IN THE DESIGNER’S STUDIO WITH MICHELLE UNDERWOOD

I am so excited to have Michelle Underwood here with us this month!  Michelle was the second designer I purchased digital scrapbooking supplies from back in 2004. I talked in our birthday post on January 1, 2010 about how much I LOVED Michelle’s layered templates and they were the inspiration for the layered templates that are included in TDF11 this month.  I think there is always a soft spot in our hearts for the designers we start our digital scrapbooking adventure with, and Michelle is indeed one of those for me!

Here’s a closer look at Michelle’s contribution to THE DIGI FILES:

This is just ONE of the kits included in THE DIGI FILES for only $5!  You can see everything else that has been revealed so far this month by clicking on “this month’s amazing sponsors” at the top of the page.

Here is what our team did with this really fun kit:

Layout by Katie (this is a layered quickpage included in TDF11), supplies: “You Picked Me” by Michelle Underwood for The Digi Files 11. Fonts are Fontologie Empty Wrapper and Traveling Typewriter.

Layout by Karen, supplies: “You Picked Me” by Michelle Underwood for TDF11 and Lauren Reid Mistaken Alpha

Layout by Jacki, supplies: “You Picked Me” by Michelle Underwood, font is Typewriter.

Layout by Ana, supplies: You picked me, Michelle Underwood (in TDF11), Strips paper Once, Paislee Press  (in TDF11), Template Collection 14, Janet Phillips, Font Prestige Elite Std

Layout by Janet, supplies: “You Picked Me” by Michelle Underwood for TDF11, Fonts are CK Typist and CK Cursive

Michelle Underwood lives in Puryear, TN.  We can easily find her here:

Michelle’s Store

Michelle’s Blog

Michelle on FaceBook

Michelle on Twitter

Here are two layouts from Michelle of her “furbabies”:

One good tip from me would be to utilize Quick pages! They are quick and easy and perfect for beginners! Even seasoned scrappers will find themselves in a creative rut or a time crunch and Quick pages are the perfect answer. It’s not “cheating”, it’s smart!

I started paper scrapbooking in 1996 when my first son was born. In 1998 my second son was born and I started his album. I happened upon a computer program where you could create your own scrapbook pages and print them out. I believe Hallmark made this program. I thought it was perfect! Once I started using it I found it very limiting. I wanted to use different graphics than what was provided in the program. This is when I started looking around the internet and trying to find some solutions.

I think it was 2003 when I was pregnant with my third son that I happened upon digital scrapbooking. I realized that I had already been doing some of this on my own, I just didn’t know it had a name. I upgraded to a program called Paint shop pro and started taking online tutorials. Soon I was creating my own elements and kits!

The first store I sold my kits at was Scrapbook-elements.com. They opened the doors in April 2004 and I was one of the lucky designers that was there from the very beginning. I couldn’t believe that I could actually make money doing something that I love so much! It was a dream come true. Since then I have worked at several stores such as Scrapbook Bytes, A Cherry on Top, Scrap Wow, etc. and now I am at my dream store “Two peas in a bucket.com”.

I am inspired by everything around me. Commercials, magazines, clothing, plates, fabrics…there’s nothing that escapes me. I love combining fun colors and patterns.

I still use my old faithful program Paint shop pro. I have upgraded it several times. It is still my go to program. I am a creature of habit. I also use Adobe Photoshop CS and Photoshop elements on occasion. I also love using Art rage 2. I also love my Wacom tablet.

I have a Dell computer. Old faithful. I think I got this one in 2005. It’s got lots of wear and nearly not enough ram, but I will hang on to this old friend until it can’t run anymore. This just proves you don’t have to have the latest and greatest to create layouts and projects you love. Just know your computer and programs and you can work like a pro. I realize that sooner than later I will have to upgrade, but I will hang on till the end.

It is so hard to pick my favorite kit that I have created. Each new kit is my favorite! I actually have 2 kits that are my favorites. One is “Singing in the rain Page kit”:

My other favorite is “Winter Romance Page kit”:

My most popular kit would be (by far) “Vintage Holiday memories”:

Here are some of my favorite products of Michelle’s:

Here’s some eyecandy for inspiration:

Michelle, thanks so much for being with us this month at The Daily Digi, we appreciate you sharing your many talents with us!  Go have a look in Michelle’s store at 2peas and come back and tell her what you like, tomorrow’s GIFTaway will be randomly selected from those comments that are posted by midnight EST (must include a product name to qualify)!

Michelle has this free kit in her store, you must be logged in to download:

P.S. Today’s GIFTaway goes to Cassie who was randomly chosen from everyone who has purchased THE DIGI FILES so far this month!  Congratulations Cassie!  You won a $10 GC to Michelle’s store, watch your inbox!