Design Team Q & A with Karen

Hi, YNS Friends! It’s Karen Dedman, the proud owner of Your Next Stamp! I’m excited to share a little bit about myself with you today. Let’s get started shall we?!

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Q: Tell us about your family and where you live.

I live in Ontario, Canada with my super amazing and supportive husband Chris. We have 2 kids, Brandon who is our energetic 6 year old boy and Jessica who is our sweet little 15 month old girl. Let’s not forget about Olive, our furry hamster friend who keeps us up half the night with her squeaking exercise wheel! I am so blessed to have such an amazing family, I wouldn’t be able to do everything I do if it wasn’t for all their love and support.

Q: When and why did you start YNS?

I’ll try to keep this short and sweet…I started YNS in 2008, after our son Brandon was born. I really wanted to stay home with him and still have a career so the only way I could do that was to start a business that I could run from our home. I’ve always loved creating art and crafting so when my sister introduced me to stamping I knew I had found my ‘calling’. I instantly fell in love with stamping and card making and just knew I had to do something with this passion! My mission was to bring happiness to craft rooms all over the world :o) I’m so lucky to have a supportive family who has been there with me since day one, my father helped me name YNS and everyone has been there to help whenever needed…sound board for ideas, packing product, shipping orders, bookkeeping, working ScrapFest etc… I look back at these past 6 years and I feel so blessed, I would like to say ‘thanks’ to all of YOU for loving YNS products and for being apart of my journey. I look forward to many more years of SMILES and FUN, from my craft room to yours!

Q: What are your favorite YNS images?

Seriously? Do I really need to answer this one? To be honest, I can’t pick a favorite image as I truly LOVE them all. I personally hand pick each and every image that you find here at YNS. My main focus when working with our designers is that the images must make me HAPPY and I always ask myself “will this stamp make my customers smile and is it FUN to create with?” If you’re having FUN while creating with our YNS products than I know I’ve completed my mission! The cherry on top is when you share your projects with us, I LOVE seeing what you make with YNS products!

Q: What are your favorite color combos?

Bright cheerful colors (especially purple and green with black as an accent) tend to be my go to colors but I do find myself picking out colors that match the person I’m creating for. Our son Brandon is turning 7 this month so for my project today I decided to make him a birthday card! He LOVES ice cream, the Waddles character and YNS Gumdrops soooooo I used the super sweet Waddles – Happy Brrr-thday stamp and die set to create his birthday card. I also used our Stitched Rectangle die set and Fishtail Banner Two die set.

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I LOVE adding dimension to my projects so here’s a close-up of my pop up dot and YNS Gumdrop addiction:

WaddlesKaren05042015-2I used our current challenge sketch as inspiration for my card, why not join in the FUN! You never know, you could be a lucky winner of some YNS bucks or our next Top Pick!

For more inspiration using YNS products, visit our Pinterest page, FB page, YouTube Channel and YNS is on Instagram too!

I hope you’ve enjoyed our Design Team Q & A Series! We’ll be starting a new series really soon but first we have a New Release for you!!! Be sure to stop by for some sneak peeks on May 9th!

Happy Stamping!

Karen

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12 Comments

  1. 1
    Teresa says:

    Hi Karen,
    I didn’t know you were Canadian too. (I’m from N.S.) Its good to see a Can. company here and I DO LOVE YNS products. They are great quality and I enjoy using them. Happy to have “met” you! LOL

  2. 2
    Nancy says:

    So nice to meet you, Karen! Your stamps make me smile too, and I’m happy to have recently discovered your shop! 🙂

  3. 3
    Mary-Anne V. says:

    So glad you decided to join in with this series…so nice to hear your story! Love the adorable card and how you used the challenge sketch.

  4. 4
    Kim B says:

    Super cute card!!! Happy Birthday Brandon!!! Your stamp sets always make me smile!!!!!!

  5. 5

    Hi Karen, so nice to get to know you a bit! Loving your stamps and slowly working on increasing my collection….Happy Birthday to Brandon! This cute card will put a big smile on his face!

  6. 6
    KT Fit Kitty says:

    Thank you for sharing this with us! I enjoyed reading all about you! I didn’t realize you were Canadian too – I’m in NS! I love your adorable stamps! Your card is super cute!

  7. 7
    Peggy says:

    I am SO glad you started YNS, I can’t believe it has been 6 years! Time flies when you are having so much fun creating! I love the sweet card you made and all things YNS. Love ya bunches! xx

  8. 8
    Maureen Wong says:

    Great post Karen, and what an adorable card! I’m sure he’ll love it!! Thanks so much for starting YNS and being the best “boss lady” ever!!

  9. 9

    aww Karen so awesome to read about you.. So awesome to hear about how you started YNS… thanks for sharing and I agree with Maureen.. best boss lady ever.. 🙂

  10. 10
    doudou2106 says:

    Lovely card! love the colors

  11. 11
    Anita says:

    It’s so nice to learn more about you! I love YNS and I’m so happy you started this company. Amazing card! Love the bright colors and I’m sure Brandon will love it too.

  12. 12
    Sue TH says:

    So nice to read more about you Karen! Love your company and your products!
    Your card is so cute and I totally have the gumdrop addiction as well! 🙂

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