Marissa Bowers

Meet Marissa

Marissa spends most of her time with a mouse in her right hand, using her left hand to give her 5 year old a marker to draw with, while simultaneously yelling at her 2 year old to “Get down!” When she’s not home doing that she is at work, crafting books for all to read (and make things!) as Managing Designer for the North Light Craft books imprint at F+W Publications. When she isn’t staring longingly into a screen with an Apple in the top left corner, she likes to look at the back of a camera and take pictures. Someday, she hopes to find a way to do both (design and take pictures) for her own little set of clients. In the wee hours of the night, when all is quiet, Marissa writes a blog and creates art for her etsy shop.

Five Questions For Marissa~

1. What was the last thing you wished for?
A Canon Digital Rebel so I wouldn’t have to curse at my camera every time I used it, and make the people around me when I’m taking a picture not think I’m possessed. (A typical trip out with my current camera sounds like this: Work, damn you! Come on ... focus. That’s it, you can do it. Shoot, yep, you guessed it, everything’s blurry - AGAIN. You blasted blasted camera!)

2. Which 80's heart-throb was in posters on your wall?
Do I have to really admit this? I think I had every Teen Beat or Tiger Beat was it?, that had pull out posters for Chad Allen (who I think is actually gay) and Kirk Cameron. I was REALLY in love with Kirk Cameron. He came to our church in Tennessee a few years ago when he was doing those Left Behind movies and that weekend before my sister in law had found my pre-teen scrapbook with Mike Seaver plastered all over it. She wanted to know if I wanted her to send them so he sign them. Uh, no.

3. What is your favorite cereal?
Not on Weight Watchers – I’d eat an entire box of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs in one sitting. But since I haven’t been able to eat a bowl of cereal without guilt of a sugar-induced coma since having gestational diabetes with Brennan, and with the whole weight watchers thing – I opt for a good bowl of low-fat granola w/Kefir (strawberry).

4. What trend are you totally sick of and hope you never have to see again?
Everyone jumping on someone else’s bandwagon, when it wasn’t their bandwagon to start with. I see rip offs/knock offs everywhere— in publishing, in art, in scrapbooking—everywhere. Granted, a design school professor once told me that there is never an original idea, but I don’t think what I see is what he meant. I wish people would have the decency to be crafty enough to take someone’s idea and make it better, not copy it and act like it was theirs. What really irks me is when people copy things, it is clearly not as good as the original, and make more money or have more success than those who had the original idea.

5. What were the best gifts you've ever given and received?
Given – anything to my kids and watching their face light up when they get it. It can be as simple as a seashell from my trip to California, or as elaborate as the Pollyworld that Santa brought. Anything that brings them delight gives me joy.

Received – Barbara’s Ultimate Chocolate Obsession cake. Best EVER. And that is saying a lot, since the best chocolate cake before that is from Portillo’s in Chicago. I thought that nothing could ever beat Portillo’s chocolate cake. But I was proved wrong by my seesters.