Minnesota native, Kristi Schueler, started down the artful path at the tender age of ten when her blind mother brought home a small selection of rubber stamps, inks and embossing powders. While Kristi only made cards and stationary items for many years, once she discovered the Internet the world of paper arts and eventually mixed media was opened to her. The call to live a creatively centered life ultimately overcame her and she gave up her young career in meteorology to devote her life to art full time. While no longer working with advanced science and math on a daily basis, much of her work contains some hint of her former life.

Though Kristi is often described as disliking change, her portfolio is rather eclectic; including pencil sketches, soft block printing, hand bound books, altered books, digital art, collage and assemblages. Despite her aversion to change, she also professes to detest monotony. She credits this quality for her varied artwork and love of mixed media.

Kristi's major focus the past 2 years has been book arts. This includes hand bound and altered books. When asked why book arts? Kristi replied, "They are art forms that encourage interaction with the viewer. It adds further dimension to the challenge of creation because you must consider senses other than sight in the design process. This is especially true in the altered book realm. With bookbinding, the challenge of making the book to fit the needs of its owner adds to the appeal for me."

Since 1997 Kristi has been teaching classes online. While she does miss the one on one interaction of the traditional classroom setting, teaching online classes has allowed her to reach a wider audience, including students from The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada and across the United States. She also recently started to travel nationally teaching workshops in bookbinding and altered book techniques to private groups.

Kristi currently resides in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, Drew, and their dog, Emma. When she is not busy in her studio she enjoys taking in the sights of the beautiful Rocky Mountains, attending community theatre productions, singing, playing piano and reading.

For information on Kristi's classes, please see her web site at http://www.designedlykristi.com/classes.