Everyone always asks, "Who is Kitty Black?!"

Well, in a nutshell, Kitty Black was the assumed name of design debutante, Stephanie Dyke, whenever she didn't want to reveal her real identity at parties and other social gatherings (as in, "Oh, I'm just Kitty Black, dah-ling..."). It became of symbol of disguise, silliness and other such tomfoolery. Needing a good name for the business of her artistic pursuits, she crowned the company Kitty Black Designs, and the rest is history. So, really, Kitty is whomever you want her to be!

Kitty Black Designs is Stephanie's design studio located just outside Baltimore, MD. Kitty Black is also the purveyor of all the stuff that Stephanie adores - collage and assemblage supplies, wacky rubber artistamps and worthless advice. Additionally, Kitty Black houses Kittyshop, an e-commerce division for jewelry, accessories and other great decorative items. Stephanie's work, as well as that of other talented artists, may be viewed and purchased there.

What about this Stephanie character?

A little less enigmatic than Kitty, but just as glamourous, Stephanie got her start in the arts and crafts industry at the ripe old age of 3..... Wielding her mother's finest pinking shears, she clipped a lovely abstract pile of textile sculpture from the centers of every chunk of fabric in the house.

Nineteen years and many tie dyed t-shirts, clay coiled pinch pots, and paper mache dinosaurs later, she emerged from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Crafts (yeah, there really is such a thing!). Post haste, she abandoned the arts for a few years and worked as a corporate lackey in the Human Resources field. Then she came to her senses.

She now lives just outside of Baltimore, in a very old house, with her husband, son and two cranky cats. She sometimes shakes off the glitter, stamp ink and beads and makes them all dinner.