Getting To Know Christi Otis

This is such an exciting time! I love change, I find it so inspiring...and bringing in a new Design Team is no exception. Now that we've told you who will be providing you with the most scrap-lift-able artwork for the December to May session, we thought you'd like to find out a little more about who these incredible women are and what makes 'em tick. So we asked them to fill out the same qestionnaire that we give to our Guest Designers (cuz the questions are pretty effective for getting GREAT answers) so without further ado...

psst...we're not doing a scraplift contest for these guys but there still is one for Jenny found here.

Meet Christi Otis!

Q: Tell us a bit about you and your family.

A: Wow, only a little bit, huh? Since I’m a pretty chatty person, I accept this as my personal challenge to keep it brief! My husband Rick and I have been together for almost 14 years now, and have managed to keep things interesting mainly due to our shared sense of humor. We both enjoy Survivor, random trivia, fantasy football, Texas Hold’em, Taco Bell, and have scared off more than a few potential new friends with our love of quoting movies. So yeah, we’re both dorks. We have 3 sons and a daughter: Alex (10), Maggie (8), Jack (4) and Jacob (2). Yes, we meant to have that many kids, and NO, we’re not having any more! I’m lucky enough to get to stay at home during the day with the two little boys, and I even manage to keep the house relatively clean while still having time to craft. Coffee helps.

Q: How long have you been scrapbooking and where did you get your start in this craft?

A: Technically, I was introduced to scrapbooking about 10 years ago, when some ladies I knew started selling Creative Memories products. I had a brand-new baby at the time, and recording his childhood milestones chronologically in acid-free, lignin-free, guaranteed albums appealed to my anal perfectionist side. I’ve gotten over it. Now I scrap the everyday moments that I want to share with our family, without worrying so much about whether or not my albums will be around 500 years from now.

Q: What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: I get inspiration from so many different sources….just sorting through my stash and coming across product I haven’t seen in a month or two will get my gears turning. I’m inspired by my photos, by product both new and old, by advertisements, by challenge blogs, even by things I see at the store, like a tote bag or a box of tissue! Inspiration is literally everywhere if you just take the time to look. Try scraplifting a favorite T-shirt design sometime, and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

Q: Describe your creative style

A: I’d have to say….vintage grunge? I love muted fall colors, distressing, and all things vintage. Most of my layouts include journaling done on my mom’s 60’s Underwood. The day she gave me that typewriter will forever be etched in my memory as one of the happiest days of my life.

Q: What are your three favorite products/techniques right now?

A: I’m in absolute L.O.V.E. with Jenni Bowlin’s new mini calendar cards and her apothecary stickers…..the new papers by Sass Lass make me swoon…..and as soon as I get my ink-stained fingers on those Tim Holtz masks, I’m sure they’ll be added to my list of favs!

Q: What project(s) are you currently working on?

A: I’m finishing up two challenge layouts, adding journaling to a couple pages I got mostly done at a crop over the weekend, and I’ll be making a folk-art doll that I plan to blog about sometime this week. I’m pretty excited to get started on her!

Q: Describe your perfect day

A: Hmmm….any day that starts with coffee and a clean house is a perfect day in my book. Even more perfect if I have a few hours to craft. I guess I’m pretty easily satisfied.