Meet the Digital Elite Team

Carola

aka carolat

Hi there! My name is Carola, a SAHM/Graphic Designer/Scrapbooker. I only get paid in actual dollars for one of these, but the litlle boy kisses & scrapbook pages are just as awesome! I was never a paper scrapper, too much clutter and everyone that I knew was always saying that they were behind on their scrapping projects. I felt that scrapping was guilt that I didn't need. Then I discovered digital. I was always into designing things on computer for my work, and when I found an entire community of people on the internet making pages, I was hooked! I went from site to site for a while, stumbled upon NKOTB, and have been at DSP ever since.

Most of my pages are about my two boys, Ian-almost 4 and Alexander-almost 6. I just love creating beautiful pages and sending the link to family and friends. I just recently started working from home doing typesetting/Graphic Design (I took a break when the kids came along) and things are marvelous on that front, although my kids are beginning to think I am attached to my computer!

I am way more that honored to be a part of the DET here at DSP. I do remember when I was first looking at sites, the DET just knocked my socks off! I hope to inspire and help other scrappers through their "scrappers block", as the previous DET's have done for me. With the kits from our marvelous Designers, that shouldn't be a problem!

Lynnette

aka FormbyGirl

Born and raised in a small village on the North West coast of England - who would have thought that in my 50s I would be the mother of five children, the grandmother of three and living in California!

I have an amazing husband (my very own Sven!) who has managed to stay married to me for 27 years. He's gorgeous, got a great sense of humour and lets me scrap all I want without complaint - what more could I ask for? He's a genealogy expert and provides me with lots of material for my scrapping adventures.

I have five children - Chris, David, James, Karen and Steven. David has three lovely children, who have been so patient to pose for hundreds of photos for me. AND - David has a wonderful wife, who is a scrapper here at DSP. I know, I know, I am so lucky.

My mother is 79, still working and lives with me. She has been my lifelong mentor and inspiration and a living example of everything that is perfect in a mother. I also have a brother living close by who is the best friend I could ever have.

By day I work for a Mutual Fund Software Company as their Director of Sales Support and Training, which means I travel a lot for work, doing demos of our software for potential clients, or doing training for our existing clients.

By night I am scrapping, being with my family, or at Disneyland watching the most amazing Cinderella the world has ever known. I also travel quite often to visit my family in England - which gives me lots of opportunities to take photos for scrapping. These days I get to visit my DSP friends in England also.

I found DSP quite by accident and somehow ended up at the Anaheim crop in January with NO CLUE what I was getting into. I was give a wonderful welcome by the grannies in the granny thread and spent a day with Kristen who talked me into NKOTB. The rest is history.

Outside of scrapping I love to read, love music (all kinds), am interested in genealogy, love to travel, like crafts, love to create DVDs of pictures to music. If you want to know any more about me, look at my gallery - my life is a story, told in layouts.

Mars

aka MarsOlson

It is marvelous to be part of Digital Elite Team 7. I have great respect for the talent of our awesome DSP Designers so it is an honour to be promoting their work.

I live on Vancouver Island BC. I have lived on islands all my life and a couple of my children managed to be born on, or on the way from remote islands, one even on the ferry. I come from a large family and we grew up with our grandparents. I have 6 kids and 5 grandchildren so I am never short of photos to scrap. My youngest will soon be going off to college. I have been married twice for 10 years each but the longest relationship is my present one; Ken and I have been together for 14 years. He also has 5 kids and 5 grandkids. We have a wonderful Golden named Sunny and an old cat named Tugger.

Ken had an early retirement due to an accident that involved a long rehabilitation and physical therapy. I had worked as a Counselor in mental health for many years. After Ken's accident I decided I would look after him. We sold our house in the country and moved to the tiny village where he was born and his family lives. We opened a small Internet Cafe, as it was something he could manage while he was recovering and I really enjoyed running that. Recently Ken had a heart attack so we have changed to a healthier lifestyle and he is doing very well. Sunny loves the long daily walks!

I have enjoyed many hobbies and crafts over the years but digital scrapping has been the most rewarding. I found DSP 3 years ago and have been here ever since. I lurked in the granny thread when it first started and then last January when the latest 2 DGDs were born, I finally joined in. The grannies are the best for friendship and support. I run the Odds n Ends Challenge and host SNL, a DSP group that makes and shares elements. I love the DSP community and look forward to being involved in DET.

Melissa

aka missaboo

Hi, my name is Melissa. I am a stay at home mom to two beautiful children: Patrick, 11, and Chloe, 5. I have been married to Bruce, my best friend and biggest fan, for almost 11 years. He is my constant guiding light and biggest support. We met 11 years ago, while we were neighbors. He then moved away, and a year later we met back up in a grocery store! The rest is history. He took in my son to raise as his very own. My son was diagnosed with Autism in May 2000. Bruce has been there through it all: the rough and tough times, and through all the miraculous and joyful moments. Other than taking care of my family, I also work as an Independent Sales Representative for a popular cosmetics company. I also volunteer for my county's American Cancer Society Relay for Life. And now I am working to raise awareness of Autism by walking in Autism Speaks Walk for Autism. I am also active in my church, and sing with a group of 5 other women during Worship Services.

I've tried an assortment of crafts, including decorative painting, and making Christmas Trees from baby food jars. One time I made angels from plastic pop bottles and yogurt cups. They were so cute! Then I attempted paper scrapping several years ago, but I never liked the mess of paper. Plus, storing a mass of paper supplies and tools was always a problem for me. Then it all changed when I discovered DSP through a Google search in May 2006, and I have never looked back. DSP has always been like home for me, with the most caring and supportive community I have ever experienced on the internet. The members of DSP have always been willing to answer any questions I have, however endless they seem to be. And DSP has the best and highest quality kits and scrapbooking artwork of any I have seen. It's really hard to not be addicted to digital scrapbooking when you shop the DSP Store, and peruse through the galleries here!

I am thrilled and honored to be apart of the DET! I can't wait to get started with representing DSP and it's awesome, talented designers. I hope my layouts will inspire you to create, and to step outside your comfort zone.

Jill

aka Momof1Chef

Hello, my name is Jill and I have lived in rural Northern Illinois all of my life. I have been married for 26 years. We have a 22-year-old son, Jacob who is a chef at The Red Light, a Pan Asian Restaurant in downtown Chicago.

I work full time as a distribution supervisor and in my spare time I enjoy scrapbooking (first and foremost) and photography. During the summer months I enjoy flower gardening and riding motorcycle with my DH and our friends. During the long mid-western winters, I enjoy just being home and relaxing.

I dabbled with paper scrapbooking in the past but found it quite cumbersome. In September 2006 I discovered DSP, and have been hooked ever since! I have thousands of photos on my hard drive and just as many tucked away in boxes. I have also been blessed with heritage photos that my mom has passed on to me. I enjoy scrapping any and all types of photos - and any and all types of LO's as well.

I have never been part of an internet community like DSP before. What a wonderfully warm and caring group of members and designers! I am excited and honored to have been given a third opportunity to serve on the DET and I hope my LO's offer you ideas and inspiration over the next 6 months.

Sandy

aka sands_healy

Hello, my name is Sandy, but my friends call me Sands. You can call me either, I have no preference.

I'm currently living in the Sultanate of Oman, in the Middle East. We left South Africa 3 years ago, to pursue a career opportunity for my husband, Bruce. He is very supportive of my endeavours, even though it costs him loads of money! We've been married for 6 years, and have two awesome kids, Courtney who will be 5 soon, and Connor, who's just turned 3.

When in South Africa, I was a Dog Trainer for Obedience and Carting. I've recently been qualified as a judge for Carting. I also took part in Field Trials and competed in both Carting and Obedience. I had no time for paper scrapping, as all my time was spent on my doggie activities. Then we moved out here, and I was at a loss. I no longer worked and suddenly became a SAHM. A friend that does paper scrapping, told me about digi scrapping, and sent me a couple of google searched sites. DSP was the first one I investigated, and I've never looked back.

I started with Digital Image Pro 9, but then saw so many techniques and effects that others were getting with Photoshop, so convinced Bruce that I really NEEDED Photoshop. So now I scrap with Photoshop CS3. I also have a keen interest in photography which I've been exploring more within the last 3 years. Along with my photography passion, comes my Scuba Diving, and naturally my underwater photography. I love to scrap my photos from this area, as well as my dive photos. I love sharing my experience with those that won't have a chance to see what I see.

I have been part of DSP since August 2006 and have been hooked ever since. I spend the majority of my day on DSP while I'm playing around with my photos, learning new techniques or scrapping a page.

Mandy

aka Scrapping4Him

Hi, my name is Mandy and I was born in Ohio but moved to Southern California during my high school years. While in my junior year, I met my high school sweetheart who 3 years later also became my husband. Most of our married life has been filled with a variety of adventures but after 17 years we began our most exciting adventure of all - parenthood. We adopted our daughter, Megan and life as we knew it made a 180 and we've never looked back! She is the joy of our lives and as would be expected is the subject of most of my scrapbook pages.

Besides being a stay at home mom to Megan, wife to Alan, I also wear many hats in a small web-based business my husband and I own. Then between all that, our social gatherings with friends and ministry work at church - there's never a dull moment in our household! For fun, we love to head out to the desert and take in quad riding or go off-roading in our 4x4 SUV. For complete relaxation though, we head to our most favorite of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai.

With all of our life's adventures and my love of photographing everything, I wanted a hands-on way to display them. I grew up with photo albums always at the ready and really wanted that for my family and generations to come. I attempted paper scrapping but quickly found I disliked it with a passion. So I searched around and found DSP back in 2004 but then life got in the way and I didn't do anything with it until 3 years later. I've been addicted ever since!!!

The community here at DSP is awesome!!! Everyone is so caring and the encouragements you get will brighten even your worst of days. I've visited other sites but it didn't take me long to realize there was no need to go elsewhere, DSP has it all and the community, well it just can't be beat!!! I am so tickled pink to be a part of the DET team. To be chosen to represent a group of talented designers that knock my socks off with each new kit they create is an honor! I hope I can be an inspiration to new and old digi-scrappers here at DSP.

Jenni

aka willjenni

Hi, my name is Jenni and I am a stay at home mom to three great kids. Bill is nine, Cole is seven, and Brooke is four. I met my husband, Will, while earning my Medical Technology degree from the University of Nebraska and we have been married for twelve years. While we are both originally from Nebraska and still think of it as home, Will's career has located us in Florida, California, Kansas, Texas and currently Minnesota. We have seen so many wonderful new places and I love it that we have friends that we stay in contact with from coast to coast.

I had a short-lived, failed attempt at paper scrapbooking before Bill was born. I just couldn't get it organized and didn't have the time or space - especially while taking care of a new baby. My mom is a very dedicated scrapbooker and she sent me a newspaper article about digital scrapbooking in 2005. DSP was listed as one of the sites to check out and I registered. I didn't really do anything with it for about another year until we updated our computer and installed Photoshop Elements. I started taking DSU classes in August 2006 and have taken seven of the classes to date. BEST thing I ever did! In November 2006, we found out that we were being relocated to Minnesota…being in a new state where it was REALLY cold, I jumped into digital scrapbooking at DSP and never looked back. I love the friendly community, the willingness to help when I had questions, and most importantly, the AWESOME kits available. Every time I get online at DSP I feel like I am walking into a room with friends who are together for a party!

I am honored and excited more than I can describe to be a part of the DET 7! I can't wait to highlight the wonderful kits from the DSP designers and hope that my layouts will provide inspiration for the endless possibilities of DSP creations.

Past Digital Elite Team Members

DET 1 April-Sept 2005	DET 2 Oct-March 2006	DET 3 April-Sept 2006	DET 4 Oct-March 2007	DET 5 April-Sept 2007
Luv2Crop (Samara) mandy@netlive MaureenH rnorwood (Rosemary) shazzt	Bad JuJu (Judyy) BerryGirl d2vasquez dlhoffer Luv2Crop (Samara) sallyscrapper	Karen B keeplearning MommyMeg (Meg) sallyscrapper sandra thyme_4_me	boobearsmama1 Corgi Lover kimscrapping lbfpebbles OrangeSue sandygb Guest Elite Members: Bkyboo/Becky Soto Frachioni JamieStillwagon Ky Bumpkin paulaoneil	Bocca gail0423 lbfpebbles MaureenH MomOf1Chef paulaoneil Sharon1313 twinkerbell
DET 6 Oct-March 2008
Corgi Lover (Beth) gundimom (Christine) FormbyGirl (Lynnette) gail0423 (Gail) Momof1Chef (Jill) webfrau (Julia) Sharon1313 (Sharon) sssnoo (Sandra) willjenni (Jenni)