Urban Swank: Inrtoducing The Swanky Gurls

A humongous THANK YOU to everyone that applied for the Urban Swank Design Team! I am completely overwhelmed by the amazing talent that has entered my inbox! WOW! Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to submit your application and to allow me to get to know you better! With out further ado, here are the Swanky Gurls!

Becky Teichmiller, Swanky Gurls DT Coordinator

I am a mom to 4. I wish I could scrapbook instead of sleep… I think sleeping is a big waste of time! I am a Zumba Certified Instructor and also teach Sculpt, Boot Camp, Yoga and Kickbox classes. I love sushi, scrapbooking, reality TV, the color pink, and everything fluffy, frilly, shimmery and sparkly!

Gaby Alcántara

I'm a graphic designer, I know my husband since 1994 and this month is our 5th wedding anniversary, My favorite color is orange, I love playing video games, I dislike melons! I'm addicted to coke & TV shows, I love shopping for shoes! :D

Sarah de Guzman

I'm a pretty random person. I love to laugh. I have two dogs, Maui and Hilo. The beach is my second home. I know a lot of ASL (American Sign Language). I'm a fast scrapper. I'm afraid of birds, ew! I'm so honored to be sharing my talent with the Urban Swank DT.

Pauline Dirrig

I'm a french girl, addicted to swiss chocolate, that's the reason why I decided to live just a few meters far from the swiss frontier... I have a cat called Dobby (like the famous house-elf, Harry Potter's friend)

Candra George

I'm a southern girl from Mississippi living in California, and have been married 8 years to my handsome Wes. I spend my days as an obsessive photographer and scrapbooker, and teaching cooking classes on the weekends. My biggest inspiration is my family, and I'm always wishing they and the beach were closer.

Aida Haron

I am from the tiny tropical island of Singapore. For a long time beautiful fabric and paper designs have fascinated me and when I found scrapbooking 7 years ago, it was like finding my perfect little craft heaven. Thankfully my husband Augustine is tremendously supportive and my two teen girls Stasha and Nura having grown up with a craft-mad mom, think my being nutty about scrapbooking is normal! I am a talker, love meeting people, and try very hard to weave into my life the other passions of dance, theater and cooking. Being chosen for Urban Swank's Design Team is such a thrill, an absolute honor and I hope to show some of the endless, creative possibilities in using the products.

Akiko Kuroki

I'm Akiko Kuroki (aka akilia) and I live in Japan. I am married to my great husband and we have a lovely daughter RIho(6 years old). I began scrapbooking in 2007. Although two years will pass soon, I enjoy scrapbooking every day. I like creating 12z12 single layouts. And I like creating mini albums. I receive inspirations from great scrapbooking products.

Lori Mancini

I call beautiful Ontario Canada my home. I live in a testosterone filled home with my wonderful husband Dan of 19 years along with my lovable sons Blake (15) and Jared (11). When I’m not scrapbooking until the wee hours of the morning, I enjoy spending time with family and friends and keep busy running our Custom Cabinetry business with my husband.
Life can sure get hectic sometimes but I thrive on adventure and chaos and this hobby is just what I need to wind down and remind me of what is important. To relax and take my mind off of what my next scrapbooking project will be, I love playing with my camera and photographing tiny moments and details that will help me preserve all of these wonderful memories in my life. Some may say I’m obsessed with this hobby, but it is simply a part of my everyday life, much like shopping, lounging by the pool, my obsession with blogs, and my never ending craving for Starbucks coffee!
I am so fortunate and honored to be a part of the Urban Swank design team and I can’t wait to be inspired, and to inspire all of you with their wonderful products! I love what this industry has brought to my life and I am so excited to start this next journey with you all!

Gayle Martin

I went to college for Interior Design but have never worked in that field. I have always loved color, design, paint, photography, drawing, creating, trying new things.
My husband and I have 3 children who are grown, 2 are in college. We have no grandchildren, but the pet population just increased by one. My son brought his dog home which brings the pet population to 6 dogs ( 4 bassetts, 3 labs) 1 cat, 1 bird. Two of the dogs belong to my husband and I.

Simona Montanari

Hi, my name is Simona and I live in a wonderful boot called Italy with a Vespa-scooter lover tattooed husband named Davide, a gorgeous 2 and 1/2 years old girl named Guendalina "Gughi", and two spoiled dogs, Tony and Olivia. I'm a scrapbooking addict since 2005 and I love pizza, Amy Winehouse, the snow, crocheted toys, Coca Cola Light, Vespa scooters, travelling, Dexter, Crocs in the summer and Ugg boots in the winter, flea-markets, Cirque du Soleil, walking barefoot, 60's fabrics, Sex and the City, Russian dolls, sewing, macadamia nuts, Frank Sinatra. I'm so excited to be part of this talented design team :-)

Jo-Anne te Raa

I am english but live in Holland with my Dutch husband and son.I love creating and being inspired. If its scrapping or photography or crochet or sewing, it makes no difference I just love keeping my hands and head busy.I am a deep thinker and I love to giggle with my son about anything!I cant wait to get my hands on the URBAN SWANK line and I am so happy to be part of this exciting team!

Rachel Theall

I finally took time off of my scrap everyday schedule to clean my scrapbook room and it only took me 2 days! Now that it's clean, I can't keep my husband and children out of it. They want to come in and hang out with me so I've set my oldest up with his own space to color and practice his writing and my husband has a chair to watch movies and look at pages while I scrap them.

Michelle Van Etten

I am a little crazy... always scrapbook at night. I love taking pictures... sort of my passion. I would describe my style as shabby chic eclectic. I do not know what white space is lol. I work for canon teaching all over USA. I love wine, good friends and great late night conversations.