EXECUTIVE TEAM

dave o'neil

CK Media Chief Executive Officer

Dave O’Neil was appointed chief executive officer of CK Media in 2006 after serving for ten years as the vice president/group publisher for the Crafts Group at Primedia, Inc. His responsibilities include the direct management of a $60 million business consisting of 11 subscription-based magazine titles, 40-plus newsstand special issue publications, 25 live events, 12 Web sites and several books and products in the scrapbooking, crafts, sewing, and quilting markets.

With more than 20 years of experience in industry-leading publishing companies, O’Neil spearheaded the acquisition and successful transition of Creating Keepsakes, widely recognized as the #1 scrapbooking magazine. He was also responsible for the acquisition of Quilter’s Newsletter, considered the #1 quilting-industry publication, and he launched the annual MemoryTrends Conference and Expo, the world’s leading event dedicated to scrapbooking. Additionally, O’Neil started Simple Scrapbooks magazine and re-launched Crafts as Paper Crafts with an overwhelming positive response from consumers.

O’Neil graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He and his wife have two children and two dogs and currently reside in Littleton, Colorado. In his spare time, O’Neil loves to play ice hockey and golf.

lisa bearnson

CK Media Creative Director

Lisa Bearnson became creative director for CK Media in 2006 after serving for ten years as the founding editor of Creating Keepsakes, the leading scrapbooking resource for ideas, inspiration and cutting-edge techniques.

Beginning with the Joy of Scrapbooking (Oxmoor House, 1998), Bearnson has authored eight books. She also hosts the monthly, hour-long QVC® show called “Creating Keepsakes Hour,” and frequently guest lectures at scrapbook expos and craft shows nationwide. Bearnson has appeared throughout the country on television and radio shows, as well as in the nation’s top newspapers, helping scrapbook enthusiasts learn how to take better photos and create wonderful family memories.

In June 2003 Bearnson was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in a segment titled “Ordinary People with Extraordinary Ideas” and was also featured in the Dec. 9, 2002 issue of People Magazine. She has appeared on “Weekend Today”, “Home Matters”, “American Baby Show”, “Aleene’s Creative Living”, “Parent Table”, “Family Times”, and “Home Life.” She also co-hosted “Crafting for the ‘90s,” a 13-segment PBS special that first aired in October 1997.

Bearnson was a Utah state finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1998. Prior to founding Creating Keepsakes, she served for seven years as the editor-in-chief of WordPerfect Magazine, one of the country’s top ten computer magazines. She lives in Highland, Utah and is the mother of four terrific kids.

tracy white

Creating Keepsakes Editor-in-Chief

Tracy White joined Creating Keepsakes in 1997 and since her arrival, she has set a high standard for editorial excellence, direction and leadership. As editor-in-chief, White has overall editorial responsibility for Creating Keepsakes, its book and special-issues divisions as well as its vast line of ancillary products.

White offers inspiration for journaling, photography and innovative scrapbooking techniques in her articles and workshops that are offered internationally. She teaches at Creating Keepsakes University, consumer scrapbook conventions and other international events. Her expert journaling advice can be found in her new book, The Journaler’s Handbook: Everyone Has a Story.

White has represented Creating Keepsakes on numerous occasions on local television stations around the country, including a regular appearance on Salt Lake City’s KUTV’s “Fresh Air Utah” newscast, as well as on national shows such as “DIY Scrapbooking”.

White began with Creating Keepsakes as a regular columnist contributing articles on various scrapbooking topics. In 1998, she became editor of the special interest publications, a division that annually produces four to five publications a year, such as The Scrapbook Idea Book and The Scrapbook Hall of Fame. In December 2002, she was named editor-in-chief of the magazine. A resident of Salt Lake City, White is a graduate of the University of Utah and holds a master’s degree in communications from Westminster College.

lin sorenson

Simple Scrapbooks Editor-in-Chief
Digital Scrapbooking Acting Editor-in-Chief

Lin Sorenson was appointed editor-in-chief of Simple Scrapbooks in August 2004 after serving as the magazine’s managing editor for one-and-a-half years. In addition, she was recently appointed as the acting editor-in-chief for Digital Scrapbooking, a new magazine created by Simple Scrapbooks whose inaugural issue will be on newsstands in February 2007.

Sorenson’s responsibilities include managing both magazines’ staff, growing and establishing the brands, and making sure the unique niches occupied by the two magazines are clearly targeted and adequately served by the editorial coverage and the overall design of the magazines. Hoping to help readers find their voice, their unique expression and personal style, Sorenson writes articles and designs layouts that instruct readers how to create meaningful scrapbooks that explore the connections that make life meaningful and unique.

Prior to joining Simple Scrapbooks, Sorenson was managing editor of Utah Outdoors magazine. She also worked as a freelance writer and editor for Salt Lake and Utah Business magazines, as well as other local publications. An avid reader and writer since the first grade, Sorenson’s favorite hobbies include reading, listening to music and outdoor activities such as bicycling, running, hiking, skiing and camping. She resides in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

stacy croninger

Paper Crafts Editor-in-Chief

Stacy Croninger joined Paper Crafts in May 2004 as editor-in-chief. Croninger’s responsibilities include overseeing the magazine’s direction and focus as well as special issues. She also represents the magazine at public functions and sponsors “make-n-takes” at trade shows.

Croninger’s diverse background and love for all things relating to crafts has allowed her to motivate and inspire crafters nationwide. During Creating Keepsakes conferences and events, Croninger teaches classes that focus on paper crafting, such as stamping and creative cards, as well as ideas for creative thinking. Croninger loves to learn new techniques, wander craft store aisles and share her passion by teaching others. Croninger has appeared on national TV through QVC® and the PBS show “Scrapbook Memories”. In addition, she is a regular guest on local morning talk shows sharing paper crafting ideas with viewers.

Before joining Paper Crafts, Croninger was a technical writer and business analyst for Ingenix and also a technical writer and documentation manager at Folio/NextPage, where she mastered her writing and communication skills. In Croninger’s free time, she loves to read, fish, hang out with friends, and get kisses from her fur babies, Cleo and Mabel (two Basset Hounds). She resides in Springville, Utah.

brenda bauermeister groelz

Quiltmaker Editor

Brenda Bauermeister Groelz was appointed editor of Quiltmaker in June 2004. As editor, Groelz chooses the patterns and quilting motifs featured in the publication providing options for both hand and machine quilting aficionados alike. She also determines the direction of the magazine and Quiltmaker’s other products such as special publications, patterns for quilt shops and plastic stencils.

Passionate about producing the best quilt pattern magazine possible, Groelz’ position as editor combines all that she loves about quilting including experimenting with fabric, designing and discovering new patterns and writing about quilts, quiltmakers, and the quiltmaking process. Groelz and her staff at Quiltmaker welcome input from readers and incorporate their ideas into the magazine via the Quiltmaker Reader Design Contest.

A quilt designer since 1976, Groelz has made well over 200 quilts and tops by machine and specializes in foundation piecing, although she enjoys other techniques as well. She loves the look of hand quilting and greatly admires those who have mastered the art with its neat and tiny stitches.

Prior to becoming the editor of Quiltmaker, Groelz owned her own pattern business, taught classes and lectured all over the United States. She also led quilt-related bus tours around the country. Currently she resides near Golden, Colorado.

beth hayes

McCall’s Quilting & McCall’s Quick Quilts Editor-in-Chief

Beth Hayes has been at the helm of McCall’s Quilting for more than ten years. As editor-in-chief, she oversees the editorial content of McCall’s Quilting, McCall’s Quick Quilts, and the Vintage Quilts special publications. She also directs a variety of McCall’s events, including quilting cruises, international land tours, and a five-day symposium held each summer in the McCall hometown of Golden, Colorado.

An active and well-known member of the quilting industry, Hayes promotes breast cancer awareness in the quilting community through high-profile features in McCall’s Quilting and in television appearances on HGTV’s “Simply Quilts”. Prior to her present position, Hayes published her own line of patterns and was a sought-after quiltmaking teacher in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Hayes now calls Golden, Colorado home. She spends her leisure hours on the golf course and enjoying all the grandeur that Colorado offers. She continues to be an accomplished quiltmaking enthusiast.

jan magee

Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine Executive Editor

Jan Magee took the lead as executive editor of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, the first and most respected quilting magazine, in 2006 after serving as their senior features editor for seven years. As executive editor, she directs an editorial and creative team of 10 to produce focused content for passionate quilting enthusiasts that includes the latest news in the quilting arts and industry, new product reviews and innovative techniques, and unique and appealing patterns. In addition to the magazine’s ten issues per year, which has been published continuously since 1969, Magee and her staff annually generate four themed “Quilt It” pattern newsstand specials and a yearly wall calendar under the Quilter’s Newsletter brand.

Before joining Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine, Magee functioned as the senior editor of Quiltmaker magazine for five years. Prior to that, she worked in editing and graphic production in newspapers and in college textbook publishing after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Boston University in 1974.

Magee’s quilting experience dates back to 1972 when she made her first traditional quilt. In the early 1990s, she began making art quilts, winning several awards in local and national shows. She lives in the historic Highlands section of Denver, Colorado, with Echo, her Border Collie. Other interests include hiking, gardening and herding dog trials.

mark lipinski

Quilter’s Home Editor-in-Chief

Mark Lipinski is the creator and editor-in-chief of America’s most unique quilt-related magazine, Mark Lipinski’s Quilter’s Home and the first man ever to edit a publication in this genre. Billed as the magazine “for the new generation of quilters,” Quilter’s Home is a sassy, fun and adventuresome journey created to provide practical and engaging information to inspire and motivate quilters to live their best life.

As an award winning quilt designer, Lipinski's work has been published in McCall's Quilts, McCall's Quick Quilts, Quiltmaker, American Patchwork and Quilting, The Quilter and Fabric Trends magazines, and he has been a featured guest on HGTV's "Simply Quilts."

Lipinski is also a veteran Emmy Award nominated and Cable Ace Award winning talk show producer and programming executive. He produced daytime television for over 20 years, including “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, “The View”, “The Joan Rivers Show”, “Attitudes”, “Ricki Lake” and “Good Day New York”, the original FOX network flagship show for the Good Day franchise, to name a few.

After moving from the hustle and bustle of New York City, Lipinski and his family now live in a historical 1864 “fixer upper” in Long Valley, New Jersey. He raises honeybees and egg-laying hens when he’s not being “called” to his design studio.

marla stefanelli

Sew News Editor-in-Chief

Since October 2004, Marla Stefanelli has been the editor-in-chief of Sew News, a monthly publication for the home sewer, after serving four years as senior editor. Stefanelli’s responsibilities include directing the focus of the magazine, planning editorial content, writing and editing sewing articles and working with freelance writers.

Stefanelli has taught classes at The Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington, and at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan on topics such as “Felting,” “Pant Fitting” and “Making a Personal Dress Form.” She also starred in more than 25 short segments on the “Sew Young, Sew Fun” PBS series presented by Husqvarna Viking. She planned, wrote and made the samples for each of these spots to help encourage young people to sew.

Before joining Sew News, Stefanelli worked for CK Media’s quilting publications for 15 years as a designer and graphic artist. During that time she made approximately 40 quilts. With a sewing background of at least 45 years, Stefanelli considers sewing an important foundation of her life. Stefanelli lives in Denver, Colorado and enjoys painting, gardening, cooking and snowboarding.

bill gardner

Craftrends & MemoryTrends Editorial Director

Bill Gardner joined Craftrends as managing editor in 1991, moved up to an editor position, then became editorial director in 1997. He also serves as editorial director for the new MemoryTrends magazine, debuting in February 2007. Gardner manages content development and editorial production for both magazines, as well as for their websites, www.craftrends.com and www.memorytrends.com. In addition, he also develops educational programs for MemoryTrends Conference & Expo, the world’s leading and most comprehensive event dedicated to scrapbooking, now in its eighth year.

Gardner holds 25 plus years experience in the industry, including trade and consumer magazine publishing and how-to book publishing. In the late 1990s, he appeared several times on “Aleene’s Creative Living” television show and once on the PBS television series “For Your Home.” He appeared three times as a guest speaker at the Hobby Association of Japan show in Tokyo and has been a guest speaker for Color Marketing Group and other various industry functions.

Gardner currently resides in Denver, Colorado. He enjoys bowling and the company of Oscar the Wonderdog, his Miniature Schnauzer.