MORE Designer Spotlights: Susan Tidwell & Lynette Chiles

We are back for more Designer Spotlights!!! Meet two of our most talented designers and instructors, Susan Tidwell and Lynette Chiles.
These two gals teach and designer several of the beautiful creations you see at The Little Blue House.
If their not in the studio... they are probably off spoiling their grandkids! hehehe :)
Get to know these 2 lovely ladies better today on our Designer Spotlight!

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Designer Spotlight: Susan Tidwell

Hi LBH friends, this is Susan Tidwell. Many of you know me as a designer and instructor at The Little Blue House since we first opened our doors over 4 years ago. Before that, I worked with Tracy at Anthologies, Create Joy and Recollections. I love teaching and am so excited to now join the new LBH Media Team!

I have been married to my husband, Bill, for 42 years and we have five grown children living all over the US, two darling little grand boys and two more on the way! Since two of our daughters are flight attendants for Southwest, we are fortunate to have non-rev flight benefits and we take advantage of them often to visit our kids and grand boys.

I have crafted all my life, dabbling in everything from sewing to pottery to needlepoint before finally settling into the paper arts. It started with rubber stamping and card-making about 15 years ago and has developed into an obsession for mixed media since that encompasses it all! I love to create using just about anything, love texture and color and repurposing things that might otherwise be thrown away. (I’ve been known to retrieve things from the trash can!) I’m also a technique junkie and a day for me isn’t quite complete without getting painty and messy.

It’s hard to choose my favorite projects as usually whatever I’m working on at that moment is my favorite. This altered cigar box was fun to make using lots of “junque” and painty layers. 

I love to create mixed media canvases and this one was one of my first so this holds a special place in my heart.

  I also enjoy making books - this last project  (“Summer Journey”) is a favorite travel book and box I made and taught several years ago. It was featured as one of Maya Road’s Project Recipes and you can download instructions from their website. 

Products that I can’t live without would be: 1) gesso, 2) paints (my favs at the moment are Dina Wakley’s new Media acrylics); and 3) texture paste (I love Ranger’s for great texture and Faber Castell’s Whipped Spackle for great detail). I mostly use old book pages or music papers but I do love the paper lines of Authentique, Graphic 45 and Webster’s Pages. 

If I’m not at the LBH, you can find me on my blog: www.susan-artfulmuisings.blogspot.com.

Designer Spotlight: Lynette Chiles

I began creating ART at the young age of four. Inspired and taught by my paternal grandmother, an artist, my maternal grandmother, a florist, and my mother, a seamtress. I also had two aunts that taught me to knit. I studied ART in high school and college.

My first art work age 4, framed in my craft room

I taught macramé in the 70’s, did cross stitch, needlepoint, crochet, knitting, ceramics, and many other crafts over the years. I have even done 4” of tatting, (required for college course).  I started quilting and it became my passion and “addiction”. I met Joan Elizabeth Lewis and together we started a quilt pattern publishing business, Tomorrow’s Heirlooms. For a short time, we owned and operated a retail quilting store, Spools Gold. Our greatest accomplishment was co-authoring a book for Better Homes and Gardens, 501 Quilt Blocks. Joan lost her courageous battle with cancer and I gracefully left the Quilt Industry, after spending twenty years in that industry.

And then……I began scrapbooking. I am a prolific scrapbooker, having created over one hundred albums. I am detailed and precise. I still use a ruler OFTEN. I have learned to spend time creating mixed media, even though “getting messy” isn’t my strong suit. I do love the outcome.

My favorite product to use is.... Glossy Accents!! I use glossy for just about everything, I like to use it to add a pretty gloss finish to a project or just using it as a glue to attach pieces together.
My other favorite product is... PAPER, PAPER, and more PAPER... If I had to choose my favorite paper companies I would say Simple Stories, Bella Blvd, October Afternoon and all the NEW Websters Pages.

I am married to my high school sweetheart, 45 years and counting. We have three children, one son and two daughters. They are all married so I inherited three other children. My four grandchildren, three boys and one girl bring me much joy and many blessings.

I do blog occasionally for our Front Porch Kit releases so please check out my blog: http://netteart.blogspot.com
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Thanks for sharing Susan and Lynette!
Stop by the Little Blue House and see more of their beautiful creations!