Good morning scrappers! It’s Sunday today and that means its time for The Sunday Spotlight here at ScrapMatters. When I was thinking about scrappers from our gallery who had caught my eye, I quickly remembered some GORGEOUS heritage layouts posted in the gallery by “meterr”. Little did I know what a fab lady I had stumbled upon.

Meterr, a.k.a. Terri, was nice enough to answer our questions and let us get to know her a little better.

What is your main job/career? I am a stay at home mom right now.

Are you married/kids/pets? I have been married since 1989 to Jody. We met in high school. Iwas moved to a foster home in Jody’s hometown and we met there. We have 3 kids. Brit, who’s almost 18, Andre, who is 16, and Elijah, who is almost 4. We have a collie named Honey and a little mouse named Houdini.

Where do you call home? We live right outside of Adrian, MI. I am originally form Port Huron, MI.

What are your three favorite foods? Pizza, Mac-n-Cheese, Lasagna

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Anything with nuts, brownies and chocolate!

Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks? both!!

What is your favorite beverage? Vanilla Coke!!

What is your least favorite food? Hmmmmm . . . this might sound sick, but any type of cheap meat like cheapo hotdogs or bologna or 99 cent TV dinners.. yuck!!!! i also DO NOT drink coffee!!

PC or Mac? pc

How long have you been digi-scrapping/How did you get into it? I just celebrated my 1 yr anniversary of starting digi scrapping on Jan. 15th. I can’t afford a lot of paper supplies so downloading kits and using them over and over is really cool! I also have old pics which are on disc I love using.

What program do you use to digi-scrap with? Paint Shop Pro 9

How long does it take you to do a LO? Sometimes I can do one in 10 mins, but I’m a perfectionist, so I change things a lot. my ‘puter is also pretty bogged down right now and runs slow, so most of the time it takes me half an hr or more to get a layout perfect!!!! (Wow Terri!! You are fast, I couldn’t get a LO done that fast if I had 5 arms!!! WOW!)

What are your hobbies besides digi-scrapping? My local sports teams (Detroit teams), my ladies message board called the Crazy ladies Asylum (I LOVE old asylums), genealogy, freebies, gravestone photography, abandoned places, old antique stores, collecting vintage stuff like kids clothes, toys, linens, books and magazines, listening to ALL kinds of music like ragtime, swing, 50s, 60s, 70s and I LOVE 80s to modern rock. I also love old radio programs and classic TV shows which I watch and listen to online. I love getting a piece of “trash” and turning it into treasure!

What would you like to learn to do, not related to scrapbooking? I would love to learn to knit and make clothing on the sewing machine.

What are your favorite books/authors? I’m a bookworm and love books from horror to medical journals, historical fiction . . . all kinds of history books (ancient religions and ways of life) bios to war. I’m also into the paranormal too!!

What are your favorite movies? I love movies from the silent era to the 1970s and also some modern movies too. I love the golden age of Hollywood!!!

What is your favorite quote? “If you want something done right… do it yourself!!!” and (from an old Ricky Nelson song) “You can’t please everyone, so you’ve got to please yourself.”

What is one of your goals for 2008? To learn to make a digi kit and give it as a freebie!!!

Terri, your heritage LOs ROCK! What tips do you have for people like me who want to try Heritage, but need some help and inspiration? To start doing heritage you have to have some kind of interest in who your ancestors were, have some photos or copies of photos, or even pics of family gravestones, homes or even postcards of towns they lived in. I also use newspaper clippings, programs and other handwritten ephemera. You might want to showcase the eras they lived in, their jobs or aspects of their personalities!! It’s almost like you need to get to know them a little bit!! When we do layouts of our kids and living family members, we use words, papers and elements to tell others who they are or what kind of person they are ( messy kid, silly hubby etc) our ancestors all had their own personalities too!! i had several who were practical jokers and love to do lively layouts involving them. My great grandmother played piano and wrote poetry, so I l like to use musical themes with her layouts and sometimes poetry, including her own! Some rellies we don’t know to much about, so I usually try to use period type elements or try to use something from the pic itself (a silk curtain in the background or a certain season when the pic was taken) you really cant do wrong when making a heritage layout!! Let your heart lead you!! These people were once as alive as we are today, and I’m sure, are honored when we use their likeness in our layouts!!! Have fun and enjoy learning and sharing your families’ history!!

You’re a paper scrapper too. How do you decide what you paper scrap and what is digi scrapped? And what fulfillment do you find in both genres? If I have a photo I REALLY love, I will do it in paper AND digi!! I can use a pic of my son crying in a playful way in one layout and maybe a serious tone in the other! Also if the photo is tiny, I will do it digi (I don’t have a photo printer) Most of the time I see a certain kit and think ” I have THE perfect pic for this kit!!” I like doing digi because I can save my family money by downloading some of the wonderful freebies available on the Internet!! I also LOVE being a CT member and showcasing a kit for the designer! As for paper, its fun to shop for it!! I do like being able to get away from the computer and watch a hockey game or good movie as I scrap with paper. Having the layout to share with family away from home is cool too!!

Terri’s got a fun homepage here and a GREAT BIG gallery here if you want to go browse her awesome stuff!

Let me show you some of my favorite LOs by Terry! As I mentioned, she’s an amazing heritage scrapper. Here is one of my favorite LOs from her gallery at ScrapbookFlair.

(click all images for credits)

This LO just jumped out of her gallery to me. This is Terri’s grandfather when he was a teenager. Cool photo huh?! AND I noticed that some of the cool vintage newsprint stamps were from Detroit! PERFECT for Detroit girl! LOVE all the watchmaker elements. Then I read in her description that her great grandfather ran a watch shop in Detroit! How serendipitous for Terri to have this kit to scrap with!! WOW.

I love this ATC (artist trading card) Terri created. I just LOVE this funky vintage style!!

Wow. I’ve never tried anything like that before. But I think it looks like fun! And I love that quote!

Here’s a GREAT paper LO Terri did!

See! I told you she rocked both digi AND paper!! I love all the stamping and the big flower paper!

And finally, a non-heritage current digi-LO. She does those too! She’s like the queen of all genres!

I love the black background with the subtle snowflakes and music notes topped with the silver, frosty embellishments. And I love the message! So sweet!

Isn’t Terri just amazing?! I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know her better! Hope you enjoyed looking at a little of Terri’s work and have been inspired as much as I have been!!

Thanks Terri!!! And as our little gift to you, I’ve PM-ed you a code for a $10 Gift Certificate to the shop! Congrats on being picked for the Sunday Spotlight! Go use it during our big “NEW” sale thats going on right now, and really get a good deal! HAHA

Thanks for stoppin’ by everyone! Enjoy the last little bit of your weekend!

xoxo,