The Smeared Ink Design Team wows us every day with their extraordinary talent and amazingly original ideas. We are lucky to have six of the most talented people we know as our designers. They showcase our stamps to perfection, and we'd like to share with you a little bit about each of them.

Black Dragon

Hello Smeared Ink lovers, I'm eternally 39, a widowed mum of a grown up son and 6 yr old twin girls. I live with and care for my Grandad. I love the darker macabre side of art/crafting.... Hammer horror style not actual depictions of gore and death..... thats me in a nut shell..... BORING!

My Blog: http://lynsblogger.blogspot.com/

Lady Brayton

 My name is Angela Brown aka “Lady Brayton” (or Lady B for short). Lady Brayton is my stripper name but since I have neither the body nor the talent to strip I have made it my crafting name. I’ve been drawing and coloring ever since I could hold crayons and I’ve been cutting and pasting ever since I learned to use scissors without stabbing myself or others.

My first grade teacher always thought I would pursue art. She bumped into me 20 years later, remembered me, and asked if I was still drawing. I actually got away from art for quite a while. I guess I was so busy making a living that I forgot to make a life. I put a stop to that. Although I currently work as a chemotherapy infusion nurse, I make time for myself and my art every day. Artistic expression is my therapy. It is necessary for my sanity. It soothes my soul and relaxes my mind. Eventually I hope to make art a career, but for now I am content to play.

I started out a scrapper and found some alternative scrapping groups online. I met Terra through one of these groups and she got me hooked on stamping. I am a Copic addict and not ashamed to admit it. I have recently learned to color digitally as well. My confidence in my abilities has grown since joining the Smeared Ink team and now I actually help draw some of the digital sets.

My Blog: http://ladybrayton71.blogspot.com/

Monique

My name is Monique van Dijk, my birthdate is February 11,1967 and for those interested I'm an Aquarius. I'm married to the most wonderful husband (Eelko) for 21 years and we have 2 kids, a girl (Denise, 16) and a boy (Dylan,14). We also have 2 cats named Phoebe and Snowy. We live in the Netherlands, in Hilversum. We all love the house we are living in and our garden, so no plans on moving.

I've worked at the bookkeeping dept. at a company called Hunkemöller for 28 hours a week (http://www.hunkemoller.nl/over-hunkemoller/). In my spare time I like to read; preferably in the sunshine in our back yard, sitting in a lazy chair with a cold drink. My favorite writers: Stephen King, Karen Slaughter, Nicci French. But just our luck we hardly ever get that kind of weather overhere, so we like to spent our summer vacations in countries with a much nicer climate such as France, Spain or Italy.

Other things I like: Disneyland Paris, Halloween, taking photos, the color turquoise, tv series "House", going to the cinema, theatre or concert, music: Within Temptation and Robbie Williams, Nintendo Ds game Mario, my Cricut machine and of course stamping, scrapbooking, card making and ATC making.

I started scrapbooking 6 years ago, and because there where not many people familiar with scrapbooking here, I searched the internet for info. Then I learned about making cards from your scraps and from there I started to use my stamps more and more. I like to try out new techniques and mess around with paints and inks. I also like to make mini books.

My Blog: http://phoebekattebeest.blogspot.com/

Ike

Hi there – I am Ike……a nickname that I got hooked with many years ago due to my surname, and in my profession at that time, …… they just loved to give nicknames. OK–potted history… I was born in the UK, went to art college, worked as a Cop for 30 years, had me 1 fabulous daughter, lived on an island, retired and moved to another country, became a grandmother, do my own thing. I live in Greece now and have a passion for kitties. I have 8 house cats and several interlopers that I feed at the windows. This number grows all the time as the kitty telegraph goes around!! I also have 12 English Light Sussex chickens that I reared myself in an incubator.

I am a complete nutter, or should I say I’m ‘zany’ hahaha. I have a very strange/sick sense of humour and I must admit I spend a lot of time talking to myself!! Well, I get more sense out of me! I reckon in a few years I shall be known as the “crazy cat lady”. I am an artist and have a strange mind when it comes to creating my art. I either go completely true to life… right down to the last hair… or I go totally surreal. I have a passion for all things horror/Gothic etc. I’ve always loved horror films and books and I guess that’s why it creeps into my stuff!

Had I been a bit younger I swear I would have been a Goth……luuuuuv it. Next time around I am gonna be a witch or a cat.

My Blog: http://suzy-ikesworld.blogspot.com/

Helen

Hi I'm Croms, aka Helen Angel-Cullum.
I live in the UK. I'm 55, Married for the 2nd time since feb, 2008 to my angel, although we have "been together" for a lot longer. I have 2 children of my own and am step-mum to 4 more. Luckily they're all grown up. I am also Nana to a delightful little boy who will be 6 in July.
Made my first card in jan 2010 and blogging since mar 2010. Tried the cute stuff at first but it didn't work for me. Then I found myself at Smeared and Smudged. The rest is history.

Eccentric with eclectic tastes. That's me in a nutshell folks. 

Fiona

I am a full time working mother of two.  I have been crafting for a few years now...... my taste leans towards a gothic/mystical style.  I love gothic artists such as Anne Stokes and Victoria Frances.......not a big fan of cute, but I love embellishments and I can't draw a straight line to save my life!

My Blog: http://idontdostraight.blogspot.com/