Meet the Editors

Posted by admin on April 23rd, 2009 at 03:16am

Jenny Benoit

Hi, I’m Jenny. I was born and raised in Wilmette, a suburb just north of Chicago. I graduated from Missouri’s School of Journalism with a Bachelor’s degree in Magazine Design and a minor in Textile & Apparel Management; I’m happy to finally be out of Cardinals territory and back in the Windy City! While at Mizzou, I worked as a contributing student writer for the Columbia Missourian daily newspaper and Vox Magazine.

Before joining the team of editors at Prime Publishing, I spent four years working in the veterinary field as a receptionist, while simultaneously freelance writing for an online shopping community to satisfy my need to write (and to shop!). Although it was a joy spending my days playing with animals, it is incredibly rewarding to finally spend my days writing.

Despite growing up just outside of Chicago, there’s a lot I don’t know about this great city of ours. I love discovering new restaurants, finding the latest and greatest fashion deals, and taking in live music wherever I can find it. I tend to also get lost in bookstores for hours on end (don’t even get me started on the recent closing of Borders); magazines have, and always will be, my literature of choice. I’m in heaven when the latest issue of Real Simple arrives in my mailbox!

Aside from the white scarf I knitted during high school and the occasional dinners I attempt to make here and there, I still remain a bit of a newbie to the crafting and food communities. I am excited to join the team at Prime Publishing, and I can’t wait to learn a thing or two about crafting and cooking!

Jessica Farris

I’m Jess, a native Memphian who shuffled up to Chicago for college at DePaul University. As a bonafide southern gal, I was raised with a fierce love for barbecue, homegrown veggies, and pretty much anything that’s been battered and deep-fried. My family of artists inspired my slight creative streak and a desire to absorb as much as possible. I love to cook, craft and create, and I draw inspiration from Chicago’s impeccable art and culinary scenes.

I’m finishing a degree in English, anthropology, and Arabic studies. As such, I do a great deal of writing about literature, social issues, and global cultures. I speak a bit of French and Arabic, which I learned primarily from a summer spent living with a Moroccan family in Fez. After that incredible experience, I went on to intern at the Memphis Commercial Appeal, writing articles on art, weddings, and women’s interests for three different publications. When I made my way back to Chicago, I joined the 2011 mayoral campaign and worked for Dr. Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins. Whenever I can, I enjoy volunteering at local humane societies and homeless shelters.

Now, I’m thrilled to be a part of the team at Prime. When I’m not blogging about my favorite craft and food trends or writing exciting articles, I enjoy running marathons, reading Charles Dickens, listening to folk music, and learning interesting new words like “bdelygmia.” As a self-proclaimed nerd, I am a lover of dinosaurs, rollercoasters, superheroes, gerbera daisies, hiking in the Tennessee hills, and generally amazing experiences. In the immortal words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”

Jessica Nichols

My name is Jessica, and I’m a daydreamer and a fidgeter with a short attention span. For this reason, I knit, crocheted, and journaled my way through all my college classes to keep from falling asleep. Is it any surprise that I now edit for craft and food websites? Cooking and crafting have been parts of my life since I was a little girl. Before I had left elementary school, I could cross-stitch, sew, needlepoint, bake, rug-hook, and create a distressed paint finish. When I was 16, I learned to knit and crochet, spent a few years knitting only rectangular objects, and finally learned to make useful, 3-dimensional things about a year ago. I love crafting, and I respect anyone who can make something both functional and beautiful with just their own two hands and a little creativity.

Before I came to Prime Publishing, I worked as a freelance editor for Reputation.com for several months. I only recently graduated from the University of Illinois (I-L-L…..!), where I majored in World Literature and minored in German. I worked as a writing tutor at the Writers Workshop and as a copy editor for the Daily Illini, where Julia, another of our editors, was my first copy chief (it really is a small world after all!). I am also extremely proud to say I was the treasurer of October Lovers (and don’t laugh because it’s the second largest club on the UIUC campus!).

I now live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I’ve spent nearly my entire life. In my free time (when I’m not knitting or crocheting of course), I like growing vegetables, biking, and walking dogs at the local animal shelter. I’m also a huge nerd, and I spend a lot of time at the library, checking out B movies, knitting books, sociological studies, yoga videos, and wedding magazines.

Julia Litz

Hello, my name is Julia and I am from St. Louis, although I recently moved to the Chicago suburbs. Despite my location change, I still love my St. Louis Cardinals and Rams, much to the chagrin of my friends and neighbors.

I recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (go Illini!) with a degree in Advertising and a minor in English.  During those four years, I was an active member of my sorority, dabbled in a variety of random activities and found my home at The Daily Illini.  I started as a copy editor at The DI and worked my way up to Copy Chief. Last year, we were even named the top student newspaper in the state by the Illinois Collegiate Press Association!  Despite the ridiculous hours (5 p.m. to about midnight three nights a week, 2 p.m. to about midnight on Sundays and 5 p.m. to 7:30 on Thursdays), it was a great experience and taught me a lot about time management, organization and the value of black coffee.

I love to travel, especially overseas.  Some of my favorite trips have been to Italy, Greece and Israel.  I would love to go to Africa and see elephants (my favorite animal) in their natural habitat.  When I’m not on the go, I love just sitting on my couch and watching reality shows on Bravo for hours at a time.

Karisa Tell

My name is Karisa and I’m a self-taught renaissance woman crafter. I’ve dabbled in almost every type of craft, from crocheting and sewing to scrapbooking and origami. I rarely craft anything the “right way” because I don’t have the patience to learn how to interpret patterns, and I operate under the belief that anyone can be a crafter; all it takes is a little confidence with a dash of passion.

I graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Writing Intensive English and a useless minor in Speech Pathology. Being an English major has allowed me to cultivate both my coffee addiction and my distaste for comma splices. While I was at Marquette I occasionally wrote for the campus newspaper and magazine. I also wrote and performed an editorial celebrity news segment for the campus television station every week, and my roommate and I hosted our own radio show called Desperate Roommates.

In my free time (when I’m not crafting, that is) I love writing for my personal blog and reading other people’s blogs. My goal in life is to have a reason to purchase a brief case, and then to actually purchase one. If that never comes to fruition, my alternate goal is to witness someone slipping on a banana peel.

Kelly Spence

After nearly two years of editing police and public safety magazines, working with craft and food content is more than a little refreshing. As I’ve always been artistically inclined–and hungry–I knew right away that Prime Publishing was the place for me. Though my former position did afford me a variety of interesting experiences, including but not limited to shooting a sniper rifle and driving a police-package Dodge Charger at 120mph down a rural Indiana highway, I somehow found that writing about holsters and rifle lights wasn’t exactly my forte. Shocking, I know.

Before my days of correcting the grammar of America’s finest, I attended the University of Illinois where I studied English and Creative Writing. When I wasn’t stressing over papers and drowning in chapters of Austen, I enjoyed exploring the wealth of quirky vintage and thrift shops in downtown Champaign and visiting the art theater, which I sadly discovered too late in my college career. Fortunately for my thrifting and movie-going obsessions, I recently moved from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, where I grew up, to the fair city of Chicago proper, where vintage shops abound and all the best indie flicks are within walking distance.

If I’m not scouring the shelves of Goodwill, I can probably be found snuggling my cats to within an inch of their lives, dancing unabashedly at one of Chicago’s small music venues (I am positively addicted to live music), or pouring glitter all over everything. I’ve always enjoyed crafting, especially jewelry-making, and would love to start my own line some day. I am also an avid doodler and dream of writing and illustrating children’s literature. Gyo Fujikawa’s “Oh, What a Busy Day!” is my absolute favorite. Though I’ve never been much of a cook (I ate a lot of SpaghettiOs in college), I’m hoping my time at Prime will spark some culinary inspiration!

Kirsten Kwon

My name is Kirsten and I’m a recent graduate of The University of Kansas. Rock Chalk to all my fellow Jayhawks! While in Lawrence, I studied journalism and received my degree with an emphasis in news and information.  To clarify,  no, I don’t know anyone named Dorothy.

In college I worked on The University Daily Kansan newspaper as a correspondent, general assignment reporter and student life reporter. I love keeping up with global news and hope to one day travel around the world – or at least to Australia.

I’m currently living in Chicago (the city that will forever be number one in my heart) and I love meeting new people, eating at new restaurants and seeing live music.   Beyond that, my time is spent hanging out with friends, reading magazines like Spin and Nylon and adding to my constantly growing music library.

While I’m relatively new to the crafting world, I’m confident that as I spend my days finding great projects to add to our sites I’ll eventually become a crafter myself. I’m excited to be working with a fun group of editors and hope I continue to produce content you’ll want to read!

Maggie Kmiecik

My name is Maggie and I was born and raised in the great city of Chicago, where I still currently reside. For years, I worked and now live in Andersonville, where I spend most of my time browsing boutiques, loitering in cafes, and trying new menu items. Because I drive quite a distance to work everyday, I try to bike everywhere else and I love being in a neighborhood where I can walk everywhere.

I’m a (fairly) recent graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where I majored in English Literature and minored in French. During my time there I was lucky enough to study abroad in the south of France, an experience that just reinforced a love of everything French in me. My life goal is to end up living by the Mediterranean. Professionally, I’ve done a lot of freelance work writing for various websites and blogs. I most enjoy writing about fashion, design, and shopping, as I have a pretty severe shopping addiction.

I love finding new and interesting designs for both store bought items and crafts to make at home. I’m guilty of thinking I can make anything I see. I have been proven wrong many, many times, but I keep trying. I dabble in all crafts and will try anything once, but I have a bad habit of abandoning projects. My work space is filled with boxes of beads, scraps of fabric and assorted papers. Working with these amazing crafting and cooking sites is only enabling my bad habits. I’m hoping my time here will motivate me to finish projects.

Maria Nerius

What can I say? I craft in paradise! I’m Maria and I live in the Sunshine State, which is the perfect climate for creativity. I didn’t really grow up crafting like many; my mom was a crafting genius and let’s just say I was a creative klutz. However, after I married my childhood sweetheart I moved to a very small town where there wasn’t a job to be found, so I started hand sewing Christmas ornaments to sell at outdoor craft shows until I could find a real job. That was 29 years ago and I guess that real job is just going to have to wait while I enjoy the job of my dreams. I can’t add two numbers together, but I can make just about anything! I also have to live around a syndrome called fibromyalgia and crafting makes it much easier to overcome any limitations I face. I thought I was going to have to give up crafting and working when diagnosed 15 years ago and was happily doing the dance of joy when I discovered that creativity can overcome any obstacle life throws at you!

I love scuba diving, and it has taken me around the world! I use all that color, peace, and happiness of the oceans in my creative adventures. I have 4 not-so-silent partners in my studio (two basset hounds/two dachshunds), which I’ve dubbed “DogHouse Studios.” My true center is my husband, Ken, who can build anything and has the most magical sense of humor. We love doing home projects like our amazing swim spa patio, a beautiful orchid garden, and a koi pond to die for! I’m into Sci-Fi and am the proud owner of one of the first i-Pads (just like Star Trek!). I’d love to retire to Hawaii someday, but until then I’m happy traveling the globe with my best friend and discovering that creativity is the best universal language in the world! I’m old fashioned, kinda corny, and love sharing my joy of craft.

Melissa Conner

As those who are close to me know, I love cupcakes, little things, fluffy dogs, DIY projects, and Johnny Depp…and not necessarily in that order!

Hi! I’m Melissa and I’m so happy to be part of the Prime Publishing team! I am a lover of all things creative, from scrapbooking to cake decorating, knitting to origami. I love finding new ways to use old things and coming up with cost effective ways to decorate my little Chicago apartment.

Prior to working at Prime, I spent four years in book publishing, where I specialized in craft and puzzle books…so I feel right at home here! I have always tried to surround myself with creative people, and I think I hit the jack pot at Prime!

I am a graduate of Northern Michigan University, where I majored in English Literature and minored in public relations and Native American Studies. While in college I did some freelance writing for various on and off campus publications, including the NMU alumni magazine and a local Native American newspaper.

When I’m not working, crafting, or baking, I’m browsing old book stores, watching Mad Men, or fostering my love of creativity on my personal blog, The Hob-bee Hive. I dream of one day opening my own bookstore/coffee shop/bakery combo…or starring in a movie with Alan Rickman…whichever comes first!

Rachel Bernstein

Hi, I’m Rachel and I’m one of the newest editors here at Prime Publishing. As a scrapbook addict and a baking enthusiast, I really feel like I’ve found the perfect place to work. How many people can say they spend their days immersed in amazingly creative craft projects and mouth-watering recipes? I am so excited to call this my job.

I’m a true Midwestern girl. I grew up in St. Louis and have lived in the Chicagoland area for the past seven years. I graduated with a journalism degree from Northwestern University (go Wildcats!) and I have a love of all things media. I’ve worked for newspapers, magazines, an advertising agency and a TV production company. I guess you could call me a Jill of all trades. Before coming to Prime, I produced documentaries for the History Channel, Discovery Channel and Biography Channel. They tended to mostly be about crime, so if you’re curious about biker gangs or mafia kingpins, I’m your girl.

Some of my favorite things in life are travel, chocolate, trashy TV shows (I’m not afraid to admit it!), trying out new restaurants, and puppies. Anytime I see a dog in my neighborhood, I have to stop and pet it. My friends think I’m slightly obsessed, but I just can’t resist the cuteness. Now that I work at Prime, I get excited whenever I come across dog sweater patterns, because what’s cuter than a puppy in knitwear?

I’m excited to discover more interesting and unique craft projects, and of course share them with all of you!

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