Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Team -
Melanie Cockshott

Digital Scrapbook Layout Artist

I am a stay-at-home mom to three kiddos – Christopher, 16, Matthew, 13, and Caitlyn, 8. We currently live in The Woodlands, Texas, after living in California for eight years. I was born in Louisiana and am a Southern Belle at heart, so I am happy to be back to my roots. I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Shane, for 17 years. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Family and Consumer Resources from the University of Arizona, but my kids don’t really understand what that is, so I just tell them I have a degree in being a mom!

I discovered scrapbooking after my younger son was born, and my oldest son started school. I decided it was time to start putting together baby books. I was always discouraged with paper scrapping because it was so expensive and messy. Also, I could never seem to get the looks I wanted with paper because everything seemed to need a different tool or machine to produce the effects I was seeing in magazines. One day I stumbled upon an ad for the free Refresh digital scrapbooking kit from Scrap Girls. I downloaded the kit and signed up for the newsletter, but it would be another year before I really understood what digital scrapbooking was. After much frustration with Photoshop Elements and no results, I bought Ro’s Software Secrets Revealed tutorials - and the light finally turned on! I have been a Scrap Girls Forum and Gallery member since May 2007. I am excited that my 8-year-old daughter is showing lots of interest in learning to scrapbook as well as taking pictures. She can do a whole layout in PSE with very little technical help from me. It is so much fun sharing this hobby with her.

I scrap with PSE 10 and have three Canon point-and-shoot cameras in addition to my cell phone camera. I have to have at least two cameras in my purse when I leave the house because I like to give the extra one to the kids. I find it fascinating to see what catches their eye when we are out and about.

Now that all of my children are in school, I spend lots of time volunteering at their schools. My oldest plays the trumpet in marching band, so while I am not in his classrooms anymore, there is a lot of volunteer work for the band. I had originally wanted to be a teacher, so I feel like volunteering gives me all the fun without all the hard work! When I am not spending my free time at home scrapping, I enjoy reading and indulging in my addiction to Pinterest.

And no, I never have finished those baby books!

User Name: mbc72
Melanie's Digital Scrapbook Layout Gallery