Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Centre Stage | Vanessa Menhorn

Happy Wednesday everyone - and welcome back to another Centre Stage post!


Centre Stage is a fun exploration of the ladies behind the creative juices of all the fantastic creations you see on the w&w blog - The Talent! Each month we'll get to know each one of these special ladies that little bit more, dissect their style to find out what makes it unique, and show off some of their most amazing projects!

Let's great straight to it and welcome this month's artist...



Welcome to Centre Stage, Vanessa! Let's get to know a bit more about her...

Vanessa has been a member of The Talent since Winnie & Walter first set up shop. A mother to a sweet girl and a fellow European, she's taken the crafting world by storm with her amazing designs!

Vanessa lives in Germany with her family and crazy cat (I love her already), but her European roots tie her to other countries too (her father having been born in Sicily means she gets to holiday there enough times to make me jealous!). I think her heart has been stolen by Scotland though, where after one holiday she has always always wanted to go back for more.

Vanessa seems to take to various crafts like a duck to water (listing knitting, crocheting and sewing amongst her talents), but cards are definitely where she spends most of her time! Her crafty resumé reads like Natalie Portman's acting career - varied, littered with big names, glittering with accolades, outstanding, and serious staying power. You really wouldn't think she's only been on the scene for 7 years.

Vanessa works in banking, and balances career and family life with her creative life (that's a lot of balancing - my kudos to her!). She says that when she grows up she wants to be a famous cardmaker... how do I find the words to tell her she's all grown up now?

A few other little-known facts about Vanessa are...
  • Vanessa is a huge bibliophile. If she were a millionaire, she would dedicate part of her house to serving as a library chock full of books. She states that she'd buy books where other girls would buy shoes (I love books too Vanessa, but steady on now... !) 
  • Her husband sometimes calls her 'Hobbit', as she's often thinking about a second breakfast not long after the first (crafty brains do need fuel after all!)
  • she doesn't care much for jewellery (come on, girl. I thought we could be friends... )
  • Vanessa is a metal head. I was delighted that our playlists share a lot of commonalities (such as Metallica, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and System of a Down - as well as the 80s pop that betrays our age). There, friendship back on track!
  • she's a bit of a sleuth, rendering crime films little fun to watch, even less so for the person who's watching with her as she often works out who did it very early in - and then tells you for good measure! Sounds very much like Sherlock then, which is another thing she does love!
  • she's a huge Harry Potter nerd (Vanessa, you can't tell me something like that without showing me a Harry Potter-inspired w&w card you've created. Enquiring minds want to know)
  • at work Vanessa is very tidy and organised, but all that goes to pot when it comes to home life - chaos ensues! (I prefer to call it 'organised chaos' when it comes to crafting, perhaps she'll agree with me?)
  • she doesn't like talking on the telephone (I'm with you there)

Now that we've got to know Vanessa herself a bit better, let's get up close and personal with her style too!

Vanessa's creations all share a common theme - they are beautiful, perfectly executed, and pack a punch of technique to boot! Whether it's Clean And Simple or darn right cute, her designs could be placed in a line-up of crafting superstars and she'd be be right at home and stand out both at the same time!

One of Vanessa's trademarks is her perfect use of colour. Whether a little or a lot, subtle or a punch, it is always right at home on her design and infuses it with life:




Another thing that's noteworthy about Vanessa's style is her layering. Sometimes with dimension. Other times with one layer, multi-stamping or multi-masking. Always outstanding:



And it would be entirely remiss of me to *not* mention her absolute *genius* with Clean And Simple designs...




*thud*...

I'm sure you're completely bowled over by Vanessa's work! Here are some of the w&w supplies she used to make the magic happen:
I hope you've enjoyed getting to know Vanessa better, and feasted your eyes on her amazing creations! Please leave a comment leaving Vanessa some love and telling us what you love about her work! We'd also love to know what you think of this feature as well! And if you'd like to see more of Vanessa's amazing work you can always check out her blog too!

We'll be back with another Centre Stage next month!

9 comments:

  1. I'm already a Vanessa junkie...but I was bowled over to learn she's a Potterperson, as well. Great minds...at least, I wish mine was as great as hers.

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  2. Love the variety of styles in her cards.

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  3. Love the variety of styles and techniques in your card Vaneesa. Its nice to know about you :)

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  4. Really fun meeting with Vanessa in this interview she has great style.

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  5. Such a beautiful variety of cards and it includes some of my all time winnie and walter favorites
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

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  6. Wow!I love her style!!! Her cards are always all different and gorgeous!!!

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  7. Always fresh, fabulous, colorful, and did I say Fabulous? Vanessa, add me to the very long list of fans!
    =]

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