Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Spotlighting Stefanie and Michelle

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Hey all!  Jewelle here to introduce you to a few of our February guest CTMs.  There are SIX guest CTMs this month.  Today I am going to help you get to know Stefanie and Michelle.  Sit back, grab a drink and a snack, and enjoy!

Stefanie 
{aka Stefanie}

My name is Stefanie and I'm a mom to two active little boys ages 3 and 1.  I'm married to my sweetheart Chapin for the last 4 years and we live in Northern Virginia.  If I'm not scrapping you can find me hanging out with the family, cooking, reading, trying new wines or restaurants and just having fun! 

1.  How long have you been scrapping?  Have you ever paper scrapped?  When did you make the switch to digi and why?  I have never paper scrapped, I'm not organized enough to have all the papers and stuff at my house.  I've been scrapping for about 3 years now ever since my first son was born.  I was looking around the internet trying to figure out something to do with the pictures and found some scrapbooking sites.  I was hooked immediately. 

2.  What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill?
  I love white space and think I do a good job at those types of layouts. Your weakest?  extractions

3.  What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping?
  Don't be afraid to ask questions at a site you are comfortable with and don't be afraid to try new things.

4.  Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Do you always have something in mind when you start, or do you let your creativity guide you?  How long does it take you to complete a layout? I use Photoshop CS3 mostly.  Sometimes I will use Elements 6 if I don't want to wait for CS3 to start up.  It seems to take forever on my computer.  I always start with papers first, then photo and then elements.  I always try to match up a picture to a kit in my head before I put everything together on the computer.  Sometimes I have something in my mind and sometimes I do not, it just depends on the day.  A layout usually takes me about an hour maybe longer if I need to perfect shadows and such or if the kids are bothering me to help them with something.  LOL

5.  On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week?  I try to scrap something every day if possible, a lot of times my creativity is not there so the layout get saved to come back to or scrapped all together.

6.   Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks?
   The kids are asleep, glass of wine next to me, Ipod on and husband watching something interesting on TV. 

7.  What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping?
  Hanging with my family, cooking, trying new wines or restaurants and reading. 

8.  What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it?
  Skydive but I'm deathly afraid of heights

9.  Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration?  ScrapMatters of course is my main source of inspiration.  The designers and scrappers there are phenomenal and I love to browse the gallery and the store for inspiration. 

10.  If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why?
  I love tans, blues and reds together.  Maybe a beachy kit since we started going to Myrtle Beach with the kids and have fun doing that.  We also boat and fish with them so putting some of that in there would be fun also.  If not a beachy kit then maybe a wine kit with some deep burgundy and blue colors since my friends and I and hubby too love to visit wineries.


Stefanie also favored us with a few of her layouts with a small description of each.  Enjoy some eyecandy!

First Layout
This was my first attempt at a digital layout.  The reason I got into scrapping digitally was so that I could take all the pictures of my son and do something with them.  I was hooked after the first layout.
Favorite Layouts
I love this layout of my oldest Ben.  It just shows his great personality!!
 

Another favorite of mine.  This layout just came together perfectly the first time, I didn't have to redo and move things around and that is one of the reasons why I love it.

Most recent layout
My sweet boy Ryan when he was 7 weeks old.   
 

Favorite layout using Amber's kit Summer Sailor
This was taken from our trip to Maine which was one of my favorite vacations.  I love lighthouses and the New England coast, there is something so peaceful about that area. 

 Thanks Stefanie for letting us get to know you.  Be sure to jump over to Stefanie's BLOG and GALLERY to check out more of her fabulous work.

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Now let me introduce....
Michelle
{aka mhreen08}

My name is Michelle.  I've been scrapping for over two years.  I've been married for 15 years and we have a 3 year old son named Owen.  I'm in the Air Force and work as a translator.  We are from Texas, but currently live in Maryland.

1.  How long have you been scrapping?  Have you ever paper scrapped?  When did you make the switch to digi and why?  I have been scrapping for a little over two years.  I never paper scrapped. 

2.  What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill?
   I think my strongest skill is using white space. Your weakest?  My weakest skill is clustering

3.  What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping?
  I would tell them to ask for help.  When I was starting out, there were so many things I didn't know how to do and it was very frustrating.  If I had just asked for help on the forums, I know now that I would have got help and encouragement instantly.

4.  Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Do you always have something in mind when you start, or do you let your creativity guide you?  How long does it take you to complete a layout? It really depends.  Sometimes a picture inspires me or sometimes it's a kit or other product.  I usually do start with the photo though.  Most of the time it takes me 30 minutes to an hour to finish a layout.

5.  On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week?  Too much!  LOL!  Probably 10 hours.

6.   Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks?
   I like to be quiet.  I do most of my scrapping really early in the morning, while everyone else is asleep. 

7.  What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping?
  I love to read.

8.  What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it?
  I'm not sure.  Probably something exciting and out of the ordinary for me.

9.  Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? Definitely Scrapmatters and Elemental Scraps.  I spend most of my time at those 2 places.  Two of my all time favorite scrappers Monsu and Denise Beatty.

10.  If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why?
  I really want a cute camera kit.  I'd love to see one with a bunch of cute camera elements.  

Michelle also was kind enough to share some of her fantastic layouts with a brief description!
First Layout
Zoo Day - This is one of my first layouts.  It's from our first trip to the zoo with Owen.  From the beginning I've been a simple scrapper whose loved templates

Favorite Layouts
 Pucker Up - I love this layout.  The picture always makes me smile.  Owen is such a kissy face boy and that's what this picture shows.
 

The Incredible Owen - Here's another of my favorite layouts.  It's just so silly and I loved playing around with photoshop to make the pictures look like a comic book.

Most recent layout
Our Digital Family - Here's the my latest layout.  I did it for a challenge at ScrapMatters.  The avatars are a pretty good likeness.  Just kidding.
 

Layout with Amber's products
Silliness - Owen is such a goofball.  He is always doing stuff to try to get us to laugh.  This is just one example of his silliness.

Thanks Michelle!  Be sure to jump over to Michelle's  BLOG and GALLERY to check out more of her fabulous work.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know these ladies.  Stay tuned next week for more CT spotlights!

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