SYW295 – My Way with Tarrah McLean

[00:00:17] I love the hobby because of all the beautiful friendships I've formed over the years. That's been the major reason why I've continued, I think. And those friendships didn't form initially. But as it progressed, you just get to know so many people around the world.

[00:00:34] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I'm your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 295. In this episode, I'm interviewing Tarrah McLean for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways memory keepers get things done. We're excited to have Tarrah as the March featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

[00:01:08] Hey Tarrah welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

[00:01:10] Tarrah McLean: Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for inviting me.

[00:01:13] Jennifer Wilson: Looking forward to getting to know you better today. Can you start by sharing just a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:19] Tarrah McLean: So, um, I live in Sydney, Australia. I live actually, um, a little bit out of Sydney, so it's not so busy. Um, and, but I grew up in a country town a little bit further away from here as well. So, but, but I've been on the, like, on the coast where the beaches are for the last Oh, like 30 odd years, so this is more my home now than where I grew up, um, but yeah, where I grew up was a little country town, so it's not too far from here, but, um, yeah, it was very different, um, so I, and I have, um, two teenage sons who are 19 and 14, and I also have an amazing partner.

[00:02:00] Um, my eldest, uh, son who's 19, he is an, he's a diesel, um, apprentice diesel mechanic. And my youngest, uh, who's 14, he's in year 9 at high school. Um, I am about to start a new job actually, working full time as an office manager for a local construction company. I have worked in some big, similar positions for the past 8 years.

[00:02:25] However, for 25 years, I was actually a hairdresser. And so, going from standing on my feet all day to an office job is very, it's very good. It's great to be able to sit and stand and not have to, um, yeah, yeah, stand on my feet all day. So that's, that's been a real blessing for me in that, yeah, I was able to move into office type work.

[00:02:49] So yeah, that's a little bit about me. I've been scrapbooking for 19 years, when my first son was born. Um, yeah, and I still love it. Still love it today as I did the first day I started. It's my therapy. Yes.

[00:03:03] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I, I can't wait to hear more, and, and I've definitely heard it before from both those who are hairdressers behind the chair and those who were, uh, chefs or otherwise worked in the restaurant

[00:03:16] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, definitely.

[00:03:18] Jennifer Wilson: Those two are very on your feet jobs, so, um, often they make some transitions at some point in their lives.

[00:03:24] Tarrah McLean: That's it. Yeah. It really takes a toll on your body, like your legs and your feet and your back that standing all day. It's yeah, quite, um, quite challenging as you know, as you progress in the years, it gets harder and harder.

[00:03:39] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, for sure. Well, excited for your, your new adventure and this new position. I hope all goes well.

[00:03:46] Tarrah McLean: Thank you.

[00:03:47] Jennifer Wilson: Do you have a favorite recent layout or project and what makes it special to you?

[00:03:52] Tarrah McLean: I actually, um, it's, it's probably one of my favorite projects that I'm working on currently, and that would be my, uh, Doodle Bug Design Inc uh, love themed mini album that I'm working on. So it's one of their new six by eight, um, mini albums where it's got chipboard dividers. It has pocket pages. It has folders.

[00:04:16] Um, and yeah, we were actually tasked, tasked to use, um, the albums, and it will, I was able, sorry, I'm, I'm on the Doodle Bug Design Inc., uh, design team. So, and that's, that's been one of my favorite projects to be, to work on at the moment, just because it's different to my regular scrapbook layouts. And so I've been, I've been decorating the front cover, I've been decorating the pockets, and yeah, it's, I just really like the transition from going from the page to the, to the album. Um, and yeah, it's love.

[00:04:48] I've made mine a love theme, so it's pink and it's pretty, and yeah, I really like it. So, yeah, that's my favorite project at the moment.

[00:04:56] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, how wonderful. Yes. No, I think Doodlebug products are so delightful. Very cheerful.

[00:05:02] Tarrah McLean: They're cute, aren't they? Yeah. Uh, so, and, and because it's February, I, I, um, and it's like love month, so I've put, um, some Valentine's cards that my partner and I have exchanged. So, yeah, there's a place for those to sit and yeah, there's all photos of he and I in there and it's just documenting our life together.

[00:05:23] Yeah. So I really, I really love that project at the moment. Yeah, it's my favorite.

[00:05:27] Jennifer Wilson: Very cool. Now, thinking more towards new things, is there anything new that you're excited to do, use, or try, either inside of scrapbooking or just in your everyday life?

[00:05:37] Oh,

[00:05:37] Tarrah McLean: It's probably not a new thing, but, but I would really like to able to attend more crop days, like, like crafting days. Um, locally here, there's, there's quite a few that are run locally here. Actually, one in particular that two of my good friends run and they do it about every quarter and for some reason I just, I just don't seem to be able to get there, to get there for one reason or another.

[00:06:04] So, I would really like to be able to attend more crop days and socialize more with like minded and crafty people. Yeah, that's, that's probably one thing I'd really like to be able to try to get to. So, but it's not really new. I mean, um, I guess the other thing out of scrapbooking would be, like, I'm excited to try my new job.

[00:06:26] So, that's, um, that will be, that will be a challenge, you know, um, learning and, um, finding out how they run their business. Yeah. So that's another thing that I'm excited to try. That's probably going to happen in about two weeks because I have actually just resigned from my old position and I gave two weeks notice.

[00:06:43] So yeah.

[00:06:45] Jennifer Wilson: Well, yeah, I think sometimes we, we know what we want and it's not necessarily about the novelty of it, but about finding new routines and a new sense of new interactions with people, both in your hobbies and in your work life, um, and seeing how that all fits together. .

[00:07:02] Tarrah McLean: Where I'm currently working, um, it's, it just doesn't feel as the people, it's hard to explain like that, but I can't, I came from a position where there was a diverse range of ages. And I've, I've just, I've, for the last five months, I've worked in a position where the people working there are all quite, quite a bit younger.

[00:07:28] And, yeah, it's, um, it's been a bit of a challenge to, to sort of, yeah, um, socialise. Not, not really socialise, but just work alongside them. So that's been, um, different. And yeah, I think that's probably one of the reasons why I've looked elsewhere to, to, um, to change positions. And also that it's a little bit more local and suitable to my family. So, yeah.

[00:07:53] Jennifer Wilson: All right, so you are one of our featured artists, and I'm so excited to dig more into the behind the scenes of your hobby and your origins as a scrapbooker. You said 19 years, that's such a long time. What would you say to a non scrapbooker about why you love this hobby?

[00:08:10] Tarrah McLean: Um, I guess I would say that I love the hobby because of all the beautiful friendships I've formed over the years. That's been the major reason why I've continued, I think. And those friendships didn't, like, obviously form initially. But it's just as it, you know, as it progressed, you just get to know so many people around the world. You all have that common denominator. So, um, yeah, and it's really, it's really surprising actually how many people that scrapbook and they live locally to you as well. You know, you find, you know, someone up the road might, you know, might be into it. Just, yeah, just the different people that you meet. And, and they, and you say that you're a scrapbooker and they, and they, sometimes they don't know what you're talking about, but then, but then, you know, other people are, they, and they say, oh, oh yeah, I've, you know, I've done that before and, yeah, so, that, that's what I've really loved about it.

[00:09:02] Um, yeah, another thing is that I also love to play and create with some amazing products. , That's another part of the hobby I really love as well. So many beautiful and amazing products around that, that, yeah, we all get to play with, and, yeah, touch. And the other thing is that I really love to share my work in the hope that it inspires other crafters as well.

[00:09:24] So, um, that's, yeah, that's another, another reason that I love the hobby. It just, it just makes me happy. So there's sort of three reasons why I fell in love.

[00:09:38] Jennifer Wilson: Well, so many like kind of internal and external reasons, I think that just shows how, how, how deep the, the hobby goes with for us.

[00:09:47] Tarrah McLean: Definitely. Yeah.

[00:09:49] Jennifer Wilson: You mentioned that you started scrapbooking, um, when maybe when you were pregnant with your, your first son, like what, what kind of things did you have access to? Um, how, what was the first thing that you purchased? How did you really get started?

[00:10:03] Tarrah McLean: So I started when one of my aunties was visiting while we were on holidays. And she was writing to scrapbooking. And she was doing like Creative Memories type style scrapbooking. And she brought along some work to work on and I was showing lots of interest, was really admiring her work. And she, she, both she and my mum really encouraged me to give it a go.

[00:10:30] And, uh, and yeah, the rest is history. So, um, I think, I think, I think one of the first things maybe I purchased was from like a really cheap shop, like a dollar store type, um, place. Was like a scrapbook paper pad with about five sheets of paper and maybe a sticker sheet. And I think I got a couple of those and then sort of started from there and then.

[00:10:55] Yeah, just, just really progressed, like, you know, obviously your style really changes and the more that you, the more that you learn and the techniques that you learn and the companies that are out there with all of these amazing things. Um, so yeah, but, but in the very beginning it was definitely one of those sort of cheap, cheapish sort of scrapbook packs that I got from like a cheap dollar store type place, so, um.

[00:11:23] And yeah, my, both my mom and my auntie, they, they are both still my number one supporters to this day. So if I share my work on Facebook or Instagram, those two ladies are like, they comment on everything that I, that I post. Which is really lovely. Yeah. So, yeah. So, but yeah, with when, when I started, I just really felt like I needed an outlet, while my son was small. Where I didn't need to leave the home very much, and you know, I could be busy, you know, while he was sleeping, or, yeah, just something for me, I guess. And I, and I could also, talk to people online as well. You know, and really form friendships and um, and get the knowledge about it as well. So, that's how it all started and yeah, to this day I would scrapbook as much as I did back then. So, yeah, all the time. Whenever I can.

[00:12:19] Jennifer Wilson: So yeah, fast forwarding to today, you have, you know, an adult child and one who is nearing their every year. What sizes and formats are you creating in now?

[00:12:30] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, usually I just do the typical 12 by 12 inch scrapbook layouts. And they, I guess that's the size I was introduced to, um, in the very beginning. And so that's where I've got, I've had the most experience and knowledge with. So, and it feels comfortable for me. Yeah, so the twelve, twelve by twelve scrapbook layouts are, are what I would create the most.

[00:12:52] Um, I have so many albums, I have so many. Some are even stored at my parents property. Um, and yeah, so there's a lot, and some obviously, I think a lot of people can relate to this one, is that there's so many pages that are not in albums. And um, so yeah, and it's been um, it's been interesting to also read about how people actually store their scrapbook layouts if they are 12x12. Like some people have moved away from the album.

[00:13:22] The album's sort of, um, set up and they store them in boxes or in just page protectors, or, that's been really interesting. Some people, um, they might, uh, still do the 12 by 12 scrapbook layout, typically size, but it might be in a book. And I'm yet to try that, and I would really like to, except I like to have my pages a bit lumpy and bumpy, so.

[00:13:43] I might only get like five, five pages to a book. Yeah, depending on the um, how lumpy and bumpy they are. But the story, I was just going to say, but I also love to create cards and mini albums as well.

[00:13:58] Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

[00:13:58] Tarrah McLean: I love mini albums because of the interaction. Because, you know, you're flipping through the pages and it's, you know, it's small, usually small and hand sized. So, and, yeah. You can admire it, you know, lots of things in the one, in the one project. Um, and I also enjoy, at times, creating 8.5 by 11, which is A5, A4 size, so, from time to time. And I enjoy that size because of, because of the, maybe the storage is a little easier. Like the, you know, the 12 by 12 albums are quite bulky and um, harder to find than the regular A4 sort of folders. And I also enjoy 8. 5 by 11 because of the restriction of the smaller format. So it just challenges me to downsize, you know, from what I'd normally create in. So.

[00:14:51] Jennifer Wilson: Now, when you're choosing a mini album, are you typically, like, maybe it's a travel event and you have a lot of photos. Does that become one or more layouts or does that become a mini album for you?

[00:15:04] Tarrah McLean: A bit of both probably. So sometimes I might pick out if, if I've done a bit of travel and there's a lot of photos, I would probably pick out photos that are particularly one of my favorites, or a few that I've are of my favorites and maybe create the scrapbook layout with those. And then possibly make some of the more, not so favorite photos into smaller formats. And then include those in a mini album. Yeah, that's probably what I would do. More so. Yeah. Yeah, it's a bit of both.

[00:15:34] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, I like that. I like the pairing of the two. So, what are you focused on this year? Are there any particular, uh, time periods, projects, what kind of little, kind of like mental containers can you draw around the types of scrapbooking stories that you want to tell this year?

[00:15:49] Tarrah McLean: Um, that, that's not a great deal that I'm really focused on. I, I don't tend to scrapbook chronologically or anything like that. I just, you know, if a, if a photo sort of inspires me, I, I'll, you know, find some products that suit that. But yeah, I, I guess maybe, maybe getting a bit more craft time. That would be great.

[00:16:09] This year that would be really good because, but now that I'm going into a more of a full-time job, that's probably not gonna be able to happen. But, um, I guess, yeah, really dedicating some time to, to fit in the craft time and juggle it with work and family and time for myself. Yeah, it's one of the things that I'd really like to focus on this year.

[00:16:29] Jennifer Wilson: And that makes total sense for sure. Um, when you're kind of, yeah, as we mentioned before, finding a new balance and we don't need to pick new, new focuses, new things. We just need to figure out how is this all going to fit together, um, and so that you can continue to get what you need from it.

[00:16:45] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, exactly. Um, another thing that I am focusing on this year, though, is a bit of, like, my health. So, I've made a few better eating choices recently, and yeah, I'm loving the results and how it's making me feel. So, that's been, um, that's been positive as well. So yeah, there's a few things that I've been a bit more focused on this year.

[00:17:06] So, but yeah, crafting is definitely one of the things I would really like to get more into this year. I mean over the years. I've I've been scrapbooking like a lot a long time. But just recently it's probably taken a little bit of a step back. So I would like to be able to increase it, you know and find the time to to get into it again. So Yeah.

[00:17:30] Jennifer Wilson: So shifting gears to talk more about your style. Um, if you had to describe it in three words, what words would you choose?

[00:17:41] Tarrah McLean: Okay, so I think I would describe my style as somewhat clean, colorful and I guess creative. Yeah. And I mean everyone's creative. But um, but mine mine in particular is probably like it's it's I don't do a lot of mixed media. So it's sort of it's like clean that reason and also clean in that it's usually fairly, it's a little bit minimal. Not, not a lot minimal, but, um, sometimes it can be. There's clean, like there's clean lines, et cetera. If that makes sense. And I also like to use lots of color, lots of color, and yeah, bright as well, I would say. Yeah, so.

[00:18:24] Jennifer Wilson: So are there any products, tools, or techniques that you use often, you know, perhaps to, to bring some of that color into the pages?

[00:18:31] Tarrah McLean: Probably, well, yeah, it's probably not bringing lots of color, but I do love, I absolutely love my Silhouette Cameo machine. And I've had my Cameo machine for almost 15 years. I've still got like the very first one that came out. And yeah, that cuts out the cut files that I use on 90 percent of my layouts. So yeah, I absolutely love that. I really love that, that helps me to visualize how maybe my page will look in the end. Another, another favorite tool is my T square ruler. That, that helps me with my clean lines and making everything straight. Hopefully, usually. Another one is just my simple paper piercer. I use this, my paper piece, all the time if I'm picking up stickers or, um, enamel dots or, you know, anything. And just to, um, yeah, use that to, to get things off a page or on a page. Yeah, it's really, it's really handy. And another thing that I, one of my signature things that I would, would, um, place on my, probably my scrapbook layout is the stamped date.

[00:19:40] So, I often stamp the date of when the photo was taken on the page. And then on the back of the layout, I always write my name and the date that I created the page. So, if I'm ever looking back myself and I want to see how I've evolved, I can see that this is the year I did this page, and this is the year I did this page. So you can see the comparison. Yeah, so, and see that, yeah, that hopefully I've improved.

[00:20:06] Jennifer Wilson: Well, just to even understand where you are mentally during that time, um, yeah, I think it's really helpful. I've been kind of inconsistent about it, but I do appreciate it when I, when I have done it and it's something that I, I try to always, uh, remember to do in the end.

[00:20:22] Are there any trends that are standing out to you right now, either loving or even not liking at all?

[00:20:29] Tarrah McLean: Yeah. Probably one of the trends, and I'm not sure if it's a new trend, it has been around a little bit, for a little bit, but I think it comes and goes a bit, is, um, bows. Like I really love bows for some reason, I don't know why. Um, my good friend Gwen, she's really into bows as well. So, um, she um, but yeah, I guess having sons.

[00:20:50] You know, I don't, I don't use a lot of bows. Because, you know, I don't put bows on boy layouts. That's so much. But, um, but I do, I do have two nieces where I can, and, you know, if there's photos of myself or my, my, my mom and I, or my sister and I, I would, um, I would include a bow perhaps. And, and that may be in the form of like a cut file or a small fabric bow, a die cut bow, or even like a resin bow.

[00:21:15] Um. Probably one of the trends I don't like, and it's not really a trend, it's probably just a colour. Um, I'm not a brown or a purple person. And I don't, and even though I'm quite a girly girl, I don't, and I like, I love pretty things. I don't tend to use a lot of flowers. And I love flowers, but I just don't, I don't know why, I just don't, I don't use them on my layouts so much. Um, but I probably should.

[00:21:40] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, I'm, yeah, I don't, I don't understand this. Because I have some, um, Pinkfresh Studio dies and stencils in my cart to, um, to make more flowers to put on my layouts. Because I always run out of the die cut flowers.

[00:21:56] So, is there anything like other, like, kind of more big picture in terms of ways of scrapbooking or major techniques that you've decided is just not for you?

[00:22:08] Tarrah McLean: Um, I would have to say the mixed media for me. Yeah, I've.

[00:22:13] Jennifer Wilson: Uh-huh.

[00:22:14] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, mixed media is just not for me, unfortunately. I guess. Like I absolutely love how it looks for other people's pages and I just admire, I think it's amazing what some people can do and achieve. It's just beautiful. Um, but for me, I just, I feel, I guess I haven't had a great deal of experience either with it because I feel it's not, it's just not one of those techniques I, I want to use on my pages, I guess. And I don't like, I like, I don't like them to be all, um, crinkly and that, so I guess, yeah, for that, for that reason. And another reason is that. I'm too impatient to wait for things to dry. And secondly, I don't like getting, I don't like getting my hands dirty. So, um, so yeah, that's, those are probably, like, the top reasons why I don't really like mixed media.

[00:23:05] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I, you're not alone in that. This has been an answer of many guests.

[00:23:10] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, I have, I mean, I have, I have done some subtle mixed media in the past, and I really like how it, how it turns out. But yeah, you'd find that it's fairly subtle if you were to really look at my scrapbook layouts. You probably wouldn't find many that have it included on them. So, yeah.

[00:23:29] Jennifer Wilson: Can we talk a little bit about your time? And maybe this, you don't have a real answer right now because how you're using your time might, might change. But where and when are you typically scrapbooking?

[00:23:40] Tarrah McLean: I'm typically scrapbooking on the weekends. Occasionally on my current day off. And sometimes in the evenings. Um, but not a lot in the evenings, because I'm just, yeah, usually too tired or, and then you have to cook dinner and spend time with the family. But, uh, at the moment I'm mostly scrapbooking on my coffee table in the lounge room.

[00:24:06] And it, it, luckily it's quite a big coffee table. Um, and I do have my own dedicated craft room, but I just find I like to be around the energy and the family in the house more so. Where everyone's congregating and talking. And so I like to be part, a part of the family. But then, if I'm home alone, I will go and craft in my craft room. Because it means then I don't have to drag out, you know, so many supplies and products, you know, from one end of the house to the other, sort of thing. So, I'm very lucky to have my own, my own space to craft in. And, uh, and yeah, I have mostly, over the years, had my own dedicated craft space. I remember one house that I did, I did live in for a little while and it was, it was a tiny craft space. It was my own, but, but it was tiny and it reminded me of like, one of the um, the Harry Potter cupboards under the stairs, like that type of set up. It was like really small, it was really small, so yeah, it reminded me of that. So, but it was still my own dedicated space, and yeah, it worked.

[00:25:09] Jennifer Wilson: It still, it still means something that

[00:25:11] Tarrah McLean: it

[00:25:11] Jennifer Wilson: your so I get that.

[00:25:11] Tarrah McLean: Does, yeah, and yeah, and there wasn't a lot of light. Like it was a, there was a high window in that room. So, yeah, it didn't let a lot of light in, so that was difficult.

[00:25:22] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I tried to set up my office closet as this like little, it was mostly during the pandemic for my daughter to do remote school. But it turns out nobody wants to be put in the closet with no natural light.

[00:25:38] In a very small space. It, was a clever idea, but not as practical as I thought it might be. So what about organization? Are there any strategies that have worked well for you? Do you consider yourself a more organized or less organized person?

[00:25:56] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, there's definitely some, some that have really worked, and I've really, I've really been very, um, I really enjoy that everyone is willing to share their success or non success with storage and organization. So, a lot of people like to, um, say, you know, where they got this, and, and yeah, it's, it's, that's been great. That, you know, you might try it for yourself but it doesn't work. But yeah, most of the time, um, things that people share, it really works. So, there's one, there's one product in particular that we can get here in Australia, and I'm not sure if they have similar things across the world.

[00:26:32] I'm sure they do, but um, there's one particular product that we can get from Kmart here in Australia, and it's 5, and it's a fridge, it's a fridge storage container. And if you can imagine, like a narrow, a narrow, plastic, uh, it's quite tall, with two handles at either end. And they, and they fit into the, like, Kallax. IKEA Kallax type units too. Like you can fit two of those into each hidey hole. And, and they are amazing. And if, because they're $5, you can fit, like, you can stand 12 by 12 papers up and still they still fit if you slide them in into the Kallax unit. So I've got 10 of those now. , and yeah, I, I can fit that and I need more.

[00:27:16] So, um, I can, yeah. And yeah, you can stand collections, you can, you can fit whatever in them that they're awesome. They're amazing.

[00:27:24] Jennifer Wilson: And where are these from again? And do they ship, um, to the U. S.?

[00:27:29] Tarrah McLean: They're from Kmart, so that's like our probably Walmart to you maybe. So Kmart is just a shop where you can buy practically everything. Um, they might, I don't think they ship overseas unfortunately, so.

[00:27:42] Jennifer Wilson: It's all good, it's all good. I have, I have some of those that were from Target years and years ago. Um, they were called these Itso bins and everybody loved them. And then they of course stopped making them. And we've all tried with, I think the various, um, fridge bins, but they're just not quite the same in terms of, I don't know. They're often really heavy too, when they're like that heavy acrylic. What Kind of material are yours made from?

[00:28:08] Tarrah McLean: They're, it's a plastic.

[00:28:09] Yeah, it's a plastic, but it's, yeah, it's softer plastic. So yeah, they are quite light, and then, yeah, so therefore if you put a couple of collections in them, they're not too heavy. And because they've got handles at either end. And, you know, if you slide it out, you can sort of grab each handle and pull it out and it's not, yeah, it's not heavy or, and because they're narrow as well, you can't make them too heavy, I guess. You can't sort of put too much in them, really. That's why I have ten, so.

[00:28:35] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes.

[00:28:38] Tarrah McLean: But yeah, yeah, just getting back to the success, like, that people have with storage and organisation, I really, I really love that people are so willing to share their ideas and there are so many amazing, amazing, amazing things.

[00:28:52] Like, some of my friends have these incredible big toolboxes that we can get from our hardware stores here in Australia, like Bunnings. It's called Bunnings. and they have, like, their techniques are crops with them. And they're just like a big, you know, handyman sort of toolbox and on wheels. And that fits absolutely everything they own in it, and they just take it home and take it to and from it.

[00:29:13] They're incredible. So, yeah. And that sort of thing wouldn't work for me so much, because I think I'd find that too bulky. But a lot of people when they go to crops they like to take, you know, everything they own, which is great. But I'm one of these people that I would take. You know, just probably what I know I'll just work on. So, but yeah, those people are great to, if you're short of something at a crop day, they've usually always got what you need to share, and they're happy to share, so.

[00:29:41] Jennifer Wilson: Very true. I, I can think of folks like that who I've, you know, reached for, you know, very specific supplies, like the little powder tool that makes a sticker not sticky anymore.

[00:29:51] Tarrah McLean: Oh, I love that tool.

[00:29:52] Jennifer Wilson: Whereas I'm like bringing just the layouts I'm going to make and essential tools only.

[00:29:57] Tarrah McLean: That's me.

[00:29:57] Jennifer Wilson: Even though I'm driving, I only want it to, like, pick up boxes, maybe.

[00:30:01] Tarrah McLean: Yeah. That's me. That's totally me. I just take a couple of bags. Yeah. Knowing that, you know, I'll probably be talking and eating and, you know, they're not even doing any crafting. So.

[00:30:12] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. So our last two questions are a little bit more big picture. A little bit more, um, perhaps reflective. Where would you like your scrapbooking to be in 10 years?

[00:30:22] Tarrah McLean: Um, I would hope that it would still be a big part of my life in 10 years. Yeah, I mean that, that would almost mean I'm 60 by then, but um, but that's okay. So yeah, I still hope, and maybe I'm scrapbooking, you know, grandchildren, or yeah, whatever the case may be. Um, but yeah, I also hope to be able to continue inspiring crafters, hopefully, and yeah, I guess I, I'm hoping that I still will love it as much as I do now, and when I first started scrapbooking.

[00:30:54] Yeah, I guess, I don't, I don't think it'll, it will evolve so much now. I guess I found my niche and my, what suits me and, but I would like to be able to create more mini albums, I guess, and include a lot more photos. I really like mini albums and, and mini albums in the form of the actual albums that companies sell as well as creating my own ways. You know, even if it's just like a tag album or, uh, where, yeah, where you can include lots of photos and it, because it's such a small, a small, um, project. You know, it doesn't, doesn't tend to be overwhelming. Or take, like, you can sort of work and chip away at it for as long as you need to. So, yeah, I guess that, that would be, that would be really good.

[00:31:39] And then, because I'm envisioning in 10 years, maybe my sons will be like, Mom, you don't need this many scrapbook layouts, let's chuck some out. You know, so hopefully that's not the case, but um, but yeah, I guess with many albums, they might not say that so much because, you know, they're not so big and don't take up so much room.

[00:31:58] Jennifer Wilson: And what would you say that being a scrapbooker has taught you?

[00:32:01] Tarrah McLean: Okay, so I guess scrapbooking has taught me that there are so many wonderfully talented people in the world. And some of them don't even know that they are so talented. Sometimes I get to teach classes at the local crop days that I go to. And even though I may be the teacher on that particular day, the students like, they are artists. They are always teaching me. I'm often blown away by people's talent. And even if I'm not the teacher, I just, I love to walk around and just admire people's work. Because I think people are just incredibly talented. And yeah, what they, what they can do and achieve. And yeah, I really, I love, I love to admire other people's work. And I really love to, see people getting enjoyment and happiness from our craft. And their, their enjoyment and happiness, it's, it really reflects on me as well.

[00:32:54] Jennifer Wilson: I love that. And it comes very full circle with what you said at the beginning about how you might share with a non scrapbooker about why you love this hobby. And I definitely get that myself in terms of having these interviews. Like it's, it's so the enthusiasm for what we do and even though everyone's doing it so differently, it's so contagious. And helps me stay connected to just by having these conversations and I, and I hope that comes through for our listeners as well.

[00:33:19] Tarrah McLean: Definitely. Yeah.

[00:33:20] Jennifer Wilson: Tarrah thank you so much for spending time with me. Can you share where our listeners can find you online and anything you might have new or coming up later in 2025?

[00:33:30] Tarrah McLean: Ah, sure, yeah. So you can find me mostly sharing my work, uh, on Instagram. So I am, um, TarrahM @TarrahM on Instagram. So that's T A R R A H M on Instagram. And yeah, you can follow me and I'll follow you back. Um, you can also find me on my blog. My blog is live2scrapscrap2live.blogspot.Com And I, I do share most of my work on my Instagram account nowadays.

[00:33:59] And my blog, is not so common. I do, I still, still share some posts every now and then on my blog. But, but yeah, my Instagram is definitely, my most common platform. I've got new coming up, uh, I'm currently doing, creating for Doodlebug Designs, Cocoa Vanilla Studio and Pretty Little Studio. So you'll find a lot of those projects coming up.

[00:34:25] Um, and I do hope to be able to just do a bit of scrapbooking for myself and not actually for for for company companies. So, yeah, hopefully I've got some projects coming up where it's just, you know, it's just a big, just a because layout. So, yeah, um, hopefully I get to do a few more of those this year.

[00:34:44] But I guess being on the teams, it does, it does really, it makes me, it makes me craft. Because I was actually saying to my partner just recently that, if I was not on, not on the teams where I had deadlines and, and projects to, to create, then I guess, you know, maybe I, maybe I wouldn't create so much. And I really don't want that to happen.

[00:35:06] So, being on these teams really makes me work and, and get, and get those projects created. So, um, but yeah, I do, I do hope to get some more of my just, just because, um, layouts done as well.

[00:35:19] Jennifer Wilson: Wonderful. I think, I think we all need different sources of accountability and, um, if it keeps you connected then it will keep you more interested and motivated to do those just for fun projects as well.

[00:35:31] Tarrah McLean: Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

[00:35:33] Jennifer Wilson: Again, thanks for chatting with me. And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to scrapbook your way.