Ztampfilicious

To our newest Z!Girl, Carin Van Kuijk from the Netherlands! I’m sure most of you have known her as CarinPixel in forums and galleries as she an active scrappers who always ready to comment and help others.

I would like you all to get to know her. She is one of my long time customers – a very good one too! And she scraps delightful and eclectic pages that I’m sure you would find inspiring. She has been a Z!Guest too when we used to have the spot regularly. I am so happy that she’s joining us here at Ztampfilicious Team! You can take a peek at her new Z!Gallery here, and also here at her oldie but goodie Z!Guest Album. And now… let’s start interviewing her so we’ll get to know her even better!

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself!
Carin: I’m a 36 years old chocolate-holic mom, I’ve got 3 official teens in the house now, Jeroen my oldest is a musician in the making, Esmee my beloved DD is 14 and she’s the artist in the family, and Aranka just turned 10 last week and she’s the little house dragon. Every bad habbit of the oldest 2 are combined in her. When I was younger I loved to draw, make little fantasy dragons and such with Clay, making fantasy books with modgepodge, clay, paint and everything else I could get my hands on. After Aranka was born I struggled with my colons a lot, some hospital errors later they removed my gall bladder, but sadly it didn’t do much good. Until this day I struggle with colon problems and some days are better then others and that keeps me bound at home a lot of times.

Q: What is your mostest favorite thing to do?
Carin: Spending time with my children, my family, my husband and discovering the world little by little. When I was growing up, we didn’t go on vacations outside the Netherlands. The first time I ever set step outside our own country was with my husband. I remember spending a lot of time in the car to go to Spain, and usually I sleep inside the car. This time I didn’t sleep for a minute, the big sunflower fields, the castles, the amazing huge parking areas along the roads, the views and wow the mountains between France and Spain. I knew that minute I wanted to see the entire world!

Q: Any favorite food/drinks you can’t live without?
Carin: A yellow bag of M&M’s is a standard in my shopping cart, I can not go without them, need them, want them, crave them always. Next to that I can not go without a large latte machiatto at my favorite coffee shop Merz, I think I’m there at least 4 times a week!

Q: How about music/songs or books – what are you into these days?
Carin: Make a guess…okay that’s not fair, actually I’m a metal chick….I love Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N roses, well not the new trashed metal like slipknot that’s too much for me I like them singing not grunting. I also love a little gothic like within temptation. As far as reading goes, my collection contains nothing but fantasy, Christopher Paolini, omg did he really write Eragon on such a young age? He can become HUGE! R Feist, Bernard Hennen, and offcourse Tolkien, oh those hobbitses and those hairy feet.

Q: What is your favorite subject to scrap about?
Carin: Well if you look at my gallery it says my own children and that is almost correct, however I love to scrap daily live, vacations and my project 365.
And uhm I have a secret never shown stash of… ‘toiletscrap’. I can see your wondering ‘toiletscraps’? well I allready said I have colon problems, and it basicly means whenever I have to go, I NEED to go and that brings me in quite a few toilets. Some are amazingly decorated others are very, very, very dirty. I remember an iron toilet in Barcelona and in Rome we had a kind of shuffling system that was very YUCKY. In Egypt at the Piramides I really needed to go and got a bucket of water with me to wash and flush. That toilet received a -10. I take pictures of those toilets and collect them and scrap about the toilets and give them a rate, 1 being bad, 10 being excellent. LOL.

Q: How did you first find out about digital scrapbooking? Did you paper-scrapbook before?
Carin: Well I think it was old style scrapping I did, saving receipts, tickets, brochures of places we visited and glued them in albums together with photos I cropped and chopped and torn apart. In 2006 somebody introduced me to digital scrapbooking and well that got me hooked!.

Q: What do you love most about digital scrapbooking?
Carin: Well it keeps my room tidy, no mess after scrapping AND there’s an undo button! Besides that when your done with a page and get it printed, inside an album or lose pages or whatever, you have a great memory to share and show others.

Q: Why do you want to be in a creative team? What do you love most about it? Any tips for being a good CTM?
Carin: Well off course if you’re on a creative team it saves you some money. But that is not my main reason; there are designers out there that I really love and adore, I love quality and uniqueness in a kit and I am truly fed up with all the CU items sold everywhere because it gives a lot of kits the same look. Since I do foremost make pages to record memories for my family and future ancestors, I only want to CT for a designer if I know the designs will fit my own needs as well. I think as a CTM your love for the designs itself is enough to make great pages for designers. And next to that I off course play the praise, take a look at ISO threads and enable when fitting. I know as a former Z!Guest that Ztampf! designs are 1 of a kind for sure, and I actually bought quite a lot and well being a Z!Girl has always been 1 of my ‘goals’. So now I can get that out of my 1001 things to do in my lifetime!

Q: How do you manage your time between being your own person, a mother, a wife, a scrapper and a Z!Girl – among tons of other things?
Carin: What other things? Do you really mean to tell me there’s more besides scrapping and family? Kidding off course, well I’m fortunate to still be able to be a SAHM and do volunteers work. I just make time to scrap in the morning hours when everyone is off to school and work. And in the evening, because basically TV only shows stupid stuff. I scrap at least 1 page per day, it is my therapy, my fix, my need. It keeps me a happy mom and wife, and my kids and DH all love a happy me.

Q: How/when did you first find out about Ztampf! – if you remember it? What first attracted you to Ztampf!?
Carin: November 2006 I started scrapping and my first home was SBB, I remember Fhung was selling there as well and I joined in a party chat and won a coupon for Ztampf!. I was in love right away – the rich colors, the unique elements and wonderful fasteners, it all just fitted my style right away!

Q: How/where did you learn digital scrapbooking? Best way/place to hone in your digi-skills?
Carin: Well it was at SBB where I started and learned to create pages, I love the tutorials they have there. I involved in challenges colors and templates, and to me that is a great way of exploring ideas, giving you other options to do things and so on.

Q: What program do you use to scrap with? Is there any certain scrapping tools that you found yourself using again and again?
Carin: I scrap in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and that it is.

Q: What is your ideal scrapping time/space would be? Any certain gadgets/programs you are coveting right now?
Carin: Hmmm the ideal space would be a room where no sound from outside could get in, no screaming kids, no TV noise, yeah that would be scrapheaven. And off course a nice printer that could do canvas and large paper sizes. And I really need to sort my photos, my EHD crashed and I have recovered almost all photos, but they are all renamed in lost file with loads of numbers. Sadly I lost most scrapping supplies. Also if a faerie could magically sort my photos again that would be amazing!

Q: What is the single most useful scrapping technique you found so far?
Carin: Extracting, blending and playing with layers, I love that!

Q: What do you love most about Ztampf! products?
Carin: Well I stated earlier that I love quality and uniqueness, and that counts for everything Ztampf! And off course I do have favorites. The sparkle spray overlays are so versatile and pretty.
I think I used them for over a year on almost every layout. And off course, what’s a page without a good stitched photo, and these truly are the best I ever found! And these wandering soul pendants and pins, I just adore them I would really love such a pendant in real live, they look so pretty.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Carin – isn’t she fun! I’m also so looking forward to see more her ztampfilicious layouts!

Did you notice?

There is a new Z!Girl in our mist!
I would like you all to get to know her. She is one of my long time customers – a very good one too! And she scraps gorgeous pages that I have always loved. I am so glad that she’s joining us here at Ztampfilicious Team!

Her name is Carolyn Stewart and you might know her as Amson in forums and galleries. You can take a peek at her new Z!Gallery here. And now… let’s start interviewing her!

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself!
Amson: I am a Mother of 2 wonderful teenage girls and 2 dogs. We love travelling and seeing the world and feel we are more a part of the world than one specific country.

Q: What is your mostest favorite thing to do?
Amson: Standing behind my camera. I love the feel of capturing a framed scene of a bigger picture and I love that photos can convey meaning even outside of original context.

Q: Any favorite food/drinks you can’t live without?
Amson: I love Thai food the most and could easily live without meat but not fruit or vegetables. My number one addiction is tea. This I cannot live without and anyone who tries to talk to me before my cup of tea in the morning is warned. Beware!

Q: How about music/songs or books – what are you into these days?
Amson: I have always loved music and especially classical music. I could not believe in a day without music. Bach is my passion and always will be. Books are also an addiction and mostly non fiction. I love biographies and world histories. So much to learn.

Q: What is your favorite subject to scrap about?
Amson: My daughters number 1 but also places that I have travelled to. Sometimes just scrapping a photo brings back so many memories.

Q: How did you first find out about digital scrapbooking? Did you paper-scrapbook before?
Amson: I have never paper scrapped and found digital scrapbooking when looking online for ways to adjust photos. I started with tutorials and remember staying up late one night on one of my first layouts. I was so excited that I could barely wait until morning to show my daughter a photo of her scrapped with a kit from Ztampf! that I still use: Sweet be Mine. She loved it and although I look back and it is basic, I still love the layout.

Q: What do you love most about digital scrapbooking?
Amson: I can totally lose myself when scrapping a layout. To be able to relax at the end of a stressful day and relax while creating is just perfect.

Q: Why do you want to be in a creative team? What do you love most about it? Any tips for being a good CTM?
Amson: I only want to be on a team where I truly love the products and want to support the creator. You need time so don’t underestimate the commitment. But above all enjoy yourself.

Q: How do you manage your time between being your own person, a mother, a wife, a scrapper and a Z!Girl – among tons of other things?
Amson: I’d love to say that I was totally organised but this is not true. I go for a month or so organised then there is a problem at home and life slips back to survival mode with me up to my head in issues. This is part of the difficulty in being a single mother as you are effectively both the father and mother which is more than a full time job in itself. Scrapping is however my salvation as it is an outlet for creativity and often sanity.

Q: How/when did you first find out about Ztampf! – if you remember it? What first attracted you to Ztampf!?
Amson: I can’t remember when I first heard of Ztampf! but it was right at the start of my scrapbooking. I love that the designs flowed from art and were of such high quality. Kits that I purchased a couple of years ago are still used. They are timeless, versatile and can be used for many styles of design. They are not tied to “trends” of the moment.

Q: How/where did you learn digital scrapbooking? Best way/place to hone in your digi-skills?
Amson: The first task after learning the basics of how to “create a layout” is to learn your scrapbooking program, whatever that may be. You don’t need the best program to create the best layout. There are many sites (some non-scrapbooking) offering instructions. Read all you can, take classes and study the layouts that you like.

Q: What program do you use to scrap with? Is there any certain scrapping tools that you found yourself using again and again?
Amson: I use PSP and have used this program for photo editing for many years. My favourite action would definitely be changing blend modes of photos to create effects and blend photos into papers. I have a few plugins that I use frequently such as Topaz Adjust which allows me to become more creative with my photos.

Q: What is your ideal scrapping time/space would be? Any certain gadgets/programs you are coveting right now?
Amson: I am lucky to have a separate study with desktop computer. (I need my widescreen) It is here that I unwind at the end of a day. I’d love to move to an Apple one day and of course Photoshop but would have to win a lottery first.

Q: What is the single most useful scrapping technique you found so far?
Amson: For me scrapping is to preserve memories foremost. Remember to date every page and include journalling. When someone looks at your pages in 20 years, they will not know which layouts received more comments or standout mentions. What they want to see is the story. This is why I am moving towards creating 2 page layouts where there is more room for journalling and photos. Also I don’t feel that you need to add journalling on the layout for upload. I often add journalling on a separate layer that is not visible to the public; just in my printed version.

Q: What do you love most about Ztampf! products?
Amson: I love Ztampf! products, especially the page borders. There are page borders of every description – painted, grungy, metallic, paper, leather etc. Most pages I complete will use one Ztampf! border. My favourite would have to be the most recent from the Adventouriste Collection. I know I will be using these many times.

I also have my favourites from many collections: All the ARTiStitches line (most of my layouts have stitching somewhere), Silky Blooms accent pack (flowers you will use again and again), Paint splats from Soaring Series, Papers from AbstractionNation and Circusoiree Kits and all the metal/mesh bits and pieces that I totally love from Robokit, Structure Kit and its Add-On Pack and Meshed Up Accents (all perfect for teens!). No one does metal better than Ztampf!.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Carolyn – I know I am!
I’m also so looking forward to see more her ztampfilicious layouts!

It’s been quite a while since we featured the talented Z!Girls. Now is the time to re-introduce you all to the 2nd generation of Z!Girls! There are two fabulous girls now – with a third one coming very soon. Let’s have a chat with Tracy and Lynn – both are avid scrappers with great personality; they are always helpful and friendly. Those who frequent digiscrap forums would agree with me :). Their works continue to delight me, their creative and imaginative ways in using Ztampf! stuff are truly inspiring. I am very grateful to have them with Ztampf! Tracy has been with the team since June 2008, while Lynn joined us in October 2009.

Tracy

Lynn

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself!
Tracy: I am Tracy, married to Walter and together we have 5 children – Michael, Daniel, Joshua, Christopher and Alexandria. We live in New Zealand.
Lynn: I have lived in Ohio all of my life. I worked full-time as an administrative assistant for 15 years while earning a Bachelors degree in Management, but I am now a SAHM to two wonderful girls and really love being married to my DH.

Q: What is your mostest favorite thing to do?
Tracy: I love those “Last Minute” decisions – Decisions where we end up having the times of our lives together as a family, doing something completely unplanned – which we do often!
Lynn: My favorite thing to do is have fun with my family. We like to go to fairs, amusement parks, water parks, and city festivals. We took our first family vacation to Disney World, and we all really enjoyed the trip.

Q: Any favorite food/drinks you can’t live without?
Tracy: On a daily basis, I drink Twinings Lemon Scented Tea. In the summer I love an Ice Cold Bundaberg Ginger Beer, or a Fresh Banana Smoothie. In the winter Hot Chocolates all the way :) I am passionate about my food, I have loads of favourites including a good home cooked basic no frills meal, but then I adore Japanese food, and cook a lot of Fijian Dishes as my husband is Fijian. I bake on a regular basis and share my recipes on my blog.
Lynn: I drink Pepsi everyday. I love the sugar and need the caffeine because I’ve never drank coffee.

Q: How about music/songs or books – what are you into these days?
Tracy: I have a wide and varied taste in music – at the moment I am loving Lady Antebellum.
Lynn: I love almost all kinds of music; however, my favorite is heavy metal. The first album that I enjoyed playing on the record player (Anyone remember those things?) when I was five years old was Black Sabbath which belonged to my brother. As far as books go, I grew up reading horror novels from authors like Dean R. Koontz and John Saul, but now I like a good suspense thriller.

Q: What is your favorite subject to scrap about?
Tracy: My children are the reason I scrap so therefore my favourite subjects.
Lynn: My favorite subjects to scrap are my daughters. Along with my husband, they are the loves of my life. I also really like to do heritage pages. I love the old look and warm colors.

Tracy

Lynn

Q: How did you first find out about digital scrapbooking? Did you paper-scrapbook before?
Tracy: I was first introduced to Doin It Digi in 2006 when a member on a “Mummy Forum” I belonged to who was a Digital Scrapkit Designer tried to get members involved in Digital Art, anyhow it was short lived but I liked what I saw so googled “Digital Scrapbooking” and found DST. I have never paper scrapped although now I am finding myself more and more drawn to Hybrid projects.
Lynn :I’ve never been a paper scrapper. I discovered digital scrapbooking while searching the internet to add to my collection of frames and tubes for Paint Shop Pro. I’ve loved it ever since.

Q: What do you love most about digital scrapbooking?
Tracy: No Mess!
Lynn: What I love most about digital scrapbooking is the undo button. It’s great being able to change things over and over again, and if a layout just isn’t working out, I can discard it or never print it without wasting supplies or money.

Q: Why do you want to be in a creative team? What do you love most about it? Any tips for being a good CTM?
Tracy: I wanted to be a Z!Girl because I believed in Ztampfs’ Products, I loved there uniqueness and that they were original! I think if you believe in the Designer and her products it is easy to be passionate about them and create art with them. It also isn’t a chore to promote the products because you are truly promoting something that you adore. I have been on the Z!Girl now since June 2008 and still adore the products Fhung creates.
Lynn: Quitting my job to become a SHAM wasn’t the easiest transition. I enjoyed my job and the feeling of accomplishment. Being on a creative team helps fill the void that was left when I quit my job. I not only have projects to complete, but it also fills the social aspect that my job provided. I have made many wonderful friends through being on a creative team. A good creative member should have fun and enjoy what they are doing. Work with products that inspire you and that you truly love and would have bought anyway. Creating pages that you will cherish is a very rewarding experience.

Q: How do you manage your time between being your own person, a mother, a wife, a scrapper and a Z!Girl – among tons of other things?
Tracy: I like to think I am a super organised person, everything has its place and there is a place for everything. Time management falls into the same category. I have a diary on my desk, when a member of the family has something on – it is written in the diary, so I know what is going on and when. I am also a Go With The Flow person, if it cannot be done today do it tomorrow or the next day or the following week….
Lynn: Time management has always come easy to me. I can prioritize things and work efficiently to get things done. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have my days where I goof off a lot; however, I allow for that in my management. I usually get the things that need to be done first out of the way like cleaning, laundry, shopping, helping the kids with schoolwork, yard work, etc. With those tasks finished, I can focus on creating layouts when I have some spare time and not have unfinished chores hanging around in the back of my mind nagging me to do them.

Q: How/when did you first find out about Ztampf! – if you remember it? What first attracted you to Ztampf!?
Tracy: It would have been more than likely through DST and what has always and still attracts me to Ztampf! is the original products.
Lynn: I first discovered Ztampf! at Scrabook-Bytes back in 2006. I usually shopped in the bargain bin because I was unsure what I liked/disliked as a new scrapper. Then I saw Ztampf!‘s Quiet Joy Kit. I was drawn to the wonderful colors and just had to have it. I downloaded it and was so impressed with the quality and beautiful details. I even made stationary from one of the papers. I’ve been hooked ever since, and I am truly giddy to be a Z!Girl.

So there! I hope you enjoy getting to know Tracy and Lynn more here! Visit their Ztampfest Galleries to see more of their beautiful works. And don’t forget: Come back here on Thursday, Feb. 25th when they will talk about digi-scrapping techniques and stuff! Who knows, you might learn a useful thing or two :). Until then!