Get to know you blog hop

So there are some get to know you blog hops happening right now and I was tagged to participate.  I am a day late posting as life has gotten a bit away from me, but that's just how it goes some weeks!

Acknowledge the person who tagged you:

My bloggy friend Jaren from http://purpleparadisecreations.blogspot.com tagged me to share in this Get to Know You Blog Hop.  I have gotten to know her work through the design team at BBTB2 and love going to see what she makes every week!  Like me, she is a busy mom and I'm super impressed that she finds time to blog!!!!

What you are working on?  

I always have several projects going on at once.  My scrapping area always looks like a disaster!  In addition to weekly design team projects, I am currently working an album for all our summer vacation pictures from our trip to Estes Park, CO and Rocky Mountain National Park, as well as scrapping all the pictures from our regular summer activities.  I am also starting to plan Christmas cards.

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I am primarily a scrapbooker and enjoy getting our family photos into albums where we can look at them.  I prefer double page layouts with multiple photos and a clean uncluttered design.  I generally work with 4x6 photos that I can easily print on my home printer.   While I occasionally print special sizes, I'm all about speed which means I usually stick with 4x6.  My preferred album size is 12x12, although I also occasionally make mini albums for gifts.  I also stamp and make some cards, but it's not my creative focus.  I am not much for making 3D items because with three active boys and a crazy cat, paper decorative items don't seem to survive around here!  Once in awhile, I'll make a calendar or wall hanging that can't get knocked over by the kids or shredded by the cat.

Why do you write/create what you do?

As I never able to go to crops anymore between work and kids, blogging has given me a chance to share my projects and get inspired by other people's amazing stuff.  My job as a critical care nurse at a large urban trauma hospital is often full of sad, depressing situations and is VERY stressful, so scrapbooking is like my happy therapy.  


How does your writing/creating process work?

I surf my favorite blogs and also use Pinterest to get ideas.  Anything can spark a layout idea, although my final product rarely looks anything like what inspired me-the project usually kind of veers off into unknown territory at some point.  I often sketch ideas while waiting in the car line at school.  I have to snatch my creative moments whenever I can!

I'm kind of a paper addict (LOL!) and love to have paper from my favorite companies like Echo Park, Bo Bunny, and Carta Bella around to work with.  I use my Cricut for almost everything and love being able to make things in whatever size and color I want.  A Cameo or Cricut Explore is on my someday wish list….but for now I'm pretty content with my Cricut.  I don't have a computer in my scrap area so I don't use the Cricut Craft Room, but I get along just fine with just me and my original Cricut Exression.   I'm very visual, so I have to have everything spread out around me where I can see it (hence the giant mess!).  

I'm going to leave you with some links to blogs I like to surf:
http://janaeubank.wordpress.com
http://nannes-creations.blogspot.com
http://www.craftindesertdivas.com

Happy Scrapping!

a peek at the scrap room (for BBTB2)

Instead of a challenge this week at BBTB2, we are sharing a peek into our scrapping areas where we create our projects.  I'll admit I'm kind of curious to see where everybody scraps!  I suspect they will mostly be way cooler than my space, since my spot is in a corner of the basement.  It's chief virtue is that it's out of the way so I can leave everything out since I'm SUPER messy.

I'm very visual in my creative process, so I like to have everything spread out where I can see it.  And yes, that frequently includes the floor!  My husband jokes that his half of the room gets smaller and smaller when I spread across the floor laying out a project, LOL!  He has his computers all set up in the other half of the room so we can hang out in the basement after the kids go to bed with our separate hobbies (he's a big computer gamer), but still be together.  So for the big reveal…..pretty basic, huh?  You notice I am keeping it real here-this is how my table usually looks (meaning not very tidy).

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I use an old kitchen table (that I bought long ago when I got out of college!) for my work area.  I keep all my scrapbook supplies in the armoire behind my table, plus a crate or two on the floor.  My husband added slide out shelves to the bottom 2/3 of the armoire for more paper storage space.  You can see my post it note to myself regarding supplies that are running low stuck to the door!  And then there's my trusty can of diet Coke-my other ESSENTIAL scrapping item (no creativity occurs without a steady supply)!  My cricut sits on the table beside me just out of the photo and my Big Kick embosser is on the floor under the table, close at hand.

My only cool organizational trick is that I've cut out all the fonts from all the cartridges I have and hung them on the wall in front of my table where I can quickly see them and decide what font I want for a project.  Knowing they are all cut at 1 1/4 inches lets me see whether the font is a big wide one or a narrow skinny one.

While I fantasize about super cool Ikea shelving units and countertops with slots for paper storage underneath and windows for lots of natural light…I'm actually pretty happy I have a spot that's all mine!   We had a small house when I first started scrapping and I had to use this same kitchen table BUT we also had to eat there, as it was the only table!  So I had to put everything away and get it all back out again any time I wanted to scrap.  Being able to leave my projects out is SO much better and I like being able to hang out with my hubby while I scrap.  I hope you enjoy seeing everyone else's space.  Really, it's all about making whatever you have work!