Happy 5th Birthday Heritage Scrap

It's hard to believe that Heritage Scrap is now 5 years old! Congratulations! I am so proud of Kate McClellan and all she has accomplished and I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes Heritage Scrap in the future.  This month the new store design is debuted and we are so happy to have a new and functional gallery! Please check them out.

5 years ago today when the store opened, I had not even begun digital scrapbooking though it was on my long list of things "to do".  Since the age of 7 I've been taking photographs. At 11 I began scrapbooking. Since the age of 14 I have been researching genealogy. Writing has long been a pleasure. I taught heritage scrapbooking classes in Bellingham, Washington and Folsom, California at two lovely stores that are sadly, no longer in existence.  It was inevitable that I would eventually scrap digitally and maybe less obvious, but also inevitable that I would want to learn how to design.

During the autumn of 2008 I started looking at digital scrapbook sites.  Naturally I did a search for heritage designs and a link for Jean Daugherty, Digizines by Teri and Lynn Griffin led me to Heritage Scrap. I was in heaven!  All those lovely designs were just what I was looking for!  Then in December 2008 I joined the Creative Team at Heritage Scrap and began working as the CT leader.  That was hard work and a lot of fun!

During long calls regarding store planning, trials and triumphs, I was delighted to become friends with Kate and she mentored me as I dipped my toes into the water of designing!  I will forever be grateful for Kate willingness to share her expertise and knowledge and take a chance with putting my first kits in the store.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Along the way, Kate moved completely across country, my family and I bought our first home, our children and grandchildren began school and we've lost a couple good friends.  We'll never forget Jean Daugherty and Anne of Annie's Digital Things.  They both lost their battles to breast cancer, but I remember them more for their amazing art, their genuine willingness to mentor me as a young designer and their great influence on our design team and on digital heritage art.

Here we are at 5.  I say "we", even though I do not own it, nor am I the brains that made it possible, but because Heritage Scrap has become a part of me.  We've gone through rough spots. We almost closed once. We've changed. We're moving forward with tenacity and hope. I look forward to seeing what the future holds at Heritage Scrap as we continue to focus on sharing the stories as well as the photos that make up our heritage and who we are.

Thank you for reading.  If you would like to visit my store for the sale, you can find it HERE.