About Rita:

In 1989 I married a wonderful man who encourages me in all walks of life. We have a wonderful son, who is now ten. He is my helper with laundry, cooking and gardening, and is also our cuddly child. In 2003 our family was blessed with the gift of a beautiful, little girl adopted from South Korea. She is now five, smart as can be, and tends to hop, dance and skip rather than walk. Her laughter brightens our lives so very much. As we prepared the home-study for adoption, recording our earliest of childhood memories, I realized that my only early memories were ones of trauma: dropping my baby brother, a recurring nightmare, and a barn fire on our farm. I realized how important creating a lifebook for our adopted daughter would be, so that I could preserve her earliest of memories.

In 2000 I gave up my career as a graphic artist to accept a part-time position at a church, which allowed me to spend more time with our young son. I began scrapbooking in early 2004, upon receiving a scrapbook for our new daughter from my sister, who had been trying to talk me into this craft for a long time. I resisted because I loved to design and play with fabric, turning them into wonderful quilts. Once I began, I haven’t looked back. Scrapbooking is a natural fit for me, combining all of my creative loves – writing, photography and creating with color. I realized that scrapbooking was much like quilting, and I could play with colors on paper as I did with fabric. A number of quilts sit in their bins, unfinished. (LOL)

From the start I used my graphic arts background in scrapbooking. I love to play on the computer with my photos, in a variety of ways, and find the PC very helpful in putting together a matted collage of photos. The industry phrase for doing this is called “hybrid”. It was not until September of 2007 that I embraced digital scrapping when I was asked to be a member of the Creative Team for Kjoi Studios. I don’t plan to ever give up traditional scrapping, but I find great convenience in scrapping on a computer. When my scrap table is in a state of chaos, I am out of adhesive, or it is just plain cold in my unheated scrap area (located in our unfinished basement) – I can always turn to the warmth of the office and the computer to digi scrap!

In addition to Kjoi, I am on the design team for the Scrapbook Playground, and have enjoyed guest designer roles for ScrapFriends, Busy Bee Scrapbooking and Homegrown. I also created for Crossed Paths, a former faith based manufacturer, for several months as designer. I have been fortunate to have my work published in Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Paper Crafts, Memory Makers, Scrapbook Dimensions, Stampington, Scrapbook News and Reviews (come February ’08!), Cantata and Paper Arts books and magazines, as well as several other publications. What I enjoy most is having a faith-based page selected for publication as it allows a part of my testimony to be shared with 1000s of readers. I am always hopeful that my faith-based layouts will plant seeds for the harvest. I often blog about my faith and a recent scrapbook page, and if you would like to see snippets of my personal journey please feel free to visit me at http://onmyway-journeytoheaven.blogspot.com/

I love to play with product and come up with new ideas and techniques, and often it is the little details that people come to look for in my layouts. I have not had to give up my personal style, as I thought I might, when I went from traditional to digital. I still have lots to learn about digital scrapbooking, and am hoping that some of you, who may fear the idea, will step out of the boat, onto the water (or rather, PC) and give it a try! As a member of the Faith Sisters community I hope to grow with everyone as we explore our faith ,and scrap a faith-filled legacy for our families and friends. I also hope that my work will offer inspiration, and encourage you in your own creative process of preserving the wonderful memories that life has to offer.

Here are her latest projects: