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"Snappest thou not thy blades with much haste?"

Hi, I'm Mary Kay Hansen, aka "Blade Lady," inventor of the BLADEater® safety holster. I started fighting "The Battle of the Blades" years ago. As a professional wallpaper hanger, I was snapping off over 40 blade segments in a day and was constantly dropping little blade segments on the floor, not to mention, losing my knife and spare blades on a regular basis. One day, I decided I was going to win "The Battle of the Blades," once and for all!

I've always dreamed I could come up with a nifty idea that could be protected by a patent. Then, one day I got a glimpse of how segmented utility knife blades could be snapped off, faster and safer. After having my Eureka moment, I never looked back.

When I finally came up with the blade snapper design, I then came up with a better way to organize the knife and spare blades, too. Then, I designed a blade well, where the snapped blade segments could be stored safely until properly disposed of; hence, the BLADEater® was born. The BLADEater® safety holster design has been granted 3 U.S. utility patents.

Many people contact me and say they have a really good idea and just don't know how in the world to get started. I always recommend the two books that helped guide me step-by-step through the patenting process. "Patent It Yourself," by David Pressman," has everything you need to help guide you through the patenting process, and "The Inventor's Notebook," will help keep you organized, and protect your idea, while conceiving, building, and testing it. You can order both books at Nola.

These books are a small investment, and "Patent It Yourself," will even help you understand what can and can't be patented, and help you decide on whether or not you should hire a patent attorney, which I recommend unless you are extremely smart and can comprehend all the legalese. It will also help you to know if your idea would be easy or hard to design around. This is so important to know before spending any more time or money on your idea.

In addition to marketing the BLADEater® and utility knife blades, I am busy with my wallpaper and painting business, DesignOvations, Inc., serving the Cincinnati, Ohio area. DesignOvations, Inc. offers Wall Repair, Wallpaper Stripping, Wallpaper Installation, painting, faux finishes, brown bag walls, stucco walls, stucco old-world glazing, furniture, cabinet painting, and distressing.

I am also an interior decorator. I offer my customers an affordable solution to interior design. My work has been featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cincinnati Post.  

I also love finding junk and turn it into cool, one-of-a-kind, treasures. If you're ever in the Cincinnati area, please stop by at "The Beary Patch," which is located in the Schoolhouse General Store, or visit my web site at http://www.diy-Inspiration.com to see some of my work.

You can find my "brightest idea" at www.corklights.com.

Also, one of my favorite hobbies is playing the Native American flutes with my husband, Greg,  around the Cincinnati area.  We love to play for various events and venues.  One of our favorites is playing music for nursing and senior centers.  This has become our passion and we feel so blessed to be able to share our music with those who appreciate it and love to join in and sing along.  

They say that music is one thing that usually stays with people all throughout their lives.  We've come to realize this when we've witnessed people with memory loss recall words to so many songs.  It is such a blessing to see!