Saturday, September 22, 2007

Meet The Week One Judges

Hey guys! As you know, there will be a new team of judges evaluating and choosing their favorite layouts for each week of the competition and we thought it would be fun for you to get to know the incredible team who will be picking their faves this week.

Each team of judges will consist of Two Sweet Shoppe Staffers, Two Little Dreamer Staffers, One of the radio sirens from the Disc Talk Radio Team and a Special Celebrity Guest Judge. So let's get to the introductions!


This week's celebrity guest judge is none other than the fabulous Jessica Sprague. Jessica started scrapbooking in the summer of 2004, after having set out to make a "baby book" for her first child. A web designer by trade, Jessica incorporated computer techniques into her pages from the beginning, but didn't start digital scrapbooking until October of 2005. Jessica won both the Memory Makers Masters and the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame contests in 2006, and was invited to join the Creating Keepsakes team as a contributing editor in July 2006. She authored a special issue of Creating Keepsakes called "Computer Tricks for Scrapbookers", which shows scrapbookers how to incorporate computer techniques into their paper pages. She regularly contributes digital and paper layouts, digital scrapbook kits, and Photoshop tutorials to the magazine, teaches at CK live and online events, and provides a free weekly Photoshop tutorial called Photoshop Friday on her blog. She also teaches instructor-led online digital scrapbooking classes at her web site, jessicasprague.com

Mandy Koontz aka Mandy joined the Sweet Shoppe Team as a SugarBabe in 2006. Mandy's scrapbooking addiction started in 2003, shortly after her husband left for a 2 year deployment. She read about scrapbooking online and made the decision to take the plunge into the paper crafting world. It kept her mind off of missing her husband and her hands busy...she loved it! She slowly found her niche in altered arts and became a published scrapper and a design team member for Fibers by the Yard. In 2005, Mandy began dabbling in Photoshop and really enjoyed the capabilities of the program. She started out making photo bars for friends and decided she liked using the program so much that she'd read every tutorial she could. It wasn't long before she heard about digital scrapbooking and decided to give it a try, hoping maybe her love of scrapbooking would stimulate her to create again. She made her first digi layout in the summer of 2005 and was instantly and hopelessly addicted. These days you can find her behind the lens of her digital camera or in front of her computer trying to create digital memories that her family can cherish for years to come. If you missed Mandy's interview on DSTR's Inside the Scrapper's Playhouse, it's not too late, listen now.

One of the Dream Girls at Little Dreamer Designs, Stacy McFadden aka flowergirl has been scrapbooking for 10 years. In 2005 Stacy was chosen as a Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame winner and shortly after that discovered digital scrapbooking and hasnt looked back! Scrapbooking took on a whole new meaning for Stacy when her husband died a year and a half ago. She decided at that time to make each of her boys an album with all the pictures she could find of them and their dad and it has blossomed into so much more. Stacy keeps a scrapbook/journal for herself, recording her journey and allowing her to express herself creatively; she's discovered how truly important it is to document fleeting moments as well as events and casual occasions; she's also learned to hand the camera over and get into the pictures with her kids as she was sad to realize how few pictures she had of herself and her husband together! Most importantly, she's learned to try and open up her heart when she has something say. It makes her happy to be involved in a hobby that can bring so much more than she ever thought it could!

One of the sirens on the Disc Talk Radio Team, Kristin Tilley aka wyowoman is the co-host of Site Sensational which airs on the 14th of each month. Kristin is a semi-kooky, 38-ish, mom to three and wife to one. She lives on the farm that she was raised on in Wyoming and works in local government with natural resources and agriculture. She tells us that she eats chocolate chip cookies (must be homemade) for breakfast, can't survive without fraps, and loves color- vivid, wonderful colors. She has been scrapping for 3 years, digi scrapping for two. She is on several creative teams, including: Amy Martin, Amy Wolff, Gina Miller, Kimberly Giarrusso, Kim De Smet, Lauren Reid, Misty Mareda, Shawna Clingerman, The Lilypad, and Traci Murphy, as well as being a guest on Eve Recinella's team. Kristin also has fun as the Associate Editor for the DigiShopTalk Insider. If you missed Kristin's Interview on Inside the Scrapper's Playhouse, you can listen now!

Also a SugarBabe at Sweet Shoppe Designs, Dixi Goulden aka 2BG joined the team in April of 2007! Dixi is a stay at home mom to her two girls (ages 3 and 1) and wife to Mike for 4 wonderful years now. She lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. She has always been fascinated by design and all things crafty, but has never really found one thing that she was drawn too as much as digital scrapbooking. Growing up she always wished that her mother had captured everyday moments and documented them for her to read when she was older and she knew that when she had a family of her own that that was exactly what she would do for them. At first she thought that just taking pictures almost everyday was enough but soon she discovered that she needed to tell the stories behind the photos. She found digital scrapbooking through an insert in her photo editing software and being frustrated by the lack of immediacy and fed up with the constant trips to scrapbooking stores for supplies, she soon found that digi was the perfect fit for her. Digital scrapbooking is so much more than a hobby for Dixi now, it is a creative outlet, a passion, an addiction, and a stress reliever.

Our final judge for week one, is the amazing Dream Girl, Ranie O'Dell aka Juliet! Ranie lives in Oklahoma with her husband and daughter. She's a full time working mother and also owns a non-profit overseas ministry. She discovered digital scrapbooking after her daughter was born and she was searching for a special way to preserve family memories. When it comes to scrapbooking, she enjoy trying new things and getting inspiration from the world around her. She and her husband both have a passion for photography and collect antique cameras. Not only is Ranie a fabulous scrapper, she also designs amazing quickpages which are available at CatScraps for purchase.


We hope you enjoyed getting to know this week's amazing judges. Each of them has their work cut out for them as they begin looking through the stunning layouts you are creating for our first challenge. Good Luck!

Posted by Stand Up and Scrap Team at 1:03 PM

3 Comments

  1. Blogger Rachael posted at September 22, 2007 at 3:26 PM  
    Great looking group of judges! Good luck, ladies! :)
  2. Blogger Cat posted at September 24, 2007 at 3:33 AM  
    Good luck ladies, everyones layouts are awesome, I dont know how on earth you are going to do this!! :-)
  3. Blogger Megan posted at September 24, 2007 at 12:39 PM  
    What a lovely bunch of judges! :) Good luck girls! I know this is going to be a tough one!

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