Interview with Wendy Tipton

Tell us about yourself.

“To be completely honest, I would describe myself as a nobody and not important. And those that know me, they would say that’s absolutely not true at all. But I’m just me — I’m 100% confident in my own skin and I know exactly who I am as a person. I don’t feel the need to compete with anyone but myself. I am moody and sarcastic and *slightly* inappropriate. I’m loyal to a fault and value those close to me very dearly. I’m quiet and introverted and I love the peace and quiet that being at home brings. I overthink and over worry everything; I’m super serious and if you can get a laugh out of me, I think YOU are gold. I best express myself in my scrapbook layouts and through being creative. I love incorporating hand stitching into my layouts and cutting paper is my therapy. I am easily distracted by shiny objects and sparkly baubles. I’m a Golden Girl and ER fanatic and classic television fan. I’m a diehard Atlanta Braves fan and love to listen to all the games they play. I enjoy sitting on my porch, reading a book, and sipping a glass of sweet tea. I like putting puzzles together, watching documentaries, and listening to audiobooks. I like to shop small and one day I want to learn to grow a vegetable garden. I love the library and antiques – anything that has history and story. I binge watch Spanish dramas on Netflix and listen to Tyler Childers on an endless loop. I’m a stay at home mom to two boys, a dog mom to two male dogs, and I’m married to my bestest friend on the planet. Basically, I am the chaos coordinator of all things to keep a house full of testosterone organized and under control!”

How did you begin scrapbooking and cardmaking?

“I started scrapbooking in high school. My all-time favorite teacher introduced it as way to help me with my math skills. She herself recently had a baby and she shared a layout that she had made. I was hooked! I made a couple of mini albums and was so pleased with how they turned out. When I went off to college, I had stopped scrapbooking, but later after graduating and having my son, I started it again. I wanted to record our memories and his milestones in a special way. I’m so glad I did that from the start and love looking back on those beginning layouts. Card making came along later. I still consider myself a novice at that as there are so many things and techniques to still learn and discover.”

What is Paperissues.com all about? How did you get involved?

“Paper Issues is a small business owned and operated by Cassie Box out of Kansas City, MO. She carries the latest and greatest brands in scrapbooking. She works with a talented group of girls to inspire others in the scrapbooking community and has created a group in Facebook called Paper Issues Friends and Fans. This group has different monthly scrapbook challenges designed to motivate and inspire you to create several layouts or cards. The design team is compiled of my many talented ladies from all over.

A local scrapbook friend of mine mentioned Paper Issues to me when I was searching for inspiration. I started with Paper Issues as a Facebook Friends and Fan. I loved all the different kinds of challenges. There are so many! I was invited to be on the team about three years ago and am lucky enough to still be creating with this amazing team.”

Where do you get your inspiration to create your designs?

“I am always inspired by others! I’m a visual person so it’s very hard for me to make an original layout, but it happens from time to time. I need to be able to see something to get started. That’s why Paper Issues Friends and Fans is so great. We have a weekly sketch on Wednesdays to get creative juices flowing, Fan Feature Friday where we highlight favorite layouts in the group, and every Sunday is Scraplift Sunday. I love being able to lift a layout. I think all scrappers have a unique design style that should be recognized and appreciated. I love taking a person’s original idea and creating my own version of that to include my own style and design elements like hand stitching.”

Do you have a favorite holiday/life event to create for?

“I do not have a favorite holiday or event to scrap for. I am more of an everyday moments scrapper. The holidays and life events do make their way into my albums, but it’s not my focus. My main focus is our everyday life. The things that set our family apart from your family. It’s the silly selfies my youngest son loves to take; the back of my oldest son as he turns when he sees I’m trying to snap a picture; it’s the way my husband never smiles when he takes pictures; it’s our dogs playing or sleeping; it’s our favorite meals and family recipes; it’s about the people we love, the things we did, the places we went, to show how we lived our lives and existed, and where we came from.”

Any advice for parents, grandparents, kids or anyone interested in scrapbooking or making cards?

“There’s no right way or wrong way to get started. Just start! And I think that’s the hardest part for some. I think people feel they have to create things in a particular order, but you don’t have to. Some people want to start with a special event, or the beginning of their family pictures, or at a birth of a child. Some think you have to be completely organized and have pictures in chronological order. Some people only scrap original photos, others won’t touch them unless there is a duplicate or digital copy. That’s the beauty of the creative process – there are no rules. You find what works best for you and you just start. I always tell people to start with your favorite photo. You don’t have to love what you create the first time. But chances are you will!”

With all of the different options available to express one’s creativity, why do you choose paper?

“Why paper? Because I have real paper issues and the stacks of paper to prove it. LOL.

In all seriousness, it’s more than just the about the paper for me. Don’t get wrong, paper is the just the starting point. For me, it is about the preservation of my family’s history and something tangible to pass down for generations to come. It’s about telling our story from my point of view in a way that expresses and highlights my creativity.

I love to scrapbook old family photos, but not necessarily in a heritage style. I like to pair modern papers and embellishments with old photos. Sometimes I don’t always know the story about a particular photo, but that’s when the fun begins. I look for details in the pictures to tell me what to use with what I already know about my family history. I can pick a style, colors, patterns, and coordinate stickers, ephemera, flair, etc and incorporate different textures all based from the clues in the pictures. I love being able to create something out of paper. But there’s a lot more thought goes into it than just picking a single sheet of paper to start with.”

What other projects/endeavors are you working on?  

“I am always working on my scrapbook layouts. I have several ongoing sets I keep up with. For instance, each of my boys have their own set of scrapbook albums. I have a set of just our family. I have a set of my childhood pictures and a set of my brother’s childhood pictures just to name a few. The sets are endless. I also just finished up making a limited quantity of Christmas cards available for purchase in my new Etsy shop called Endpoint Card Shop. In the coming year, I would like to have more handmade designs available for purchase. In the future, I would really like to try quilting. I’ve been pouring over patterns I’d like to start with. Just this year, I narrowed it down to three, so the time is coming to try something new!”

Be sure to follow Wendy on Instagram – and check out the Paper Issues website and Instagram for more scrapbooking inspiration!

Wendy’s cards are available in limited quantities here.

Interested in working with us? Visit our Become an Influencer page.