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 Name: Bernadette Henderson
Family: Single, but happily in love with a pretty fantastic guy
How long scrapping: Close to forever. I was always a packrat--my mom would never threaten to throw away a book so I learned early on that if I put my scraps of life into a scrapbook, she wouldn't throw away my post cards, note cards and receipts.
What are you currently working on: breathing. Lots of assignments for Creating Keepsakes and just trying to get all the photos I just took on my trip to Tibet processed. For the month of May, I'll mostly be blogging about my trip and hopefully getting back into the swing of things. I was only gone for about 3 weeks, but it feels like it was forever.
How much time do you spend scrapbooking? not nearly as much as I would like. This time of year, is pretty busy for me at work, but when the summer roles around I hope to get a lot more time in again.
Where do you get your ideas/inspiration? from everywhere. I'm lucky in that with my "real job" I come into contact with a lot of brochures and marketing materials. From all of the college viewbooks and catalogs and brochures I come into contact with, I get all sorts of neat mini book, font treatment and color ideas. I have a very graphic style for my digi scrapping so just opening my eyes and looking for signs--literally--is very inspiring to me. For my paper scrapping, don't laugh, but lots of those ideas come to me in my sleep.
Favorite Tool and why? black sharpie. I know they are horrible for archival purposes, but I love my handwriting and ultra fine point sharpies keep it true to who I am. When archival matters, I switch to Staedtler Fine Liner pens, but they're not as saturated as Sharpies so...it is quite the compromise.
Favorite Technique and why? I'm really not a heavy technique scrapper. If using your own handwriting on a page is considered a "technique" I'd say that is my fave of late.
Time or Money Saving Tip Definitely time saving for me is the handwriting on layouts I keep harping on. Also saves money because you use less stickers, rub ons, etc. But beyond the handwriting, I would say that a great money saving tip is to "shop your stash". I always go out and see all sorts of neat stuff that I want to buy. I used to be in the habit of buying way too much. So now I have quite the stash to shop from. Two ways that I shop my stash are to either scrap from a jar or to create page kits. In scrapping from a jar, I'll put 3-5 items in a jar or a basket and challenge myself to complete 5 layouts with JUST the stuff in the jar--I can use whatever cardstock or adhesive from outside of the jar. In creating page kits, I will pull together enough materials to create a full page. I'll create two piles--one for me to make the page and another kit to RAK off to someone. For me, having a lot less stuff saves me time because I'm searching a lot less through my stash. Essentially, I save time and money with the kit approach.
List Scrappin’ accomplishments: Just recently, I was named to Creating Keepsakes' Hall of Fame 2007. Before that, I was a finalist last year in the Scrapworks "Life in Color" contest and I was a finalist in the KI Memories Color Theory album contest last year as well. I was a Top 20 finalist in the first Making Memories Idol Competition and I've been published in Simple Scrapbooks, Creating Keepsakes and have pubs coming in Scrapbook Trends and Legacy. Book wise, I'm in Scrap in the City and Scrabooking Styles Defined and I will also be in the Doodle Book and the KI Memories Idea Book this fall.
How does it feel to have been chosen for the CK HOF 2007? It is still so very unreal to me. I left town shortly after getting the call for a pretty long trip to Tibet. So when I got back and had all these assignments to complete I was like "wow, this is really real!" Life itself hasn't changed overnight or anything. There is certainly a lot more pressure being under the spotlight. Not just in my scrapping, but in just keeping up. If I don't show up on every message board I was on before, I feel like people think that I've gotten too "big" for them and that is not the case at all. Just between all of life and just being scared to death that I'll say "the wrong thing" (cause we all know I'm a bit outspoken) I tend to stay a bit more quiet so that I don't step on toes. All in all, most folks know I'm addicted to email and blogs so that if they want to chat with me, they know where to find me.
List Scrappin’ aspirations if any: Now that I have had some recognition and success, I think I want to actually aspire to settle down some--focus more on scrapping just for my life and the people in it. I think I came about scrapping as we know it a bit backwards--whereas most people scrap for home and THEN get involved in the contest/publication side, I was really fortunate to really first be introduced to scrapping because I was invited onto a manufacturer design team. From there, all I really knew was creating for calls and publications and the contests came from that. Now that I've done a lot of that, I think it would be cool to be able to complete projects that focus first and foremost on which person I'm going to make happy with that gift.
Advice for those who want to get published. If you want to get published there are a few things to consider. Do your homework and know what the call is asking for. Know the publication calendar--most people get their October CK in August nowadays and if you continue to work back, you'll see that calls for that issue went out months before that. If you want to be published, you need to be using relatively available products--with the fast turnaround in scrap products, it really is becoming very unrealistic for you to scrap a fall picture this October and then have it on standby until next year when they call for more fall pages. Aside from knowing your audience, make sure you don't post items you want to submit for publication to online forums. There are ways that you can post online in hidden or private albums at certain sites so that your materials are readily available to submit, but most mags are asking that you don't submit anything that has been online before. Finally, you have to be persisistent. Submit everything you create to appropriate calls. My two "major" publications were off of layouts that I thought were not their style and low and behold! A bit contrary to my advice above about not posting to online galleries and the like, I do think it is very important to have online galleries where editors can check out your style. What I tend to do is shop around a layout for about 2-3 calls and then if it doesn't get picked up, I share it online. Be selective about where you post. If you absolutely want to get picked up by CK, make sure to post to your online CK gallery--they often pick layouts up from there so if you must share online (which is a good idea) do it in the places where you will get noticed. Good luck!
Anything else you want to say to Scraps of Color readers. Stay true to who you are in your scrapping. If you are interested in getting pubbed, do it in your own voice. If you are not interested in being published, still be sure to include pieces of you--your handwriting, your pictures, your voice, in your scrapping! Bernadette
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