Good Mornig Everyone! This weeks LOTW is Taste of Nature by sarahtawisha. Isn’t it beautiful? We just love how the pictures pop off the page and of course her journaling is great. You can click on the link to leave her some love or go HERE to the forum. Congrats saratawisha!

Happy Sunday to you all!  Christine (inHisgrip) here, from the Scraps Matter Gang, to introduce you to Jeni Hopewell, Designer here at Scrap Matters. Looks like we share some commonalities, including the Great State of Texas! I hope you enjoy getting to know Jeni a little better.

 1. Your screen name? Your real name?  My name is Jeni Hopewell and in the forums I go by j_hopewell – so creative, aren’t I?  LOL

2. What is your main job/career? My main job is being a stay at home mom but I also teach piano lessons after school and of course, designing.

3. Are you married/children/pets?  I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 13 years and we have three kids ages 7, 6, 2.  NO PETS ALLOWED – I have enough mess-makers ’round here!

4. Where is home for you?  The great state of Texas!

5. What are your 3 favorite foods?  I love my Granny’s green chile soft tacos, my mom’s homemade bread, and ham with green beans.

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?  My all time favorite is Peanut Butter and Chocolate at Baskin Robbins but I’ll eat just about any kind of ice cream – except cookie dough, YUCK!

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet?  Definitely sweet.  There’s always some kind of chocolate stashed around here.

8. Beverage of choice?  Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew

9. What’s your least favorite food?  Seafood – so gross.

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use?  PC and I use Photoshop CS3.

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? How did you get started?  I’ve been digi-scrapping for just over a year now.  I was a paper scrapper for years and every year I make a family calendar for all the grandmas and grandpas.  It would take F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  Plus it was getting pretty expensive to buy six of the same paper and embellishment(s).  My sister had started doing some scrapbook pages digitally and I was amazed at how realistic they looked.  The only digi-pages I had seen were ones that looked very computer generated.  She told me how quick and cost effective it would be to do all of the calendar pages digitally and just print them out.  It sounded like a lifesaver and I found a video tutorial on You-Tube to help me figure it out in PSE.  I was hooked immediately.  I seriously don’t think I have even made a paper LO since.

12. What was your 1st LO about?  I don’t remember my very first page but I know one of my first ones was for a template challenge here at SM by Britt.  The LO was about my youngest son’s birth.  That was my first visit to SM!

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)?  I also love to read, play the piano, take pictures, and watch TV (if that’s even considered a hobby!)

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you?  Definitely deciding which pictures to scrap.  I have sooooooo many pictures that it gets really overwhelming when I’m looking for one to scrap with.

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking?  Well, my husband would probably want me to say that I’d love to learn how to be a better cook, but honestly I HATE cooking and don’t want to take the time to do it that would make me better at it!  LOL  I’d really love to take some singing lessons.  I love to sing and would really like to learn to do it well.

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows?  Uh-oh. . . this could be a really long list!!!  I’m definitely more of a TV person and my favorites are LOST, Heroes, ER, The Amazing Race, 24, CSI, House, Fringe, Survivor. . . and the list could go on and on.  I’ll watch just about anything except sports.

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where?  I’m almost always sitting on the couch with my laptop and the TV on.  I usually always have some chocolate stashed nearby too. 

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be?  Yikes, that’s a hard question!  Probably ribbons and buttons.

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…?  I’m pretty boring.  The only thing I can think of right now is that I really don’t like “chick-flicks.”  Give me an action movie or a drama over some sappy love story anytime.  My husband thinks it’s awesome. : )

20. When did you start designing? What is your favorite product that you’ve designed?  I started designing in May of ‘08.  One of my favorites products is {Tag – You’re It!}  It was one of my very first products and I still like (which is more than I can say for some of my other firsts!  LOL)

21. How would you describe your design style?  Hmmm, I guess I’d say that is was very realistic and pretty cutesy, very kid-friendly.  I try to design things that I would have liked to use when I was a paper-scrapper.  I like paper-pieced looking elements too so there’s usually some of those in every kit. 

22. Where do you get your inspiration/motivation?  I get lots of inspiration from magazines and ads and kids’ clothing.  Who knew laundry could be so inspirational?

23. Which of your kits showcases you style the most?  I think {Benjamin} is definitely the most “me” kit.  I just love the colors of that kit.

24. What is your favorite color scheme to design with?  I don’t know that I have one color scheme that I could call a favorite.  I like a lot of different colors.  Something I would really like to try is a monochromatic color scheme.  I haven’t done one of those yet, but it’s definitely on my to-do list.

25. Favorite kit you’ve designed?  My latest kit is almost always my favorite, so {Always Kiss Me Goodnight}!

 Thanks Jeni for letting us get to know you a little better. We sure loving having you here at SM and we love your kits. Visti Jeni’s store and her gallery.