Before & After Kiwi Lane
When did you begin Scrapbooking?
I had never heard of scrapbooking until I was pregnant with my 8th child and 42 years old. We had been living in Kentucky for almost 5 years and one day a couple of ladies brought their scrapbooks to church. I was fascinated! About a year later we moved back to Utah, and I was soon invited to join a group of ladies that scrapbooked together every month at church. I went to my first ‘crop’ and have been hooked ever since.
What got you hooked?
I loved being with a group of ladies and friends working on something with my hands that my family would enjoy and that would preserve my family’s history in pictures. It was fun! I had never considered myself very creative, but I could do this!
How did you feel about your very first Scrapbooking Layout?
After my first ‘crop’, which I only attended because I didn’t have any supplies, I was determined to make my first layout. I went home, found a picture of my little boy, and started cutting and gluing. I was so proud of that first layout! The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment I felt that day has kept me scrapbooking ever since, 20 years later.
Tell me a little about your “Before Kiwi” Scrapbooking style:
I started with 8 ½ x 11” layouts and bought a Creative Memories album. I have several of those filled with layouts. When 12×12” scrapbooking paper came out, I started using that. At first, I used mostly cardstock, but loved the patterned papers and always tried to add a piece here and there. I wanted to learn how to combine patterned papers together because I loved that look, and that’s mostly what I do today, with some cardstock thrown in here and there. I got caught up in embellishments and started collecting them. But with a large family, that became too expensive. That’s one of the reasons we began to create templates to use instead of the expensive embellishments. I still have embellishments from years ago! Paper companies that I loved included: My Mind’s Eye, Echo Park, Carta Bella, Authentique, Chatterbox, Cosmo Cricket, Rusty Pickle, October Afternoon, Sassafrass Lass, Crate Paper, BoBunny, Basic Grey….too many to list. I love paper!!
Before Kiwi Lane
Here are photographs of a few of my Layouts before we created Kiwi Lane.
How would of having the Designer Templates when you first started made scrapbooking easier for you?
I am very visual, so it was really hard for me to figure out what my layout was going to look like in my head. I couldn’t scrapbook that way. Some turned to sketching and some, like me, would sit and stare at my paper for hours…afraid to cut it in case the layout didn’t work and I lost that paper. I had several layouts that were half-done laying around. I was frustrated. Creating designer templates was the solution for me. Using templates, I could design and see the layout before I cut my paper, and I loved it! I started scrapbooking again and was able to get lots and lots of layouts added to my albums – – and I had fun doing it!
Because of Kiwi Lane
Here are photographs of a few of my Favorite Kiwi Lane Scrapbooking Layouts.
I hope that you enjoyed reading and seeing a little bit about my Scrapbooking Style and how it’s changed over the years and for the better because of our Play To Create System.
Debbie Bladh
Co-Founder
