Introducing our May Guest Designer

We have a special introduction for you today. Our newest quarterly Guest Designer!!! She is such a fun and talented lady, and we are thrilled to have her join us in designing with the Doubleshot Kit for the next few months.

1.)     How long have you been scrapbooking? How did you get started?

I started in 2004...  under protest, only because my fellow stampy/card-making friends said I had to.  It started with the assignment to create two 8.5x11 pages to go into a farewell memory book for a friend.  And then... it was fun!  So I kept the 8.5x11 format, and decided to just start with our camping trips in case it wasn't that fun after all - wouldn't have too much invested in it, you know?  Well...  2,147 pages later... I guess I'm hooked!  [I just figured that out and I'm somewhat freaked... not sure what I think of that fact... especially since DH just guessed 200.  REALLY???????]

2.)     Describe your scrapbooking style?

Structured texture - both visually and dimensionally.  I use lots of patterns, lots of paper, distressed edges, sewing, twine, lumpy bumpies... and my brain wants it all to line up, be square to each other, and to be all matchy-matchy.  You may recall that diagonal stripes, circles, and mixed kits make my brain explode!  LOL

3.)     Favorite manufacturers and why?

BasicGrey... wow.  I think it's the texture - lots of stuff going on in the paper, and the b-side solids aren't really solid.  They are messy and distressed and I like that.  Colors that shouldn't maybe be mixed together but look so great with my photos.  My first BG paper was Indian Summer... in one of my first TSR kits.  I totally blame you, Tammy, for hooking me on that stuff!!!

I am also drawn to My Mind's Eye right now - again, so much texture.  Lily Bee and Cosmo Cricket don't have the texture so much as great pinks lately... which I'm a sucker for, although I don't get to use them very often!

4.)     Scrapbook page designers that you admire or who influenced your style and how?

Becky Fleck from page|maps - a BasicGrey chick! - because her style, both the page itself and the story she tells, really clicks with me.  I love storytellers, and she isn't afraid to explore any topic or share any feelings.  It's probably not right that I get the sniffles when I look through her books, but she lays it all out on the line - on wonderfully dimensional pages!  Her sketches really pushed my skill level at a time when I was looking for something more/better.  

5.)     Scrapbooking and/or crafty blogs that you follow and why?

TSR feels like home to me... it is literally the first place I connected socially with people on the internet.  So most of my computer time is spent checking the TSR Blog and the Message Board.  I've recently started expanding my horizons by adding quite a few of the manufacturer's blogs to my Google Reader list (which I was clueless about until a friend hooked me up!)... but none of them really grab me.  I do admit that Julie over at Cosmo Cricket seems like a hoot, though.  I usually get a giggle from reading that one.  I guess I'm not really sure what I'm looking for... coupled with the feeling that the more time I'm on the computer - the less scrappy time I have!

We also asked Theresa to share her three favorite layouts with us and to tell us a little about them each.  Here's what she had to share.

Mason Luck:  This one is great:  not because it explains the whole "Mason luck" thing, but because of what happened while I was working on it.  We got Chinese take-out.  And that is the fortune I got.  I kid you not... *this* is Mason luck!

Ecstasy of Gold:  This is a layout that happened in my head as we were standing in a parking lot laughing at each other.  I saw the circles and lines... snapped the pictures... and the page was done.  This is real life... good, bad, and UGLY!!!  (Which also explains the title - anyone a Clint Eastwood fan?)

Life is Too Short:  I love this one for the lesson it taught me:  Scrapbooking is supposed to be FUN.  I don't think I've ever laughed more building a page than I did on this one!

Don't you just love those layouts?  Well, lucky for us, she'll be sharing more of her great work in our Idea Gallery for a few months.  Let's give her a warm TSR welcome!