Spolighting Whitney and WendyThe end of the month is drawing near, but I{Jewelle} didn't want to let the month pass without spotlighting the last of our February guests. Today we are going to be spotlighting Wendy and Whitney. Let me first introduce...
Whitney
{aka whitney}
My name is Whitney and I’m 22 year old student at the University of Northern Iowa. I’m majoring in secondary and middle level education and I student teach next fall- I can’t wait to be a teacher! I live with my boyfriend of 6 years and our dog, Spud, who is part Chow Chow/Australian Sheppard. We are pretty normal people who live a pretty normal life!
- How long have you been scrapping? Have you ever paper scrapped? When did you make the switch to digi and why?I have been digi-scrapping since January 2009 but didn’t start actually doing layouts until May 2009. I basically browsed, learned the tricks of the trade, and picked up a TON of freebies (like 30GB worth) during the first 5 months. I did paper before but don’t like to talk to people about it- it doesn’t even compare.
- What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill? Your weakest? I think I’m pretty good at layering and shadowing. I love lots of layers! I also am becoming braver with my title work. I struggle with journaling.. most of my pages are journal free. I need a little work on clustering too but I’m getting better, I think LOL!
- What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Take your time and make it your own! Also, use everything available to help you become a better scrapper like tutorials and challenges.
- 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 have an HP laptop and I use CS4- they are a perfect match and run beautifully. When scrapping, I start with papers (or template), then elements, then pictures, then shadows & journaling. It usually takes me about an 1 ½ to complete a LO, sometimes longer if I don’t feel quite right about it.
- On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? Oh man.. I hope I’m not the only one who spends 35-40hrs. a week scrapping. 5-6 hrs. a day isn’t that bad is it?! LOL!
- Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda? music? snacks? Lets see here.. I sit in the same spot, the TV is always on but I’m never watching it (unless Biggest Loser is on) and I ALWAYS have a Dt. Coke within reach. Usually, my darling boyfriend sits across the room from me on the couch and does his own thing, usually playing Call of Duty or Madden.
- What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? Sleep; which I feel I’m always lacking. I also love to bake and shop!
- What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it?Go to Disney World/Land just so I can understand how amazing it is! I’m so jealous of all the fantastic Disney LO’s in the gallery. Plus, there are SOOOOO many great kits intended for Disney pics.
- Who inspires you in the scrapping community? Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? ScrapMatters is so addicting. I love all my ScrapMatter’s Girls and there is always something stunning in the gallery to inspire me. I always get ideas and inspiration in the galleries of Linz, cnscrap, & loribear just to name a few!
- If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? I’m up for anything! J I do have a lot of pictures from when I went to London.. so that would probably be my request.
First Layout
This is my first LO. I had no idea what I was doing but I don't think it turned out too bad. LOL!
Favorite Layouts
This is one of my all time favorite LOs! The kit just worked perfectly with the colors in the pictures. I love all the clusters and scatters too!
I just adore this LO! I was so proud of it when I was done! I love the scattered flowers and the few colors used throughout. But the best part is that it includes a picture of my family!
This is a favorite because I just love those lollipops! I love those colors together too with the black and white pics!
This is another favorite LO that I've done. I love the scattered paper flowers and the flowy strings. It makes me smile when I look at it! :-)
Most recent layout
Layout using Amber's products
This fun LO was made with the Little Dude collab by Amber and Digi-Designs by Nicole. What a perfect kit for these pics! I loved all the grungy papers and the metal embellies!
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Next lets say hello to.....
Wendy
{aka Neverland Scraps}
- How long have you been scrapping? This year will be four years. Have you ever paper scrapped? Yes, over 12 years and stamped since my pre-teens. When did you make the switch to digi and why? I made the digi shortly after my youngest was born and I found I couldn't scrap as often as I wanted. We also ran into some financial problems, making it harder for me to scrap. When I found digital, the finacial aspect wasn't a problem anymore.
- What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill? Layouts with more than one photo as well as journaling. Your weakest? Confidence in my layouts as well as trying to break the traditional blocking/square layout.
- What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Shadowing! When I first started, for almost 6 months NONE of my layouts have any shadowing, no one thought to tell people about shadowing back then. Now I push shadowing because it gives the paper the realistic lift/look that it needs to be completed
- 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? To scrap I use Paint Shop Pro X2, however lately I've been dual scrapping and using Creative Suite 4 for some things and then going back over to Paint Shop Pro X2. I am backwards in my scrapping. I can not look at my photos and scrap with specific photos. When I do this, I often get blocked and usually never finish the layout or hate the finished result. I start with finding what I am in the mood to scrap. I am a very emotional scrapper. If I am having a bad day, my layouts tend to be darker in color, more thrown together, lots of layering and maybe not a lot of journaling. When I am happy, playful, or feeling very romantic, my layouts tend to be my favorite colors (browns, reds, pinks, purples) and there most likely will be a creative title or lots of journaling. Lately, I've been distracted while scrapping. I am a homeschooling mom, so my mornings are geared towards the kids. I turn the computer on and get a layout in mind, however I dont get to sit down and do anything with it until later that day. Most of the time, when I sit down to scrap, I am interrupted several times by the kids or my husband. Overall, on those days I can get a layout done in about 5 hours. However when the family knows I WANT to scrap, I can get several layouts done in that 5 hour block. Ultimately it depends on the interruptions this mother gets!
- On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? Oh this could be a scary number! Lately I've been scrapping a lot to get my mind off things, so probably 20-40 hours a week. However most weeks I spent about 10 hours scrapping because there is so much else going on that needs my attention.
- Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda? music? snacks? Lights off, no noise, peace and quiet. However, that doesn't happen since my computer is on our bedroom and I get to listen to my husband playing his XBox games, watching tv or snoring away LOL.
- What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? I love to bead, however our last move, the movers dumped all my beads and I've yet to sort them so I can finally start beading again.
- What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? Probably take more vacations since we never took vacations as a child. We've been married 12 years on Valentines Day and our family just took our first family vacation this past March! I'd love to take more vacations to scrap those wonderful memories and scenery.
- Who inspires you in the scrapping community? Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? Everyone in the gallery inspires me. Some even make me feel inadequate in my scrapping ability. But then being accepted to teams like Amber's, even for a guest, take that feeling away really quickly! But for the most part, I love going through the gallery and being in awe with peoples talent and ability.
- If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? A military kit, and not one that is girly girl (pinks, etc) a true US Army military kit, complete with dog tags, boots, camo, gear, tanks, tents (the big white ones that my husband spent his deployment living in...not a camping tent) crumpled notepapers, post cards, boxes, deployment flag, ranking, etc. Obviously, we are a military family. I am always looking for a military kit, one that I can use for a long time to scrap the many adventures of our time in the service. I own a bunch of military kits, but usually after one use, I've used all the military elements and the rest are just basic elements that I can find in any kit or create myself. I know I should make the kit, but this is something that I want to scrap and not have to work on designing it....I want to go into a store and be amazed saying "wow, that's a kit I can use over and over again for the rest of our military career" Seriously a military kit is the way to this girl's heart...I can scrap about our two princesses any day with a lot of kits. But to scrap about my hero is a little difficult when there are so few to pick from.
First Layout
I picked this layout to show you because it is one of my very first 12x12 layouts. I am very proud to look back at this kit and see the feathering of the photo into the background and the stamped effect of the journaling. While there is no shadowing, no one told me about shadowing until a year later. I still enjoy this layout in my printed albums. I also look at the layout and think for a first time 12x12 layout, it really is a good start.
Favorite Layouts
I have a lot of favorite layouts and each layout is a different style, which is maybe why I have a hard time picking a style to describe my scrapping! This first one is a layout that was created during last year's Amazing Digiscrap Race where we had to use specific directions. I not sure why I like the layout so much, maybe its because it is one of the few moments of my daughter with my favorite Aunt and Uncle, or maybe because of all the different products that I used to come up with the end result, or possibly because of the layering and worn look of the main photo. I'm not sure, but it is one of my favorite layouts:
Another favorite layout is this one using Stolen Moments "Into the Night" and one of her BLOCKED templates. At first I wasn't sure if I was enjoying the direction of the layout, but after sitting back, taking in the tiny photo and the long paper pieces with the flower/paper clustering under all the blocking it quickly became one of my favorite layouts. I love the photos because they are something that I took myself with my brand new camera (at the time of the photos) and they were not stock photos or anything that I "borrowed" from a friend or online.
This one is one of my all time favorites because it includes one of the very few photos of my grandmother who died when I was just a little girl. She was my favorite grandmother and played a huge part in my childhood. In fact my oldest daughter was named after my grandmother. This is a photo of my grandmother holding my sister for the very first time. My father was drafted in the US Army and was stationed over in Germany where my mother had my sister. When his time was up, they traveled around the country before heading home to the states. It was then that this photo was taken. When scrapped with Stolen Moment's Tenderly kit, it just adds the softness and beauty to complete the photo and first time meeting of grandmother and first grandchild.
This is another one of my favorite layouts and quite honestly I'm shocked at how many layers there are in this layout given it was a Speed Scrap layout! I love all the clustering, layering by the photos and then the cute playfulness of the hanging Mike element off to the side of the layout. Its a cute layout, one that makes my children giggle when they see it:
Lastly I love this layout of the garden sights that we saw when we were at Disney. I was in a wheelchair because I had broken my leg in eleven places earlier that year in January. Because I was in a wheelchair, I was moving around the park at a slower speed and a lower height which allowed me to see things that I don't think I would have seen if I hadn't broken my leg or been in a wheelchair. I love the blending of the layout, the colors of the photos and the overall beauty that Disney had brought right through the layout:
Most Recent Layout
This is my most recent layout. I created it for a Speed Scrap at ScrapMatters. As you can tell by the title, these are photos from the sights in downtown Atlanta during one of our recent day trips there.
Layout Using Stolen Moment Products
One of my favorite layouts of Stolen Moment's products would be this one using Everyday Elegance and one of her templates. I love the overall layout with the photos and its flow--is simply beautiful!
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