MellowButterfly Team Blog

Cheryl’s Blog: Cheryl is a Domestic Goddess
Cheryl’s MellowButterfly Gallery: gonewiththewind

I’d ask you the story behind your username, but I think it is pretty obvious lol - so why are you such a big Gone With the Wind fan?

The first time I saw GWTW was when it aired in 1976 on public television, and yes, I was six years old. I have very vivid memories of watching the movie with my two cousins, and then re-enacting scenes with our Barbies (and Donnie and Marie Osmond) dolls later on. My fascination just grew over time. I loved watching the mini series, North and South (Patrick Swayze in his early days) and I also love a movie called Raintree County with Elizabeth Taylor ~ both have the similar Civil War theme and for some reason, I like that. I’ve also visited the home of Margaret Mitchell and been to the museum in Atlanta. I think her personal story is an incredible one as well.

You are on a lot, I mean A LOT of creative teams. How do you find time to do all that scrapping and how do you keep yourself organized?

Yes, I am incredibly blessed to be able to create for some of the most talented designers. And I’ve made some incredible friends on the teams and at the various sites that I frequent. I use ACDSee to keep my collections organized (but right now with an influx of a lot of new collections, I’m way behind on my tagging). A kit isn’t tagged or moved into the designer’s folder until I’ve created the required layouts. With some birthday celebrations and new site launches, I’ve started keeping a hand written list of things as well. I also use my blog to label and run checks on which designers I’ve created for so I can double check to make sure I’m not missing something.

On average how much time do you spend making those gorgeous layouts?

Thirty minutes to an hour. For more complicated fantasy or storybook pages where I use extractions or a significant amount of layering, I can spend two hours on a page.

Once you’ve completed a layout, what do you do with it?

Once I’ve completed a layout, I post at a lot of online galleries. Generally, I’ll post the layout at the designer’s home site, followed by DST and MSA primarily. Most of the designer’s I create for have specific threads in forums for each team member to post their layouts and links to galleries. So I’ll get that done right away. Then I’ll post the layout on my blog and several other galleries of sites I hang out at. I’ve recently started printing my layouts, and it’s very satisfying to see the pages in my hands.

Neat or messy?

Neat!

Of all the layouts that you have created, which three are your favorites and why?

I like this page because I happened to capture this photo of a swallowtail butterfly at mom’s house. We were there celebrating my birthday, and it just felt like a gift. And then when you add Lorie Davison goodies into the mix ~ well, it’s just a favorite page.

This is one of my favorite pages because I often see my children this way ~ walking ahead/away from me. Rather than letting it make me sad all the time (and oh yes, it does!), I try to celebrate the journey, their own personal adventure that they are having. This page makes me feel excited and happy and proud of my daughter.

Oh, and this one ~ well, I just think she’s a stunning young girl, with no concept of how incredible she is, inside and out. She’s just pure and innocent and hitting that in between stage. When I look at this photo, I can still see my little girl, but I also see the expression of a young woman, too.

Other than scrapbooking, what hobbies do you enjoy?

I love to read. Love, love, love it. I keep a list of my books for the year on my blog, and try to read a book a week, but digi scrapping has thrown me off course more than once. LOL! I also love to cross stitch, but I’ve put it to the side until my son gets a little bit older.

You’ve had your layouts featured in places like the Gallery Standouts Blog and the Scrappers Choice at DigiShopTalk. Have you ever had your layouts published in print magazines?

I have never been published in print magazines. I have been published in online magazines. I still think it would be neat to hold something in my hand that had one of my creations in it. But to be honest, the online magazines seem to be in better touch with the digital scrapping community, and so to have one of my layouts featured in those magazines is a real honor and acknowledgement of my creativity. And that feels really great!

What advice do you have for a beginning scrapper?

Don’t compare yourself to other scrappers. I think it’s important to check out other layouts. One of my favorite blogs is the Gallery Standouts Blog because the layouts really inspire me. Yet there was a time when they intimidated me, actually stifled my creativity because of my perspective. I was constantly comparing, wondering if my layout was better or worse, etc. I finally decided to accept that God created me uniquely, including the way I express myself in my layout designs. It gave me such a freedom and joy to create for me, knowing that if no one else liked my pages, that was okay – because I did.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. You can use templates, scraplift, follow the tons of online tutorials available - just pick something and jump right in. The more you create, the easier it will become.

And the most important question of the day - what is your favorite color?

It used to be purple ~ ivory and a deep purple were my wedding colors. Nowadays, though, I really tend to gravitate towards greens, browns and neutrals. I love green!

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

Can’t think of anything else!

Jane’s Blog: Jane Stephens
Jane’s MellowButterfly Gallery: Jane

So is Jane your super secret scrapping online alias or is that also your given name? Or maybe I should ask, what does your family call you?

Jane is my given name. I hated my name growing up but now that I am an adult, I can appreciate it is a family name that was passed to me. As for my family, they call me the Brat or shorty.

When I look through your galleries, I notice that 99.9% of your layouts feature just one photo. Do you find that it is easier to scrap a single photo or does that just sort of happen without even trying?

I like to focus really more on one picture then a series of them. Sometimes I find that even though a picture was taken only minutes after one I have already in my layout, the feeling isn’t the same & just doesn’t work with the rest of the layout.

How much time do you spend perfecting your layouts? Do you ever use templates?

Sometimes, it all just falls together and I can be done in 40 mins. Sometimes I can work hours on a layout & end up trashing it. It’s a feeling, is it working or is it not working. I have used a template occasionally. Although the end result usually looks NOTHING like the template *lol*

Pizza or fajitas?

Fajitas only because I have had more pizza in my life then anyone should have to endure. My kids are pizza fanatics, they would eat pizza 24/7 if they could.

Were you a paper scrapper before doing digi? Have you ever tried your hand at hybrid projects?

I bought paper & some ellies eons ago but it wasn’t working for me. I have a horrible habit, if I can’t see result in a few minutes I don’t want anything to do with it. That’s the best part about digi, in only a few minutes you can see something coming together. Plus, no mess!! I do print cards, recipe cards & make t-shirts for my kids & as gifts. People love them.

What is one thing that we would be surprised to know about you?

Probably that I had my oldest son at 16 and although many people considered me selfish for keeping him & raising him at that age, I am proud to say he is now a college graduate, has a full time job in his field & just bought his first car. Oh, and he drove 1100km’s to come see me. I’d say I did a pretty good job of raising him.

Of all your layouts, which three are your favorites and why?

This isn’t a picture of one of my kids, its one the daycare boys I watch. I love it though because it’s so natural & real, just like the day I took the picture. He was exploring the trees, the dirt, checking out the bugs, literally, being a little boy.

This is one of my favs because it shows that no matter how old my 2 oldest boys get, or how long they go without seeing eachother, they are still brothers who can play together.

I love this layout, partly because Keeghan HATES it so much. Honestly, I think it shows the fun we had that day at the beach & that is what creating layouts is about, recreating a mood or feeling.

What do you do for a living - do you work outside the home?

I run a day care in my home. I am lucky. I get to be home when my kids are home. I love my job, have been lucky that I have fallen in love with the kids I watch & have friendships with the parents. I will tell you a secrect but shhh dont tell anyone, sometimes I wish I worked outside the home only because I am ALWAYS home.

If you could only choose one style of product to scrap with, which to scrap - what would you choose? (i.e. vintage, retro, funky, modern, simple, etc…..)

Funky Retro….does that count? *lol* It all depends on my mood, the kit your working with, the picture you want to create with. I have boys, who are loud, messy, crazy always on the go so that is how my layouts usually are but if I am doing a layout with my one of my nieces, totally different view, then they are dainty, pretty, less in your face.

And the most important question of the day - why don’t you have a blog?

*lol* I honestly dont think I am interesting enough to have one!! I had been thinking about starting one for a while & last week I did my first post. It only has one post at the moment but I hope to post regularly once I get a few things sorted out. Maybe today will be the day I make post #2?? Oh, lets hope it’s more by the time this hits your blog. We’ll aim for post #4

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

Besides that I’m boring? *lol* I am a very lucky person. I have a wonderful husband ( who drives me crazy at times but what husband doesn’t?) 4 healthy happy children ( who also drive me crazy at times), a job I love, & laughter every day. I get to be on the creative teams for some wonderful designers, made some friendships with-in the community & get to embarrass my child in the proses!! What more could I ask for??

Jen’s Blog: Jenepooh’s Journal
Jen’s MellowButterfly Gallery: Jenepooh

I know your given name is Jennifer - do you prefer to be called Jennifer, Jen, Jenny or something else? And I know there is a special story behind your username, Jenepooh, can you share it with us?

Jen would be perfectly fine. Sometimes Jenny works as well lol. The story behind my username is that it’s a babyname for me when of course I was little lol. My Dad used to call me that, although he doesn’t admit it nowadays. :giggle: Since I love Winnie-the-Pooh and well my name is Jennifer, he put two together and there we have it.

How long have you been a scrapper and what got you started? Do you paper scrap, digi scrap or both?

I’ve been a scrapper for believe it or not, at least 10 years, but that’s with paper and for digi scrap, since 2004/5. Just been dabbling in it a bit here and there until I met you, Michelle… Now I’m a lot more into it lol.

I know that you and your husband don’t have any children of your own yet, so who are all those cuties that you feature in your layouts?

Yes, it’s true, we have no kiddos as of yet, but we have two woofies who are our ‘kids’ and they are crazy. That’s who I use at times, too, but the cuties, Michy is referring to is our friends’ kids. There are six in all ranging from ages 12.5 going on 30 to 1 who is a charmer. 3 girls and 3 boys and they are an awesome group and we both miss them terribly now that we aren’t living with them. So, I will have to think of other pictures to use and shoot for scrapping now that I’m somewhere else.

Broccoli or cauliflower?

Both, duhh.. sometimes with cheese, too.

I know that like Ren and myself, you love to create digital artworks and are a dedicated member of the deviantArt community. Have you always been drawn to the arts and which type is your favorite to create?

Art has always been a part of my life. Since I was little I had new crayons that I loved to smell after opened right before I hunker down with my coloring book. Heck, I started using a paint program on the computers when I was 5 lol. As for what type is my favorite to use.. gosh, that’s hard because I do so much… I love doing traditional work because it relaxes me and I know I’m really good at it when I try and make an effort. I don’t really have room to do my traditional atm since we moved lol. It’s mostly packed away. How I would love to use some colors and a coloring book nowadays though… But, I think I’ll choose them all. How’s that? lol Music is also apart of me… but that’s for another time…

Of all the layouts that you have created, which are your favorites and why?

Normally I would say this is a hard one, but I don’t think it will be. The top 3 of mine that are my favorite are: Butterfly Garden, Summer Fun and Caught!… Those are my 3 so far.

Life has dealt you many hardships and yet you are one of the kindest and most positive people that I know - how do you keep such an optimistic and generous spirit?

:blush: There are times when I just want to give in and give up… but, then I have a reality check and think to myself why I’m here in the first place. Why God still has me here through everything. He is what keeps me going. Him, my family, everything and everyone that is around me, keeps me going whether they know it or not. I know I’m here for a reason and darn it, I’m going to find out lol. Some people might think that’s weird, but with what I’ve been through, to know I’m still here… makes me want to keep going. I have wonderful parents who’ve learned the hard way on a lot of things with me growing up and still learning. We’ve learned a lot together and they’ve always been there for me. I was raised well I suppose I could say. I don’t really know lol. I’m just me. Have I babbled too much?

What’s one thing that your husband does that drive you absolutely nuts?

Hmmm… have an hour? :innocent: The only thing after all these years would be picking up after himself. I think it’s part of a Husband’s Handbook where it says that they don’t HAVE to do that lol. Seriously though, he has a back injury and he does try when he remembers.. but there are times I’d wish he’s remember more. :giggle:

Other than digital art and scrapbooking, what hobbies do you enjoy?

Oh gosh, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, playing my music with one of the instruments I know how to play lol, ummmm painting, ect. I do a lot of things. Or can rather. I read, too… I love books. I’m on the computer a lot as well doing backgrounds, scrapping, talking, ect. So, I have lots to go by as far as hobbies lol.

And the most important question of the day - which do you have more of - online friends or offline friends?

Truthfully? I have come to realize awhile back that I really know who my real and true friends are and that I don’t or didn’t have as many as I thought at first. So, online friends beat out the offline friends…. by a HUGE number nowadays rofl.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Just be yourself. Be honest with yourself. Love yourself. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. If you can do all these things and then some, then you’ll go far, love. God Bless! Btw, if you all ever need to talk or whatnot, just pm me, or email me, whatever. :group hug: I love this group and I’m very glad to be apart of it. We’re going places people! Love ya! :heart: There’s always more I’d want to share, but I will if we ever do another interview… this is my first one, too btw. lol

After a bit of a break - we are back with the second installment of the Getting to Know the ‘Fly Girls Interviews!

Cindy’s Blog: MyThoughts, My Opinions, My Life
Cindy’s MellowButterfly Gallery: Scribler

What is the story behind your username?

It was nick I picked up in college from some friends in my apartment complex. It’s a play on my maiden name, which people seemed to think was hard to pronounce and spell. When I got online for the first time right after college and needed a nick, I decided to go ahead and use scribler.

Who is that handsome guy you feature in your layouts, and does your husband know about him??? In all seriousness, how did you and your husband meet?

Nah, he’s a big secret, so don’t tell him. Just kidding. :O) My sweetie and I actually met online in a chatroom for members of our faith. It wasn’t a dating chatroom. I was watching the 2000 National Conventions and discussing them with another friend in the chatroom when my now dh sent me a private message. He didn’t actually realize I was female, gender neutral nick, but was interested in discussing the conventions with me. Then he realized I was female, so double bonus. Lol We had our first official date on October 13, 2000, when he flew to Texas. We were married on August 18, 2001, so we just celebrated seven wonderful years together.

Your layouts have a traditional paper scrapping style, were you a paper scrapper before you started doing digital layouts? How long have you been digiscrapping?

I was a paper scrapper for almost 10 years before I took up digiscrapping. I’ve been digiscrapping for a little over two years now and I love it.

Cheddar or Mozzarella?

Cheddar (and it must be sharp)

What is that one thing you must have on your layouts or else it feels incomplete?

I love to include buttons on my layouts (a leftover from paper scrapping days). I also really like may layouts to have either swirls or sparklies.

On average, how much time do you spend designing a layout?

Probably, two hours. Sometimes a whole lot more. Rarely less, but two hours is probably a good estimate for most layouts.

Of all the layouts that you have created, which are your favorites and why?

This is such a hard question for me. I think because the layout I’m in love with this week may not be the layout I am in love with two months from now. However, here are a couple of my favorites.

This first one is a favorite of mine, because when I was done I felt like I had really created a great layout. And it features my sweetie, which is always a plus.

This second layout I love, because it was a lot of work for me, but I was so happy with the result. It actually turned out how I imagined it and that is so rare for me.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in digital scrapbooking?

I have two pieces of advice. First, download some freebies until you learn what you like, but don’t “pig out” on them. You’ll eventually find you have tons of freebies that don’t fit the style you develop. Two, don’t let everyone convince you that you have to have the latest version of Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro. Gimp is every bit as good as either of those programs, if not better, and the price can’t be beat (it’s free). If you find that you want to move on to PSE or PSP later, because you want to use actions, then that’s great. But don’t let anyone convince you that you have to spend a $100 to get a good scrapping program. You don’t.

Other than scrapping, what hobbies do you enjoy?

What?? I’m supposed to do something other than scrapping? LOL Actually, when I am not scrapping I love to read, watch Japanese Anime and play with my Wii.

And the most important question of the day, what color is your car?

Red, which is my favorite color. We’re not talking burgundy here, but bright red. :O0

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself?

Well, I have to take a moment to mention my babies. No, I don’t have children yet, but I have three dogs, a cat, six parrots, a lizard and a foster turtle. If my sweetie is not in my layouts, there is a good chance they are the focus. They add lots of love and happiness to my life.

This is the first in a series of interviews to help you get to know my Creative Team Members better!

Ren’s Blog: Renlish
Ren’s MellowButterfly Gallery: Renilicious

I’ve known you for several years now and met you under your username Renilicious, which I’ve always shortened and called you Ren. I still call you that to this day, even though I now know your real name is Erin. So, does anyone else call you Ren and does it bother you that I do?

EVERYBODY calls me Ren. I’ve been Ren for the past 12 years. It all started when I was in a chatroom and there were three or four Erins, including me, so we all chose different spellings of our name and I ended up with Ren. I started using Ren for everything - on blogs, in chatrooms, in my personal writing. Everyone online whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in real life has always called me Ren and I personally wouldn’t have it any other way. The name became a persona in itself at one point and has probably been the catalyst for some of my more brash and insane moments, but I’m essentially the same person. A rose by any other name, and all that. I’ll answer to both Erin and Ren, though.

How long have you been digiscrapping and how did you get hooked?

I totally and utterly blame you, Michelle. I’ve actually been a fan of scrapbooking for a couple of years, my aunts are avid scrappers themselves and they’ve got a real talent for throwing together the most gorgeous pages - something that isn’t very hard when you’ve got a young family with lots of cute kids. I think kids really lend themselves well to scrapbooking. I didn’t even know digital scrapbooking existed until I stumbled into your website again earlier this year (around April?) and saw some absolutely kick-arse graphics and your own layouts. I went and bought a kit, did a page and was immediately hooked. And then I begged for a spot on your CT. The rest is history - short as it may be.

Who are your usual victims, I mean subjects, in your layouts?

Hehe. I have one particular victim, my gorgeous nephew, Phoenix. He is the baby of my immediate family and I think he’s the most adorable creature in the world. Most of my layouts are based around him at the moment but I am expanding my range of victims to include my mum and sister and friends. I am a photographer at heart so I hope to be able to make lots and lots of scrapped memories to print up.

What kind of post processing do you do to your photos before you scrap them?

I am a great fan of Photoshop. Being a digital manipulator, I really enjoy the creative process in using Photoshop, though with my scrapbooking pictures I generally try to keep it simple and not overprocess them. Apart from a general boost to colours (or going the opposite way and desaturating them) and a mild sharpening up or throwing in an occasional texture and such, I don’t do a lot to my scrapping pictures.

So, I’ve heard much about a certain manbeast and the fact that the two of you are getting married soon. What can you tell us about the big event?

Ah, the manbeast. The love of my life and bane of my existence all rolled into one. The manbeast and I met nearly ten years ago now and we’ve been engaged since 2000. We were really just too lazy to do the whole wedding thing. Last year after going to a couple of our friends’ weddings, I decided it was about time we made it official. The manbeast agreed (he knew what was good for him) and what started of as being a casual “handful of people at a park” thing has turned out to be the “whole kit and kaboodle” wedding with a ceremony and reception. The theme is sort of a mix of medieval meets Australian bush meets Irish settlers meets backyard barbeque. My gown is a mix of gold and cream and the manbeast is wearing a pirate shirt. There may also be kilts involved if the best man has anything to do with it. It’s going to be loads of fun! I’m even doing an extreme bridal shoot (also known as “trash the dress”) a few months after the wedding so I’ll have even more crazy pictures to scrap!

Socks or no socks?

Socks. Definitely, definitely socks. I am cold-blooded.

Other than scrapbooking what hobbies do you enjoy?

I love doing photomanipulations. I can’t draw at all but I can mash photographs together and make completely new and epic scenes that represent some of the more fantastic images floating around in my head. I also make jewelery, though I’ve been buying gemstones more often than actually making anything with them lately. Need to fix that. wink. Lastly, I like to write. Whether it’s just my thoughts and feelings in my blog or something more creative, sometimes I just need to get words out onto paper or a screen. I have stacks of notebooks with ideas for stories and unfinished thoughts.

Have you ever paper scrapped or considered trying some hybrid craft projects?

I tried paper and scissors scrapping a couple of times. I attended a “Creative Memories” workshop (don’t know if you have them in the USA but they’re one of the big party-scheme scrapbooking companies here). I enjoyed it but hated the mess and hated destroying photographs and hated using up all these resources that were hugely expensive to buy in the first place. I have seriously considered doing a hybrid layout though, just as an occasional thing. My aunts have entire rooms devoted to their scrapping obsessions - I’ll leave the real stuff to them and just admire from afar.

Of all the layouts that you have created, which three are your favorites and why?

Argh… only three layouts… That’s hard.

Well, Bindi is definitely one: As annoying as she can be, she’s the most affectionate cat I’ve known since my original baby boy, Tristan, passed away a few years ago. I love the picture of her because it’s such a typically “Bindi” pose - on her back waiting for a belly scratch.

Babyface would be another: Seriously, not my best layout but my absolute favourite picture of my nephew as a little bub. Every time he pulled that face I turned to goo. I also love the elements in the Citrus Punch kit, they’re so adaptable to whatever sort of theme you want.

My Geisha is the third: Finding a real Geisha is a fluke, even though you’ll see loads of young Japanese girls running around looking like them. I was sent a message about this particular girl from a person who found my photograph, knew the young girl and was able to confirm she was indeed a Geisha. That layout, simple as it is, really came together for me and I was pleased I was able to use both my favourite photographs of her.

And the most important question of the day - when do you plan to come visit me in America?

In all seriousness, probably 2010. Hee. Got a big trip planned out.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Just a bit more about me; I was born, raised and currently live in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. I am the product of one mother and one father (both of whom I generally get along with pretty well) and am the eldest of two daughters. I have two cats who are practically my kids and they’re little freaks. Dugite is a dark tabby who vomits with monotonous regularity and Bindi is a little mental freak who steals our socks and runs up doorframes.