It's almost a wrap...but not yet! Exciting news!

You know we love to keep big surprises until the end and this one was worth waiting for! We have kept this quiet long enough and now it’s time to share.  We are very excited to announce that our friend Ali Edwards will be joining the SCT family as a contributing writer starting with our summer issue.  For those that have followed Ali through the years you will know what an incredibly kind person she is.  She is a story teller.  A photographer.  A business woman.  A mother.  A daughter.  A friend.  She documents all of life’s little moments and the big moments too.   She is passionate for this industry and we are thrilled to work with her.  Having just read Ali’s first SCT article, we know you’ll be thrilled too. You are sure to learn many things about capturing your everyday life!

We thought this might be a great opportunity to ask Ali a few questions and share some of her artwork style with you too!

What was your very first experience with papercrafting?

I first started scrapbooking in 2002 when my son was about 11 months old. I wanted to make a baby book and I couldn't find one I loved so I decided I would try it on my own. I wish I could remember the exact moment I saw what I would term "modern" scrapbooking online. I was searching for something else and link by link ended up at Two Peas In A Bucket. I can honestly say that my life has not been the same since. I started shortly thereafter doing 12x12 pages and really haven't stopped since. 

Photography is such an important element of your scrapbooking.  Can you share your top tips for capturing a great photo?

Here are some of the things I don't do: 

1. Use a flash. I look for natural light sources (window) whenever possible. I've gotten to be super conscious of light. Light is huge. 

2. Say to my kids, "smile" or "look over here." Okay, that's not entirely true but in general I want to capture them as they are whether that is looking down or looking at me. I want to capture them as they are experiencing their life.

3. Shoot in manual. I tend to use the AV mode. 

4. Always grab my DSLR. I've become a pretty big fan of my iphone and use it more often than my bigger camera lately. 

5. Clean up my house before taking photos. I am a huge fan of everyday life photography. To me that means including the messes of life and not cropping out backgrounds (either when composing the shot or editing after the fact). I want my photos to reflect our real life - sometimes it's super clean and organized and other times it's a giant mess. 

6. Shoot from one position. I love to look through my lens from different perspectives. Shoot looking down, shoot looking up, shoot eye level. I also like to experiment with up close and with far away. I love how each tell a different part of the story. 

7. Take myself too seriously. I love photos and I love photos that look awesome but really I just play.

Are there certain colours that you gravitate toward either in papercrafting, home decor, or fashion?

White. White. White. On my walls and as the foundation of so many of my layouts. I sometimes say that I'd love to have my whole house simply dipped in white paint. I also love hits of orange, yellow, red and gray. 

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?

To be honest what I would love most is to have dinner with my parents, my brother and sister and their significant others and all of our kids. All together in one place. Yes, that's it. 

Where do you find your greatest inspiration?

Right now it has to be Pinterest. Hard to beat that instant gratification of design and color and images. I'm still a huge fan of print magazines such as Martha Stewart and Country Living. 

Fast five...

Steak or sushi | Sushi, always.

Lake or ocean | Ocean

Button or brad | Brad

Pancakes or waffles | Neither, bacon.

Textured or smooth paper | Textured

 

 

Of course a great day full of inspiration should end with a fantastic prize right?  We see you ALL nodding.  Our friends at American Crafts, Spellbinders and Xyron thought so too!  Read on!

Our friends at American Crafts are wonderful.  Truly wonderful.  When we told them we were celebrating NSD, they suggested not one, not two, but TEN of their favourite products to give to one very lucky SCT reader!  Have a look at this fine prize package…

 

The TOP 10 prize includes:

1. A Project Life core kit

2. Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Thickers

3. Party Day Thickers

4. DIY Shop Photo Overlays

5. Maggie Holmes Mini Album

6. Maggie Holmes Ephemera Pack

7. Party Day Standouts

8. Basics Cardmaking Pad

9. Maggie Holmes Mini Album Supplement

10. Memory Markers 5-pack

But of course, we have more!  Our friends at Spellbinders didn't hesitate for a second to offer this special set of Nestabilities to add to today's final prize package!

  

And our friends at Xyron would love for one lucky winner to have this...

A Xyron XRN510 Creative Station!  We have watched Beth Kingston demonstrate with this fabulous machine at Crop & Create Burnaby and the ladies are loving it!  A perfect, versatile machine that provides edge to edge adhesive for anything up to 5" wide.  Just think of the possibilities!

If you would like to win all of these prizes, just scream ME, ME, ME at the top of your lungs!!!  No, just kidding!  Just leave a comment below by 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 11^th!  Of course, we would absolutely LOVE you to head on over to the American Crafts, Spellbinders and Xyron's facebook page and tell them “THANK YOU!”  for such an incredible prize prackage.  What a wonderful way to wrap up our day!  Our sponsors very much appreciate hearing from you and we very much appreciate your taking your time to let them know.

We hope you have been inspired, challenged and surprised today.  We have loved spending this day with you and if you are just joining us, you will want to start all the way at the beginning…13 hours/posts ago.  And if you have not yet “liked” us on facebook, now would be the time as we are giving away 26 copies of the spring issue when we hit 26K fans! 

THANK YOU SCT readers for being the best readers out there.  I say it all the time that we do what we do because we are inspired by YOU!  Have a wonderful weekend friends.  See you next week! xoxoxoxox

~  Catherine 

Comments

[Jasmine Marie]

That is so exciting! Ali is amazing and has been inspiring so many of us for year. Can't wait! :)

[Rosemary Nunn]

Exciting news!!!! Fantastic prize!!! :)

[Debbie Russell]

Happy NSBD:-)

[Patricia Nee]

WooHoo!!! Great news and AWESOME prizes. Thank you!!!

[Michelle]

Amazing Prize!!!

[Heather Whitlock]

Thanks for all the posts and doing the giveaway!

[sandeeNC]

wow oh w♥w! awesome prizes!!!

[Kristin O.]

OMG! What an awesome prize and fun announcement! Thanks for all the inspiration, posts and prizes today!

[Angela Stewart]

Thank you so much for all your ideas and inspirations today. Would love to add more Spellbinders dies to my collection and an updated Xyron would also be great and who doesn't need more papers and accessories to add to our collections???

[RamonaP]

me! me! me! for American Crafts!

[Denise Coulter]

What incredibly awesome prizes! Congrats on Ali Edwards joining you! Love her down to earth style of scrapping.

[Sandy Clinton]

Wow Catherine!! Great additions to the magazine, lots of inspiration and so many amazing chances to win today!!! Thank you to you & to all your terrific sponsors! (And here's hoping that I'll hear from you soon!!!) P.S. Do you remember me???? LOL

[Angeline Tan]

Me! Me! Me! Thanks for the chance to win ^^

[Tona]

I love Ali's work.
Thanks for the chance to win a knock your socks off kind of prize. I think I would faint if I won this lol. Thanks for the chance.

[Barb Wagar]

Oh wow... been a long day following along with everyone and having a blast doing it. Count me in on this awesome prize draw... I went over and thanked Xyron, Spellbinders and American Crafts for sponsoring such hip prizes over here! Thank you!

[Crafty Math Chick]

My GOSH! Your company friends sure know how to party for NSD! WOW!

[Christine]

What awesome news! I love Ali's style and can't wait to read her first article.

[Andi Walsh]

Sweet! I have followed Ali for years and love that she is joining SCT. And what a GREAT prize! Thanks to AC, Spellbinders, Xyron and all the sponsors!

[Chris]

Wow - what an awesome prize. Pick me, me, me! Thanks for a great day with lots of inspiration and amazing prizes.

[Michele]

ME, ME, ME (yes, at the top of my lungs!)!!!

Sigh. But seriously, it's been a great day, following the SCT blogs, all the inspiration and ideas, and more colour than I thought I could handle in one day. I've followed the links to many wonderful sites, and now have a "I-gotta-do-this!" list longer than anyone but a scrapbooker can imagine. It's almost time to go wash out the glue and glitter from my hair (I have no idea how it happens, but it always does). Just let me organize some of this stuff, ... , or maybe one more page....

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!

[Wendy Crowe]

Very cool!! What a great prize!! Happy NSD to you too!!!

[NinaN]

ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!

Fabulous prizes!!!!

[Michelle]

ME ME ME!!!!! Please pick me!!!!! I LOVE scrapping "toys"!!!!! :) :) :)

[Tammy McCullars]

Great having Ali added to the staff. Loved reading the photography tips and anxious to hear more this summer! Thank you for making this an awesome day! And for the great prizes!

[Ann B]

Jumping up and down, waving hands wildly and screaming ME ME ME!!!!! fingers crossed to win this wonderful package!!! Thanks for the opportunity to win!!