Stolen Moments: Spotlighting Laci and Bree

In case you haven't noticed we've had a few guests around here creating some beautiful layouts with Amber's kits. I wanted to help you get to know these great gals a little bit more. First up we have....

Laci

{aka lacidock}

My name is Laci. I am from a small town in Southern Utah. I have been married to my best friend Brandon for the past 5 years. We have two beautiful girls, Elli is almost 4 and Addison is 2. I have been digi scrapping for almost 2 years and LOVE it :)

How long have you been scrapping? Have you ever paper scrapped? When did you make the switch to digi and why? I started out paper scrapping when I was in high school. A couple years after my first child was born I started digi scrapping. I stumbled across a digi scrapping site and just went from there. I loved that I could just get on the computer and start scrapping and didn't have to make such a mess. It is great especially with little kids in the house.
What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill? Your weakest? Tough question. I honestly haven't really thought about it. I guess my strongest scrapping skill would be making the picture the focus or clustering I think my weakest skill is journaling. I have a hard time writing out a story.
What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Shadows are really make a scrapbook page. When I first started scrapping I didn't know to add shadows to my pages and they really do make a big difference.
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 PSE 6. I almost always start out with a photo and then let my creativity take me from there.
On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? Maybe 8-10 hours.
Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda? music? snacks? I scrap at night after I tuck the kids into bed. I usually have the tv going in the background.
What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? I love to hang out with my family.
What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? I would love to take my kids to Disneyland for the 1st time and I am sure that I would have a lot of great photos to scrap.
Who inspires you in the scrapping community? Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? So many inspiring people in the community it would be hard to just pick a few.
If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? I would love a kit all about Summer. I am so sick of the cold weather today.

Laci has such great layouts. I love that she does amazing clustering but leaves ample white space on her layouts. Get ready for some great eye candy courtesy of Laci!

Oldest Layout

Favorite Layouts

Current Layout

Thanks Laci for showing us these amazingly inspirational layouts! If you would like to see more of Laci's layouts check out her GALLERY!

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Next up lets get to know.....

Breon

{aka breeoxd}

Hey there, my name is Bre and I’m 28 years old and taken :O). No kids on the horizon, but I have plenty of entertainment with an amazingly patient boyfriend named Jay, a not-so-patient furbaby named Theo and some really great friends and family. I spend all of my day either pushing pills(j/k, I work in a pharmacy) or digiscrapping and really can't imagine what I'd do without either. Other than that I am really into taking tons of photos and just love to catch the colorfulness of this crazy life. I'm all about traveling, but better yet, being a tourist in my own backyard. Throw in a good book, some facebook time ( long live mafia wars! lol), and any one of the generic tv crime dramas and I'm a happy girl!

How long have you been scrapping? Have you ever paper scrapped? When did you make the switch to digi and why? Well, I started paper scrapping about 11 years ago when I spotted a cheapo kit in the college bookstore. You know, those 10 dollar ones with rainbow paper and a gluestick? lol. It snowballed into a career when I became a sales rep for scrap companies and sold to places like AC Moore and Joanne's. Problem was, between my own addiction and all the samples ( I know, life is hard, right? lol) I could not create a layout to save my life. I had about 10,000 sheets of paper- no lie! And frankly my once creative passion became an agony of indecision. Then, about 2 years ago I saw my boyfriend's twin brother working in PS, and thought "hey, I can do scrapping that way!" I thought I was a genius! HAHAHAH
What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill? Your weakest? I would have to say journaling is my strength. I love to get it all out on paper, ya know? My weekness would have to be scrapping outside the box, literally. Sometimes I feel like I scrap too many photos in just a rectangle or square, and my layouts start to look a bit dull.
What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Stay away from the freebies!!! I know that is the biggest temptation out there, but really, you will NEVER use all those freebies. There's just no way! All it will do is make you have more to sort through. If you are going to snag freebies, just make sure it's something you will really use, and that something changes for everyone. Maybe you adore templates, maybe you love qps. Who knows? But you really dont need it all.
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 was finally lucky enough to get Photoshop CS3 last year. It is worth every penny! I actually find it easier to use than elements after a bit of a learning curve. I always start with photos, unless I am doing a CT layout. Even then, I never really just make a lo for a lo's sake. I want to get my stories told- no time for just pretty layouts! lol. I also live and die by my ACDSee software for sorting. I have over 500gigs of scrap supplies at this point, and so far this is the best software for my needs- love that I can ask it for a pink brad, or a red graphic styled paper and it gets them all for me! It helps me because I am such a SLOW scrapper. I usually start pondering a layout for a week or two, and then sit down to do it. At that point it can take me 2 hours to 2 days if Im not feeling my groove! But... once I am feeling it, watch out! I can get 10 layouts done in a day!
On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? I spend most of my spare time scrapping or tagging scrap supplies. Probably about 25 hrs a week. Still loving it though!
Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda? music? snacks? I like to take my laptop & scrap in bed. The TV just distracts me and I get nothing finished. If my hunny isn't asleep next to me, I just pop on Pandora, and my furbaby, Theo curls up by my side. I think best that way :) Oh, and there is almost always a coke there too.
What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? I love to read, and I used to cross stitch as well, but not too much anymore. Mostly I love to play tourist in the areas around my house (Northern VA) or try to make it back to NJ for family and friend gatherings. That, and I really actually like to clean
What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? Well besides the obvious trip to Paris, China, or Ireland, I might have to say go to the Wizard of Oz festival held in L.Frank Baum's hometown in NY every year. I would dig that, cause I'm geeky that way. That's only cause I managed to get a long term scrapping goal finished last year- getting my hunny and his twin brother in Thing 1 & Thing 2 t-shirts!
Who inspires you in the scrapping community? Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? I have quite a few places/people that inspire me in the scrappin word. Scrapmatters is of course my go-to for their challenges and wonderful support, Ali Edwards & Cathy Zielski always inspire me with their words and design skills toTRUELY tell my stories, the Simple Scrapper blog is always informative and helpful and Elsie Flannigan, though she is not always scrapbook related, really inspires me with her use of color and pattern.
If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? Wow, now that is just makes me feel all awesome and powerful, bruhaha! Well she already hit the nail on the head with color, since her Everyday Elegance kit is just my go to color scheme, but for kit themes I would love to see a few things- a nice reading kit, and non cutesy cat or animal kit, and something for adult friends/couples going out on the town that isnt a girls night out kit. Vague enough for ya? :)