Welcome Guest Designer, Kara Allen

Meet our 4th Quarter's Guest Designer, Kara Allen. She is a long-time member of The ScrapRoom (since almost the beginning), and she is joining us through the end of the year as a Guest Designer. What a delight she has been to work with!

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

I have been scrapbooking for such a long time now.  My mother-in-law introduced me to it in 2000 and my husband said I could buy all the paper I wanted for our first anniversary (the paper anniversary).  He had no idea what he agreed to.  My first album was our wedding/honeymoon and I used mostly Creative Memories products and styles.  I moved on from that style pretty quickly.

Describe your scrapbooking style.

My style is pretty simple.  I mostly add a few papers as embellishments to my pictures with clean lines.  Sometimes I try to add a little more pizazz, but that is getting out of my comfort zone and it really takes me a long time to decide what I like.  A lot of times, I end up taking off some of the extra stuff.

Favorite manufacturers and why?

I've loved Fancy Pants, Basic Grey, WRMK and Crate Paper over the years.  It seems like whatever I do with those lines work no matter what I try and I really love the shabby look.

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

Ali Edwards is someone I always admired, but outside of the idea gallery here, I don't follow anyone these days.

Which scrapbooking and/or crafty blogs do you follow?

I rely on The ScrapRoom’s idea gallery as a primary source of inspiration.  I've collected so many supplies over the years that I really try to limit myself to this kit each month. Seeing how the design team has worked with the lines is exciting to me.  I will browse on Two Peas in a Bucket from time to time.

Any other tidbits our members want to know?

I've been a member of The ScrapRoom since 2005 and look forward to getting my kit every month. It is still one of the highlights of my month to open up my present and see what good stuff I get to work with.  I listen to book on audio and my favorite 'me time' activity is an evening scrapping and losing myself in a good story.

Share a few of your favorite layouts and why.

As I was looking through my layouts to find some I favorites, I was drawn to a time when my kids were little and I hadn't gone back to work yet.  That was a fun time in my life and the kids were so sweet and full of energy (they still are). I like these layouts because they make me feel good when I look at them and I like the embellishments too.