Thursday, November 06, 2008
It’s November at Sweet Genevieve’s and that means…GUEST TIME!!! This month we welcome to our little group a very special guest…. Elizabeth (ebie) aka ebienic. Ebie and Genevieve went to college together!!! So all us gals on the team are pooling our pennies to pay Ebie to give us some dirt on Genevieve!!!
I had the pleasure of “interviewing” Ebie and getting to know her a little better and I want to share that will all of you!!! So go grab a cup of joe and sit back and relax while Ebie and I dish the dirt a bit!!!
ME: Elizabeth (oh yea…I’m Elizabeth too…**lol**):
Ebie tell us a bit about you and your family.
Ebie: I’m married for 6 yrs to my college sweetheart Matt, who I met at Hillsdale College, where I also met Genevieve. My husband works in business at a major aircraft manufacturer here in the ST. Louis, MO, area where we live. He’s also very actively involved in politics, and hopes to start running as a candidate himself within the next few years. We have one little boy, David, who’s 2 and very good at it, and we’re expecting baby #2 on 12/23. It’s a girl, and we have no idea what her name is yet. We also have one fur baby, Chance, who is a Border Collie mix that we adopted from a local shelter. I helped to start an adoption agency with my dad (who is an adoption attorney), A Gift of Hope Adoptions (http://www.agiftofhopeadoptions.com) after I graduated from graduate school with a my master’s in social work. I work from home so I can stay with my kids, and I love it. I get to take care of my babies and help others find their baby all at the same time.
ME: How long have you been scrapping and what got you started in this crazy cool hobby?
EBIE: Ha! Pointing fingers at Gena. Sweet Genevieve got me started scrapping, as I kept up with her blog and via email after college. I knew she was artistically talented and totally geeky into computers, so when she started designing I thought “well good for her, I bet she’s good at that - but I’m not nearly creative enough” When she posted her first freebie - I think a minikit off her Hawaiian Summer full kit - I downloaded it, had no idea how to use it, and emailed her to see how it went. I got another college friend of ours hooked through her too. I think that was in 2006, not too long after my son was born. He was definitely an inspiration, as I’m not real good about keeping up with baby books, and I never even tried paper scrapping b/c I couldn’t stand the thought of all that stuff piled around - I’ve got plenty of other clutter to deal with. But this I can keep all on the computer, which my husband also appreciates.
ME: What inspires you?
EBIE: Hmmm, tough question. Little things in life I guess, a random daily occurrence, something cute my son does for the first time (or 1400’th time), a quote in a magazine, an email from a friend, a random thought I have while driving. Anything that I think, hmmm, that would make a good layout. I sometimes will just randomly thumb through my digi stash or photos and decide to do something. I also am a contest junkie, so if I win something like a free kit I try to do a LO fairly quickly and send it to the designer as a thank-you. And of course, I’ve started scrapping gifts - the photo calendars are popular with my family.
ME: Do you have a scrapping “style”?
EBIE: If I have a scrapping style it’s still in the early devleopment stages I think. I’m a template junkie, since for me starting a LO is like writing an essay, I can spend 3/4 of the time working on the first sentence. Templates help me get past that and dive into the actual creating. I also tend towards papers/elements with a lot of texture and grunge, rather than towards graphic or print ad type pages. I don’t go for the ethereal fairy-type LOs, but perhaps that will change now that I have a girl on the way. I like to highlight the photos, since for me scrapping is all about preserving memories, so you won’t see too many tiny photos in a corner with a bunch of elements and white space. I’m also a fan of journaling, since again, this is about preserving moments.
ME: What’s your favorite quote?
EBIE: I have sooo many favorite quotes that range from deeply serious to randomly pulled off a movie. You’ll hear lots of movie quotes flying around my house, both from recent movies and shows like Mystery Science Theatre 3000. However, since my son is 2 and bumping into absolutely everything, more often than not you’ll hear me comment, “Well, that’s going to leave a mark.” from the movie Tommy Boy.
ME: Do you have a favorite font?
EBIE: I like handwriting type fonts, so for example Sweet Genevieve’s Rough Print, Cobb, Miss Tiina’s Quirkie, or any of Darcie Baldwin’s fonts.
ME: What was the last movie you saw?
EBIE: Well if it counts, my husband and I went to Cinematic Titanic on Saturday night, which is basically a live version of Mystery Science Theater 3000 with the original cast riffing on bad movies. This particular one was “Santa Clause Conquers the Martians” and it is quite terrible. However, other than that, we don’t get out much, so we usually do the Blockbuster online DVD thing. I think the last DVD we watched was Forgetting Sara Marshall if I’m not mistaken, although we’re currently watching the Disney Afternoon’s tv show Tailspin - blast from the past!
ME: Have your Christmas shopping done yet (giggle)?
EBIE: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! You’re funny. (Goes off to the corner to rock in the fetal position and contemplate how far behind she is in her Christmas shopping.)
Thanks so much Ebie for sharing with us and letting us all get to know you a little bit better!!! We can’t wait to see all the rocking pages you do with Genevieve’s SWEET stuff!! You can check out Ebie’s gallery ::HERE:: and if your so inclined scrap lift a page of Ebie’s and you might win the chance to receive a little gift from Sweet Genevieve Designs!!!
So check out Ebie’s gallery ::HERE:: and link us up in the comments field to your scrap lift by Wednesday November 13th @ 11:59PM (OK by the time I check the blog Thursday morning **tee hee**) and well pick a random number to win a Sweet Genevieve’s goodie!!!
In the mean time check out these scrap lifts of Ebie’s, some of us “oldie but goodie” creative team members whipped up!! Thanks for all the great inspiration Ebie!!!
Mary Ellen’s “Ears” LO is a scrap lift of Kick Back
Clara’s “Family Love” LO is a scrap lift of Seriously Mom
My “Father and Son” LO was inspired by Ebie’s Aunt Courtney LO
Thanks so much for joining me in getting to know our wonderful November guest just a little bit better and I can’t wait to see what you scrap lift of Ebie’s!!! Remember their “due” but next Wednesday for a chance to win a fabulous little goodie!!!!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Hello everyone!!!! Kara here with a bunch of info you are NOT going to want to miss!!! But first, lets get some old business out of the way, shall we? Thank you to everyone who played along with Laura’s list last month! Elizabeth (Dogwood Mama) is the lucky winner!!!! Yay!!!! You can check out her layout, Happy Reunion, here! We so appreciate all your layouts, and we look forward to another list challenge later this month!
Next, I’d like to introduce our fabulous Guest CT member for the month, Tracyfish! Laura took a few moments to interview Tracy, and this is what she had to say:
Laura: Give us the 411 on yourself…
Tracy: I’m a 32-yr-old SAHM of a very active 2-1/2 yr old little boy named L.J. who is the subject of most of my layouts unless I can snap a picture of me and hubby, Jay. We live in Central Florida and love to be outdoors!
Laura: What about you as scrapper...paper, digital, hybrid and for how long? How would you define your style?
Tracy: I have been making scrapbooks since junior high, but really got into the good paper stuff when I was introduced to stamping. After my son was born I just didn’t have the time to take everything out or energy to keep him out of the supplies. I got interested in digital through a baby message board and the rest is history. His 1st year paper album is still not finished. I would say my style varies depending on whose products I’m scrapping with, but I tend to like fun, bright unique elements and papers.
Laura: Who are your favorite designers and what products do you love to use?
Tracy: Honestly, I am so proud to be able to CT for some of my favorites...Traci Reed, Dani Mogstad, etc. I am a big fan of frames, ribbons and am a collector of alphas.
Laura: Tell us about your process...what do you start with, how long does it take and where do you scrap?
Tracy: I generally start with a kit or product from one of my CTs. Then I try to work off of challenges because it seems to make me scrap about things I wouldn’t normally think about. Then I sit down at my desk, find the perfect photos and about 30 min to an hour later (depending on how many Hello conversations I’m having) the layout is done.
Laura: Music? Snacks? TV? while you are scrapping
Tracy: I never have music playing because it’s usually when L.J. is sleeping and I’m trying to cut back on the snacking while scrapping, but I love a good bowl of popcorn if I just need a pick-me-up.
Laura: OK, let’s end with favorites...your favorite LO that you have made...your favorite scrapper...your favorite sweet gen product
Tracy: http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=19012&cat=0&page=1
fav scrapper...Cindy (cindys732003) She has the best technique of putting lots of elements on a page and not making it look cluttered.
fav recent LO http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=245447&ppuser=2075
So, now that we’ve gotten to know Tracy a little bit better, its time to scraplift! Take a look at Tracy’s incredible gallery and choose a layout that strikes your fancy. Then scraplift it!!! Here are a few layouts for inspiration (click for credits):
by Jamie:
by Laura:
by me (Kara):
Make sure you get your layout done Feb. 18, and link us up in a comment here! As added incentive, your name will be entered in the drawing TWICE if you use 80% Sweet Genevieve product. That brings me to today’s final announcement:
Want a sneak peak? Well, you already got one!!! Each of today’s featured layouts has a bit of grab bag goodness in it. Yes, you totally need this bag!!!
Until next time, happy scrapping!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Hi everyone! Kara here with a new guest announcement and challenge for you! But before we do that, let’s take care of some old business. Jodie has drawn a random winner for last month’s scraplift challenge: Sabdesbois, with her beautiful layout, my dad. Be looking for your prize to come soon!
Let me introduce you to Jenny, known around the scrapping world as Another Jenny. I took a few moments to interview Jenny so we could get to know her a little better.
1. What is your favorite color? Green! I’m definitely drawn to earth tones, and I find soft greens very calming.
2. What is your favorite thing to scrap with? I love beautifully textured papers with great colors and patterns.
3. Who is your favorite designer? (besides Genevieve) Right now I’m really diggin’ Amanda Rockwell. Her last two collections are just gorgeous!
4. If you were trapped on a deserted island, what would you want to have with you? Oh, my laptop, of course!
5. Who is your favorite scrapper? I love hom74 (Karen’s) work.
Her clean & simple style really lets the photos take center stage, and her pages are always fresh & interesting.
6. What is your favorite layout you have ever scrapped? Wow, that’s almost like choosing which one of my kids is my favorite! 
I guess I’ll pick this one, Thankful. It’s one of those LO’s that just came together and felt “right”.
7. What is one thing people don’t know about you, but should? My education and work experience is in chemical engineering (although I’m currently a SAHM), but I’d really love to be a teacher. I’m doing some substitute teaching now, and I love it!
So, now that you’ve gotten to know Jenny a little bit, its time to scraplift her!!! You can find her gallery here. And as a little inspiration to get you started, here’s my scraplift, Snow Fun:
I used Genevieve’s Be Dreamy, Confetti at Midnight, and Gold and Cream alpha. Flowers by Michelle Godin, Fold by Karah Fredericks, and Frame by Nancy Comelab. I lifted Jenny’s page Precious Girl.
Get your layouts done and linked up here by January 15, and you could win!
Now, we are going to have more happening on the blog in this new year...so make sure you check back every week! You don’t want to miss anything! As a little hint...next week we’re going to pick one random scrapper to feature on the blog. That person will win a gift card to Sweet Genevieve Designs. So make sure you post your layouts using Genevieve goodness in the galleries...we may choose YOU!!!!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Jodie here with a better-late-than-never challenge! First, I’d like to welcome our December Guest, Shannon (ZaCola3)! She is a friend of mine and I’m so glad she is with us this month...she totally owes me for hooking her up with this sweet gig. LOL! Shannon is mom to three boys, is a special education teacher (like me!), and actually lives really close to me! We figured out that we knew each other way back when I was still living in a town near her - how crazy is that??? Small world, right? Ok, enough blabbing...let’s scraplift. I’m going to show off a few of our team members’ lifts to give you some sweet inspiration!
First off, we have Kara’s layout.
She lifted Shannon’s Give Thanks layout.
Next, we have Jamie’s layout:
She lifted Shannon’s Cheesecake layout.
Finally, here is my scraplifted layout:
I lifted Shannon’s William’s Smile layout!
So, you know the drill....scraplift a layout from Shannon’s amazing gallery, come back and post a link to your layout here in a comment, and be entered in a random drawing for a $5 Sweet Genevieve GC! Anyone who uses at least 2 Sweet Genevieve products on their layout will be entered twice...an easy way to increase your odds of winning, right? Layout links must be in a comment here by Saturday, December 22, at midnight CST. Woohoo! How easy can it be? Now go, scraplift! 
Thanks!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Kara here, with a brand new Sweet Genevieve challenge! But before we get to that, I want to thank those of you who participated in our Teenie Bopper movie challenge! We loved seeing your layouts. Jodie wanted me to let you know that she chose Donna’s layout, Say Anything to win a $5 GC to Genevieve’s store. The great news is that Genevieve is allowing us to give another $5 GC to a random layout as well. The lucky random winner is Maya, for her layout She’s the Man. Congratulations ladies!!!!!
Now onto the challenge. Those of you in the United States know that this Thursday is Thanksgiving. That inspired me to have a Thanksgiving challenge...but not just any kind of Thanksgiving. This time, I’d like you to scrap about something you are thankful for now, but weren’t necessarily thankful for when you were going through it or first received it. For example, I scrapped about a missions trip I took to Austria. My team went through a lot of difficult experiences, but in the end God taught us a lot about what it really means to “love one another” and we all became much better people, and very good friends because of our experiences. The focus on this layout should be your journaling.
Here’s my layout to inspire you:
Credits: The Be Collection: Extras and Great Lengths Ribbon Wraps
Please link us up to your layout by 11:59 PST on November 30th. You’ll be entered into a random drawing! As an extra incentive, those of you who create a layout with at least 80% Sweet Genevieve product will be entered twice! Get to scrapping!
