Creative Team Spotlight: Jennifer Evans + Wonderful Wednesday and One Buck Wednesday! September 26, 2012!

This month we are spotlighting Creative Team Member, Jennifer Evans!

1. What is your favorite Technique?

I love to layer on my layouts. The more the happier I am.

2. Where did you learn to design?

As an artist for the last fifteen years, I believe that if my hands aren’t stained from paint then I wasn’t having fun enough! My twin sister introduced me into scrapbooking and stamping twelve years ago. I kept my feet grounded and refused to take the plunge that she had. I held tight onto my canvas, paint brushes, and acrylics and watched as she continued to write and tell me about her new passion.
A year later I walked into a scrapbook store, fell in love with paper, and I dropped my art supplies thinking that I was to never to look at them again. It wasn’t until altered books and mixed media came into the Northwest that I began to realize that my first love for paint and canvas could be used with scrapbooking! Scrapbooking then became more of an artistic way for me to tell my story than just photos on a page to document an event.

3. What influences your design choices?

I love color. I flip through home decor magazines and catalogues like Pottery Barn or Anthropologie to get color combinations to work with.

4. Who are your artsy inspirations?

The more I work in the scrapbooking community online, the more I am inspired by my fellow team members. Then, I get to craft with my sister, Rebecca Grinder, and she reminds me why I love this so much. She rocks! ;)

5. What do you enjoy doing besides crafting?

If I could spend the day out in my garden I would be content. My husband and I also enjoy photography together while spending quality family time. Our favorite place to go is the Oregon Coast.

I wanted to share with you some random acts of kindness gifts I created for my son's teachers. I love Samantha Walker's new Paris Girl line with Carta Bella. The stickers are perfect for an easy and quick gift or gift tag!

I also used Samantha Walker's Spellbinders set that goes with this line to cut the heart out and thread some ribbon misted with Heidi Swapp's Color Shine in Primrose and Tinsel which matches this beautiful line perfectly!

To see more of Jennifer's work visit her blog, Create Often

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Personalized Drinks - Tutorial by Jennifer Evans

Hi, It's Jennifer with you today!

I have to admit, the Silhouette Cameo is on my wish list, but who says I can't have fun with vinyl before then? Last month I was a host for a scrap retreat and this was my chance to try out something I have been wanting to do for a long time!

I created these vinyl chalkboard stickers with my Big Shot and Samantha Walker's Twisted Metal Tags and Accents Spellbinders set. Here is just how easy it is!

1. Cut the Silhouette black vinyl to fit into your die cut machine.

2. According to manufacturers instructions, sandwich the vinyl with the die as if it were paper.

3. Remove backing and stick to cups

4. Use a chalkboard pen to write names on the stickers.

These coffee cups had lids and were use at the tables while the girls scrapped. Some even added a colorful straw with a banner and sipped on their cold drinks too! 

Easy Layering Tutorial by Jennifer Evans

Hi!  It's Jennifer Evans here to share how to use wallets or photo booth pictures on a layout.

Have you ever been out to lunch with your family and realized that you forgot your camera? Here are some photos that my twin sister took with her phone of my Mom and the two of us.

We were smashed together to try and get into the frame. There were several photos with our heads cut off. Re-do. Oh, no, we can't keep that one, we all had double chins. Re-do. No, your not even in the picture. Re-do again. We couldn't stop laughing!

Been there? The moment of us all trying to get a photo was even more memorable than the lunch we just finished. Ha!

I love layering paper strips for a fun look. These vertical stripes look great with wallet or photo booth photographs. Here's how to create this quick and easy scrapbook page.

1. Cut your pattern paper at different lengths some measuring between a half inch to an inch and a half in width. I used Samantha Walker's Cowgirl and Cowboy paper lines by Creative Imaginations.

2. Start gluing your strips down leaving a few to add dimensional glue or foam squares to get it to lift off the page.

3. Add the border stickers down over some of the edges. Add it to the edge of the photos so they blend into the paper more.

4. You can also layer the stickers by adding foam squares to the back as well. This way you can see the stickers underneath even better.

5. Use a white gel pen to write your journaling on your page and you are done!

Supplies:

Samantha Walker Supplies - Pattern Papers, Borders, and Stickers: Cowgirl (Creative Imaginations) & Cowboy (Creative Imaginations)

Black Cardstock: American Crafts

Punch: Punch Bunch

Adhesives: Helmar - Premium Craft Glue, Scrapdots, and Zap Dots

Other: White gel pen

Thanks for joining me today!

Blog Spotlights of New Creative Team Members!

This year in addition to the wonderful ladies that are staying on my creative team, I am thrilled to have added three new members (Joscelyne Cutchens, Jennifer Evans, and Angi Barrs) and one other member who is also fairly ne, she was added in October (Jamie Cripps). I am so excited to introduce my whole team to you this year...we will start with our newest members in a quadruple Spotlight this month, then I'll feature one of my team members during each of the consecutive months.

Get to Know Jamie Cripps!

When talking about creating, Jamie says, 

"If I had to choose a favorite technique, "I would have to go with "inking". I love the look it gives to all my projects!"
In reference to her design background, Jamie quips,  

"No professional training here...! :) I guess I would say I learned to design by finding inspiration through others (from their websites and blogs)!"

When asked how she makes her design choices, Jamie says,  

"I use the products I am working with to find inspiration within the colors, patterns, and embellishments!"

Here's what Jamie has to say about her design inspirations, 

"Ohh, there are so many! Danielle Flanders (http://www.danielleflanders.blogspot.com/), Laurie Wilson (http://soapboxcreations.blogspot.com/), Amy Heller (http://www.amyheller.typepad.com/) and of course, my sister J.M. Rush (http://jm-rush.blogspot.com/)"

Besides crafting, Jamie says, 

"I love hanging out with my kiddos, going on road trips, going to book stores, getting lost (yes, I love getting lost and finding new places), bike riding, blogging, pinning, and face booking!"

Something you might not know about Jamie, 

"I use to have a career managing a Healthcare Operations Outsourcing department in multiple States for a very large company. I left that career (and salary!) a couple years ago to follow my dreams of crafting and I couldn't be happier!"

Here are some incredibly beautiful projects by Jamie:

Jamie used paper and elements from my Orchard Harvest collection 

Get to know Joscelyne Cutchens!
Here's what she has to say about her love of crafting: 
"I love to add machine or handstitching to my projects, it just offers a little extra detail that makes me happy."

"I have always loved art and photography. In High School I took classes in video production and was on the school newspaper staff. I learned how to frame my subjects in my photos and some basics of graphic design. I've read many books and taken classes to learn how to do what I want with the tools I have."

"I love color, especially happy color. I love aqua, orange, yellow. I love monochromatic and two color palettes. I love regular patterns. I also consider the photographs and the story I want to tell or feeling I want to convey."

When talking about her artsy inspirations she says,   

"I find that many people have something inspirational about their art. In scrapbooking I have always loved Ali Edwards sense of style and real life storytelling. I love children's books and illustration. I love movies animated and real. I love photographers like Marina Miller, Tara Whitney and Candice Stringham. I love the work of my fellow scrapbookers."

In addition to crafting, Joscie says,
"I love to bake desserts, drink coffee, read books, watch movies, go on adventures. I love antique stores, museums and bakeries. I love to ride my bicycle."

Here is a fun story about Joscie's crafty past:
"in august 2008, I entered the Memory Makers Masters 2009 contest. It was on a whim and I didn't tell too many people about it, just in case I didn't hear the news I wanted... On the day of the big announcement, I was thrilled to hear I was named one of the 10 runner ups. Shortly after the announcement I read something online that made me think I may have made a mistake on my entry. I didn't know that I was supposed to only use pictures that had never appeared online. It was my first year of a picture a day project and I had been taking my pictures and posting them to my blog. I also used some of these photos in my entry. I contacted Memory Makers and it was determined I would be removed from the list of runner ups. I was sad, but knew I had done the right thing. On that very day, while getting ready to take my boys to school, we had an accident that required a cleanup in the bathroom. As I stood in the doorway to the bathroom, I glanced at the floor and spotted my gold chain and diamond cross necklace that I had misplaced about a year earlier. I was so thrilled to have found it and right after having made a tough choice, I was overjoyed. I felt it was a reward for making a good choice."

Here are some of Joscie's newest creations...which I think are simply gorgeous!

Joscelyne's first spotlight project uses my foundations baby gray digital papers, printed on textured white cardstock and the twisted metal and blossom spellbinder dies.

Joscie's second project uses my Decadence fabrics for Riley Blake 
along with some white muslin to make this two tiered ruffled apron.

Get to know Angi Barrs!
Here's what Angi has to say about her designs,
"I really don't have a fave technique, but I do love to layer paper and embellishements to add depth to the design. I also love altered and hybrid projects. It's fun to mix digital with traditional elements."

"A friend introduced me to scrapbooking 10 years ago and I have gone to crafty classes & watched many Youtube videos to learn new skills. I am also obsessed with digital lately and am taking classes online this year."

"Color and texture influence my design choices. I love to add bright and whimsical elements to things that I make. I also like to use material such as fabric, canvas, burlap, and other natural elements."

"HGTV gives me loads of inspiration. I am addicted to all of their shows. A lot of interior design elements spark plenty of crafty ideas in my head. A pillow, a vase, a window treatment, and even a rug have prompted me to make certain crafty projects."
In addition to crafting, Angi says,
"My daughters and I are addicted to movies. I've seen every movie there is to see. We even have a "dinner & a movie" club with our friends. This is our fave time of year because it's the Academy Awards season. One day we hope to attend the Sundance Film Festival. I'd love to meet George Clooney and Julia Roberts."

Here's something fun that you probably didn't know about Angi...
"I proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corps. I was a journalist/photographer and got to meet many brave men and women from all over the country. I love to show support to our troops!"

Here are a few fantastic projects by Angi!

Angi used paper and stickers from my Orchard Harvest collection for Creative Imaginations.

Get to know Jennifer Evans!

"As an artist for the last eighteen years, I believe that if my hands aren’t stained from paint then I wasn’t having fun enough! I share my artistic passion with my husband and five year old son. We make our home in Oregon where we love the outdoors (when it isn't raining!), photography, cooking a good meal, then eating it, and reading beside a warm fire."

"My twin sister, Rebecca, introduced me into scrapbooking and stamping twelve years ago. I kept my feet grounded and refused to take the plunge that she had. I held tight onto my canvas, paint brushes, and acrylics and watched as she continued to write and tell me about her new passion."

"She even went as far as to send me an instructional video of her using eyelets to entice me. You know, when they first came out and you had to use a hammer? When I played the VHS (remember those?), all I saw was the top of her head and loud banging. I couldn't even hear what she was saying over the noise. (She hates when I tell that story, but, man, it's so funny!)"

"A year later I walked into a scrapbook store, fell in love with paper, and I dropped my art supplies thinking that I was to never to look at them again. It wasn’t until altered books and mixed media came into the Northwest that I began to realize that my first love for paint and canvas could be used with scrapbooking! Scrapbooking then became more of an artistic way for me to tell my story than just photos on a page to document an event."

"As a free-spirited Craft-Media artist, I have a passion for color; reduce, reusing, and recycling items to make them new again; and ultimately having fun and making a mess doing it! I am right brained and love using untraditional items to create meaningful pieces of art, while also trying to balance myself occasionally with a surprisingly clean and organized layout."

"I get my color inspiration from God’s beautiful creation, online like at Pinterest, or in home decor and fashion magazines. I always create a sketch before beginning unless I am working in my journal and then I just go with it!. I don’t always follow the sketch perfectly but it helps me get going creatively."

"Once my little one is down for the night, I unpack my things in my art space. I create such a mess that I have at one time realized that I was working out into the hallway! I continue the piece until it is finished even if it is well past midnight. If there is chocolate in the house, I have already eaten it before the project is done. When I have the piece finished, I sigh with delight, look at the mess, and shake my head. How did it get that bad? I clean it up before crawling into bed exhaustively happy. If I have an itch to get the paint out but don’t want to clean the mess, I get on the laptop and do a digital layout to make up for it."

"I love photography. My husband and I also have a photography business where we are able to capture memories for others. I love to garden and will spend several hours in boots playing in my perennial garden, even if it is raining. Before I stayed at home with my son, I was a preschool teacher. So, I have a soft spot in my heart for children's literature. My home is filled with bookshelves and I love to snuggle with picture books and my little man reading."

Something you might not know about Jennifer,
"I have a sweet addiction to chocolate, my favorite being Britain’s Cadbury Crunchie. Since I am unable to get the chocolate covered honeycomb locally anymore, any chocolate is its substitute. I also love Jane Austen, a warm blanket, and a hot cup of coffee."

Here's a couple lovely projects from Jennifer:

I feel very fortunate to have all the members who are on my team...every one of them offers something unique to our team, and I hope you will join us each month as we share projects and ideas to inspire your crafty projects.