Challenge 126

Here it is...Friday. The end of the week and the end of a session of amazingly talented designers. Not only is this the last week for Amy Tangerine as our Guest Designer, but it is also the last week for Zoe, Kirsten, and Christi. Carol will be sticking around for a while longer as she was invited to stay on the team for the next session. Of course, Tania L and I will still be here too to keep you inspired over the coming weeks.

As much as we love change around here (because change is sooooo inspiring!) we are also sad to see such talented designers go on to other creative endeavors. We have been privileged to have you share your beautiful creations with us over the past six months and we sincerely hope you won't be strangers! Come back often and share more of what you've been up to!

Below, you'll find not only our departing designers' layouts for the week but also the super cool sketch that the did all that creating from. If you are inspired by this sketch go to our 411 (information) page to see how you can participate in our contests n' stuff.

Vanessa
I did a 45 degree rotation of the sketch.

Tania L

Kirsten

Christi

Carol

Amy
Don't forget thatyou have until the end of the month to scraplift Amy's layouts...go to the link at the top sidebar to find out where to upload the links to your pages...

Introducing Tania D

So we've almost introduced everybody but not quite...we've got two more for ya! Today I want you to meet Tania Davey (this could be confusing having 2 Tanias!) And yeah, this is another one of our faithful Flickr participants who've made it to the finals in the monthly vote and she's now our newest Designer! I heart full-circle moments like this. They make me feel like all is right in the universe!

Tania's style makes me want to ditch my boring computer work and yank out the scrappy goodness that surrounds me. Her layouts totally stir up my mojo and I know you'll agree! She's one of the lucky ones who live in Australia (I'm moving to your house as soon as the snow flies here in Northern Canada...-50 just plain old SUCKS!!!) and her cool style is abundant in the following layouts.


Oh yeah, remember the sketch that everyone had to make something with?? Well, here it is again just to jog your memory and below it is Tania D's wicked-awesome layout. Lovin' it!
Q:Tell us a bit about you and your family.

A: Im a working mum with a very supportive husband, and between us we have 5 gorgeous kids rainging in age from 6 to 19 .. Never short of a subject to scrap about!

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

A: I was introduced to scrapping at a Tupperware party, yes you read right a Tupperware party LOL . I was selling it, and at this one party I was doing a demo at the whole group were into scrapbooking, and they got out their albums and showed each other and I loved what I saw, but it wasn’t till a year later, when I got those first photos back of my new son, that I thought if I don’t start now, I’m never going to catch up.. we are now six years down the track and I’m still not caught up. But I love each and every page I have created. Even the first ones!

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: Lots of things inspire me, Photos, little comments my kids make, advertisements, the things around me. Browsing galleries and cropping with friends are terrific ways to be inspired!

Q: Describe your creative style

A: hrmm hard question, my creative style changes from layout to layout and I don’t think I have a particular style, but in saying that most of my layouts are fairly simple, and have clean lines. And I can tell you I’m not a big flowers and bling type of girl, I love them, but find it hard to use lots of them .. less is more!

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

A: Favourite products right now would have to be the new release of Collections chipboard. Amazing stuff! Im also a bit keen on basic grey Lime Rickey .. Im also loving my stamps and inks.

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

A: IM currently working on a little wall hanging using an Orange jelly Stamp. I also have to do my thank you cards for my wedding! Which was 6 weeks ago!

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: Waking up late (I’m not a morning person) and the house is clean and there’s no washing or dishes to be done. And the kids are playing happily (not arguing) and I have a day to create without interruption. And to finish the day off, dinner is cooked for me, and the bed time routine is done for me, so I can keep creating!

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?

A: i love all my layouts, well they all have their place in my albums, so I can't choose favourites, but I’ll show you a couple of recent layouts

And the winner is...

Renoa! The votes are in and your page took first place in the poll! The readership has spoken and your fantastic pink & black layout has been chosen as the winner. We are thrilled that you won and are excited to send you your limited edition Couture Collection! Email us (info at lotuspaperie dot com) with your mailing info so we can send it out right away. Thanks so much to the other ladies whose pages didn't win...keep on playing along with the challenges...you never know when it's gonna be your turn to win.

Come back on Friday to see the next challenge...it's a doozy! We'll be saying goodbye to our current design team, it's their final week and starting in June the new team will be rockin' the weekly challenges. So exciting...I love change!

Challenge 125

Today is a good day. I'm off to a scrapbooking retreat at a local 'resort' (really just a bunch of cabins on a giant property) for the entire weekend with a few gals and lots of scrap supplies (okay, and maybe a few drinks too). Take a look at this week's challenge. I have to tell you, I was unsure as to how I was gonna pull this one together. Our challenge this week was to

USE MEMORABILIA / EPHEMERA

and it's not really my style...or so I thought. I chose to do this challenge because I knew it would force me to challenge my creative self and open an artistic door. I was SO right! I am delighted with how my page turned out and I actually went and bought a whole bunch more vintage embellishments to use just this way again! Now we wanna see what YOU can do! Check out the 411 page if you are new to our challenges to get the lowdown on how it all works (not to mention all the stuff you could win!)

Vanessa

Tania

Carol

Christi

Zoe

Kristin


Amy
Remember to visit the link at the top sidebar to share your scraplift of Amy's favorite pages so that YOU can win a limited edition Couture Collection bursting with scrappy goodness!

Introducing Marit

Well, you've almost met them all...but not quite! Marit Barentsen is another one of our inter-continental scrappers and belive me when I say that we are overwhelmed by the variety of artistic style and the level of impeccable talent that she and the rest of the new team of designers possess. Read her interview below and get to know her a little more...


Here's the sketch again and see what she created using it. I'm always blown away by the way everyone interprets the sketches. Makes me very happy & inspired. Love it! (you can read the journaling too because we always want to know what it says, right?!)







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

A: I'm Marit, I’m 45 and I was born and raised in Zeeland, a province in the South-West of the Netherlands. I have one brother (who moved to Canada with his family 5 years ago) and I grew up in a little village right next to the dunes and the North Sea.
As long as I can remember, I read and I wrote, just like my mum (she’s a writer). I started making my own “books” when I was a teenager… little one’s which I put poems and photo’s in (and never heard of scrapbooking then!) I learned to love photography because of my dad. He is a gifted photographer and I spend evenings with him in the kitchen, which we turned into a darkroom, to develop and print our photonegatives (yep, back in the old days!)
I have boxes full of old photos and for years I didn’t do much with it until I discovered scrapbooking...
So you see, I just can’t help it, crafting is in my genes and I graduated as a teacher in arts.
Today I live together with my beloved in Eindhoven. My love and I run a small company together in graphical communication & design, and I am a co-parent of a son - born in 1992 - from a former relationship who lives with us part of the week and every other weekend.

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

A: It must have been 2002 when I found a magazine about scrapbooking. It was as if I was struck by lightning - This is it!!! Ever since, I combine my passion for photo’s, texts and paper into scrapbooking and I feel blessed with all those boxes filled with old photo’s I always kept stored, and a digital camera to make new ones.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: It can be everything! A great photo, a song, a quote, a colour, a challenge, new paper or tools – boy, even a commercial on the TV can be inspiring!

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I like to work with Earth (natural) colours and I usually “think” before I actually start crafting. I’m a bit of a slow scrapper and my lay outs show the concentration (at least, I think it does) Lately, I’ve been trying to shake the “perfectionist” in me. Loosen up a bit; discover the joy of just fooling around with ink and paint! I guess the learning process never stops huh?!

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

A: At the moment I’m totally into spray ink (blame Dina Wakley!). I also love vintage stuff like old books & distress ink and I use a lot of sewing (hand- as well as machine stitching)

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

A: I started an Art Journal about the songs of Leonard Cohen last Month (“my men” gave me a DVD of a concert he gave in London and I got inspired right away!) and I also participate in a “Alice in Wonderland – Circle - Journal – Swapp - kinda - thing” and that’s just two of the many things I’m busy with or planning to...

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: A perfect day starts when I finished a project that turned out great the other day - I always need a little time “to recover” from a lay out but I feel totally fulfilled on such days! - and I drive to Zeeland with my love and son to meet my parents & friend who still live there… we go for a walk along the sea shore and in the (summer) evening we sit in the garden, drink a glass of white wine and talk. Me; feeling satisfied about a lay out and relaxing, surrounded by the sand dunes & sea & loved ones… that’s the closest to perfection!

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?

Introducing Keely!

Are you ready!?! Here's our next new Design Team member, Keely Yowler. You might recognize this name as Keely has been a finalist in our monthly voting in the past. This girl takes her scrapbooking pretty dang seriously. I think she's got diamond glaze running thru her veins and I bet if you asked her, she'd tell ya she lives to scrap. (we don't know what she's talking about at all do we girls?!)

We're delighted to have her join us and I gotta say, the more pink, the better! I'm a little envious of these gals who have girlies in their lives...Must live vicariously through those who have daughters...so enough rambling! Let's get to the good stuff...Meet Keely!



Oh ya, remember the sketch that everyone had to use in their application? Here it is again. Get a load of her incredible page. Notice the girlie-ness. Love it!





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

A: I’m the busy mom of 5 wild & wonderful kiddies (4 boys and 1 girl) and the wife of one very supportive husband. We have 5 dogs and 2 cats. We live in beautiful Georgetown, Kentucky. I grew up as an only child and always dreamed of having a big family. I am a registered nurse and work as a medical reviewer for an insurance company. When I’m not scrapbooking, I enjoy photography, watching my kiddies participate in sports, and riding on the back of my husband’s motorcycle.

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

A: I have been scrapbooking for 9 years. I bought a scrapbooking kit from QVC Home Shopping Network and I was hooked. I have been totally emerged in scrapbooking since that day. I have always enjoyed crafts, drawing, cross-stitch, sewing...you name it.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: My family, of course. I have so many subjects to choose from. My daughter loves to pose for the camera and always humors me during a photo session. I’m also inspired by beautiful fabrics, advertising, and nature.

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I would describe my style as Whimsical with a touch of Shabby Chic. I love bold, bright color combinations, lots of layering, minimal white space, with the addition of inking, sewing, and vintage lace.

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

A: My three favorite techniques would be doodling, adding lace/ribbons, and lots of layering.

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

A: I’m currently working on layouts about each of my kids, their day to day life, and what they enjoy right now.

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: My perfect day would be spent enjoying the outdoors with my family, while taking lots of photos. Later, I could come home and create layouts while the journaling is fresh in my head.

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?

Challenge 124

Alright, here we go with another challenge. This week we are working with a sketch. I decided to flip it around a little to make it work for me, I think everyone went with pretty much the same idea! :)
Check out our new 411! Need any information on how to play along? That's where you go! Hopefully it answers any questions you may have.

OK, here's the wonderful layouts our DT came up with...

Tania

Vanessa

Kirsten

Christi

Carol

Zoe

Amy

Don't forget the scraplift challenge that's going on with Amy's layouts. Check out the link on the upper right side.

Introducing Keandra

It's so exciting introducing you to our new Design Team. I am a giant fan of change and fully embrace the opportunities that inevitably accompany it. Bringing in the next session of designers always gets me inspired and FULL of mojo!

Today, I want to introduce you to Keandra Willis. We're so very excited that she has joined our team and we are totally anticipating the paper-goodness that is soon to come. She has the coolest handwriting EVER and we are just bursting at the seams with excitement to have her joining us. Below, you can read a bit about her and see her favorite pages of all time. Also, as each member of the Design Team created layouts from a sketch, we want to show you how Keandra interpreted that sketch.


Welcome to the Lotus Paperie Design Team, Keandra!


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

A:I'm married to John who likes to watch me scrap sometimes (how great is HE?!?) We have six kids but only two birds left in the nest!

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

A: Umm...I don't know if you count me drawing on the walls when I was five but I started creating in books @ 12. I draw so all of my pages were white cardstock with drawings!

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: When my husband takes the boys on an outing, it inspires me to run around like a headless chicken trying to create as much as possible before they return.

Q:Describe your creative style.

A: All over the place! Sometimes I like one picture and one embellishment...most times I'm not satisfied until the page is covered with so much crap that you can't identify the patterned paper!

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

A: 1) sewing
2) inking
3) distressing

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

A: Organizing my house, cleaning my studio, a (100 pg) book for my husband, mother's day/graduation/father's day cards.

Q:Describe your perfect day.

A: Eighteen hours of STRAIGHT art (gotta sleep sometime!) with breaks only to use the ladies room & an all day sporting event, not calling every two minutes!

Find us on Facebook!

We're on Facebook. Click on the badge on the sidebar and become a fan of the Lotus Paperie Page! It'll make our day...c'mon, you know you wanna!

Time to choose your favorite!

Ahh yes...another month, another series of challenges. Throughout the month of April, we some incredible layouts added to our Flickr group by amazing artists. We want to celebrate some of the layouts that jumped out at us this time. You can select a favorite by voting on the poll at the top right hand side of the page. Check out the three that made the finals this month!

Thanks to everyone who shared their artwork with us! We couldn't do this without you :) Good luck ladies!!

Remember gals, if you belong to any online forums or chat groups or if you have a blog, by all means spread the word! Get all the voters checking out the finalists as possible. Everyone is welcome to share the link to this (and every) vote!

Sandravanbrenk

renoa_h

Ravenea

Introducing Gudrun

Oh jeez, it was so very, very hard to choose the few gals that we did to be on our design team. It wasn't easy to narrow it down. I hate to disappoint anyone and I'm bummed that we couldn't include everyone but that would be CRAZY!

I want to introduce you to an amazing, talented scrapbooker who is everywhere (or so it seems!) She's got an incredible eye for design and knows her stuff when it comes to scrapbooking. I love that she journals in English and Norwegian...talented, I'm tellin' ya!

We welcome Gudrun Loennecken to the Lotus Paperie Design Team for the June - November '09 session!!!

Each applicant for the new Design Team was challenged to create something amazing from this sketch. Check out what she did with this sketch and read about her and get acquainted. She's also shared some of her favorite layouts. (We heart our Norwegian scrap friends!)

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

A: My name is Gudrun. I’m married with my true love, Eirik. We have 4 wonderful kids that bring a lot of joy and happiness to our lives. We live in an old, yellow house in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Our home is filled with music and creativity and art, we all love to create, to make stuff and to play a lot of different instruments. Yes, it’s totally chaos – a wonderful chaos.

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

A: As many other crafters and scrapbookers I have always been passionate about making stuff, collecting beautiful papers and hoarded little bits and bobs. I have little albums and books I created as a school-girl. But my journey as a scrapbooker started when my oldest son was born 13 years ago. It was no such word as “scrapbooking” in Norway at that time, so I called myself an “album-maker”. Then, suddenly one day, on the outlook for beautiful papers on the internet, I stumbled upon this wonderful world of scrapbooking. This must be about 10 or 11 years ago. And I have been a passionate scrapbooker ever since. This is my creative outlet, my kind of art and my lifestyle.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: Oh my, I’m inspired by SO many things!! All the talented scrapbookers all over the world I have been so lucky to meet through internet and in real-life, are all a great source of inspiration. I visit a lot of blogs , challenge-blogs, online galleries and e-zines, I love interior-and garden-magazines and get a lot of inspiration through this. I find inspiration in nature and things around me, but most of all I get inspired by my wonderful family and the pictures I take of our little life and things that surrounds us.

Q:Describe your creative style

A: It’s all a mess. Creative chaos. But I also love simplicity. I love so many different styles, colors, techniques and ways to make scrapbooking a little piece of art.

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

A: My all time high is alphabets – letters. I love all kinds of letters and I can’t live without them.
I also love colors, bright, fun, muted, bold…all kinds of colors…. Right now I love to add drops of colors to a neutral background. I can use paint, paper, sewing…whatever technique I want to use at the moment to add these drops of color
And last, but not least, Patterned paper. I LOVE patterned paper. I hoard patterned paper, I use patterned paper on almost all my projects. This is how it all started – my genuine love for patterned paper.

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

A: I'm always work at one project at a time. The last days I have made some layouts. All of them 12x12 one-page LOs. But I also love to make mini albums, cards and other things like gift bags, little boxes and other fun paper-craft-stuff.

Q: Describe your perfect day

A: A day with my family – a day off, just doing what we want to do: go on a field-trip or out in our boat on the fjord. I love holidays, time to relax, time to scrap, to embrace life.

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?
A: it’s hard to choose only three. They all have their own story….but Here are three LO’s I often come back to – that inspires me and speaks to me – each in their own way.