My vital statistics are that I am a 40-something creative wife and mother transplanted from the Pacific Northwest to north central California. Vital statistics don't tell much about a person and that is exactly how I got into heritage scrapbooking and genealogy - trying to fill in the blanks!
Ever since I can remember, I have been engaged in a creative process. My Grandma Hopkins, whom I scrap about often, encouraged me to think outside of the box, create, explore and pursue excellence and efficiency. Well, I've achieved some of those goals and I'm still working on others!
As a young girl my Aunt Grace, who had no children of her own, "borrowed" me and we traipsed all over the Pacific Northwest. She is an accomplished oil artist and teacher, a world traveler and an excellent photographer. Never one to take no for an answer, she pushed a sketch book and pen in my hand and told me to draw. She continually taught by pointing out things in nature, like the lines, flow of movement, colors, texture, light and sketching small compositions. I started out with a small 126 camera, then a 110 and in high school graduated to 35mm. Seven years ago I began shooting digital and now use a Nikon DSLR.
My Grandma Johnson also told me a lot of family stories. Unfortunately, by the time I was really interested in family history, her early onset Alzheimer's Disease was in full force. I then turned to letter writing with her aunts and cousins and my interest grew.
All the while I was cutting up my photos, putting my art lessons to use and making scrapbook like layouts in my photos albums. During high school I was on both yearbook and newspaper staff and the principles I learned there still heavily influence my page designing.
As far as a career goes, I worked ten or more years as a pediatric medical assistant both in Washington and California, then later did medical and insurance transcription. I miss my pediatric clinic team - it was a fun and rewarding stage of my life.
Along the way I learned more about genealogy and even worked awhile as the only non-LDS volunteer at a Family History Center. I'm such a nerd, that my 30th birthday present to myself was a trip to Salt Lake City to research at the main library there. Boy was that a neat experience!
Fast forward to 1997 and the paper scrapbooking industry was at the beginning of their boom. I was asked to develop and teach heritage scrapbooking classes at a Bellingham, Washington scrapbook store and later at a Folsom, California store. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing everyone's photos and hearing their family stories while helping them preserve a bit of their past.
Being a late bloomer, my children were born in my late 30s and that is when I stopped teaching scrapbooking. I never lost interest and tried to keep abreast of all the changes in the industry. But with 3 children in 18 months (a boy and then identical twin girls), I was soon lagging behind.
Then somewhere along the way I was introduced to digital scrapbooking. I had a slow start but when I finally decided to give it a real go, I jumped in both feet first. I joined the Creative Teams at Faith Sisters and Heritage Scrap, later becoming Creative Team Leader at Heritage Scrap. As I worked with all this marvelous product I found my creative juices stirring and began my hand at designing. I still consider myself a beginner in the designing arena, but I sure have a lot of fun. I owe of gratitude to Kate McClellan at Heritage Scrap for mentoring me along this path.
So here I am a designer at Heritage Scrap and recently also at Faith Sisters! As you may have noticed, I enjoy using natural elements in most of my designs. God is the greatest Artist - it's hard to compete with Him. And in addition to being a twin mommy, I also have twin passions in scrapbooking - heritage scrapbooking and faith booking. Each has an important story to tell. I hope I can inspire and encourage you to tell your stories as well!
In addition to scrapbooking, I have many other creative outlets - knitting, spinning, photography, sewing, quilting and traditional crafts. My Hubby and I are history buffs and enjoy reading historical non-fiction and watching historical movies and documentaries together, though I must admit, I enjoy more the social history and he more the political history! We enjoy being outdoors with our children and photographing together as well as being involved in our church and Bible study. A renewed interest is vegetable gardening and I enjoy learning and experimenting with healthy cooking. I suppose there is more I could say, but if you have made it this far, you deserve a reward!
Now, I'm looking forward to getting to know you a little better! Please introduce yourself and I would love to see what you are making with my designs!
Theresa Lindamood aka ForgetMeNots
