Welcome Guest Designer, Rochelle Spears!

I am so excited to welcome longtime TSR member, Rochelle Spears, to our Design Team as a Guest Designer for the next three months! She consistently creates beautiful pages with our kits, and I am thrilled to be able to feature her work in our Idea Gallery. Rochelle agreed to give us a little "get-to-know-you" interview for the blog, and she sent along a few of her favorite layouts to share with us. For a closer look at Rochelle and her inspiring pages, check out  her blog at www.rochellespears.blogspot.com.

How long have you been scrapbooking and how did you get started?

I’ve been scrapping since 2003. I started when I met my husband.  I wanted to document my life differently then I had before and that brought me to Michaels and my first purchase of an 8.5 x 11 album, a glue stick, glitter, deco scissors and paper.  I scrapped quietly and it wasn’t until a few years later when I decided to search for scrapbook forums that I met one of my closest scrapbooking buddies who introduced me to the online community and the scrapbooking industry. 

 

Describe your scrapbooking style.

This is, by far, the hardest scrapbooking question for me to answer!!  Lol.  I don’t have a specific style.  My style changes depending on my mood, the subject I’m scrapping or the product I want to use.   I love bright colors, shabby chic, messy and playful layouts, and sometimes I love to just go simple and clean. 

Favorite manufacturers and why?

Oh wow!! I have way too many to name, but my all time favorite manufacturer is My Mind’s Eye. I love the quality of their paper and the variety of their designs.  You can always find a collection that works.  Others manufactures that are my favorites are Pebbles - love their bright and fun patterns, Echo Park - great boy collections, Fancy Pants - they have a lot of matching embellishments and super cute collections, and BoBunny.... just a to name a few! :) 

 

Which scrapbook page designers do you admire or who influence your style?

Well, maybe THIS is the hardest question to answer! Lol. There are a lot of designers whom I admire, but the names that come to mind right now are Heidi Swapp, Donna Downey, Amy Tan and Liz Hicks.  Heidi Swapp was one of the first “celebrity” designers I fell in love with back in 2005.  I remember having an opportunity to meet her, and although it didn't happen like it was supposed to, she sent over a signed copy of her book.  I was so very excited!!  To this day, she still inspires me with all of her products and her creativity.  I love the mixed media creativity from Donna Downey and Liz Hicks, and I love the designs of Amy Tan. 

Which scrapbooking and/or crafty blogs do you follow?

I follow a ton of crafty blogs!!  I follow all my favorite manufacturers, a lot of crafty friends, and a few challenge blogs.  I help manage a couple of blogs, Scrap our Stash (challenge blog) and Paper Secrets (online store).  I also run a monthly challenge with my other scrappy friends on my personal blog.  Yes! Love bloggers! :) 

 

Any other tidbits our members want to know?

I am a mother of 5 children; 24, 20, 14, 7 and 5.  I’m a SAHM that spends most of the day scrapping while the kids are in school.  I have a wonderful supportive husband who loves to show off my scrapbooking! I couldn’t ask for anything more. :)