Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Centre Stage | Kelly Griglione

Happy Wednesday everyone - and welcome to a brand new feature here on the w&w blog!


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, Kelly! Let's get to know a bit more about her...

Kelly has been a member of The Talent since Winnie & Walter first set up shop. A mother of two, her roots are in scrapbooking (her kids are her favourite thing to photograph), but nowadays she spends more of her time wowing us with clever cards that stop us in our tracks!

Kelly has always been crafty, with wonderful memories of learning all different types of crafts with her grandmother at her kitchen table. Now a stay-at-home mother, Kelly's favourite thing to do with her kids is to play tourist in her home city of Chicago (I can't blame her - it's my favourite US city too!). BK (Before Kids!) Kelly had a career as a domain manager for a benefits consulting company. Her technical mindedness can still be seen in her precise, ingenious cards - you can definitely see her brain at work in all of the think-outside-the-box designs!

A few other little-known facts about Kelly are...
  • she worked at the same place as Cindy Crawford in high school (she's quick to point out that it was pollinating corn in the summers, *not* lingerie modelling!)
  • Kelly is double-jointed and can bend her thumb backwards (so -that's- how she manages all that clever card construction!)
  • Kelly always said that she would never need a mobile phone. She finally broke down and got her first one (an iPhone) in May. Just three weeks later she cracked the screen and found it incredibly difficult just to part with it to be repaired!
  • Kelly is a self-confessed night owl (just like me), and until recently stayed up until 3am-4am every night (we're both getting a bit too old for that now though!)
  • she's a firm believer in having a sweet after every meal (a girl after my own heart)
  • Kelly does not have pierced ears, and has never carried a purse (I guess it's not all that handy for crafting supplies!)
  • As of mid-August, she had 189,63 photos in her Photoshop library (that simultaneously both impresses and terrifies me)
  • Kelly absolutely loves rollercoasters, and last month went on the second tallest and third fastest steel coaster in the world (Top Thrill Dragster in Cedar Point Ohio)
  • despite her husband's pleas, she has resisted the suggestion to return to work now that the kids are in school (he must be kidding, there are so many crafty things to do!)
  • apart from her family, one of Kelly's main passions is a love of paper - both collecting it (19th Century Valentines/postcards/scrapbooks), and using it!

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

Kelly's creations all share a common theme - they take supplies and apply a twist to use them in a totally different that most of us would never think of! Whether it's stamping with watercolours or constructing mindblowing 3D projects using dies, she wows us time and time again with transforming paper and cardstock into something spectacular!

One of Kelly's trademarks is the use of a panel of patterned paper to line the inside of her cards. She started doing this to use up some of her ever-mounting stash, but since then it's become of the instantly recognisable features of her work:




Another thing that's notable about Kelly's style is how she uses her stamps in completely different ways:




And don't even get me started on the jaw-dropping uses she finds for her dies...




Say what?!

I'm sure you're utterly dumbfounded by Kelly'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 Kelly better, and feasted your eyes on her amazing creations! Please leave a comment leaving Kelly 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 Kelly's amazing work you can always check out her blog too!

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

15 comments:

  1. I've been following Kelly for some time now, and never EVER tire of her many signature styles - or her family scrapbooking pages! Big hugs, Kelly - you SO deserve this center stage!
    =]

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  2. Wow...wow....wow! I am in awe. Fabulous and gorgeous projects! The 3D ones are totally out of this world. I am looking fwd to the next Center Stage!!!
    <3 J

    jwoolbright at gmail dot com
    HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

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  3. Kelly is pure awesome-ness.
    LOVED reading those fun facts.
    Her projects are consistently AMAZING.
    Such a fun new feature!

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  4. I LOVE Kelly's work, it's always so innovative and creative! Great getting to know her better too, this is going to be a fun feature!!

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  5. Kelly's work is always amazing. I love how she thinks outside of the box with the products she uses. Amazing design!!

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  6. Taheerah, you have such a smooth way with words! I feel strange saying this is a fabulous article, since it's about me and all, but I have to say this is a fabulous article! You have a wonderful way of presenting information that is so engaging ... I seriously CAN. NOT. WAIT. for the next feature! PS. thanks for the sweet sentiments : )

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  7. Kelly was one of the first "out of the box" crafters that I started following. There are a few memorable projects from Kelly that I remember so well like if I've seen them yesterday. One emblematic project, or many in this case, was a Valentine's Day set for Kelly's boys, where each card had a heart made from LEGO pieces, I thought that was pure genius... I still do!

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  8. Love Kelly's fun facts!! Love Kelly's work too, I've been a long time fan. This center stage post is well deserved!!

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  9. I love these cards and can't wait to see more of your creations! I'm happy to have found you.

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  10. What a great feature ... Kelly's creativity is always mind blowing ... fabulous to revisit some of her amazing designs ... and to discover those fun facts! Anita :)

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  11. Love Kelly. That fish card is so clever!!! and love this new feature. Taheerah is a great writer!

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  12. Hey what a great segment. Nice to learn more about this talented gal.

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    1. BTW. I've always thought we'd get along well. Now I know it. Sweets after dinner. Well duh!

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