Happy New Year - and watch this space!!!

Happy New Year all.  I've been missing you all, and have found life somewhat calmed down.  I'd like to re-open here to play some more with you all.

I miss posting "monday's mentions" - and letting everyone know all your triumphs!!  I miss sharing the happy news here with everyone whenever I see any of you featured somewhere.

I hope that you'll share what your children are designing with us all for our "shining stars on the seventh" feature.

Don't forget to share cool links to amazing designs, tutorials, and just good fun stuff with us for our "fave fridays" feature.

Most of all - I miss what you share about YOU.  It's nice to have prompts that inspire us to share our own stories - about our youth, our dreams, and our NOW.

I'll be looking for some design team members.  Send a link to your blog and a bit about your experience/design teams - or anything you think would be interesting to anne.pennington@xplornet.com

Anne xoxoxoxox

freaking design team!!

Here is a little more info about our each member of our awesome new design team!! I am really excited to be working with each of these ladies!!

Beverley Cunningham 

I'm Beverley Cunningham and my family is my husband Andrew, our two boys Brendan (10) and Christopher (8) and our daughter Kaitlyn (6) along with a couple of cats, a bunny and three goldfish! I discovered scrapbooking in 2006 and so wish I had discovered it sooner! I love all scrapbooking products and tend to buy them before I buy anything else for myself - give me a new craft punch before a new jacket anyday! I have been on a few design teams in the last two years. I have been published in Up 2 Scrap and Innovations magazines. Last year I have won Prima's Build-a-page competition twice as well as been a favourite a few of times so have been published on their blog and their gallery, I have also been published on the BasicGrey Gallery. I am currently on the design team and DT coordinator for Scottie Crafts a brick and mortar and online store as well as one of their Tutors. I am on the Elite team for NZ Paperchase New Zealand's only scrapping Magazine. I am also a Guest designer for Donna Salazar this year. I am very excited about joining Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge team. I am really looking forward to being on this team of lovely, talented ladies and helping other scrapbookers to learn new techniques and to have some fun along the way. You can visit me on my blog: http://bevsscrapbookingworld.blogspot.com

Sarah Groen

Hi there, I live in Auckland NZ with my hubby of 20 years (Mark) and my 6 gorgeous kids who range in age from 2 to 20. I am a stay at home mum and since I discovered scrapbooking 5 years ago I have been a hopeless addict. I am currently on the design team for two NZ scrapbook stores Scrapbook NZ, and Scottie Crafts and also for the Australian based company ‘Rasberry’ and the sketch challenge blog "Little Shop of Sketches'. I am a regular contributor to several scrapbooking magazines and love to participate in challenge blogs whenever I have time. I am very excited to be guesting for 'Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge'!

Donna O'Leary

Hello My name is Donna O'leary, I live in Dunedin, New Zealand. I have 6 wonderful children + 1, and an awesome partner who puts up with my crazy addition of all things scrappy. I work and teach at our local scrapbooking shop (Scrapbook Paradise) and yes it is my paradise. I would call my style Eclectic, depending on what the product depends what I will do. But I do love all things messy, love to ink and distress. My favourites would have to be Graphic 45, 7 gypsies and of course Tim Holtz. 

Mia Montalvan-Castrillo

Hi! I'm Mia Castrillo from the Philippines. I'm a part time free-lance writer and full time Domestic Engineer to my husband of 11 years and my four girls, ages 9 to 10 months. In between cooking, writing, tutoring, taking my girls to school and generally taking care of our household, I scrap. I scrapbook because I am a storyteller and I love telling the stories of my children. :-)

Sandi Taloumis

 Hi! My name is Sandi. I live in Massachusetts with my hubby, who is incredibly supportive of my scrapping obsession. We have three wonderful children and a dog and cat, all of which I love to scrap.

I started scrapping about about seven years ago...I have been addicted ever since! My scrapping style is colorful, artsy, simple, sometimes a deliberate messy, but over-all clean with crisp lines. It's such an honor to be a part of this DT and to be able to create along with such a sweet group of girls! Yippee!

I invite you to visit me at my blog http://Scrappingasigo.blogspot.com

Karen Wray

My name is Karen and I live in Canberra Australia, a place I love completely. I have a husband who tolerates my hobbies and doesn't look at the credit card too closely... I have 3 kids Matt (18), Meaghan (14), and Henry (8). I have been scrapping for a few years now, and have been both guest designer and permanant team members for a few challenge sites. Each challenge site seems to bring a different mix of people and I am very much looking forward to meeting new scrappers on another freaking scrap challenge (and how cool is that name?!!)

and me :)

Hmmm - well, now, what is there to say??? I freaking love to scrap, and I LOVE the friends I have made since I discovered this incredibly creative art form.  I've met many of these friends online, as fellow design team members and fellow challenge players and many in person  - and I have to say that my life is much richer for the people I have met since I acquired this passion. We share ideas and techniques, stories, and our lives.  I was a designer for Scraptivity (a Canadian company), and am currently a designer for Little Shop of Sketches and Scrapbookers Anonymous. I have 5 children, and 3 grandchildren and so have many wonderful people that I love to scrap memories of.  I work as a publisher full time, and am so very lucky to work with creative people every day. I love to travel, canoe, camp, cycle and my part-time studies.

Design Team Call

We are looking for a design team for the next 6 months.  Successful applicants will create two layouts a month, due on the 13th and 28th of the month, and post them on their blog after our reveal, providing a link back to our blog from their posting.  One monthly challenge will be a prompt, and the other will be a layout from a sketch. (Well, actually, designers are not obligated to a layout - if they prefer they may make a card or altered item (off the page item).  We ask that designers visit the blog of each person who enters our challenges and leave a comment on their challenge post, as well send an e-mail to me listing their favourite (1-3) entries for each challenge within a day of the close of the challenge. Designers might also be asked to make a comment or two once a month for a new feature we will be launching soon.

Please let me know your preferred media (card, layout, altered item), include a brief bio, tell us what you have to offer, and include a link to your blog within the body of an e-mail to:  anne.pennington@xplornet.com by the 14th of August.  I will get back to the successful applicants by the 17th and provide them with their first challenge which will be due by the 28th of August. Designers will have all your challenges well ahead of time so that they can pace themselves, or do several at a time so that they can pursue other commitments.

Only those who want to make new friends, learn from each other and have fun along the way need apply!!

The design team will be announced on the blog on the 20th of August.  The bios you provide in your application will be used for the announcement.