Victoria Feemster Designs

Today we have an encore spotlight on Victoria Feemster Designs. We featured a quick guest interview with her in February and guess what?  After a 2 month guest spot, Victoria decided to join the design team here at ScrapMatters! So we wanted to get to know her even more now that she has permanently joined the team.  While working on the interview Victoria and found out that we used to live very close together.  I always love seeing how small our world really is.

“Hi! I’m Victoria Feemster and I’m a 30 something photographer, digi-designing mom of 3 kiddos and wife to Brad. Sarah is almost 9, Jacob is 6 and Rebekah is 4.  I’m also a photographer and I’m in the process of starting my own photo business and I work for a photography company that specializes in school and graduation photos.  I’m currently living in Arizona. However,  I was born and raised in Southern California until 2007. I had just had my second child and basically on a whim moved to New Mexico. We stayed there for about 2 ½ years and decided to move to Arizona to be closer to family.  It’s pretty nice here when it’s not dead of summer and scorching HOT!

My love for photography began in high school. I took a few photography courses at school and then also in college. Unfortunately, to my regrets, I never finished college to get a degree. I’ve worked at various photo studios over the years and done many side jobs such as weddings, family photos, business photos, etc. Last year I really wanted to push myself into building my photography into a business when I quit my full time job. Things were slow going and my husband lost his job so I returned to my full time job in the production/printing department of a local photography company. It doesn’t leave me much time to build my business so as of right now, I’m only sparsely doing shoots. It greatly saddened me to return to my full time job.

I began designing in January 2006. Over the years, I’ve been a part of many different wonderful stores and met many awesome people. At one point, I owned a digi-scrap store for a few years. I took time away last year because I was working full time and my husband was working graveyard so it was a hard schedule to coordinate and I just didn’t have much free time. I missed designing and the digi-community while I was on hiatus and I had made the decision to return when I left my job. It wasn’t until my husband lost his job that I became serious about getting back into it. Any extra income helps!

When I decided to return to designing, I looked at store that had a community. I really think our digi-scrap community is wonderful and I think it’s great to be involved. ScrapMatters was a store that I previously wanted to join so I went on a limb and messaged Amber. I was actually rather shocked to be offered the guest spot. I’m extremely happy to be a resident designer here! I hope to get to know everyone better.

I love doing collaborations. It really helps me when I’m in a creative slump. It’s fun to work with other designers and see how they interpret the same colors/theme. I usually work with designers with a similar design style. It’s hard to mesh if your styles do not work well together.  It’s fun when we are both excited about what we are making and we are messaging each other back and forth with either ideas, previews, asking for opinions.

I’ve grown up loving to read. My father is a big time reader and we used to go to the local book exchange and he would let me get whatever books I wanted. He has always facilitated my love for reading and now does the same for my children. I got a regular Kindle about 6 months before the Fire came out and it just made reading so much easier! I didn’t have to go anywhere to get a book I wanted or wait for a bookstore to open. I just love it! When the Fire came out, my dad bought it for my birthday with one condition.  That condition was that I send him my regular Kindle. He loves it just as much! We share books since we have similar interests. I love anything by James Patterson. I recently read Divergent with the ScrapMatters Book Club and I loved it so much that I read it and Insurgent, the sequel, in about 4 days. It’s a long wait until October for the third one. Of course, I love all the Twilight Books and The Hunger Games.

My husband and I are big time TV viewers. I frequently comment how I do not understand how I can do anything else with the amount of TV shows we watch. I recently became a fan of The Walking Dead. Another favorite of mine is Sons of Anarchy. We are currently watching all of the episodes of Psych. Other favorites are White Collar, Grimm, Being Human, Warehouse 13, Burn Notice, Castle, Hawaii Five-O. I could go on and on with the amount of shows I’m watching or have watched.”

Victoria shared some of her favorites layouts that scrappers have made with her designs.

Here is an adorable layout by Mother Bear(Julie) using Victoria’s and Litabells fabulous boy kit 100% Boy.

Here is Luck by Iowan(Carol) using Victoria’s Luck.

Be sure to check out this last layout in the gallery(images are linked) to see what Victoria had to say about She Heard it All by Ozegirl using the Siblings bundle collab from Victoria and Cluster Queen. I think she really likes this layout a lot!

Victoria has created a wonderful kit to share with you during her featured designer spot. This kit is free with a $10 purchase in the ScrapMatters shop.

Here is a layout Mother Bear made with this beautiful kit.

Victoria has been busy filling her shop with all sorts of goodies since she joined the design team. She has an exclusive coupon for our blog readers.

Here are links to everything Victoria Feemster Designs!

Shop

Blog

Newsletter

Facebook

Twitter

Simply J Studio

April? Where did April come from? But here it is, ready or not! I am here to feature another one of  our ScrapMatters designers. Today you are going to get to know Jaime of Simply J Studio. Jaime is a ScrapMatters veteran who has happily combined her long years as a paper scrapper into her design work. Read and get to know Simply J Studio.

“My name is Jaime Ward. I am a former junior high math teacher turned stay-at-home-mom. I have been married for 15 years and have 5 kids ranging from 11 months to 11 years old. In addition to digital scrapbooking and designing, my hobbies include reading, photography, and spending time with my husband and kids.

I first started paper scrapbooking as a teenager many years ago. I started digital scrapbooking probably around 2007 (I don’t remember exactly), although I remember even as a paper scrapper sometimes making pages for my albums in Print Shop, so I guess that could be considered my first venture into digital and that would have been in the late 1990s! I have always worked on a PC up until a few months ago when my Dell laptop died and I switched over to Mac. I currently work on a Macbook Pro with Photoshop CS6. I also use Illustrator a lot for my hybrid templates and my digital doodles and shapes. I use a Wacom Intuos pen tablet and feel much more comfortable with that than a mouse or a trackpad. I would say my scrapbooking style is clean, simple, and more on the minimalist side of things. My design style is similar to that, although I always try to provide a variety of elements and papers that can work for many styles. I love to include handwritten words and a few doodles here and there in my kits, too.

I first started as a hybrid CT member at ScrapMatters in 2008.  Around that time I also started creating the occasional hybrid template mostly to streamline my process when I was creating hybrid projects for SM.  In 2009 I was asked if I would like to become a hybrid designer for ScrapMatters. I very excitedly said yes and opened my store around July of 2009. Since then my store has expanded to also offer digital kits and printables, and my most recent hybrid templates also include cutting files. I feel very lucky to be a part of the ScrapMatters design team. I have the opportunity to interact with and learn from a lot of kind, fabulous people at SM. I love the community at ScrapMatters… such an uplifting bunch of girls!”

Jaime has shared some of her favorite layouts and hybrid projects with us.

Cupcake flags made with Celebration and Cupcake Flag Templates v.2

2010 Moments CD/DVD Folder using Moments and CD/DVD Folder Template

3 Weeks using Contentment – Look at that face!

I’m Thankful For using Thankful

Jaime has something else to share with you this month! You can get this beautiful kit free with a $10 purchase in the ScrapMatters store, April 1-15.

Here are the details

Here is a layout using the kit by SM CT member emmyxlou

That is not all Jaime has for you. She has the exclusive coupon for our blog readers.

Here are links to where you can find Jaime and her products.

Simply J Studio ScrapMatters shop

Facebook

Blog

Newsletter

Twitter

Be sure to spend some time checking out what Jaime has to offer in her shop.

You can also spend some time getting to know Jaime at her Featured Designer Chat.

River-Rose Designs

It is time to get to know our newest designer here at ScrapMatters, River-Rose Designs. We get to hear about her family and where she comes from. She also shares the special meaning behind her design name.

My name is Bobbie Smith. I am from Missouri in a small town inside Independence. It’s actually the oldest part Independence and still in the Kansas City metro area. I was born and lived a lot of years in Missouri before moving to the Kansas side of Kansas City. In 2003 I finally got a chance to move back to Missouri where I feel I belong. I have been with my husband since 1999 and have 4 children. My one and only daughter is the oldest and is 20 years old. I then have three boys ages 18, 15 and my youngest will be 13 next month. Boy, if that don’t make a woman feel old! I have been fortunate to have been able to be home with them since my pregnancy with my youngest.

Here is a layout of my family.

We also have a dog and 2 cats in the house to keep things interesting. Since there are no toddlers, the animals have gladly taken their place and doing a great job of it! Otherwise, we live a quiet and simple life. A life I wouldn’t trade.

My life as a designer…not so quiet and simple. First I’ll tell you how my design name came to be. I really wanted something that spoke of who I am or where I come from. A lot of people mistake my name for being rose which is understandable but the truth is there is not rose in my name. The name Rose comes from my love for them. Since I was a child I wanted my own garden and now I have plenty plus one side of my yard being dedicated solely to roses. River is also not in my name at all and also means what it says, River. I live very near the Missouri River but more so, my father and my husband are fishermen. they love it. Now and then I go with, especially when they go to the river in Kansas. We have all caught some pretty big fish there and it is such a rush! So the name river really means something to me as well. And that is how my design name came to be.
I started designing in 2008, it will be 5 years next month. This design adventure has been such an exciting ride. I am a self taught Photoshop user designing and scrapping with CS5. I have had the CS6 upgrade for a few months now and have yet to update it. I’m too busy designing I guess! I also use Illustrator but mostly for making my doodles at this point. Why do I say not so quiet and simple? I love mixing and matching styles and colors to do my best to have fun and bring a unique product to the shop.”

Bobbie shared some favorite layouts using her products.

My Dream Destination by chocochoco using Wrinkles Not Ruffles

My Baby Girl by misses M by using Beyond the Stars

Hello Spring by Ellen T using Hello Spring

Take a look at this wonderful kit Bobbie made for her featured designer spot this month.

Here is a layout Julie (Mother Bear) made with the kit.

You can get this beautiful kit free with a $10 purchase in the store, March 15 through 31.

And so that you can get know more of Bobbie’s unique designs she is offering our blog readers and exclusive coupon for use in her shop here at ScrapMatters.

You can also find Bobbie here on Facebook and her blog.

Sherry Ferguson Designs

It seems a while since I have featured another member of our design team here at ScrapMatters. Today the spotlight is on Sherry Ferguson of . . . Sherry Ferguson Designs! She will tell you all about that design name too!

“Hi, my name is Sherry Ferguson and I live with my wonderful family in Texas. We recently left our home of 11 years and moved about an and hour and a half from our old town into a brand new one. We really love it here but still miss our friends and family that we don’t get to see as often. My family consists of my myself and my husband, who I met at all places, when we were both working at Wal-mart while we were in college. I had a good job at a bank before that, butf because my school schedule conflicted with my classes I had to make a change. So, thanks to the conflicting schedule, I met my husband of almost 13 years. We have two daughters who are 11 and 9. The move has been a little difficult for them but they are adjusting well. They are great girls, but with the teenage years just around the corner, I get nervous at times.  I know they are going to grow into beautiful young women but my job as a mom is just going to get a little harder for awhile

I started designing back in 2005. I had been trying to “decorate” some of my digital photos with clipart and such to make a scrapbook when a friend introduced me to the actual world of digital scrapbooking. I tried and tried to make a layout like one I had seen but had no luck. I eventually went to the bookstore and bought a book about digital scrapbooking that was actually more about designing and I became hooked. I get inspired by lots of pretty things: my girls, fabrics, inspiration boards, and more. I use PSCS, Ilustrator, and occasionally ArtRage. My style has remained pretty consistent over the years. I really love the paper look but I have been constantly learning and improving and I will admit that the kit I made for my feature here is my favorite yet. I guess my design name could have been more creative, but back in 2005, most everyone just used their real names…lol.”

Sherry chose a few of her favorite layouts using her designs.  Here is Pretty as a Picture by Tinci using Pretty as a Picture.

I just love this layout Sherry chose by Mother Bear named Reader, using Sherry’s mini kit Reading Room

Sherry made you this beautiful kit for her featured designer spot. The kit is free with a purchase of $10 in the ScrapMatters store, March 8-14.

Here are a couple of layouts from the SM creative team.

by catgoddess

and by Scrappycharmer

Sherry has another treat for you with this coupon, SMblog0313 which is good for $2.00 off a $5.00 purchase through 3/31. One use per customer.  You can find Sherry’s shop here, and here is her blog and find her on Facebook here!  Be sure to check out what she has in her shop and stop by her FB page to say hello.

Amy Stoffel

It is time for our next featured designer for February and today we get to spend some time with Amy Stoffel. I love what Amy has to say about inspiration.

“First and foremost, I am a mom and wife. I’m also an avid reader, writer, collector, cook and more! I like to keep myself busy and occupied and pretty much every nook and cranny and even under the bed is filled with projects and book and boxes full of vintage treasures.

I live in sunny Tucson Arizona with my husband Brandon and our two sons Jacob and Braden. We have two pitbulls, Rex and Motor and an occasional porch cat that we call Cat. We live on a big acre of land, that I am constantly trying to keep all the dirt outside where it belongs…yet all my “boys” seem to love to track it in daily. So I should add cleaner to my list of activities.

I got my start designing in early 2008, really just on a whim….like a “I think I might try and make something” kind of thing. That’s just kind of the way I am though, aspiring but completely at the mercy of my wild ideas. I design in Photoshop 7.0 which is practically a dinosaur these days, but every time I try a new program, I find myself coming back to PS7 like an old security blanket.

How I chose my design name is probably the most boring thing ever! It’s my name… along with it also being my forum name, sometimes I wish I had chosen something more creative. My tag line is live.capture.create, as in live your life, capture it by photographing and documenting and creating scrapbook pages to maintain the memories.

People ask designers all the time…what’s your inspiration. I find this question the hardest to answer. Because what doesn’t inspire me? My life, my emotions, music, family, colors, seasons, clothing sometimes just weird phrases or a word will pop up in my head and I design them. There is inspiration around you constantly, and it is the unique ability of a truly creative soul to turn that into something tangible. I find myself using shades of orange (my favorite color) teal and gray most often. My work has changed so much since my first kits, there is so much more consistency and reason to the things I put together now! I’m embarrassed (and flattered) when people will tell me that they have my older kits and freebies!”

I love seeing the pages that designers make with their own products and Amy shared a couple of layouts with us, pointing out that she loves to scrap with her kits. After all that was why she started designing! This first layout is made with Honey Bear.

Next is a layout Amy made with Mangiamo! Yummy!

Amy has created a wonderful kit Time Flies that is available free with a $10 purchase in the ScrapMatters store now through February 28th.

Here are some layouts the creative team have created with Time Flies.

Carpe Diem by Catgoddess

and Time Flies by Emmyxlou

Here are the details for the FWP.

Click on over to Amy’s shop to find more of  her wonderful designs! You can find her blog here and her Facebook page here.