Hi, I’m Kathleen.
Welcome to my sparkly corner of the crafting world.
I’ve been papercrafting for almost 20 years. I started because I loved scrapbooking, wanted to go deeper into a hobby I loved, wanted to help my friends get great products, and thought maybe I could build something of my own along the way.
Turns out, I wasn’t just building a crafting business. I was building a table.
Things You Should Probably Know About Me
I will always choose the sparkle.
Glitter. Shimmer. Shine. Metallic. If there’s an option that catches the light, I’m probably choosing it. And if there isn’t? I’m probably wondering if we can add some.
I believe in following the instructions.
You don’t have to figure everything out yourself to be creative. Follow the instructions. Make the project. Learn how the pieces work together. Enjoy making it. Next time, maybe you change something. Maybe you don’t. Both count as creating.
I like finished projects.
I love pretty paper and new supplies as much as the next crafter. Probably more. But I really love turning those supplies into something you love enough to say, “I made that!”
I believe there’s room for your kind of creative.
Want to make the sample exactly as it is? Do it. Want to change three things? Go for it. See the hot-pink paper and immediately think, “Needs more”? Ohhhh. You should probably sit next to me.
Kathleen’s Top 10
1. Sparkle
Glitter, shimmer, shine & metallic. More is more.
2. Diet Coke
The official beverage of my craft room.
3. Soap Operas
Days, Y&R, B&B, General Hospital and Beyond the Gates. Yes. ALL of them.
4. Ava + Trina
My cats—and yes, they’re named after General Hospital characters.
5. Jeans + T-shirts
Especially shirts that make a statement about something I love.
6. Food
Chocolate cake. Cheese. Meat. Please don’t ruin the plate with vegetables.
7. Papercrafting
I’ll try almost anything involving paper. For myself? Scrapbooking wins every time.
8. Hot Pink
Bright. Bold. A little extra. Basically, everything a color should be.
9. Christmas
Sparkly, colorful and all about Jesus’ birth. Why not?
10. David Bromstad
My favorite HGTV host. If you’ve read this far, you probably understand why.
Why I Built This Table
Sometimes you feel lonely. Sometimes you walk into a room full of people—and somehow still feel like there’s nowhere for you to sit.
I know that feeling.
Early in my Close To My Heart journey, I attended a meeting in a room filled with other demonstrators. People were sitting with their teams. Other leaders introduced the new people they had brought.
No one sat with me. No one introduced me.
I went home crying.
I’ve never forgotten what that felt like. Because sometimes what someone needs isn’t another project, another product, or another class.
Sometimes she just needs someone to make room for her at the table.
The COVID Start
Later on, COVID happened. We couldn’t gather around our usual tables, so our crafting community started meeting on Zoom.
We worked on projects. We talked. We laughed. We shared what was happening in our lives. We showed each other what we were making. We kept each other company during a time when connection mattered an awful lot.
And when we could finally gather in person again?
Nobody wanted Zoom Crop to end. Neither did I.
Somewhere along the way, Zoom had become more than the place where we worked on our projects.
It had become our table.
Making Room for People Matters to Me
My faith is part of who I am. I’ve always had a heart for outreach, connection, and sharing Jesus through the way I care for people.
For me, that can be as simple as noticing someone. Listening. Inviting her in. Remembering her. Making sure she knows there’s a chair for her.
And that’s one of the reasons I love what we can do with paper, too. A handmade card can tell someone that she was thought about, remembered, and matters.
That’s why Stampin’ Up!’s focus on using cardmaking to help fight loneliness resonates with me so deeply. It’s another way creativity can become connection—not just for the people sitting at our table, but for the people we reach from it.
And scrapbooking connects us, too, in a different way. It gives us a place to preserve the people, stories, moments, and relationships that matter to us.
Sometimes we’re creating with people. Sometimes we’re creating for people. Sometimes we’re preserving the stories about our people.
Maybe that’s why, after all these years, I still love this so much.
