Fridays=Fun at the Pad!

Well let’s face it everyday at The Lilypad is fun, but Fridays are even more so with all of the yummy new releases. We’ll for sure get to those, but first I am so excited to get to shine the spotlight on another of our spectacular Pollywogs. Not only is Laura McCandless one amazing scrapper, she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting to know. I have long admired her fabulous gallery and if this is your first peek at it, prepare to ooh and ahh. Laura has such a wonderful sense of style and space. She jokes that her style is schizophrenic, that she always just goes with what she’s feeling, but I’m always amazed that anything and everything on each page looks like it was just made to be there. Regardless, what you label her style it’s rockin’! Laura was kind enough to answers some questions so we could learn more about her.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a SAHM to two girls and a dog. I’ve been married to my sweet DH for 14 years. I’m a lover of books, dogs, travel and crosswords. I have addictions to Starbucks, Grey’s Anatomy & digital scrapbooking. Blonde but definitely brainy. Mostly happy, sometimes sarcastic, always blessed.

Tell us your scrapping story..how did you get involved with digital scrapbooking and what does scrapping mean to you (why do you scrap?)?

My husband actually saw an ad for digital scrapbooking software in a magazine. He ordered it for me because I wanted to scrap but hadn’t really liked paper scrapping. Ironically, I had been a Photoshop user for years but it didn’t occur to me try scrapping with it until I started looking for digi supplies online. Once I had the “ah ha” moment that I could do it all in Photoshop, I never looked back! For me, scrapping is foremost about memory keeping for my family. It’s also a huge creative outlet! I am happy to say that I’ve made some amazing friends in this community who inspire me every single day.

Where do you find inspiration?

My girls are my biggest source of inspiration for all of my work. I also love to cruise the galleries and blogs, but I’m just as likely to get inspired by a catalog or piece of music!

You have the most fantastic scrap space! Will you share a pic of it with us?

Sure! I should probably confess it doesn’t always look this clean. In fact, usually my little 3 year old helper and I make quite a fun mess in there when we are creating.

Who was your first TLP designer crush?

My first crush in all of digiland was Karah Fredricks. Her designs were some of the first I bought in early 2007. I joined her team in June of 2007 and I’m still on it, so I guess it was more than just a crush! I still love her designs and now she’s also a great friend of mine as well.

What TLP products are your “must haves”? You know, the kind you fell in love with at first sight or the ones you keep coming back to again and again?

Karah’s Outer Limits borders…I could use them on every page. Kate’s Heavy Duty Staples and Hand Sewn Stitches. Lili’s alphas. I could go on and on. I have favs that I reuse from every single TLP designer, which is why I feel so blessed to be on the CT!

Show us your favorite page (from you) and tell us why it’s a favorite.

My favorite recent page is “so” because it captures SO many of the things I love in a bright and happy way.

What other non-scrapping related hobbies do you enjoy?

I’m an avid gardener. My whole family does it together. We’ve spent the last 2 years making a big butterfly garden and we’re so excited to see it blooming now! I love to travel. I adore reading and usually plow through 4 or 5 books a week. I also enjoy photography, though I still have loads to learn, and decorating my house.

I had to share my fave page of Laura’s. I’m so envious of her use of patterned paper here.