forever grateful for all the work they do, their support, enthusiasm and for cheering me on! Same goes for the generous contributions made by several guest designers, and last, but not least, all our fans and customers!
From the bottom of my heart: Thank you!!

Here's to a FAB new year with a FAB new team and FAB fans - new and old! 

You can join us on Facebook too, if you Like ;-)

If you want to know more about Rubber Dance, see the About Us page.

The Stamp Shop:

www.rubberdance.com