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When I sit down to scrap, I want to capture the essence of the pictures. I want the person who looks at my pages to get a real feel for what message I want to convey. That's why I always try to journal what I thought and felt at the time the photo was taken, so my boys will know what was going through my mind at every stage of their lives. It is important to me to make sure that I am preserving not only their pictures, but my thoughts about them as well. I also want to allow my children to see a side of me that I feel sometimes get lost in the day-to-day duties as wife, mother, and friend. I used to write a great deal before I had children, and now I find I have less time to just sit and pen my thoughts. So it is important to me that I take the time to write down my thoughts to my children in a personal way that they will appreciate later. I also love finding and creating ways to incorporate my story in to my pages, whether it is in a mini book or a cute little envelope. I love leaving messages and notes that I have written directly to my boys, which they'll find later when they are older. '

While I love using gorgeous products, my pages always revolve around my photos. I always begin my pages by first studying my photos. I draw my inspiration for color and layout by paying attention to the details of my photos. I strive to make the photos the main focus of my pages. Cool papers, nifty embellishments, fun alphabets, and interesting stamps all add to my pages, and I wouldn't want to be without them...but, most importantly, I want the story to be told when I look at the photos on my page.

I don't complete a page without incorporating some kind of ink or stamping. Being told I had to scrapbook from now on without using ink or rubber stamps would be a tragedy! Whether I am stamping right on my page or using my ink pad to distress the edges or add texture, I find I don't ever do a page without adding at least a bit of ink and stamping. My main papercrafting focus is stamping cards, but scrapbooking is what got me started in that entire arena. My newest love in the stamping/scrapping world is the Inky Antics clear polymer alphabet sets. I am much less intimidated to stamp a title directly onto my page because I can see right where I want my letters to be!

The greatest source of inspiration is other papercrafters.

I have many friends who come to me on a regular basis to ask for what they call "Keri's Creative Input." I just laugh and tell them, it is not my creativity; it is others who share their experiences and creative ideas that inspire me. I find that as with anything in life, the more you know about your subject, the more creative you can be! I always tell my friends to read everything they can get their hands on about stamping and scrapping. Be perceptive when looking at someone else's creations. Glean information and life-learning experiences from those who have done it longer than you. Apply what you can and tuck the rest away for future reference.

Always scrap the way that makes you happy. For the longest time I scrapped in chronological order, because I was told that is how it is done. It was draining. I could not keep up with my boys' scrapbooks because I felt if I skipped a photo, I would miss a moment in their lives. So I stopped scrapping....for a little while. Then one day, I just picked up a favorite photo and scrapped it. I remember looking at my husband and saying, "Now I remember how much I love scrapbooking." It was a very liberating moment for me in my scrapping journey. Your creations are an extension of you, and as such, you need to trust your instincts. As with all things in life, be yourself...be the best you know how to be. And when it is all said and done, you will know yourself and you will be content.