Talk-To-Me Tuesday

Welcome to the first installment of Talk-To-Me Tuesday (written very late on Monday evening before hitting the hay and praying that our son sleeps through the night. He's cutting a molar...so...all of my fingers and toes are crossed!)

What is Talk-To-Me Tuesday? Well, it's your chance to ask me a question about...really...anything. Crafts, techniques, art princples....baby food, baking, Mama techniques. Anything.

The first question that I've received when I put out the call for topics was

How did you get started in working with paper?

I found this question really difficult to answer, actually!

It all began when I became friends with Diane. She is a lovely woman; strong, independent, insanely crafty, and down right adorable. She is also a consultant for Close To My Heart, a brilliant scrapbooking and paper craft company.

I was wanting to get crafty and make some photo memory boxes for my mom and my husband's mom, filled with photographs of our son during his fist 6 months, that we'd give them at Christmas. CTMH had great magnetic closure photo boxes, a huge selection of coordinated papers, and their idea book was fantastic to let my mind wander.

I quickly became obsessed with paper, and my favourite is textures paper. I learned to emboss paper with a press back in highschool (we'll not talk about when that was) and have always loved the way paper feels to work with. There's something about the act of scoring, cutting, folding, punching...working with paper that sets my mind at ease.

I'm pretty systemic when I work with paper. I have a routine for everything, and an assembly line once all of my elements are cut, shaped, inked and about to be put together. Seeing it all come together, one piece at a time, is something that I find hugely gratifying, and knowing that my customers appreciate each and every cut, fold, bend and score makes it all worth while.

Have a question or topic that you'd like me to Talk-To-You about next Tuesday? Let me know by posting a comment below, writing on the Facebook wall, sending me a note on Twitter or emailing me at shannon@sweetstellas.com