Hi everyone!! Welcome here at the Cosmo Cricket blog to celebrate (inter) National Scrapbooking Day with us! We have a lot of fun stuff coming up and even some chances to win a nice prize. We hope to inspire you today and that you will enjoy what we have coming up.
Today we start of with the design team answers to last week posted questions! Ready? Here we go!
Tammy Wisterman said...My question is...Where did Lindsay come from or rather how did you all meet? He is so funny, although you are all so funny and seem to get along so well. Just wondering how you all meet. :)
Julie Comstock: Hi Tammy, Eric and I hired a business consultant when we were starting Cosmo Cricket. He referred us to Lindsay. I called him up and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. It went something like, "all our money is tied up in inventory, so we can't pay you for this first quarter, but were wondering if you want to work with us." He was so crazy, he actually agreed. About 6 months into the business, we found out Lindsay's cousin is married to Eric's sister....and neither of them is even from Utah....in case you were thinking it's a Utah thing!
Gudrun: I'm so honored to be a part of the Cosmo Cricket team with such talented, wonderful people. This is a dream come true for a little Norwegian girl like me. I have never met any of the other at the team - or Lindsay, Julie or Eric - but believe me - if I get the change once I will travel around the world to meet them! :)
Rachel S. said....My question for all the design team members is: Do you ever have a hard time using the awesome Cosmo paper and embellishments or do they give you enough so that you can keep some extras in your hidden stash?? Also, for those of you that are card-makers, do you actually give away the cute cards that you make? I'm sorry to admit, that If i'm really happy with how my cards turn out, I have a hard time giving them away! :) I just like to set them out and look at them!
Wendy Sue: Hi Rachel! Cosmo Cricket is very generous - they give us plenty of product to work with...and I'm definitely not ashamed to say I have rushed to my lss to pick up more of some of my favorites. I used to hoard my favorite products,,,but now I try to use them as soon as I fall in love with them - when you love the product, you're almost guaranteed to love the project you create with it! :o)
Also, I do give away most of the cards I make - but I also sit them on my shelf to enjoy for a while before I send them away to a loved one!
Debbie: Hi Rachel S, Cosmo Cricket blesses us with plenty of wonderful products to work with! I confess that I try to keep at least an extra, untouched Mini Deck on hand so that I always have a reserve sheet of my favorite paper. I'm mostly a card maker, and I do give some cards away. Even if I don't send them personally, I keep my mother and mother-in-law supplied, and they have no inhibitions regarding sending cards. I keep some to submit to magazines and to fill sample spots at CHA as well. Hope that helps!
Gudrun: I LOVE to use my Cosmo Cricket stuff! When I get my box of new stuff from Cosmo I just NEED to create at once :) The products always spark my creativity and make me totally happy.
Amy: I have never had any reservations about using my Cosmo products. :D Cosmo Cricket is such a generous, they provide me with more product that I could ever use!
Natasja: Hi Rachel, being on the Cosmo Cricket design team is such a joy! I love working with their products. When I am creating a layout just for the fun of it I always grab from my Cosmo stash. Take my Cosmo Cricket and my room is nearly empty! They are so generous, we do not have to be afraid we run out...this life time!
Amy P said...My question: if Cosmo Cricket was to make a collection inspired by the members of it's team, what would each person's paper look like and what would it be named?
Wendy Sue: Well...of course they would name my collection "Wendy's World" and it would be full of polka dots and my happy colors (teal, red, yellow, lime green, etc.). ;)
Debbie: Hi, Amy, You remind me of my son - he loves to ask hypothetical questions! If I had paper that fit me perfectly, it would be sweet and a bit shabby and playful, all rolled together. Wait a minute - that sounds like Cosmo Cricket paper! ;-) Seriously though, sometimes I like vintage dressy (like Everafter), and sometimes I like shabby playful (like Early Bird). I;m not sure which I'd choose since I love variety. Name? I'd have to decide on the paper style first!
Gudrun: My collection will be bright and fun - just luke all the lines so far. Hopefully me line will be named HAPPY or sunshine or something like that ;) ;)
Amy: Honestly, Material Girl is as close to perfect for me as any line ever could be! The colors, patterns, and theme are so me, I'm not sure I could think of anything else that would fit me better!
Natasja: In my opinion Eric and Julie are doing the best job in designing! Sometimes seeing a new release gives me the idea it was designed just for me! And for all my moods there is a different line.
April W said...My question is actually for you. I see you do alot of sewing on your pages and it looks awesome! I've done some on a few pages but only with straight stitches. I'm nervous to try zig zag stitching only because I'm worried about it coming undone. Do you backstitch when you do your zig zag stitching? Does it hold up as well as straight stitches do? Thanks for your help! - April
Debbie: Hi, April, I'm stepping in on the sewing question since I often sew on my card fronts. I don't backstitch; I leave the tread loose on the ends, and then I pull the end that is on the back side until it pulls the little loop of thread from the front. Then when I get both ends on the back, I tie a small knot on the back or else if I am backing it with a card base, stick both ends on some adhesive - no loose ends, and no backstitching! Hope that helps.
Amy: Hi April! Yes, zigzag stitching holds up just as well with no problem! The trick to keeping your stitches from unraveling, no matter what stitch it is, is to tie tem off on the back of your LO. Just make sure you leave enough string to be able to tie a few knots so it is extra secure! (I usually do a triple knot) Here is a picture of the back of one of the LOs I did from last Saturday's post. You can see that each beginning and each end are separately tied off. Hope this has helped!
Tara said...Love the layouts...and my question for all of you: If crickets were banned from the cosmo, would any of you miss them??? ;)
Wendy Sue: miss crickets - no. miss Cosmo Cricket - absolutely!
Gudrun: Oh, for me Cosmo Cricket is like a siamese twin (don't know what you call it in English tho) No Cosmo without Cricket ;)
Natasja: Does the Netherlands go without tulips? ;)
Kelly Massman: said...If you had a twin that was reared apart from you (you were both adopted by different people) where in the world (what country/city) would you like to accidently run into your twin? And, do you think this person would love paper (and now fabric) as much as you?
Wendy Sue: Kelly, Yep - I think a love of paper and crafting and creativity in general definitely has genetic links! :o)
Gudrun: Oh, I'm SURE my twin would have the same addiction to scissors.... :) Hope I'll meet her in...Paris :) I love France and this will give me a good chance to go there more often. LOL.
Amy: Ireland, because that means I would be visiting there-which has been one of my dreams for a very long time! And I would hope that my twin loved crafts as much as I do! :D
Natasja: It would be somewhere in the USA. Have been there for the first time this year and a dying to go back! Creativity is a gene thing, so I bet my twin would love it as much as I do.
Joanna Lee said...Hi my question is, where do all you lovely ladies get the money from to buy so many supplies? I earn a decent wage but am having trouble balancing my financial commitments and spending on scrapbooking. Is there any money saving tip you can share???
Wendy Sue: Joanna, My best money saving tip, when it comes to scrapbooking, is to only buy what you love and then USE it!
Amy: I honestly try to buy only what I need and know I will use (although I splurge lot more that I should!) The thing I limit myself on most is tools (which tend to be the more expensive things anyway) -such as punches, or die-cutting machines. I don't actually own very many tools - a cropodile, sewing machine, some decorative scissors, and punches. (It is hard to resist some of the Martha Stewart punches, but I save my Michael's coupons for those!) So, with the few tools I have, I try to get the most use out of them as I can! Any other shapes that I am wanting then I hand cut myself. Another frugal thing I do to make my papers go as far as possible, is when I am overlapping papers on a LO, I cut out any paper that gets covered up so that I will be able to use as that little of paper on another project! Sounds silly I know, but most of the time those little cutouts are great for punches! It just makes me feel as though I am getting my full money's worth for my papers. :D (I hope that all made sense?! LOL!)
Natasja: When you look at my layouts you see that I use a lot of "non" scrapbooking supplies together with me pattered papers etc. Think of cardboard, old book pages etc.
ScrapMomOf2: said...My question is...If Cosmo Cricket were going to team up with another fun manufacturer (like you did with Core'dinations), to promote some new products, who would you want to team up with?
Debbie: Hi, ScrapMomOf2, Wow, that's a tough one! I lobe silk ribbon, so maybe May Arts? But I also love stamp images that I can color - hmmmm...They've already come out with buttons, another of my must-haves. I've got it! A chocolate company so I have plenty of chocolate to eat while I play with Cosmo Cricket (and then maybe Nutrisystem or Weight Watchers after that...) ;-)
Amy:I actually have no idea! I am curious myself as to what the other girls say!
Natasja: Well, since stamping isn't really me...I think a glue company would work best for me!
Summer Braxton said...What did your very first LO or card or paper craft look like? I'd love to see a picture of one of your first projects...especially if they're really bad. It would give us all some hope and encouragement to see that you all didn't start out this fabulous :)
Wendy Sue: Oh Summer, you totally owe us for this one! Here's of of my husband and myself - before we were married! Don't you love the cropped photo booth photo's, the scalloped ovals, and the sticker sneeze? But hey...don't forget to look at the scorecard to see who won! disclaimer: we spent several dates at the miniature golf course...I can't imagine why this is the only scorecard that made it's way into our scrapbook. *wink*
Debbie: Hi, Summer, I'm not sure that this was my first card, but it was in my first few, a card made with the first stamp set that I ever bought. I made about fifty of them as Christmas cards, watercoloring each one. I hadn't yet discovered the wonders of patterned paper, and I thought of patterned papers as "cheating" for a few months after seeing it, but eventually its allure tugged at my heart, and now I'm a confirmed paper lover.
Gudrun: I love this question. It was so fun to go trough some of my early layouts. My first album was made using all beautiful patterned or colored paper I collected from gift-wrapping and so on, paint and pens. Sorry I have no pictures of these...But I found the very first layout I uploaded to internet, at a Norwegian gallery/forum called papirgleder.no I actually won a contest with this LO :) Good memories :)
Amy: Is it sad that I couldn't even remember what my first one was? I had to go back to my first post on my blog to see what it was? LOL! It literally took me almost two weeks to finish because I put so much on it! It is a mess! I seriously tried to squish sooo much on there, it is insane! (and that is saying something, because using lots of products on one page is what I love to do!) When I first started I was waaay into distressing and inking so there is a lot of that on this page - not vintagy looking, just worn, but very very bright! :D I look at it and just cringe, but then think of when I was making it and think of how much my daughter will love that page as she gets older!
Natasja: Summer, thanks for asking this question! It made me go and look at my oldest album...it made me laugh out loud and not any over the memories...the layouts as well ;)
Serena: said...My question is for everyone on the team: if you were a scrapbooking tool which tool would you be and why?
Debbie: Hi, Serena, A tool? I might be a Copic marker, or else a great, precision paper cutter. Both of those tools are well-loved in my studio!
Gudrun: I would be a scissor. can't live without them LOL
Amy: I so tried to come up with something clever to this answer, but couldn't think of anything! So my boring answer instict is to choose my favorite tool, but then I am stumped! I can't decide between my sewing machine or my Martha Stewart 3-in1 butterfly punch. :P
Natasja: I think I would go for a dry adhesive roller, because they are so easy going :)
Paula G said...My question for Amy is: what is the strangest thought you've ever had while you were scrapbooking?
Amy: Too Funny! So, strange-meaning generally a strange thought or just a strange (and totally off the subject scrapbooking) thing to think of while scrapbooking? Well most of the time while I'm scrapbooking my mind is pretty engaged with just scrappin, as I don't have a whole ton of time anymore so I have to stay focused. But scrapping is also therapeutic for me so working whings out in my mind does happen often. I can recall differant thoughts ranging from things I need to add to the grocery list (or groceries that I forgot when I was just at the store) to random memories from high school (wondering what those people are doing now?), to the name of an actor in a movie I saw a week ago that Jad and I were debating about the previous evening. Totally random stuff sometimes. :P
Mel H said...My question...What would Lindsay look like if he were a Material Girl?
Gudrun: He would be awesome with a scissor in one hand and beautiful Cosmo Cricket fabric in the other... :)
Amy: I for one want to see this! Halloween maybe? We will bring this back up in October I'm sure :D
Jena Bakker said...Most people who scrapbook only like to focus on the positive stories in their life, and for the most part that is what is shared. However, I know that there are stories out there which are not so positive and reflective of happy times, but they still need to be told none the less as they are no less important. So my question is for all of you - What is the saddest story you were scrapbooked and why did you feel it was necessary to do so?
Wendy Sue: Jena, I agree with you - it's important to document the struggles and trials we all face in our lives. I have created several pages for this purpose, but because of their content, they aren't layouts I would feel comfortable sharing publicly. They are just for me and my little family. ;)
Gudrun: I am a "happy" scrapper". I do most happy layouts. And I', so blessed my life is filled with joy and happiness. But like all others I have sad days too...my husband travels alot, and it is, of course always sad to say goodbye.
Amy:I fully agree that the bad/sad needs to be told just as much as the good/happy! It is extremely therapeutic for me. It has helped me to work on so much. I don't keep a journal, so my scrapbook pages are the next best thing. The page I have here is one that took me a long time to feel I could do. It truly was a letting go process, I was inspired by Tori Amos's song Precious Things. I had something happen to me when I was a few year younger, and I was having a lot of difficulty with it. I realized one day how much of a hold on me it still had, and I dicided no more. This was the only way I could think of to release it all from me. I wasn't going to let it run me any longer, and truly getting this down, and going through the creative process of making this LO, I feel so much better about it. I also have done this a few times with Los about my mom. I realized this last year that I never really grieved when my mom died. I have been working on going trough this in my scrapbooking, and it is a wonderful way to get what you feel out.
gina f. said...What would be sure fire way to get Eric and Julie to turn Material Girl papier line into fabric?
Amy: We will all sign a petition, and when we show that there is enough of a demand for it than I know they will do it!!
Natasja: were can I sign Amy?
Karrie Adams Johansson said...Here's a question for all of you - if your scrap room were on fire (this is hypothetical - assume your family & pets are already safe) what is the one tool, layout or item you'd grab?
Wendy Sue: um, Kerrie, That's kind of like asking a mom which child she would save. Of course I would save them all...starting with my kid's baby albums. ;)
Debbie: Hi, Kerrie, is a laptop a tool? My little McBook would be right up there! If computers don't count, maybe my markers, or my camera.
Gudrun: My albums
Amy: Goodness, I can not tell how many times I have avoided these thoughts! Gah it is just so scary! I am still new enough to scrapbooking that if I had to I could carry all my albums in my arms (that tells you how many albums I have). I wouldn't even bother with any of the supplies. I would just focus on getting my LOs out, as many of them as possible!
Natasja: Yikes! I do not want to think about this....but I would go for my daughters albums first.
Charity Donaldson said... Have any of you challenged Lindsay to do a scrappy LO? If not, I think this would be PERFECT for NSD. In fact to make it harder, I think each one of you should challenge with some sort of papercrafting goodness! Tammy
Natasja: Hi, I think non of use ever challenged Lindsay...till you asked this question! I emailed him and he is going to work on a project! Now please have some patients, I hope we can show you the result next week! I for one can't wait to see this! ;)
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Wow that was quite a story!! Hope you all made it to the end of it :)
And now for the winner....o first let me tell you what the prize is!! The winner will get a craftkit of Delovely!! Delovely?! you might ask..It is the new release that will be introduced to you on Monday!
Summer Braxton you won!! Please email your info to Kristen at cosmocricket dot com and she will take care of this!
