SYW121 – Photography as a Way of Life

Ettiene Rickels 0:00

It's definitely been a journey and I've been learning new areas and I don't have any one area that I say, hey, this is my thing. I want to learn them all and bring a piece of it into my life.

Jennifer Wilson 0:11

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 121. In this episode, I'm joined by Creative Team member Ettiene Rickels. Our conversation explores how photography became her passion and favorite vehicle for personal storytelling. If you enjoy this episode Ettiene will be sharing more about her photography projects at our next Refresh Retreat. Starting on July 8, Refresh is a four day online reset for your creative soul and is exclusively for our members. Let's get into my conversation with Etienne.

Jennifer Wilson 0:58

Welcome to the podcast Ettiene.

Ettiene Rickels 1:00

Thanks for having me.

Jennifer Wilson 1:02

I am looking forward to talking to you so much. You've been on our Creative Team and I just I'm such an admirer of your work and I can't wait to get to know you better. Can you kick things off and share a little bit about yourself for our audience?

Ettiene Rickels 1:16

Sounds great. So my name is Ettiene Rickles, I am an engineer for my day job. And then I am married. My husband's name is Tracy. We've been married for 10 years. We have two kids, Robin and Nora. They're eight and five. And we live in northern New Jersey.

Jennifer Wilson 1:35

Very cool. And I'm sure you know your family as your photographic subjects will come out in some of our conversation. But before we get to our main topic, I'm curious if there's anything that's exciting you in memory keeping right now.

Ettiene Rickels 1:50

Yeah, so what's really exciting me is the idea of a summer Bucket List. I love the idea that you kind of map out a adventure for the summer. And so two of the team members of Feed Your Craft, Susan and Krystal just did beautiful summer bucket lists for the latest release. And I was so inspired by them. And I definitely want to try to create something with my girls for this summer.

Jennifer Wilson 2:18

Oh, that sounds so fun. We have kind of like a mini goal right now of trying to visit a new park every week, even if it's just like going and walking around for an hour, but to visit and say that we can we visited all the parks in our town over the summer. So I'm looking forward to that too.

Ettiene Rickels 2:34

That's a cool goal. I like it.

Jennifer Wilson 2:37

So of course, we always like to talk about our storytelling Bucket List as well. And these are sometimes richer, deeper stories, ones that feel important to capture. So what is one story on your memory keeping Bucket List?

Ettiene Rickels 2:51

So one of the stories I've been kind of not documenting yet is the story of my second daughter's birth. So for that I actually had a birth photographer who took some fabulous pictures. And I have just kind of stored them and not done anything with them. And part of the reason is her birth was a little bit crazy and dramatic. And so I, I didn't want to touch them right away. But I really want to make an album with those photos and that story so that she can have it.

Jennifer Wilson 3:31

That sounds like such a treasure. But I think anytime we go through dramatic or even traumatic experiences, we don't know how to capture that in a way that that feels authentic, yet appropriate. And you know, there's so many different feelings that go into that, but I can't wait to see what you do with that story.

Ettiene Rickels 3:49

Thank you.

Jennifer Wilson 3:51

So I wanted to have you come on here to talk about photography, and specifically about having this habit of photography and what that means for you as a person as a creative, and how that all kind of feeds into our lives as Memory Keepers. So maybe you kind of back up a little bit and share. Let's go more into who you are. I noticed that your tagline says, you ever wish for a friend who loves beer, food and photography, that's me. But I also come with two naughty girls who are wired on sugar. And I read that I'm like, oh my gosh, we need to hang out more. I do wish for that kind of friend all the time. So first of all, just a fun question. Tell me the kind of beers that you like.

Ettiene Rickels 4:36

So I like most beer, which doesn't really narrow it down. But I really adore IPAs. And I really have a focus on like local made beer. So I'm really into like the local brewery scene and what we are growing in our neighborhood. I'm lucky to live by the Hudson Valley in New York where there's a lot of farms and a lot of farm brewery. So I really love supporting them.

Jennifer Wilson 5:02

Oh, that's super fun. I am definitely like, I can drink a a summery not so hoppy IPA, but other than that, the IPAs are sometimes a little bit too much for me. But definitely, with the local breweries, I've been drinking this kind of, it's like a double cream ale. It's a coffee flavored beer. And to me, it really just tastes like a latte with some with a beer alcohol twist. So it's super fun. And it's made at this friend's brewery that's only about 45 minutes away near where my husband grew up. So...

Ettiene Rickels 5:35

Nice. Coffee, beer sounds delicious.

Jennifer Wilson 5:38

It really is. So what else should we know about you?

Ettiene Rickels 5:45

So I think like, for me, a big part of my personality is like developing a community. And so over the past couple years, my community's really developed online. So you'll see, I'm really active in the scrapbooking community online, and I'm really active in the photography community online. I think part of that has to do with being an introvert a little and just doing better in my home. But I really have loved how I've met a lot of friends over the this community that I felt both in photography and in scrapbooking, and just how they, they kind of make my life richer every day. So that's a little bit about me, you'll find me online a lot.

Jennifer Wilson 6:32

You and it's so interesting that we all need community, we just may need to find it, utilize it, lean on it and nurture it a little bit differently depending on our personality type. It's not that introverts don't need community and don't need support, and don't need to even give back to communities. We just made to have different boundaries and structures around that. So I'm curious with the you know, your online photography community, where do you meet new people? And where are you hanging out?

Ettiene Rickels 7:06

So, a little bit about my photography journey, but I started in Clickin Moms, which is a group a website, very similar to Simple Scrapper. So I started there, and I actually built a side community where we were doing a daily photo project. And so there was a group of about 40 women who embarked on this project and got to know each other over the years. So if you look at the community, I felt through my Instagram, it's mostly those women that were following each other and commenting daily on each other's photos. And I've been so fortunate to be able to go and meet them at conferences yearly. We take photo trips, if we can yearly, and we meet up from all over the country. And they're my biggest supporters. I've known them for probably seven years now. And there's not a day that goes by that we don't chat or I don't, you know, think about them, or just see a piece of their life through their photographs.

Jennifer Wilson 8:07

That's so beautiful. I love that. I maybe should have hung out more at Clickin Moms back when I was a member definitely was back, I feel like it was back in the day so long ago. Can you maybe go into more of what? What made you sign into Clickin Moms for the first time? What was the transition into developing this love of photography?

Ettiene Rickels 8:30

Yes, so I always growing up, had a love of photography and having tangible pictures. I wasn't ever very good. And I was the person with like the disposable camera or the cheap film camera. So I didn't really know what I was doing. But then when my daughter was born, we bought a DSLR. And it sat for probably six months without me knowing how to use it. And I knew like from my scrapbooking how powerful having a DSLR could be and how great my pictures could be, but didn't know a start. So I decided to join on a whim for Clickin Moms. And I actually decided within like a couple weeks of being there that I should do a daily photo project and join this team of women to do it. And I was 100% out of my league, I had no idea what I was doing. But slowly through this habit daily, and through kind of the support of Clickin Moms and these friends I made. I went from being pretty bad at photography to being pretty good by the end of the first year. And so it was really great to see the transition. And that just helped me keep going and stay motivated.

Jennifer Wilson 9:45

And how has that evolved from that first daily practice to your your life today? What is what does photography look like in your life right now?

Ettiene Rickels 9:55

Yeah, so it it went from me trying to really just learn the base. And figure out what I was doing to now it is a much more personal extension of myself. And so for me, I still have a daily photo habit. But when you look at my photos, I think they really are a reflection of where I am. So I do a lot of photos that for me feel very moody. And so you'll see in my flower photographs, they really are telling you how I'm feeling that day, if they're bright, I'm having a great happy day. And if they're a little dark, maybe a little moody, I may be just working through something. And so now to me, photography is kind of a piece of self care when I want to take a moment to myself and relax, and just like reflect on my day and what's around me, I turned to photography to tell that story.

Jennifer Wilson 11:01

OH, this is so fascinating, because it's almost like visual art journaling. But you're doing that with your photographic choices both with, you know, the, in your shooting, and I'm sure in post processing as well.

Ettiene Rickels 11:14

Yeah, for for me, photography is the way I tell my story, much more than the words I put on my page.

Jennifer Wilson 11:23

Very cool. So one of the, you mentioned flowers already, but what is, what are some of the other subjects that you're capturing?

Ettiene Rickels 11:29

Yeah, so I have two kids, like I said, so they're some of my favorite subjects. They are not always cooperative, which I think is kind of great, because then you get to see their personality and the whole spectrum of it through responses they give you. And then I'm really into self portraits, too. I think self portraits are really hard. And you can be really critical of yourself. But I think the more you take self portraits, the more you find the beauty in who you are. And so actually, self portraits is another way I kind of express mood, or just kind of expressing appreciation for myself and where I live, you'll see I do a lot of like environmental self portraits in the woods. And that's very reflective of just the love of my environment and, and being here.

Jennifer Wilson 12:25

Why do you think this, kind of maybe is going a little bit deeper? Why do you think this practice has become so important to you? It sounds like something that you couldn't. It's not just, oh, this is a whim craft that I'm going to work on. This has become part and parcel of who you are.

Ettiene Rickels 12:41

Yeah, for sure. It's definitely who I am. I think if you look at my, just my day, I'm very busy with work, I work a full time job. And I really need a hobby that doesn't take up hours in my day. And it's just something I can do quickly in little pockets of time. So photography has really become that for me. You don't need to have a long time to take a photograph, you can take a very simple photograph in a couple seconds, and even save the editing for later. And so I just have this continuous habit that I can fit into my life however I want.

Jennifer Wilson 13:23

I'm curious with that, like how, how do your photography and scrapbooking practices connect? Are they like, fully intertwined as photography always leads to scrapbooking? Or is there a certain degree of separation between them? Because as you just said, it doesn't take as much time to take a photo as it does to make a page.

Ettiene Rickels 13:44

Yeah, so for scrapbooking, I scrapbook very in the moment scrapbooks. And so you won't see me going back 10 years and scrapbooking what happened then. You'll see me scrapbooking, mostly the current season. And I think the photography habit allows me to have those stories regularly that I can tap into. Or if I get like new products I want to use, I can say hey, I'll just go take a couple photographs of this so that I have it and can use it immediately. So you'll kind of see that in my scrapbooking. You'll also see I do Project Life album. And so a lot of my photos, get put in there kind of as filler cards versus using a traditional four by six filler card, I'll put just my own photograph in there. And it may have less to do with my day or my week, and more to do with how I was feeling or just the beauty that that's in the season.

Jennifer Wilson 14:43

Oh, I love that. I've noticed, I've noticed myself doing that as well with the photo book that I'm working on this year because sometimes there's just there's not as much of a story or I don't want to tell the story in this location, but I really like this photo. So I'm going to include it here and it's just part of the overall design of the project, because I'm glad I took it. You know, that's, that in itself is it's almost like an extra piece of artwork, as you said, like a filler card that you created yourself.

Ettiene Rickels 15:10

Yeah, and for me, not every photo gets scrapped, scrapbooked. But every photo I think gets told the story through like my Instagram, I'll post it on there if it's just a really good photo, but I don't have anything to do with it. And I feel like that also creates almost a storybook for you to have in memory keeping method.

Jennifer Wilson 15:30

Oh, for sure. So let's talk a little bit about the projects that are on your plate right now your photo projects, I know you, you you started with the photo a day project, this has become something that you've really loved.

Ettiene Rickels 15:43

So right now, I still do a photo a day, I do have periods of time where I stopped. So I've restarted my photo a day, starting June 1. And I still share with the photo group as much as I can. I also have some unintentional projects. So one is my daughter has these five Baby Alive dolls, and you usually find them in my house in a pile somewhere. And I think it kind of tells the story of her childhood and just the moment she's in. So I will often take photos of the baby dolls and where they are to kind of compile one day and have like a look at how her year five went through these babies.

Jennifer Wilson 16:25

Those are such, sometimes they're they're sweet and creepy, and just funny. Everything all at once. I love them so much.

Ettiene Rickels 16:34

They're very funny little baby dolls. And they have a good photographic personality, like they always shine through in the photos.

Jennifer Wilson 16:42

Yes, for sure. It reminds I'm trying to think of like, what, what do we have that gets left around the house here. And the thing that's most striking is that we probably own seven or eight hairbrushes. And I kept buying more because I'm like, could never find a hairbrush. And so there's now just there's always on every surface, there is a hairbrush at one time I gather them all up, and I even put them in the drawer away. And then you know, 24 hours later, there's no hairbrushes in the drawer anymore. So that could be something that's kind of it's not quite as personality wise photogenic as the baby lives. But it certainly tells a story about the way our life is right now.

Ettiene Rickels 17:20

I followed a photographer who actually took photos for families, but one of the photos she always took was a photo of their hose. And it was just interesting how in everybody's houses, their hoses were kind of placed in these areas in different ways. And it was just like a little quirk she had, but it was really, it taught, it taught me that you could really take anything and make it into art, just depending on your perspective and the story you want to tell. And so I kind of keep that in mind when I look for these found objects around the house.

Jennifer Wilson 17:54

Oh, that's so interesting, because, you know, my husband's very do it yourself. And so he very meticulously winds his hose back into a circle yet my neighbor, she is she likes her little crank thing that that brings it back to the house and all that. So that's, that's super fun. Everybody does it differently for sure. Whereas I just like shove it in the corner in a pile,

Ettiene Rickels 18:17

Yeah, mine's just usually probably just in the driveway somewhere where the kids have dragged it.

Jennifer Wilson 18:24

So you've mentioned the Clicking Mom's community as and just the practice of it that helps you develop your skills, but what types of things did you intentionally do to become a stronger photographer?

Ettiene Rickels 18:38

So for me, I think the the main thing I've done is I've just taken this photo every single day. And I have done it for seven years. And when I tell you I'm busy, I'm busy, and I take the photo and then at night, I took five minutes to edit it. But when I'm editing it, what I'm really doing is some self critique. And they're not always great photos. Sometimes they're really bad. And I think in that five minutes, what I learned is that tomorrow, I don't want to do the same mistake. And so over time, I have built a better photo habit. And I'm able to see some of the things I want to develop in my photos easier. So it's not been a short journey. I know there are some people who immediately can take good, good pictures. I was not one of those people. But I think just through continuous habit continuously looking at it myself and saying where do I want to be tomorrow. I've built kind of a better photo habit and I have become a better photographer throughout it all. So I would say just keep at it. Keep at it daily. When you're frustrated when the photos are bad. Just keep at it and just know the next day it could be better.

Jennifer Wilson 19:56

Well, it sounds like a few stay so almost like inward. focused, it helps you also develop your, your style and your what you want to communicate through your photos more so than always reaching externally for, you know, tutorials or or input.

Ettiene Rickels 20:14

Yeah, for sure. And I think, like I have done a lot of classes and tutorials. But I really try to do them in small pieces and then translate it into my work so that I'm not so much copying, I'm just influenced a little and trying a new technique, or maybe a new method of shooting, but it always feels very organic to who I am and what my style is.

Jennifer Wilson 20:42

So I think this is a controversial topic or not, but I'm curious, does equipment matter to you? Because I can see that some photographers are like, Oh, yes, 100% and others who maybe have a different value and meaning behind it would say absolutely not.

Ettiene Rickels 20:59

Yeah, I think it's, it's an interesting question, because I will say, photographers very quickly get into all the things and wanting all the things. But I started off for probably about a year and a half shooting on just an entry level DSLR, and an entry level lens. And it was more about the habit at that point and learning my camera and how to see light, it took me probably two and a half years to see light, which is like the key to photographs. But yeah, I don't think you really need like top of the line equipment to be able to get good photographs. That being said, Now I do have some really nice equipment. But I also shoot all my film work on a $25 camera off eBay. So I don't think you need to have the best of everything or fancy equipment to have this habit and to make beautiful photographs.

Jennifer Wilson 21:59

Can we talk a little bit about film because I noticed that you maybe have even mix of digital and film photos. And I'm curious how, how does one even try to work on film photography these days with we just don't have the same kind of access to supplies and developing that we used to?

Ettiene Rickels 22:17

Yeah, so every couple years, I try something new. And so probably about two or three years ago, I actually was fortunate enough to win a film class. And so and the the person offering the class sent me a camera. And so I kind of got thrown in and set up. And film is this beautiful craft, where it's less about the editing and more about taking time, and being patient and just waiting and really looking at what's in front of you. So I think it's a beautiful habit. And it's a beautiful way to relax. So I actually took a class, there's a couple classes you can take on film, surprisingly. I think Clickin Mom's has some, there's some private classes you can take. And I just got out there and shot. And the pretty amazing thing about film is, you are really good. I don't know why. But my photographs are really, really good in my eyes on like, 36 roll, 36 inch roll of film, I probably have 34 images that are decent. So that's kind of why I love film. It's amazing. It's magical.

Jennifer Wilson 23:31

Well, I think there's a unique combination of that the patience that you have to provide for it because you don't have unlimited exposures there. But then also just that unique quality of film. That's why so many presets and filters these days are based on film, because we're trying to make our digital photos look like film used to.

Ettiene Rickels 23:51

There's something so magical and nostalgic, and just beautiful about it for me like film is just special. And I think like maybe it reminds me of my childhood. It's just really fun. And like it's something new. So, So when you're taking photographs every day, you're kind of looking for something new that you can still put your mark on and for me film spin that.

Jennifer Wilson 24:17

I love that. It looks seems like overall, you're kind of experimental. You're you're following your own intuition. What have been some of your other favorite experiments that you've tried and tried to capture things a certain way or I noticed you've done some double exposures.

Ettiene Rickels 24:33

Yeah, for me, I'm usually trying to keep pushing and learning new things. But some of my favorite experiments, I have to one is every like October, I take a series of ghost photos of my child, the children. And so I either do multiple exposures where I put like four of them so that they look like ghosts and they get a little transparent and then I also We'll do like slow shutter speed so that you get that motion that a ghost might have. And so that's one of the most fun and my, my children love it, they think it's so great to get in a sheet and run around the backyard and act crazy. And our sheet is pink. So I make them all into black and white, but the sheet is pink when when I actually take them. So it's pretty funny, funny activity we do together, but some of my favorite photos come out of that. And then the second I have is I do a lot of freelancing, which I think freelancing is when you remove the camera lens from the camera, and you just hold it up to the camera. So not for the faint of heart, because you can get dust inside your camera. But what it does is it creates kind of this magical, like light leak effect in your camera and everything gets like a little not as sharp on the edges. And it just is a great way to show mood and show. I don't know just beauty and emotion. So we do a lot of freelancing you'll see, especially with plants and flowers,

Jennifer Wilson 26:09

Oh my gosh, I didn't even know that was a thing. So I will have to learn more about that. Because it sounds really fun to try out. So yeah, and I think on the same note, you're there's not this like dramatic consistency. And I say that in a really positive way. Because it sounds like you've you know, your photos reflect your mood. And that's up and down. And sometimes you want more vibrant saturated colors. And sometimes you want more dark moody, desaturated what particular like style or aesthetic or overall look, are you most drawn to today? Or does it really vary depending on what's going on with you?

Ettiene Rickels 26:48

I think that you will, I do have an aesthetic. It, I love the like play of shadows and light. And so a lot of my photos, you'll see very dark areas in them with a little bit of light. I think also, if you look at my photographs, a lot of them have a common theme of calm and peace. Like I get my kids kind of lying around sometimes relaxing, I get my coffee in the morning, I think is like one of the most peaceful things you could photograph. And so a lot of my photos will have this dark and moody kind of calm to them. But really, my Instagram for my photography is just what I'm doing and how I'm experimenting. So you will see a lot of variation in it. And that's part of the journey for me is like every day, I'm trying to become a better photographer. I'm trying to learn something new, or just experiment with my feelings, my emotions, and my skills. So you'll kind of see that in my in my photography.

Jennifer Wilson 28:01

Yeah, I love to kind of as I scrolled backwards, just seeing your journey and to see okay, now during this period of time, she was really into this. And then this period of time, she was working on other things, and I just love that the evolution and growth of of you as a as a student of photography.

Ettiene Rickels 28:18

Yeah, for sure. It's definitely been a journey. And I've been learning new areas, and I don't have any one area that I say, hey, this is my thing. I want to learn them all and bring a piece of it into into my life.

Jennifer Wilson 28:33

So lovely. I'm curious if there are other favorite ways that you like to tell stories through the choices that you make?

Ettiene Rickels 28:43

Yeah, so I talked a little bit about freelancing. And I think that is a great way to show mood and calm. I also have a really cool lens called the Lens Baby. And what that does is it blurs the edges of your photographs. And I think that's really useful if you want to show motion or excitement. So that's another thing I like to use. I have some vintage lenses that have really good bokeh and I really love to do those with flowers in maybe like more joyful bright settings so so it'll make this really cool bokeh in the background that kind of to me looks like confetti and joy. So I kind of use every lens a little bit differently depending on what my mood is you'll see me switching lens quite often.

Jennifer Wilson 29:37

Well it sounds like that's just part of the the creative process for you is the making making the choices with the photographic equipment that you're picking up.

Ettiene Rickels 29:46

For sure for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 29:49

I think yeah, to me that just sounds super fun just like we whether you're having fun with your scrapbook supplies or or your new journaling stickers, you know if you are into photography, having a suite of things you can choose from can keep it interesting and fun as you learn and try new things.

Ettiene Rickels 30:06

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 30:07

So after 120 episodes of the podcast, one of the most common things that has been brought up was just giving yourself permission to experiment and try new things. And we've certainly mentioned that today, but I want to see if we can go deeper than that. Is growing your abilities really about trying new things? Or is it about that pure consistency in shooting? Doing what you know, again, and again? And I think we've touched on this a little bit already. But I'm curious if you have further thoughts?

Ettiene Rickels 30:37

Yeah, for me, I think it's about the consistency and doing it daily, or just regularly, it doesn't have to be daily, but just regularly and showing up for your photography. I think if you are doing it that consistently, you may get bored. So I think then you try to do other things to kind of experiment and bring a different viewpoint in to change it up a bit. But I really think like, the main thing that has helped me is to just keep shooting, just keep maintaining that consistency over time.

Jennifer Wilson 31:13

Well and I think that kind of creativity that comes out of boredom, sometimes can be more, more creative, more powerful than creativity of just for the sake of doing something new. Like if you've, you feel like okay, I've done this, I've done this, I've done this. Now I need to look at the problem a different way that often comes up with some creative solutions and or new ideas, new perspectives.

Ettiene Rickels 31:37

Yes, yes, I think there's part of getting better is to reflect on your work and say, What can I do next time? What can I do next time. And so part of that is, you know, doing the same sort of things, but figuring out how you can do it a little bit different next time.

Jennifer Wilson 31:54

For sure. So what advice would you have for someone who is kind of an admirer of beautiful photos, maybe looks at your feeds and just doesn't know where to begin? How did they get started?

Ettiene Rickels 32:09

It probably won't come as a surprise. But I would say just pick up your camera and shoot. Shoot today, and then shoot tomorrow and the next day. And just keep at it. Try to find a community to where you can show people your work, you can just have others for me, having others see my work and just comment on it really keeps me motivated and keeps me going and builds this community that I'm striving for. So that's part of why I share. But that helps me go and learn new things and really be motivated to continue this journey.

Jennifer Wilson 32:45

And I'm assuming that you would say it's okay, even if that's just your iPhone or your smartphone that pick up pick it up and start taking the photos.

Ettiene Rickels 32:53

Yeah, for sure. You can take photos that are beautiful with anything. There are, you know, photographers that only shoot with their iPhone, and they do some amazing work. So just take whatever camera you have, even if it is an old vintage film camera, pick it up, and just shoot and then reflect on what you took pictures of and how they make you feel, what you want to do better next time. And that's how you just build the habit over time.

Jennifer Wilson 33:23

Well, I am feeling the itch to go dig out my husband's Pentax camera from the 70s and maybe find some film for it. So...

Ettiene Rickels 33:30

I'll hook you up with a film of film buying place and a film lab.

Jennifer Wilson 33:35

All right, can you share those references for us right now?

Ettiene Rickels 33:38

Yeah, so I buy most of my film from B&H. You can buy almost anything at B&H.

Jennifer Wilson 33:44

Yeah, I mean, I buy all my printing equipment from my printer inks, papers, all my photographic equipment, my video equipment. Everything's from B&H. That's for sure.

Ettiene Rickels 33:56

Yeah. And I mostly shoot Portrait 400, which is pretty easy to get. But I also shoot Kodak Color, Color Plus, which is a much less expensive film, and still produces beautiful results. And then I get all my film developed at Indie Film Lab, and it's a really cool process. It's not like we used to do back in the day. What you do is you send them the film and then they send you back in your email digital files so you don't have to pick up prints. You don't have to do any of that.

Jennifer Wilson 34:27

Oh, nice. That's a very convenient way to do it these days. All right. This has been so delightful. I'd love to get to know you better and hope to do more in the future. You're such a wonderful asset to our team. Can you share where exactly where we can find you online, anything you have new or coming up in the future?

Ettiene Rickels 34:47

Yeah, so you can find me and my scrapbooking work at er_creates. And then my photography work is @ettienerickelsphotography on Instagram and I I'm also on the Simple Scrapper team. So you will see my work inside SPARK magazine.

Jennifer Wilson 35:05

Yes. And also, you're actually going to be our keynote presenter for our next Refresh Retreat. So we're entering into this Photos Journey, as we've been talking about here on the podcast. And you're going to talk more about your photo projects and, and how that has fed you and the different creative avenues you've gone down with those projects. I can't wait for that.

Ettiene Rickels 35:28

Thank you. I'm so excited to show off some of my work and show how some of these projects come together.

Jennifer Wilson 35:36

And the next session of Refresh begins at July 8, so it's coming up soon here. And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way. If you like the podcast, you'll love being a member. When you join, you'll get access to weekly Zoom crops, bimonthly retreats, and a huge content library. You can head over to simplescrapper.com/membership to learn more and join our creative community.