About Laura:
In the late 1990's, Laura attended a crop with a friend on a whim and was instantly hooked on scrapbooking! She loves collecting the newest paper crafting supplies so much that she even had to take over her family's garage, remodeling it into her scrapbooking room. To support her habit and stay ahead in the industry, Laura has worked in a scrapbook store, taught classes, designed samples for several companies, traveled around the country for trade shows and conventions and even designed a paper series. Now she works full-time as a page designer for Hot Off The Press. Laura lives in Beaverton, Oregon with her husband, Tom and their boys, Lucas and Jake. She describes her family as her "inspiration to scrapbook," adding "I try to keep the humor and laughter of everyday in my journaling and scrapbook pages."
Q & A with Laura:
What gives you creative inspiration?
As I mentioned above, my family is my number one inspiration, not to mention cool patterns and colors in carpet, architecture, magazine ads—pretty much anything and everything around me!
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love getting to work with the very newest papers, embellishments and other paper crafting supplies. The idea that I get to play with the products before they've even been released every day new and exciting!
What excites you most about the future of the paper crafting industry?
I'm excited by the fact that so many new products and techniques are being developed all the time. Paper crafting is the one and only hobby that I've tried out and actually stuck with, and it's all because of the ever-changing spectrum of products and techniques that are available!
Laura's advice to other paper crafters:
If you're a scrapbooker, try making your own cards, too! It's so easy to make the transition because all you'll need to pick up is a pack of blank cards—you already have all the papers and embellishments in your scrapbooking supplies! Try using small scraps leftover from your scrapbook pages to create handmade cards. My tip? Make lots of birthday cards&mdashyou can never have too many spare birthday cards on hand!
Laura's top Hot Off The Press product Picks:
- Classic sarapapers™. All the lovely papers in this collection coordinate so well together and can be used for so many different occasions—with a husband and two boys, I love the versatility for masculine projects!
- Embellish-abilities™. I love the range of easy-to-use, versatile embellishments in these kits. I could use brads, buttons, ribbons and silk flowers on every project!
- Brad Buddies™. Too cute! Brad Buddies™ are so perfect for creating card focals and embellishing tags and journaling, adding dimension and texture to all my projects.
- Cardmaker's™ Earth's Palette Creative Pack & Ribbons. I can't get enough of the awesome patterns and color combinations in this collection of card making papers—all my favorites are in one book! And of course I love the matching ribbon pack because it makes it super quick and easy to embellish my handmade creations with coordinating colors.
- sarabinders™. sarabinders™ make the coolest creative weekend projects. I love using the blank binders and special inserts to create personalized address books and CD holders, journals, mini scrapbooks and so much more for my friends and family.
