Archives for 2009

Let’s Meet a Designer: Suzy of SuzyQ Scraps

Every once in a while my friend Charmaine will IM yet another adorable kit link and I will look at it and say, “Wow if I had a girl, that would be great.”

And then one day, she IMed me the link to this kit:

Any of you who have boys can understand why I was excited to find Suzy of SuzyQ Scraps. I loved reading her interview, and I hope you do too.

What’s your name and digiscrap blog address? Suzy https://suzyqscraps.blogspot.com/
Where do you sell? Enchanted Studio Scraps
Tell us a little about your family. I’ve been married to my sweetheart Caleb for nearly 3 three years, and we have a 16-month old son named Caden.
What other hobbies do you have besides scrapping and designing? Is there anything else besides scrapping? Just kidding! I like to bake (cookies and cheesecakes) and I enjoy reading.
When did you start Digi-scrapping and who taught you? I discovered digi-scrapping in 2007—I was looking for a way to scrap on the computer and had no idea there was an ENTIRE industry! I had to wait until Christmas that year for PSE so I could actually start creating LO’s.
When did you start designing and how did you learn? I dabbled in designing from the very beginning, grabbing every tutorial I could. I’m mostly self-taught, but I joined Amanda Rockwell’s Inside the ScrapArtist Studio last fall, and that has REALLY helped me discover new tricks. It was December of last year before I felt confident enough to start marketing my designs.
Which programs do you use to design? Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Inkscape.
Do you draw most of your items with a mouse, or hand draw and scan? Well, some are hand-drawn and scanned. Others are hand-drawn (mostly just rough sketches) and then I drag them into Inkscape to “draw” them. (My sweet sis-in-law is an artist, and has started providing me with some of the sketches I’ve been using in my designs—thanks sweetie!)
Where does your inspiration come from? Everywhere! My husband, my son, clothes, magazines, music, advertisements, candy wrappers, clothes, words on a page…
How did you pick your companies name? Well, SuzyQ is a nickname. And I thought I’d be clever by calling it SuzyQ Scraps, since you could take it to mean the scraps I create, or that I myself scrap (these are SuzyQ’s scraps, or SuzyQ scraps online). Plus, it had some alliteration, which is always good. 😉
Who are your favorite three designers? Amanda Heimann is my all-time favorite! But if I have to choose two more (and it’s probably not tactful to choose myself, lol), I’d have to say…Amanda Rockwell and Heather Roselli.
What are your favorite parts of a kit to design? I love solid papers, so those are always fun to design. I also enjoy coming up with a theme. Most of my kits have characters or drawings in them, and for those kits I really have fun trying to decide what the sketch will become—just a sticker, or maybe molded clay, or perhaps a fuzzy felt critter. I just love to create!
What’s your favorite kit that you’ve designed? It’s a toss-up between Puddle Jumpers (which was one of my first kits, so it holds a special place in my designing heart) and Mommy’s Lil’ Monster.
What’s your least favorite? My least favorite to design was a freebie called Faith (it’s on my blog). Don’t get me wrong, I love how it turned out, but it was the hardest for me to create. I’d received several requests for a kit with religious elements, from people of different faiths, so I struggled to incorporate enough of different religions to make it versatile but not too specific. It was tough!
How do you get started on a kit? Palette first? Rough idea on what you want your papers or elements to look like? Usually an idea pops in my head of something I’d like to create. I jot down any ideas I have for it in a notebook while I start searching for a color palette. Once I have the colors, I do some more brainstorming, and then I start creating.
How long does it typically take you to make a kit? Hmm…depending on the kit, 3 to 5 days.
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? If I could instantly become more patient, that would be fabulous!
What is the one word that best describes you? You want me to praise myself? I’m not good at that, lol. Hmm…I think I would go with genuine.
Who is the most important person in your life? Me! (And I don’t mean that in a selfish way. If I don’t take care of me, everything else falls apart.)
What is something that not many people know about you? I’ve been pecked by a penguin.
If you could travel anywhere where would you go? I’ve always been fascinated with Australia, but I would probably choose to go to Prague with dh.
When you were little what did you dream of being when you grew up? A safari guide. 😉 Or an exotic animal trainer.
What is your favorite food? Chocolate!
What do you like doing with your family? Which family? If it’s just me and dh, I love to listen to music or play video games. If you toss in ds, then we have more fun playing outside. And if we’re visiting extended family, we enjoy playing games.
Where is your favorite place to be? In front of my laptop, designing. 😉 (Snuggling under the covers is a close second.)
What are three things that are important to you? Family, relationships, and learning
Is there anything you would change about your life? Just little things about myself—you know, those little vices that we’re always trying to overcome, those annoying little weaknesses that just don’t seem to go away.
What are you afraid of? High places and deep water.
Do you collect anything? I love Suzy’s Zoo—especially stickers!

And now for some Eye Candy. Here are three more of her wonderful kits. (Psssst! If you click on the images, it will take you to her store and I noticed that a couple of them are on sale for $1 right now!)
Align Left
and one of Suzy’s favorite kits: Mommy’s Little Monster

We set Suzy loose with the Gingerscraps kit, Chocolate Kisses. I have to say, her layout is yummy!
Suzy it was great getting to know more about you. Keep making these adorable kits! I love your use of bold colors!

Free For You (with a little participation) Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the Air is our March collaboration.

You can get this yummy kit for FREE when you complete four challenges in our forum. (Speed scraps while fun, do not count)

So go hurry and complete some challenges in the forum so that you can get this beautiful kit for free! It is perfect for all of your spring or outdoor photos.

Here are what my wonderful CT did with this kit.

Barb

Jen

Jodi

Julie

Laura

Misty

Sara

Stephanie

Keep your eyes on this blog… we have some VERY exciting changes coming to Gingerscraps!

Let’s Meet a Gingerscraps CT Member: Stephanie

This week we are meeting Gingerscraps CT member Stephanie, aka ScrappyCocoa!
What’s your name and digiscrap blog address? Stephanie Ulrich scrappycocoa.blogspot.com
Tell us a little about your family. I have been married to my hubby Tim for 4 years and we have a little boy, Brock, who is 19 months old and a bundle of never ending energy.
Do you work outside the home & if so what do you do? Well, Technically I work inside the home as a digi-scrap designer and an apartment manager.
What other hobbies do you have besides scrapping? I love baking and reading. I used to really love to knit, but haven’t got my stuff out since Brock became mobile!
When did you start Digi-scrapping and who taught you? July, self taught
Are you on any creative teams? I am on 3 CT’s. Ginger Scraps, PiggyScraps, and Digi-Designs by Nicole.
Do you design at all? Yes (Editor’s note, you can check out all of her designs on her blog. 🙂 )
What is your favorite challenge here at GingerScraps? My template challenge of course! LOL Just Kidding, I really like the inspiration challenge.
Who are your favorite three designers? I don’t have a top 3, but if you make me narrow it down… Sweet Blossom Design, Digi-Designs by Nicole and Ginger of course!
What are some of your must have elements? Real flowers and leaves
What’s your favorite kit in the store right now? First Day of Spring is by far my most FAV kit of Ginger’s.
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I’m pretty short. So maybe a little bit taller.
What is the one word that best describes you? Sincere
Who is the most important person in your life? My hubby. He is usually pretty supportive of all my digital antics.
What is something that not many people know about you? I love to run long distances and am currently training for a marathon. I also love to lift weights
If you could travel anywhere where would you go? If I had unlimited amount of $$$$ New York. If I am poor like now, an all expense paid Jamaican Cruise
When you were little what did you dream of being when you grew up? A Nurse
What is your favorite food? CANDY!!!!!
How did you pick you user name? It is my first and last name! I know, I am soooo creative!
What do you like doing with your family? Anything outside. We really enjoy hiking when it is warm enough.
Where is your favorite place to be? Outside running with my Ipod
What are three things that are important to you? family, friends and my Mac
Is there anything you would change about your life? I wish I didn’t have so much debt from Hubby’s schooling
What are you afraid of? Spiders
Do you collect anything? cookbooks and moose stuff

Here are three of Stephanie’s wonderful layouts.

And because Stephanie (and everyone else at Gingerscraps) loves our readers, a freebie for you! A kit Stephanie designed herself, Coach Cocoa. Click on the preview to download from 4shared.

Monday’s Freebie List

I don’t normally editorialize the freebie list, but I am exctited about this one. I have always wanted to do an ABC book, but lacked the enthusiasm for making 26 seperate pages. The girls at Stolen Moments have done the work for you and are hosting a blog train!

Enjoy this and the other wonderful freebies I’ve found for you! Have a wonderful week!


Kits, Mini-kits and more!

Speed Scrap Tonight!!!

Let’s Meet a Designer: Ginger of Gingerscraps!

“Yes Virgina, there is a Ginger of Gingerscraps”, and here she is!”
Tell us a little about you and your family.
I come from a large and very close family! My parents still live in the house I grew up in, and I live like 5 minutes from them. My sister is my best friend and she lives in walking distance 🙂 I love it!! I have 2 kids Isabelle 11, and Chandler 8, they are the light of my life!!!

What other hobbies do you have besides scrapping and designing?
ummm none hahaa.. No , I like to read, bead, paint, and rock out with my kids (Playing RockBand) I am the drummer 🙂
When did you start Digi-scrapping and who taught you?
I started when my daughter was born 11 years ago. My sister Julie and I quickly became addicted!! Then I kept seeing these amazing digital pages in scrapbooking magazines. I decided to learn how to digi- scrap. I taught myself 🙂
When did you start designing and how did you learn?
I started designing here and there, just to make things for my own layouts… then once I started the freebie blog I was seeing so much great stuff every day when I was looking for freebies. I decided to make my first kit.. Beach Glass. I just did a make over on it, it is still free. You can get it in my store.
How did you pick your company’s name?
My name is Ginger 🙂 So GingerScraps sounded perfect.
When did you start your blog, and when and how did you start Gingerscraps?
I honestly do not remember… I think I started the blog in May of 2008- wow it took off like crazy!!! People love a good freebie 🙂 I started GingerScraps store, forum etc… in September 2008.
Who are your favorite three designers?
Flergs, EllieLash, Faith True, Jacque Larsen.. thats 4.. I could go on and on!!
What are your favorite parts of a kit to design?
I can’t pick- paper, alphas.. elements…. 🙂
What’s your favorite kit that you’ve designed?
Kayla’s Quilt and I really love Man Oh Man (you can click on the kit previews to be taken to the Gingerscraps store.)

What’s your least favorite?
ummm I actually pulled it from my store.. i am going to do a make over on it because it has some beautiful stuff.. but it is just too big.. It is called A Mermaids Tail. I will re-release it soon
How do you get started on a kit? Palette first? Rough idea on what you want your papers or elements to look like?
I don’t have a set way, I just get inspration and go.
How long does it typically take you to make a kit?
Never the same.. I have done one in 2 days, and I have some that takeme months. I have some started that I kinda get burnt out on and then I take a break from it and come back to it later.
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
My health!!! I have a stupied disease that I hate.. It is a blood clotting disorder called Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome. It causes me to have small strokes often. I so wish I did not have it!!!!!!
What is the one word that best describes you?
laughter 🙂
Who is the most important person in your life?
God, my kids, my family
What is something that not many people know about you?
That I am a closet writer 🙂 I dream of having a best seller one day
If you could travel anywhere where would you go?
Somwhere on the beach.. with perfect weather, and a staff to wait on me… where ever that is
When you were little what did you dream of being when you grew up?
A mom
What is your favorite food?
My moms pork chops and mashed potatoes and gravy!! She makes the BEST EVER!!!
What do you like doing with your family?
I love watching my kids do tricks for me on the trampoleane!! We like to play games, and I love dinner time sitting down at the table together and talking about our days.
Where is your favorite place to be?
Dependes on my mood. I love being outside at my parents house.. they have a great backyard!! I like being in my digi-world on the computer. And I love my bed 🙂 It is sooo comfy!
What are three things that are important to you?
God, my kids, my family
Is there anything you would change about your life?
I would have a “happily ever after” marrige. But my husband (soon to be ex) did not have the same idea.
What are you afraid of?
serisouly.. dying and leaving my babies with no mommy. On a lighter note… I really hate paper cuts, oh and when I bend a finger nail back I really hate that!! Oh and I HATE opening the bisket packages that you have to pull the cardbord off and it pop, it totally freaks me out LOL
Do you collect anything?
yes.. Betty Boop , Milk Glass, Retro 1950’s stuff
Where do you see Gingerscraps being next year? In 3 years? Bigger, even better 🙂 I plan for world domination hahaahahahah (evil genious laughter)
Here is one more of Ginger’s kits. She made this one with her sister Julie (Rockin CT manager!) in mind!

And because you are all such fabulous readers, we have a freebie for you! This fabulous glitter alpha is normally sold in the store, but we are giving it away for free until Friday night, so grab it while you can here.

Let’s Meet a Gingerscraps CT Member, Sara!

Hi All,
It’s Jen again. I am sorry there was no freebie list Monday. We were celebrating my husband’s birthday with my mother-in-law and funnily enough, my husband expected me to be there instead of helping Ginger troll the internet for freebies! There will be another freebie list soon!

This week we are meeting Sara, one of Ginger’s CT members.
What’s your name and digiscrap blog address? Sara Schwabedissen. https://belhepsibah.blogspot.com
Tell us a little about your family. I am married to Nate, my goofball and soul mate. We have been married for over 4 years. We also have our son, Zsolt, who is 6 months old – we are entirely smitten by him! (Editor’s note: I have seen pictures. I understand why you are so smitten!)
Do you work outside the home & if so what do you do? Nope! I’m proud to stay home with my little guy.
What other hobbies do you have besides scrapping? Reading, playing my saxophone and flute, sewing, and photography.
When did you start Digi-scrapping and who taught you? I started the summer of 2008 and was taught by my BFF Rachel (aka Harmonystar)
Are you on any creative teams? Yup, GingerScraps!
Do you design at all? Not yet, I’ve been considering getting started, but haven’t gotten far yet.
What is your favorite challenge here at GingerScraps? I like the photo technique by Harmonystar, I’m always learning new things from her!
Who are your favorite three designers? Ginger, Petit Moineaux, and Shabby Princess.
What are some of your must have elements? I just love ribbons, flowers and buttons – they’re simple but can be used so many ways!
Whose gallery here at GingerScraps do you just love? nutsaboutgabe. Her stuff is always so beautifully done!
What’s your favorite kit in the store right now? I love Kayla’s Quilt, I use it all the time!
If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I would like to be a little less afraid of things and more outgoing.
What is the one word that best describes you? Ummm…quirky I guess.
Out of all your LO’s so far, what are your favorite 2 & why? I love my “Wonder” LO because it’s such a great picture of my boy and I just like the overall calm feeling of it.

I also love “My Love, My Life, My Everything” – I did it in a speed scrap and like the way the picture was separated and used.
(Pssst! She used the Pixie Keepsakes kit, Retro Fall for this layout and it is available here in the Gingerscraps store!)


Who is the most important person in your life? It would definitely be a toss up between my husband and my son. Who could pick one over the other??
What is something that not many people know about you? I’ve always imagined the numbers in times tables as having personalities. Haha!
If you could travel anywhere where would you go? I would go with my husband to visit Hungary.
When you were little what did you dream of being when you grew up? It seriously changed every week. But I will say I always knew I wanted to be a mother, it was my ultimate dream.
What is your favorite food? I just love sandwiches!
How did you pick you user name? It was a name my mom and I used to joke about and then in high school I told people that it was my middle name. So it just kind of seemed a good choice for a screen name.
What do you like doing with your family? We love to just lounge around the house when we have no where to be and spend time together.
Where is your favorite place to be? Home with my family.
What are three things that are important to you? My church, my family, and chocolate.
Is there anything you would change about your life? Well, I think I would love to be independently wealthy! :) Yes, I could live with that for sure!!
What are you afraid of? So many strange things you would be surprised. One example would be gas stations. See? I told you it was strange.
Do you collect anything? Digiscrap kits. Haha!

FREE!! Beach Glass Re-visited!!

Beach Glass- REVISITED!
Beach Glass was the first kit I ever made. I love the colors and the theme, but boy did it need an overhaul 🙂 So I gave all the papers more texture, and edited almost all of the elements. I hope you love it even more than the first time! 🙂 Here is the new preview 🙂
This kit was inspired by the beautiful colors of beach glass. All papers are 12 by 12 and everything is 300dpi.
This full kit (Kit + Add-On) includes-

  • * 14 papers
  • * 10 bracket frames
  • * 1 pre-made border
  • * 6 frames
  • * 2 ribbons
  • * 2 bows
  • * 5 glass tiles
  • * 4 eyelets
  • * 3 glitter swirls
  • * 12 pieces of hand made lampwork glass jewelry embellishments

Let’s Meet a Designer: Ellie Lash

Hi it’s Jen again. Yes, I said that correctly. Today we are meeting Ellie Lash. Are you as excited as I am? I am very excited. Ellie is another designer whose stuff I just LOVE… so let’s find out more about her shall we?

What’s your name and digiscrap blog address? Ellie Lash https://ellielash.com/blog

Where do you sell? Scrapbookgraphics

Tell us a little about your family. My husband Chris and I have been married for almost 8 years. We have two-year-old twin boys, Adam and Luke.

What other hobbies do you have besides scrapping and designing? I love to read. I have to pull myself away from my books in order to make myself design most days. lol Between reading, designing, and taking care of my family, I don’t have much time for other hobbies. Someday I’d like to take up photography, though.

When did you start Digi-scrapping and who taught you? I actually started scrapping after I started designing. I just kind of learned by doing. I’m not an elaborate scrapper. Most of my layouts are simple, basic.

When did you start designing and how did you learn? I started designing the summer of 2007. I have a background skinning forums, so that was kind of my springboard. I took a class called Digital Design Fundamentals by Jen Maceyunas, which was helpful, but mostly I am self-taught.

Which programs do you use to design? Mostly CorelDrawX4 and CS3, but I also occasionally use PSPX12 and ArtRage as well.

Do you draw most of your items with a mouse, or hand draw and scan? Mostly I use a tablet. I have a Bamboo that I use to draw with. My mom is an artist and she sometimes sends me some of her things that I will scan in and use.

How did you pick your companies name? I was incredibly original. lol I just used my name.

Who are your favorite three designers? Oooh, so hard to choose! Probably Lorie Davison, Mary Fran, and Irene Alexeeva are right there at the top!

What are your favorite parts of a kit to design? Definitely the elements. I sometimes struggle with papers and alphas, but I love creating elements, especially if I’m drawing them.

What’s your favorite kit that you’ve designed? My favorite kit is almost always whatever I’ve done most recently, so I’ll have to say Sugarville.

What’s your least favorite? I’ve retired all of my least favorites! lol

How do you get started on a kit? Palette first? Rough idea on what you want your papers or elements to look like? It depends. Often I start with a color palette, but sometimes I’ll start with a theme. Like for Aquamarine, I decided to do mermaids and everything else just followed. Sometimes my mom will write and say, “Hey, could you do a kit with this, this, and this in it?” and I’ll build around whatever she asks for.

How long does it typically take you to make a kit? It depends on how motivated I’m feeling. If I’m feeling really inspired I can finish a kit in a day. If not, well, it can be weeks before I come up with something I’m happy with.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I would be more confident. I lack confidence in every area of my life, including my designing, and I think it really holds me back from reaching my potential.

What is the one word that best describes you? Quiet

Who is the most important person in your life? I can’t choose just one! lol My husband and my boys are all equally important to me.

What is something that not many people know about you? I played basketball in high school.

If you could travel anywhere where would you go? Somewhere quiet, peaceful, not crowded.

When you were little what did you dream of being when you grew up? I always wanted to be a vet. I love animals.

What is your favorite food? Maki nori sushi

What do you like doing with your family? Pretty much anything as long as we’re together

Where is your favorite place to be? At home with my family

What are three things that are important to you? Family, health, and faith

Is there anything you would change about your life? lol Yes and no. I wouldn’t change anything big, but I do wish that I had made better choices health-wise. I wish I’d never let myself gain so much weight so that I have to struggle now to lose it!

What are you afraid of? Spiders, cockroaches, my children or husband getting hurt

Do you collect anything? Books and ladybugs! =)

Here are three of Ellie’s most recent kits. Aren’t they gorgeous?



We gave Ellie the Gingerscraps kit, Kayla’s Quilt, to play with. (Psst! It’s great for family heritage photos too!)

Chocolate Kisses

Now on sale in my shop 🙂 Chocolate Kisses!!
Chocolate Kisses is a beautiful kit made by the GingerScraps Team. With yummy combination’s of warm chocolate brown and flirty pink.


And it comes with a full set of word art too!!

And now for the eye candy. Here are the layouts from the lovely ladies of my CT. I hope you get some great ideas! If you click on their layouts, it will take you to their personal scrap blogs!

Rachel

Barb

Becka

Jen

Jodi

Laura

Misty

Sara

Stephanie

And last but not least, mine

Hope you all have a great day 🙂 Come back tomorrow for a designer feature 🙂