What made this layout special to us?
We love the way Debbie used so many different files from our Christmas Bucket and even the word "Our" from the Wedding Bucket in a cohesive way to make this great layout. She used the tree, light border, presents, and poinsettias from the Christmas Bucket. We were especially excited about the cotton "snow" embellishment to the tree and Debbie's creative idea of cutting up the light border to decorate her tree!
My name is Deborah Zlab and I have been given the wonderful opportunity to join the 2008 WBW Design Team. I look forward to all the new designs that Kelly and Tiffani offer here at the Well. Their layered designs cut beautifully and often inspire me to use multiple files on my pages and cards. I started scrapbooking 4 years ago, received my cutting machine for Christmas last year, and have been having more fun than I could have ever thought possible.
My husband, Mike, is retired from the home improvement business as well as being a military veteran. In addition we have two female Labs and they have just wrapped their paws around our hearts! We live in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, in the country and among the beautiful hardwoods and pines. My family and parents are very supportive of my crafting and they are a great inspiration in my life. We love gardening, camping, arts and crafts, cooking, reading, hunting, fishing and photography.
I have taken the opportunity to change careers, from working in an office for the past 30 years and now working towards starting my own craft cutting business from home. I belong to a fun group of crafters and we meet 3 times a month, and once a year we get together for a long weekend at a retreat center and swap ideas and supplies, with very little sleep the entire weekend! I have been dubbed “Gadget Girl” or “The Cutting Lady,” because I am the only one with a cutting machine and they keep me busy cutting and designing. I teach scrapbooking, card making and also design scrapbook layout pages, cards, cutting files and make scrapbook albums for family and friends.
Which cutter do you use, how long have you had it, and tell us something that was really helpful to you in learning how to use the machine?
I have been cutting with my coveted blue Wishblade for 13 months. The best thing that helped me learn were tutorials I found online and finding the most wonderful and supportive designers. The other support group that means the most to me is my husband and my mom and step-dad. They really give me encouragement and appreciation. After all, I have to thank my family for gifting me with my Wishblade.
Describe your crafting process (for example: are you a planner? Do you create layouts or cards "off the cuff"? Do you like to create alone or with friends? With or without music? etc.)
I look at colors and the timeline in my photos. I'm blessed with living in the woods, out in the country. The myriad of color that I see every day is just awe inspiring. I like my layouts or cards with a clean look but I am challenging myself to just go with the flow. Journaling is another important element to capture what happened in that moment. I go to a yearly weekend crop and we are so busy bouncing ideas off each other and having contests to see what can be created and how much fun we can have, all the while listening to whatever music we bring.
What do you typically pack to take to a crop?
I take everything but the kitchen sink. I can't seem to leave anything behind. Once a year for a whole scrapping weekend that I attend, I take it all. For a one eight hour day crop, I try to limit myself by just taking my paper, paper trimmer and adhesives, laptop and my Wishblade.
Tell us a fun or little known fact about you. (This one doesn't have to relate to scrapbooking or cutting at all.)
Every night I disappear to my crafting area to chat online with friends while working on pages and cards. I'd be lost without my laptop and Wishblade. My husband laughingly tells everyone he rarely sees me after supper anymore. I wink and remind him that he's lucky I'm not out shopping for more supplies!
