It has been an amazingly busy here this last month. I always think it could not get any busier, but it always seems to prove me wrong. In the last month, we had one of our employees leave for a “real” job in her field of design—we were really sad to see her go, and threw her a party, Two Peas style! Some of the kids of Two Peas had Spring Break vacation and were seen running around the warehouse during the day. We had employee’s vacations, sick kids, meetings and so much more. It is amazing how we got through it all. We did, and already spring is in full swing.

The start of April was super busy for me, as I had a dozen of the Two Peas Creating Garden Girls come to visit Wisconsin for a long weekend. It was amazing having them here to see us. They all got to visit and raid the warehouse. I took them to a few of our favorite eateries and a couple of stores---a great little vintage store that I love to buy ribbons from. Jeff and I hosted them at our home for a lot of chatting, laughing and eating. Some of them were surprised to find out that I can be domestic! Who knew??!! Jeffrey and I were lucky enough to have the talents of so many photographers in our home. We even talked Tara Whitney into doing a little photo shoot for us. The photographs that she took of our family, our children, and the two of us are simply amazing. I will be scrapbooking with these for a long time! They will be hung on a lot of walls in our home. I am so grateful to her for these awesome photos! Tara decided that our home was a great place to take photos and spent one whole day taking photos of everyone attending. It was so neat to watch her work. And then to have Kim Heffington at our computer showing us all kinds of new tricks for our new photos!! How lucky are we??!!

Thank you to all the Garden girls who made the trek to Wisconsin this time. Can’t wait to have all the rest of them here as well, they were missed!

 

"New Mustard Moon : The Cowboy Way" by Terrie McDaniel	"Simple Life - Pebbles" by Amy Grendell
"Love Envelope Tag" by Marah Johnson	"Sister - New Daisy D's" by Tracy Kyle
"Minnekhada Park - New Sticker Studio" by Tracy Kyle	"b o y i s h CHARM" by Kim Heffington
"Commitment" by Melissa Caligiuri	"Western Girls-New Products" by Shannon Tidwell
"BOYS" by Anne Heyen	"Newsletter - New 7Gypsies Papers!" by Lisa Russo
"Madeline Johnson~Classic Cottage" by Marah Johnson	"New BoBunny Shabby Thoughts Stickers" by Shelley Sullivan

• New Foldables by Tracy Robinson
• New Autumn Leaves papers
• New 7Gypsies hardware
• Additions to the Creative Imaginations Lines: David Walker, Sonnets, Art Warehouse, Narratives and a lot of others
• Hero Arts letter stamps
• Pebbles I-Kan-Dee
• Lil Davis
• And so much more!

"Coming Soon: Scrapworks" by Shelley Sullivan	"Bathtime - Coming Soon - Autumn Leaves" by Anne Heyen
"Beach Foldable" by Tracy Robinson	"Foldables- Live in Wonder" by Tracy Robinson
"Heyen Boys - Coming Soon - SEI" by Anne Heyen

When did you start scrapbooking? How were you introduced to it?
March 2001.  I went into a local photo finishing store in the mall and saw an album with examples. I bought up cardstock, some stickers and a glue stick and was set (until I found 2peas a few months later!)

What are your sources for inspiration?
Everything from current fashion to ads in magazines to lyrics in my favourite songs inspires me. My biggest source of inspiration comes from my family and the photos I take of them - wanting to get the stories and my feelings down on paper.

What do you do to get started on projects and layouts?
I always look thru my photos first and work from there. If the photos are calling my name then I get them out and then pick papers and colours. Then I work on placement of everything and don't glue much down until I know what the overall "look" will be. I embellish and stick everything down - then I go upstairs to my computer and work on the journaling and title, etc. The journaling and where it will go always is my last step.

What do you like to communicate through your scrapbooking? 
Love - for my children, my husband, my big extended family. My love and appreciation for the great life I have. That is really the only thing I aim to communicate.

What have been your greatest layouts or achievements with this hobby?
I don't really set goals. My biggest thing lately is try and keep it all in perspective and remember that above all - this is a fun hobby that I love. The rest is just gravy. One thing I will never forget is when I got an email from Kristina and became a Garden Girl. I was flabbergasted and still am. HOF 2003 was also a big flattering thing for me, with all the talent there is out there I am still in shock at times about that.
Usually my favourite layouts are the ones that challenge me. Two pagers are hard for me so when I do one and really like it- it makes me happy.

What kind of goals do you have with your scrapbooking?
To always enjoy it like I do now, if it gets to be not fun - I wouldn't do it anymore.

Where do you scrap? Do you attend crops or conventions?
Up until a few weeks ago, I scrapbooked at my dining room table. I have a patient hubby but I am such a messy scrapper that eventually we agreed that I needed to find a new spot. So, now I go down to my unfinished basement (I went from bad to worst!) where I have my desks and carts set up. I crank my music and the paper flies, and it doesn't matter if I am messy as much. I'm enjoying it.

Where does scrapbooking fit into your life? Do you scrap in the morning, evening, late night? When do you do your greatest work?
Scrapbooking is a part of my daily life. I rarely go more than 2 days without dabbling in it a bit. None of my close friends in my area scrapbook regularily and so it is something I do on my own. I don't attend crops, which is fine I guess since all I do is talk and get nothing done ;) I usually only scrap at night, once my husband is home and the kids are in bed. I'm a night owl and rarely go to bed before 1am.

What does your family think of your scrapbooking?
Well, most my family doesn't really even know I scrapbook. It isn't even something a lot of people in my "parts" know about YET. My husband is supportive but doesn't really get it either (ha)... sort of like him and hockey! I am slowly coaching him on picking up the camera and then he brags about how good he is (ha).  Keaton loves when he sees himself in a magazine and says "hey, that's Keaton!". He also likes to steal my stickers and use them for his pretend bandages. Chloe could care less at this point but I know I'll have her scrapping by age 5!

Do you have a favorite product line, paper, sticker, or cardstock color?
No, I don't have a favourite. I like it all and want it all. I use Making Memories a ton and like to mix patterned papers from all different lines/manufacturers. My favourite cardstock colours are probably ebony black, textured white and Kraft. They are a great backdrop for pretty much everything.

What do you want the peas to know about you?
 There isn't much to know. I put it all out there on my pages. Life is good and I am happy :) I love the 2peas community and visit daily to chat and view the amazing layouts posted. I owe my independent thinking and style to 2peas - where I learned that there are no set rules to scrapping. Just do what you want and you will like it in the end.  I have made so many wonderful friends here and am just so happy I stumbled across this website in 2001. I cringe to think of where my pages might be if I had not! Thanks 2peas! I love ya!