You've met her before...

here she is for another session, Carol Yeo! We're delighted to welcome Carol back for another session on the Lotus Paperie Design Team, she brings bright colors, balance and always lots of gorgeous layers of hand cut papers (oh, and don't forget the flowers!)

She gave us some great answers to the when we first got to know her at the beginning of her last session that started in December '08



Oh, and we can't forget to show you what Carol did with the Challenge sketch that was part of the Design Team Application. Great results, don't you think?!


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

A: This September, my husband and I celebrate out 10th wedding anniversary. I’m thrilled! Where work is concerned, I’m still working 3 days a week. My days off are filled with good intentions. Top of my list is to scrap, do several mini albums, crochet, cook for the family, go to the gym, download music for my iPhone… the list goes on. This year, my 4 yr old started preschool and I thought that would give me more time to scrap. Boy, was I mistaken! Added to the long list of things I try to accomplish on each of my sadly insufficient non-working days each week is now the added complication of dropping her off and picking her from school at certain times – a schedule guaranteed to keep me on my toes and in and out of the house all day as I work her in around the insanity that includes being chauffeur to my husband and 8 yr old son.

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

A: I did my first layout in January 2007. That was clearly a beginner effort. Gosh, I was so clueless then! In my blurb for the last DT session, I spoke about how a good friend of mine gave me an album filled with pages she’d scrapped herself for my birthday in 2006 and how that opened my eyes to the wonderful world of scrapbooking. To continue that story, when I visited Walt Disney World with my husband and son in November 2006, I chanced upon a clearance store in some factory outlet selling value packs of scrapbook paper, stamps, and other assorted embellishments. My mind boggled. I did not know that scrap supplies could be had at such bargain prices! Back home, our supplies are air flown from the US suppliers and that adds to the cost. So, I bought these supplies, came back home after my vacation, and that brings us right back to January 2007, where I started this paragraph.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: As I’ve developed as a scrapper, I’ve found that the one thing that works most for me is a single theme, or idea. That could be a picture, a thought, a song title, a phrase… just about anything. Once I have it, I start developing that page, and I’ve found that my page just grows organically from there.

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I can tell you what I’m definitely not. I find it hard to scrap in a graphic style, and also hard to doodle i.e. freestyle. I tend towards shabby chic, the pearls, bling, laces, ribbon, flowers etc. I like chipboard embellishments, especially those with glitter! That said, I never start out a page thinking, hmmm, I’m going to showcase a specific style here, let’s try and use those pearls, bling etc. I just let my pages grow and see what comes out. I’ve been surprised before, especially those pages that come out ultra simple, but great. One thing which I think my pages are, however, is neat. My edges, even the distressed ones, are, well, for want of a better word, tidy. I didn’t set out for them to turn out that way, though! Heh.

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

A: I’ve noticed that I invariably ink every cut, torn or printed edge in my pages. So yes, inking would definitely be right up there. Another favourite product would be the small page pebbles from Robin’s Nest – I’ve been using them in quite a number of my pages recently, I love how the diverse range of colour in these pebbles together with the almost-but-not-quite-bling effect goes together perfectly to spice up the page. The other product I’m loving quite a bit right now are Prima flowers. They almost always have a spot on my page – I admit, I have a soft spot for flowers, both real and fake, so if you want to make my day, just send me a bunch!

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

A: I have to admit, where scrapbooking is concerned, only the weekly challenges at the moment. I finally finished the ‘crop’ page I mentioned in my last blurb, at a crop earlier this year. Guess I’ll just have to start another one! I am, however, midway through a crocheted scarf which I hope to have ready for my summer trip to the States. But that’s another story altogether.

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: With the sheer amount of things I have on my plate all the time, I think my perfect day right now would be one with an elastic clock – just so that I can stretch out time and get everything I want to get done finished before it’s bedtime. More realistically, I’ve had a couple of near perfect days in the past month or 2, usually on a Sunday, where the kids, husband and I head for our neighbourhood Starbucks and spend some time together, each doing our own thing. What an oxymoron, isn’t that? But truly, that was what happened. Hubby was on the computer, son was reading his book, daughter was watching a DVD on a portable player we brought along, and I was crocheting my scarf. All this while the world went by outside and we had frosty frappuccinos to go with it. Simply decadent.

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

A: My favourites at the moment have not changed since the last time.