Get to Know Rita

Please join us today and take a moment to get to know one of our Designers, Rita Shimniok a bit more!

1)Tell us about yourself and your family?
I've been married just over 20 yrs. to a wonderful husband and father, who supports my passion for scrapbooking and is a great encourager. We have two children, our son Kyle is 12, and daughter Abby is 7. I am the night owl in the family - and stay up too often into the wee hours of the morning scrapbooking. What’s great is that Kyle gets up early every morning, makes himself breakfast and wakes me up about 6:45 so I can shower, send him off to school, and get Abby ready for school and myself out to work. I wonder how many night owl moms have that luxury - but it sure is a blessing. If I have a deadline my family pitches in with cooking and laundry. We all love bird watching and enjoy nature hikes - our town has many trails, including the Ice Age Trail, which is an awesome national trail system, running through areas of our town. It's great!

2) How did you start scrapbooking?
My sister encouraged me to start when we adopted our daughter, Abby. I admit that I resisted her urging for some time as I was focused on designing and making quilts.

3) How long have you been scrapbooking?
In high school I enjoyed cutting out articles, and putting photos and school memorabilia into a memory book, but nothing was acid free or "pretty". Using "real" supplies I have been scrapbooking about 5.5 years. When Abby turned 18 mos. I realized I better get started before I was too far behind, and my son was quick to notice that I needed to do pages of his photos as well. Now both children have an abundance. (LOL)

4) What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Truthfully, I love to be home on vacation time. Some of my favorite vacations have been day trips to a state park or nature preserve, lunch with a view, and being in my own bed at night. Although most memorable was a train ride in Canada seven years ago, and I do have several dream vacation ideas, for the most part, I am a home body like the rest of my family. And I confess...I like to be near my scrapbooking supplies so I can play when everyone else is sleeping.

5) How would you describe your style?
Eclectic. I like curves, details that help tell the story, and enjoy finding or making the right elements. I love to play with paint, ink and/or sparkle mediums - it keeps me young. (LOL)

6) How do you feel about journaling? A lot, a little?
It's interesting how my journaling style has changed. When I began scrapbooking my "problem" was that I journaled almost too much, if there can be such a thing. I have always enjoyed writing, and sometimes would have to create little books or hidden journaling pockets to contain all that I wanted to share. Over the years I have really cut back on the amount I write, but for me - every page has to have journaling. Twenty years from now no one is likely going to remember the meaning or situation behind a photo. I don't want my family, future generations, to look at my pages and wonder what was going on. Having said that, my journaling is sometimes reflective - not necessarily telling why the photo was taken and where, but instead shares thoughts, advice, original poem, or scripture that I want to share with our kids. Someday they may look at these pages and perhaps what I have written will meet them where they are at with a situation they are going through in life. It is my hope it will help them out emotionally or spiritually.

7) Do you have a favorite color? Do you feel it plays an influence in your scrapping?
I have favorite color(s), and could not possibly narrow it down to one - but can say that I am especially drawn to bright colors. Even though I am drawn to gecko green, turquoise, red and orange - the photos I am scrapping will determine the products I choose. I will fully admit that I buy clothes for our daughter, and myself, to go with papers I am eager to use.

8) Do you have your own scrap space? Share a pic…tell us about it.

I'll be completely honest - my scrap space is currently a mess. My husband is nearly done building a custom cabinet, which he started before I was blessed to be on the BoBunny team. I have run out of organized storage, even though my space is in an unfinished basement of which I seem to claim more and more space. When the cabinet is finished I suspect it will become a BoB cabinet, with a few compartments utilized for my small bottles and pots of specialty mediums. I promise to show it off when it is done. Meanwhile, here is a glimpse of my space from 4 yrs. ago - making the most of concrete walls. I love the 12 x4 ft. conference table my husband bought for $20 when the company he is working for had a moving sale. It is very solid, and takes a lot of abuse and nearly killed the two men who had to carry it to the basement. (LOL) A friend, or our daughter, can scrap beside me as long as I clean up my mess.

9) What would be your ideal dinner or dessert? Or both! LOL

My favorite dinner is bulgogi, which is Korean BBQ (click that link for a recipe). Bulgogi is served with rice and wrapped in romaine lettuce leaves to eat. It is extremely delicious, yet doesn’t overly fill one up, which means…. room for dessert! In that regard - just bring on the chocolate in any form!

10) Share your favorite photo and tell us what makes it your favorite?

Every time I see this photo of Jesse taking Abby into his arms for the first time at O’Hare International Airport I relive her “gotcha day”, and the huge wave of emotions we were all riding on. It still tugs on my heartstrings, and tears, seven years later.

11) What or where do you go for inspiration?

I am most often inspired by photos or product, but have been known to sketch an idea and jot some words during a Sunday message at church. A lot of times ideas will pop into my head while I am in the shower (I believe it is because the running water shuts out all other distracting sounds), or into my head during the night. If the latter happens, I need to get out of bed and make notes or I won't be able to return to sleep.

12) How do you start working? Sketch, supplies, photos..

Supplies and/or photos, but never a sketch. I am drawn by either photos or product at the beginning of a project, and once that is determined I go from there. I store my photos in 3 ring binders, with 4x6 in storage pages by Avery; and I use 8.5x11 sheet protectors to store enlargements. Sorted by season, holiday, or portrait - it makes finding the right photos an easy process.

13) What’s your favorite Bo Bunny layout or project?

I really love the crossword puzzle layout I created for last week’s "14 loves" challenge - in part because it was an interactive layout to create with and for my family. If I have to pick one all time favorite, however, and this was a tough choice - it is "Bee-ing Around You Makes Me Smile", which I use on Facebook as my avatar. I love the bright colors of Love Shack and the fact that I am surrounded by my family.

14) What is your favorite Bo Bunny product to work with?
I love BoBunny products because everything I need to create a great project is available. Now, with the new releases - it is even better! But if I had to pick one it would be the patterned paper - paper can be turned into embellishments, title letters - just about anything with a craft knife, punch, die-cut system, glazes and other mediums. BoBunny paper designs are always a perfect fit for my style of papercrafting and storytelling.

15) What other crafts to you enjoy? Or hobbies?

Through the years I have crafted much - cross-stitch, flower making, ceramics, sewing clothes, welding functional garden art with copper pipe, and just prior to scrapbooking, I used to quilt. I hope to someday finish the quilt projects abandoned when I began scrapbooking, which started about the time my sewing machine broke. Fortunately many of my previous craft supplies can be worked into scrapbooking. I inherited an old pink Singer from the 1950s that allows me to stitch on my pages. I do enjoy flower gardening, and especially enjoy nature photography. I also do a bit of digital scrapbooking, and work in hybrid projects now and then as well.

16) Any advice to someone who is just starting scrapbooking?

Be true to yourself. When I began scrapbooking I did as I was instructed and did not enjoy the creative process. I decided to throw out the rules and play to my heart’s content, and scrapbooking has become my mental therapy. If you like a trend, embrace it, but don't do it because Jane Smith is doing it. Don't scrapbook to impress others, but to leave an impression of who you are as a person. In fact, I think that is a good way to live life, and one of the keys to happy creating.

Get to know...Juliana Michaels!!!

Join us today as we share and get to know our talented Designer Juliana Michaels!!!

She joined our team in September and has wowed us all with her beautiful work!

Read on to learn more about Juliana...





1) Tell us about yourself and your family?

I am married to my best friend and the love of my life Danny! We met in church and started dating about 8 months after we first met. We got engaged after about 8 months of dating and then were married about a year later! We have been married for four years and it just keeps getting better and better! We also have a horse named Woody who is the pride and joy of my husband, but he is a bit to big and tall for me! LOL!!!

2) How did you start scrapbooking?

I started seriously scrapbooking about 13 years ago. A guy I worked with who knew I enjoyed making crafts he introduced me to his girlfriend at the time. I remember him telling me that she does this “cool stuff with scrapbooks and pictures and stuff”. Little did I know that I would fall in love with the art of scrapbooking and gain a best friend!

3) How long have you been scrapbooking?

I have been scrapbooking for 13 years the safe way with acid free products; however I put together scrapbooks using those old magnetic albums when I was in junior high school.

4) What’s your favorite vacation spot?

Anywhere there is surf, sand and sun! I love the beach and if I had to pick one favorite place I would probably have to chose Kiawah Island!

5) How would you describe your style?

This is always a tough question for me! Over the years my style has changed & it continues to constantly evolve as I play with new products & try new techniques. Either way, everything I create is all me & what I am having fun with at the moment! I tend to prefer clean lines, but love to play with texture and color.

6) How do you feel about journaling?

I personally do not enjoy doing it, and often find that I have run out of room for it when I am designing my layouts. That being said, I still try to squeeze it in because I do believe it is an important part of the process if you are creating your layout to record memories.

7) Do you have a favorite color? Do you feel it plays an influence in your scrapping?

My favorite color is orange, followed closely by chocolate brown and green. I love warm fall like colors. When it comes to scrapbooking though, I am mostly influenced by the photos that I am working with when selecting colors rather than what colors I like.

8) Do you have your own scrap space?

I do have my own scrappy space in one of our spare bedrooms, and I absolutely love it! It is nothing fancy, but it works for me. I have my own system of storage, but I do occasionally change some things around. I really like to have things out where I can easily get to them so I don’t forget what I have on hand. I am however very particular about keeping my room neat and clutter free which means that I very frequently go through what I have and purge anything that is 6-12 months old. If it sits that long, I know I am not ever going to use it!

9) What would be your ideal dinner or dessert?

I am all about food, so this is pretty easy! I especially love Mexican food so I would have to go with the following: fresh made guacamole and chips followed by a main course of either tamales or a chile relleno with a side of rice and beans. As for dessert…I love chocolate preferably cake, cookies, or brownies so any of those will do! I recently discovered the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownies! Oh they are yummy! (I warned you, I love food! LOL!!!)

10) Share your favorite photo and tell us what makes it your favorite?

Trying to select one favorite photo is really hard! I decided to select this one of me and my husband from our wedding day! Just looking at it brings back so many wonderful memories of that special day and it reminds me of how very blessed I am!
11) What or where do you go for inspiration?

I get some of my inspiration from perusing various online scrapbook galleries or looking through scrapbook magazines. However I am probably the most inspired by the papers and photos that I have to work with.

12) How do you start working? Sketch, supplies, photos...

I start with my deciding on what photos I want to work with and then I pull out coordinating papers, embellishments, etc. Then I draw a sketch. I very rarely work without a sketch in front of me. It helps me organize where I want to place things. I am also a slow scrapper and I enjoy having time to let a layout or project sit in my brain a few days once I get an idea. Then when I go to sit down and create it, it usually comes together a little easier for me. I am also a huge fan of removable adhesive. I like to be able to rearrange and move things around before I commit to their final placement on the page.

13) What’s your favorite Bo Bunny layout or project?

One of my favorite projects is the Boo Crew Haunted House! I have recently fallen in love with creating altered items and this is definitely one of my favorite altered projects! It was also one of those ideas in the beginning that I really wasn't sure what the end result would be, but I love how it all came together! Plus, I just love Halloween and the little Halloween characters that are a part of this line were just begging for a place to go trick or treating!

14) What is your favorite Bo Bunny product to work with?

My absolute favorite products are the Bo Bunny patterned paper s and the cardstock. Give me that, some scissors, an exacto knife, a ruler and some adhesive and I am quite content to play for hours!!!

15) What other crafts to you enjoy? Or hobbies?

Some other activities that I enjoy are reading, cooking, working out, and camping. I used to enjoy a few other crafts such as crochet and needle work, but I have gotten away from these the last few years as I have become more and more engrossed in scrapbooking and playing with paper.

16) Any advice to someone who is just starting scrapbooking?

Scrapbooking to me is a form of art and self expression just as much as it is about telling a story and recording your memories. You just need to decide for yourself why you are scrapbooking and then step back, enjoy the process and be yourself. Look to others for inspiration, but do not get engrossed in trying to do something that is not you. You and your family will enjoy what you are creating much more if it comes from your heart!

Thanks so much Juliana for sharing a bit of you with all of us today!! We're so fortunate to have you as part of the Bo Bunny Design Team!!