Happy National Scrapbooking Day to all you crafters, artists and mamarazzi's! Today, I'd like to share a few of my all-time favourites with you. For more ideas, visit The Inspired Scrapper, where other designers share their scrapbook stories & favourite projects in celebration of NSD!

Why do I scrapbook?
By 22 years old, all I had left of my parents was a shoe box of photos and even fewer stories. I never want that to be the case for my four children. I scrapbook to document our life together, to share stories and my experiences with them. Even if I'm not here to show/tell them in person, they'll know who I am, what was most important to me, and how much I treasured them as individuals. As parents, all we really want is to be there for our kids when they need us. Scrapbooking, for me, ensures that. Everything else...my beloved scrapbooking friends & colleagues, the supplies, teaching...is all icing on the cake!

Organizational tip.
My organizational tip is not about organizing at all, but about keeping things visible. When I buy something new, I keep it on my desk. I'm more likely to use it if I use it right away. I keep a bin of stamps (ones I've bought but haven't used yet) on my desk, along with my new patterned papers. I bought them because they spoke to me somehow, so I try to draw on that inspiration right away rather than stashing it for later?

Must have tools.
My corner rounder and sanding block. Can't scrap without them!

Favourite manufacturers.
For paper it's Crate Paper, Echo Park and Basic Grey. My favourite embellishments are by Hambly, Jenni Bowlin and Prima. My all-time fave stamps are by Purple Onion...classic images and they're easy to store (and cheap to have shipped) because they're unmounted.

Most "out-of-the-box" projects.

Baby shoes made from Grunge Board:

And this 4x4 photo sleeve project which I love because it allowed me to use bits and pieces of my favourite things in one place...like chipboard, stamps, rub-ons, flowers, lace cardstock and overlays. All the things I love to hoard!


My favourite altered item.

A large canvas celebrating my youngest daughter's first year:


Also, this 4x4 album I made using printed tissue to cover the chipboard.


My favourite layouts.
A sketch by Becky Fleck featuring photos taken by my "adopted" daughter, Gel and celebrating my oldest son, Isaiah, who I adore for being a genuine soul.

A simple layout that I adore because it took me an hour to make and features my favourite patterned papers (at the time, anyway).


My favourite card.

Heart stamps by Purple Onion:


Happy Scrapping this weekend!