NAME: Lisa Tutman-Oglesby
FAMILY? Married 11 years with two children ages 8 and 6
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCRAPBOOKING? I've been scrapbooking off and on for about 8 years. I stopped for a few years to work on quilting and other hobbies. Then picked scrapbooking up a few years ago with renewed energy. Sometimes I have to take a break from a hobby for a little while in order to get back into it.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? Mostly Memory Makers assignments and various other magazine calls
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU SPEND SCRAPBOOKING? On average about 4-6 hours a week. Sometimes a little more if I'm really lucky
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION/IDEAS My inspiration basically comes from the pictures I work with. I choose the paper and embellishments to match whatever colors are in the picture. I also see potential scrapbook layout designs in just about everything, including billboards, road signs and magazines. Once you become a die-hard scrapper there's inspiration in just about everything.
FAVORITE TOOL? My sewing machine is one of my favorite tools. I include sewing machine stitching on just about every layout. Somehow my layouts just don't seem complete if there's not some sort of machine stitching on them.
FAVORITE TECHNIQUE? Edging with rubber stamp ink and chalks. I love the vintage/aged look it gives a page. I use some kind of ink edging on just about every layout.
WHAT'S THE BEST PART OF BEING A MEMORY MAKERS MASTER? The MMM spot is only a few months old for me but so far the best part has been the chance to work with MM editors and have my work regularly requested for publication. WOW, that's just so cool to me. My fellow Masters are great too. The ten of us all keep in touch with our own little message board and are really supportive of each other and that's been fun too. It's also a good opportunity to really try to stretch my abilities, think outside the box to try and deliver a great product that the editors and readers can be proud of. I think the other neat thing about winning a contest like this is that it represents to me the idea that you should never give up. I entered all the major magazine contests for years and submitted layouts for publication for years without anything getting picked up. I never really felt rejected I just kept plugging away and working on the craft. And that's what I still do today. I keep plugging away and try to improve my work wherever and whenever I can. http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/
OTHER SCRAPBOOKING ACHIEVEMENTS? Memory Makers Masters is the first contest win for me and believe me, I've entered them all multiple times. So far, I've had layouts picked up by the following magazines: Memory Makers, Creating Keepsakes, Legacy, Blue Print Media, and Somerset Studio-Weddings 3 which will feature an article and altered wedding project for February 2007 release.
ADVISE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BE PUBLISHED? I think the best advice I could give to those who want to be published is to submit-submit-submit. There's no way you're going to get published if you don't submit your work. I also think the more you submit the more you increase your odds of getting picked up. For a long time I never realized that magazines have specific layout themes they're looking for at different times of the year. The lead time on magazines can be 3-5 months sometimes. For example some magazines may be looking for Christmas layouts to be submitted as early as August or September. If you submit a theme that fits a "call" you improve your chances at getting picked up. The following is a pub-blog that regularly lists what the magazines are looking for and when. It also lists contests and deadlines, and information about design team calls. It's a great resource. http://www.pubcalls.blogspot.com/
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE SCRAPBOOKING GOALS? In terms of goals I really hope to just improve my work and see how far it gets me. I'd love to try my hand at digital scrapbooking too. Right now it seems so intimidating but I've made that one of my New Year's resolutions so I have another month to work up the courage to tackle digital.
WHERE CAN WE SEE YOUR WORK? All of the Memory Makers Masters have been asked to keep a regular blog on the Memory Makers Magazine website. If you're interested you can find mine at the following address. www.memorymakersmagazine.com/lisatutmanoglesby/
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS? Tiare, I'm really honored that you asked me to participate in this. I love that there are groups like Scraps of Color which help spread the word that African Americans are also interested in this wonderful scrapbooking hobby. I think a lot of people don't realize that there is so much diversity in this craft because African Americans and other minorities aren't heavily represented in many of the major scrapbooking magazines. Maybe that's changing and I love being part of that changing landscape. I really look forward to seeing much more of "our" work represented in the magazines and publications out there. And if I represent to anyone that it can be done, then that makes me feel just great.
Celebrate-(MMM Entry) Memory Makers Magazine January 2007 
Tap Shoes-Memory Makers Magazine Simple and Savvy Winter 2006 
Beautiful-Memory Makers Magazine Winter 2006  | 
