Feature Artist - Stacy

Happy Saturday all,
Today I have the very talented Stacy Cohen as the feature artist; Stacy designs for Prima and Creating Keepsakes magazine as well as teaching some amazing classes. Here is her interview:

Who is your biggest creative inspiration? Wow, there are so many scrapbookers who inspire me creatively. Some people I admire for their beautiful details, others for their unique designs, and others for their ability to tell a story on their pages.


Why did you start creating? I started creating when my daughters were 3 and 1 years old. I wanted to preserve all those precious memories of their childhood. I’ve enjoyed crafting all my life, so combining paper art with the preservation of their memories seemed like a perfect match.

What is your favourite thing to create (and why)? I love to create scrapbook pages of my girls doing everyday things. I hope they will get as much enjoyment out of looking at these pages when they’re older as I do when I’m creating them.


Do you have a favourite song to create too? Nope! I always have the TV on while I’m crafting. Reality shows are my favorite.

Who are your favourite manufacturers? Prima is number one. I also like October Afternoon, Maya Road, Lily Bee, Melissa Frances and the now-defunct Girl’s Paperie.

You are an awesome designer, for some pretty awesome manufacturers - how do you balance that with your regular life? I have to confess that I’m not always good about maintaining a reasonable balance between my design work and my family obligations. I’m a VERY slow scrapper (it usually takes me three nights to complete one page!), so my other obligations sometimes get neglected when I have a lot of assignments due at one time. For this reason I recently stepped down from a couple of my design teams because I really want to re-focus my priorities and spend more time with my family and just relaxing. I want to keep my family priorities number one, so I plan to limit how much I take on in the future.

You have been published many times, do you have any tips for my readers? Perseverance! There was one magazine that I submitted to every month for almost a year before they finally started publishing my layouts. The more layouts that they rejected, the more determined I became to get one of my pages in that magazine. I never gave up and it finally worked! A lot of getting published is just a matter of getting your foot in the door and proving that you are easy to work with, reliable, consistent, and can meet deadlines. To get your foot in the door, try submitting for calls/categories that you think not many other people will be submitting for. If they only get a handful of layouts for one category, obviously the odds of getting a page picked are better.


What is your favourite thing about teaching scrapbooking? I love to see people get that “aha” moment when they try something new. And when teaching scrapbooking I often learn new things myself because people always come to the class with unique ideas and fun twists on things.

I’m currently teaching an online class at Miss Art's Papercrafting School. As a prize/giveaway for my guest blog post, the owner of Miss Art’s Papercrafting School has generously agreed to give away a 60-day extra credit subscription ($30 value). They will have access to the many classes currently posted (including my “Secret Garden Layout Class”).


Some more info on Miss Arts:
Have you ever wished there was a school which only taught your favorite classes, that had the best teachers and where tuition was so affordable it left you plenty to buy the most stylish school supplies? Miss Art's Papercrafting School is a virtual academy for every student who wants to learn the latest techniques from the industry's leading experts. Subscriptions to our monthly classes start at $5.00 and include live online chats and personal email responses from your favorite designers. Consisting of 2 - 12 videos with unlimited monthly access each class is the perfect blend of individualized crafting and supportive learning. You may purchase our reasonable kits to compliment your course or pull items from your own stash using our detailed supply lists. Learn why going back to school has never been more fun at Miss Art's Papercrafting School.

Wow that was an awesome interview - thanks so much Stacy; and the giveaway is fantastic. If you want to win leave a comment here; and be sure to stop by Stacy's blog and leave her some love - her work is fantastic. I will draw a winner in about a week's time.
love V xoxo