A Scrap-Booker From The Start

• I discovered the joy of scrapbooking back in 1983.  I had taken a trip to Haiti with my grandfather, and wanted a way to put it all together in an album.  I put that book together using a scissors, graphics cut out of magazines, and my snapshots stuck in a magnetic album.  I didn’t even know there was a name for what I was doing, but I knew I loved it.  It turns out there are lots of other people who enjoy it too.
• After that trip I took to Haiti, I decided that I wanted to be a nurse, and go back there, so I dedicated the next 10 years of my life studying as hard as I could so that I could get my nursing degree as soon as possible.  I graduated from Millikin University with a bachelors degree in Nursing in 1994. In the meantime,  I had returned to Haiti 4 times and was ready to use my nursing skills to serve the people there.  My husband took a trip there with me, but couldn’t see a future there for him, so I started to pray for a way to help the people in Haiti even if I couldn’t live there.

The First Concepts

• In the fall of 2002, I was expecting my 5th child, and was spending the day scrapbooking at a friends house.  Several times throughout the day, I was improvising to find a good way to place little tiny stickers.  This led to a discussion about the possibility of inventing a tool to solve this problem.  My thoughts went to the people in Haiti, and the ways I could help them if I could successfully bring a new product to market.
• My first conceptual drawings I submitted to an invention company where of a pencil-like object that had removable tips.  Then on the advice of a seasoned inventor, I decided to make a prototype, and the tool started to evolve with more and more extensions added to it.  I decided I wanted to create a set of tools that could do any task a scrapbooker might need to do.  I also realized the benefit of being able to keep it all organized, so I designed each tool to be compact and work off the same handle so it could all fit in a small innovative case.
• A retired engineer was kind enough to spend late hours, teaching me the basics of engineering drawing so that I could put on paper what I envisioned in my mind.  It was exciting to see the tools on paper and I started to see the whole kit come together.
• The wavy cutter was causing some problems because I couldn’t find a way to cut various widths of strips without the user touching the blade.  I asked my closest friends to pray with me that I could design a superior product to complete this kit.  That night I woke up from a dream that gave me the solution to my problem, and I put it down on paper as quickly as I could.
• As soon as the drawings were completed I hired a prototyping company to make a plastic version of the tools.  This helped us to see where there were any functional problems and we went back to the drawing board several times to tweek the design and make it easier to handle.
• In 2004 I learned how to write a patent, and filed the first version in March.  In May, I hired a videographer to put together a presentation video so that I could send it out to companies without  traveling in person since I was expecting my 6th child.
• Due to the fact that I was incurring overwhelming costs for legal fees, I took photography classes and opened up a business out of my home.   That gave me the opportunity to travel to Africa on a mission trip to photograph the operations of an organization working with orphaned children.  On that trip, I had the privilege of working as a nurse in a foreign country for the first time.  I also found out we were expecting baby #7.  What a blessing!

Craft-N-Doodle Comes To Life

• At a trade show in Chicago, and met Joanne Fink from Lakeside Design, who introduced me to Kim Price from Harrison Direct.  After partnering with them, the original drawings were turned over to Marche Design who took the tools to the next level and made them fully functional with a sleek design.
• I am so blessed to have had this opportunity to be a part of the process of bringing this exceptional tool to crafters all over the world.  I pray its success will benefit people far and wide, and plan to specifically bless the people in Haiti as the opportunity arises.