Pages From the Heart: Meet Our Design Team!

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to one of our fantastic Design Team members - Michelle McClure! Her projects are awesome, you'll totally want to check out her blog after reading all about her!

Tell us a little something about yourself.

I use to live in Monrovia, a hop, skip and jump away from Pages from the Heart's previous location, and remember them moving in that little corner space. Now I live in Temple City but like to frequent the ol' neighborhood and am so excited to get involved with my local scrapbook store. This was one of my New Year's resolutions, so thanks for letting me actually accomplish one. Hee hee. I live with my husband and two dogs, love volleyball and skating, and never did outgrow my childhood affinity for Hello KItty. I even went to the Hello Kitty shrine in Kyoto last summer, well it doesn't worship Hello Kitty but sells amulets with her emblem on it to grant you success in business and studies.

> - What is your scrapbook style and how long have you been crafting?

I like to make fun, whimsical layouts that are on the cute side and document a point in time so I feel happy when I look through my giant puffy albums. For cards I like to experiment and try new folds, techniques and sentiments. I view it as an exercise in creativity. For altered items, I stay within conventional norms since they are mostly for gifts. I feel I've been crafting all my life and was making scrapbooks from anything and everything around me when I was a kid, like my dad's photos of factory inspections. I'd make up the dialogue and journaling to his dull factory tours in China.

> - Are you a layout person, card person, project person? All of the above?

I'll make anything as the need arises. I make layouts for myself, and card and projects for others.

> - What is on your scrapdesk right now?

I have my carousel tool kit and two 12 x 12 plastic storage cases. One houses punches, another general embellishments like ribbon, bling and threads. I have my papers and more specific embellishments packaged together in kits in plastic baggies. I grab a bag, use my basic scrapdesk items and go.

> - What is your favorite scrapping product? Which company's or lines are your favorites?

I don't know if I have a favorite, there are so many wonderful products and ever changing lines out there. I just started using the i-Rock and just received my i-Top in the mail this week. I can't wait to try it out. I like the classic look of My MInd's Eye, the cheerfulness of Echo Park, the Asian themes in My Little Shoebox and the cool new tools and delicate sheen on Imaginisce's patterned papers.

> - What can you NOT scrap without?

My Fiskars premium portable paper trimmer, Martha Stewart heavy duty scissors, Close to My Heart micro-tip scissors, Pentel EnerGel pen, foam dots and Scotch adhesive dot roller, nothing glamorous but totally essential!

> - Where do you get your inspiration?

Sometimes I get it from the DT samples on manufactorer's blogs, sometimes from an interesting ad or packaging material, and sometimes from the dark recesses of my brain.

> - What are your favorite TV shows? Favorite music?

I prefer comedy stations to music, but watch American Idol and get my music fix from there.

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes?
I have a lot of hand painted Converses like purple with a green dragon.

> - What is your favorite childhood memory?

I remember eating at a little beachside stand in Taiwan and I wanted a napkin. My dad went to the car and got me a tissue and I thought he does love me (because I wouldn't have gone back to the car). Is that a strange thought?

> - If you could throw a dinner party for 5 of your "Most Interesting" people, who would be invited?

I wouldn't mind meeting some of the cast of characters from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, like of course Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. I would want to see Mr. Wickham and Lydia post book, to see if they've changed at all or are even together. I'd want to see if Elizabeth is as post-modern as the movies depict.

> - What's 1 thing on your "Bucket List"?

When I was younger I wanted to swim with dolphins after reading A Ring of Endless Light. I did get to do that during a spring break in Cancun. Something I haven't done is traveling to Scotland and visiting a castle, like the one in Monty Python's Holy Grail. I hear you can rent coconuts when you are there. That would be a totally scrappy moment. I can see the layout already. Do you find sometimes you take photos to match a layout rather than create a layout to match your photos?

Here's some of Michelle's work - it's total eye candy!