New Contributor!!

Today is a great day, I am going to announce another new contributor!! I have known Marlene for a while now, and have always been inspired by her scrapbook pages. Marlene has a unique and fun style to each layout she creates! She has done so many great posts for IFS and I knew I just had to add her to the team. I know you she will have great ideas and tips to share for the blog so stay tuned for her posts! Let's get to know Marlene!

My home is in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan up on the Canadian border.  I am the mother of two adults.  My son is serving in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and my daughter, a recent college grad, is looking for a place to settle.  My husband retired the first of this year (2011) and I have seven months (who’s counting?) until I get to retire in May 2012.  I hope to keep up my steady pace of producing projects and think I’ll need to travel some so I have material to scrap.
I began scrapbooking about 8 years ago and my hobby has escalated into a dedicated room and a ton of supplies.  Most days I do something in my room, even it is reorganizing my stash.  I like humor in my pages,  journaling, making my own embellishments and creating  little scenes expanding from a photo.  
I chose  two favorite layouts based on those “likes”. The picture is always my starting point.   My scrapping has evolved over the years, I love trying new techniques and getting my hands dirty.  There is almost always ink on my hands, not attractive for a person my age?  Nonsense!

The first layout,  Dream,  began with all white paper.  Most of the colors were added using Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads by a direct to paper technique then spraying lightly with water to make the colors run, creating a shaded appearance.  Ironing the paper will flatten it out if the paper gets too wet in the process.  Chalk was used to shade the trees and squirrel. The shapes were cut with my Cricut Expression.

The next page, Road Trip, is also heavy on the Cricut cuts, but started with a mistake.  My on-its-death-bed photo printer made the picture look like an old postcard so I went with it.  None of my patterned paper worked with my theme so when in doubt… create your own.   A liberal dab of white acrylic paint was put on a recycled plastic lid and a string was coated white by twirling it through the paint.  Holding one end of the string firmly on the paper and the other end in your other hand, lightly and quickly touch the paper using the string to paint lines.  Continue until you’ve created the background you like then allow it to dry.  It is easy to apply more paint so doing a little at a time is a good idea the first time you try this.  Acrylic paint dries quickly so it’s not much of a wait between coats.   Allowing the paint to dry between coats also makes it easy to apply more colors.

Thanks for looking.  I have followed Ideas for Scrapbookers since the beginning and have used many techniques learned from this blog. I am very excited to be a member of the team.


Thanks Marlene for joining the team! I look forward to your great ideas!!