Member Spotlight | Brooke Takara

Aloha! My name is Brooke (username welobellie). I reside in Honolulu, Hawai'i with my boyfriend and our two wonderful children. By day, I sit at a computer and push paper around in the most non-creative way possible. But at night and on the weekends, I get to exercise my creativity using Studio Calico kits and products!

I initially started scrapbooking in 1998, when I was highschool. I had a million photographs & memories I wanted to preserve but wanted something more than just the standard photo album. Back then, it was all about paper punches, decorative edge scissors & stickers for me ;) I fell off the scrapbooking wagon for awhile. Fast forward to 2012 when I found myself with, yet again, a million photos & memories I wanted to preserve. This time the photos & memories were of my daughter & I wanted to do something really special with them. I found my way over to Studio Calico & it was love at first sight. I've been passionate about scrapbooking and SC ever since.

Thank you so much, Studio Calico, for choosing to feature me this month. What an honor!!

SC Member since: March 2012

All time favorite past kit or collection : This question has literally taken an hour for me to answer. I can't pick just one! And if I were to choose a favorite, I'd probably have a different favorite tomorrow. Every retail line/kit SC has released has spoken to me in a different way and I've loved them all for different reasons. My favorite of the day really just depends on the mood I'm in.

What do you do when your kit comes? I try not to open my kits if I know I won't have time to do a little crafting because that would just be cruel and unusual punishment. Once I have the all-clear, kids are asleep or I'm home alone, it's on. I dig right into my kits, spread everything out and go to work.

What's your go-to technique? I don't know if I have a "go-to" technique. With crafting, I get bored easily so I'm always trying new (to me) techniques and always trying to figure out how to incorporate something that's inspired me, into my work. A few techniques I've been favoring lately are fussy cutting, sewing and paper folding.

Share your top 5 products: Studio Calico kits for numbers 1-5! They're all I ever need when I want to craft. The papers, the stamps, the embellishments...the designs here are always fresh. Keeps me on my toes and I love it!!

Where do you go when your mojo is low? I walk away. I know myself. When I'm forcing it, I won't like the outcome so I step away and do something unrelated to crafting. Often times, I find inspiration in whatever it is I stepped away to do. For example, folding laundry. I was recently inspired to stack folded papers along the side of a layout to mimic the stack of towels I'd just folded. (still working on getting that one just right) ;)

Thank you for letting us spotlight you, Brooke! We loved getting to know more about you! If you'd like to see more of Brooke's work, be sure to follow her here at SC and on her Instagram!