SYW285 – My Way with Rebeca Ruiz

[00:00:00] Jennifer Wilson: 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 285. In this episode, I'm interviewing Rebeca Ruiz for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways memory keepers get things done. We're excited to have Rebeca as the November featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

[00:00:55] Hey, Rebeca, welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

[00:00:58] Rebeca Ruiz: Hi, thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

[00:01:02] Jennifer Wilson: Can you start by sharing a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:05] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, my name is Rebeca Ruiz. I am from Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island. I have two daughters, one is 19, the other is 8 years. A little, big gap in between

[00:01:20] them. And um, I am married to my husband for 21 years. And I was born and raised here, I study industrial engineer. So this is my profession, but not the one that I'm doing right now, I'm a stay at home mom. And I work from home doing scrapbook classes, and taking care of my family.

[00:01:44] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, wonderful. What type of industrial engineering were you into when that, when that was your full time job?

[00:01:51] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I was doing, um, like professional service where I was installing systems and giving service to companies that, pharmaceutical especially. That do medicines and that, the last medicine that I was working with, not the medicine but the the work environment, we were establishing all the equipment and all that, that kind of stuff for the Viagra.

[00:02:21] So, I was working that, being sure that everything was running smoothly and the system were correct. Because there are a lot of security when you work with medicine. So we have to take care of everything from the software to the security and the process and everything about that. I was working with that.

[00:02:48] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. That's so interesting. And of course we want all of our medications to be safe for whatever reasons we're taking them. So

[00:02:57] Rebeca Ruiz: In that case, that was the last one because that was in a big demand at the moment. It was at the beginning of the Viagra. I stopped working and I didn't work as an engineer for a lot of time. Because, I didn't want to leave my daughter in any child care. I was so nervous about that that I was not sleeping and I decided to start working from home and do stuff that I can do from home. So I was in the industry for just a short period of time, something that I enjoyed because it was really good, but that was the last medicine that.

[00:03:36] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:03:37] Rebeca Ruiz: Working there. So.

[00:03:39] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. We have to follow our hearts and figure out the right path in terms of those types of decisions about staying home and for how long and how we're going to, um, to manage all of that for sure. So what is exciting you right now, both in your everyday life and your scrapbooking life?

[00:03:58] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I'm, I'm always trying to do scrapbook stuff because my mind always run in scrapbook stuff. I really, really love this hobby. It's something that I enjoy. But I also, I'm always working on stuff that is not scrapbook related. For example, I love, visiting different places with my family, with my daughter.

[00:04:23] I love reading a nice book. I love cooking, learning. I take online classes, so different kind of stuff. And every time I find a way to use them for scrapbooking, I finish using them for, for scrapbooking, no matter if it is cooking, I can find a way to scrapbook about that.

[00:04:43] And.

[00:04:43] Jennifer Wilson: For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:04:45] Rebeca Ruiz: But right now, something that is making me very happy and that is giving me a lot of joy is that I'm taking care of myself. I'm working on my health. Because I start getting weight, a lot of weight. And I decided to stop that and take care of myself a little more. So I started exercising and taking better care of what I was eating, no matter that I usually cook my food. I was eating a lot of chocolate candies and stuff that was making me gain weight, so now I'm trying to be more conscious, so far I've lost 40 pounds.

[00:05:28] Jennifer Wilson: Awesome.

[00:05:29] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah.

[00:05:30] Jennifer Wilson: I know how hard that is. So.

[00:05:31] Rebeca Ruiz: And it's very hard because sometimes we get stressed and the chocolate is looking at me and I'm trying not to look at them. So it's hard, but I'm very, very happy to the way that I've come. I still want to lose a few more pounds, not a lot more, but now it is harder, but I, I think I can do it before Christmas. So I'm working on losing 10 more pounds. And I'll be done with that, now to maintain that.

[00:06:03] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. No, that's, that often is the harder part, but I think when we, I don't know, I know the older that I get, the more I am willing to put in effort to take care of my health. Because I can see the future much clearer than I could when I was younger. And I know I want to be able to do things and do things with my children and, and all that going forward.

[00:06:26] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes, right now I'm 46 years old. I'm not scared of telling my age. I am proud of being 46. And my daughter is 8, so I want to be with her when she go to college, and when she do all the activities, now I feel more energetic, more, more, that I can do better with her, better quality of time, since I'm in a good shape and in a better health.

[00:06:54] Jennifer Wilson: Awesome. Yeah. No, cheering you on as you continue your journey.

[00:06:58] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah.

[00:06:59] Jennifer Wilson: Um, I always like to ask our guests as well about their memory keeping bucket list. So this is a list of stories or photos or experiences that you have not yet captured or documented in your scrapbooks, but feel important to do so. So do you have one story that you'd like to share with us?

[00:07:18] Rebeca Ruiz: Sure, um, I think most of us that have children, we usually scrapbook about our children. I scrapbook about my daughters a lot. And I think that I I'm not always a scrapbooking about me, especially from the past. So something that I would like to do is to scrapbook my childhood. Where I can left this history for my daughters and maybe someday grandchildren if I have some. So they can learn a little bit more about me, my family, where I came from, how it was when I was growing up. And sometimes I want to to do that, the same about my husband's photos. So we can left that for them, like our history. Because we have plenty of photos from our childhood. And some nice experiences, other not so nice. But I want to focus more on the nice things so we can left that for them to know a little bit more about our history.

[00:08:24] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, those have been, uh, some of the most challenging and rewarding types of projects that I've worked on as well. So it feels really good to do it, but it is like, it is a lot compared to just printing and scrapbooking a photo you took today.

[00:08:38] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, because it is more recent You don't have to think a lot and sometimes the quality of the photos are not the best. So we stuck in that with the, the colors the vibrant color we have right now the nice stuff and then those old photos maybe sometimes like sepia or something like that that are more vintage. Yeah.

[00:09:01] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. Though there was that time with Instagram where we made everything look like the old photos.

[00:09:07] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, and, and scrapbooking black and white photos is really nice. Because you are able to add any type of color and change everything around the photo just by having the photo black and white and forgetting about, um, coordinating the colors in the photo with the products. Because I try to coordinate my photo's color with the products that I use, so it's not that bad. Just I need to find the time to do it and take care of that part of my history.

[00:09:39] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. Well, you are our featured artist at Simple Scrapper in November. And as part of that, you'll actually be invited into our community, and I have a class on documenting your story from birth to adulthood. So maybe that is a place that you could start working on that project.

[00:09:55] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you. I'm going to enjoy that.

[00:09:59] Jennifer Wilson: So at the end of the year, we're always talking about planning. And so before we get into more of your backstory and your favorite things in scrapbooking, can you share a little bit about any kind of planning tools you use, and if any of those connect to how you keep track of your scrapbooking?

[00:10:18] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, when I scrapbook, I have two different, like, types of scrapbook. Because if I'm scrapbooking for a, an assignment for a design team, I try to limit myself to the products that they are providing me. So, I scrapbook about that, I look at the products, and then I find photos that work with that type of products.

[00:10:42] And I start by creating, like, some sketch or how to arrange my photos in those products. But when I'm scrapbooking for myself, not for any design team I usually go first to my photos, what I want to scrapbook, what story I want to tell. And then I start adding different products, and the process of doing the layout is basically the same. Once I have the photo and the product that I want to use, I start by arranging the photo. I try to use more than one photo. And trying to find products that I want to use there, and I arrange them before I start recording. And I start gluing anything, I prefer to like play with the products what I want to place this, what I want to place that. And after that I start creating the clusters and all that stuff that takes more time.

[00:11:42] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. So you're really trying to think through the whole process and know everything you're going to need and make sure it's all setup.

[00:11:50] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah. Because I used to have a scrapbook room. But when I have my second daughter, I left the room for her. And I have to move everything to different places around the house. So my scrapbook desk and the desk that everyone use when they want to do something is in the family room. So I have a wall in the family room where I have my desk, my camera, and inside my, in the master bedroom. I have a little closet that I custom made for my papers.

[00:12:30] Jennifer Wilson: Ooh, that's cool.

[00:12:33] Rebeca Ruiz: I have to go there to find the papers that I want to use and the cardstock. And also the paper punches are there. And the other stuff is in the family room in another wall. I have two walls, one for the desk and the other is for the embellishment.

[00:12:52] So I have my space very limited from having a room to have just some space. And sometimes it's not that easy to to get everything that you want to use. Because if you don't, if I don't have things that I can see them, I find that I forget about them. So I, what I've done so far is I prepare like some catalogs. For example, for my paper punches, I have a catalog that I have it near my desk. So when I want to use a paper punch, I look through the catalog and I know what I have and I go find it. So I have different types of catalogs for the inks for the paints. And this is how I manage to work in my space with the limitations that I have. But to be sure that I am able to to remember what I have and being able to use them.

[00:13:52] Jennifer Wilson: That sounds, yeah, that sounds super practical, especially when you want to be making these decisions. You know, you have your photos and maybe you're some of your, some things chosen. Like maybe you're doing an assignment and you need to coordinate inks and paints and other things. And then you have to go basically go shopping elsewhere in your home to go find those items.

[00:14:11] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, the things that I use most frequently for example the glues the scallop paper punch the ink color that I use more often, I have those near my desk. Very near because I try I don't know why but I use mostly the same colors when doing like mixed media. I try to I tend to use more blue sometimes yellow. So I have those colors near me. I have a few tools that I I'm always using my ruler my pencil my bone folder, spatula. Those kind of stuff, they are always near me so that I don't have to move anywhere. I just stay there, and the other stuff is what I try to find. And when I'm working with the design team projects, I have the products that I am assigned to use. I have them near, in a plastic, um, it's like a tote, a plastic tote. That I can fit the collection and the embellishment. I have it near me, so I'm going to work with that, open the box, I have everything ready. And once I finish the layout, I usually do layouts. I clean everything and I have to put everything back in order. Um, I, uh, I don't have the OCD diagnosed, but I'm sure 110% that I have it. Because I have to place the die cuts in the correct package, the enamel dots in the correct package, and the paper. So everything is neat and clean before my next layout. No matter if I'm going to make two or three layouts with the same collection, I need to clean in between the layouts.

[00:15:53] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Well, and I think that can be a really helpful tool. Because I know that I've sometimes, you know, even after one layout, things are stacked up and there's, it's just kind of chaos and the more that you let it go, the harder it is to find anything. And then things start falling on the floor. And so I definitely can appreciate, you know, trying to tidy up after everyone.

[00:16:14] Rebeca Ruiz: I cannot concentrate and see the design that I want if I have a lot of stuff around, so sometimes if you watch my YouTube video, you can see that I have a mess in the table. And the video jumped to a clean desk. Because in between I have to clean to find what I was looking. That little ticket, that little, um, enamel dot, that little something that I was looking, I need to have my desk clean so I can find it properly.

[00:16:43] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I think our listeners are definitely gaining a sense of what makes you you in terms of your scrapbooking. Can you take us back now and tell us how you got started in the hobby?

[00:16:54] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I was studying in the university. I was studying the, my bachelor degree in industrial engineering and I got married to my husband. So we moved because he was working, he was already graduated from engineering and he was working in a special assignment at Singapore. And we are from Puerto Rico, so we were very far. And I was there all alone the internet was not so nice and it is right now. So I was there a lot of time and I went to a library and found some scrapbook magazines.

[00:17:36] I'm all, I've been always a crafty person since I was a kid. So when I saw those magazine, I think they were Creating Keepsakes magazine. And I fall in love with the design because I was a photo lover. And papers, are something that I really, nice paper, something that I fall in love immediately and enjoy.

[00:17:59] And at that moment, I learned about a scrapbook. And when I returned home, we were there like three months in that assignment. When I returned, my friends told me, oh, we're doing something new. It's called a scrapbook and I told them I know about a scrapbook because I read about it. I was doing some internet research.

[00:18:23] I was buying stuff on eBay. It was fun because the first thing that I bought on eBay were lots of paper. And they didn't coordinate anything with the other. They were a total mess and when I get home I look at them and I say how I'm going to use them because these have like birthday stuff these are Christmas. And I learned at that moment that I have to go buy collections. And this is when I start buying more with more experience and, and doing more research. It doesn't mean that I didn't buy a lot of stuff that I saw. But I, I started in this way and after that my friends were in the Creative Memory, path.

[00:19:10] They were learning with Creative Memories, um, coordinators and people that taught them. I never go to a Creative Memories reunion. So, I, I learned from them. I got tools by telling them I want that tool. I still have my Kirby trimmer from creative memory. I don't know if you know about that trimmer that you cut the papers with some curves.

[00:19:37] Jennifer Wilson: I don't, but that sounds really fun.

[00:19:40] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah. Instead of tearing the paper or giving the curve by yourself, the trimmer has some curve, it is a blue acrylic shape that you pass the blade and cuts in a wavy form. I still have that. I don't know if it is just because of nostalgia or something because I haven't used it in years. But I have it in my trimmer's area.

[00:20:11] Jennifer Wilson: You know, it would be fun to do a layout where you use that to create something, but then do the layout about how you started scrapbooking because that connects you back to it.

[00:20:22] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, in those times we used to, to give the, the photos some forms like circles, like stars, like hearts, and.

[00:20:31] Jennifer Wilson: I do remember that part.

[00:20:33] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, so I, I have a few layouts that still have those beautiful designs by that time. Because that were the rock star at the moment. But I, I still have that trimmer. But it is nice to remember how, I started in this and after that I still learn a lot. Because I go to classes and online mostly of them online. Because here in Puerto Rico we don't have a lot of stores anymore. We used to have plenty of stores here a few years ago. I used to have one of them. Because the hobby at that time was with more followers than it is right now, right now.

[00:21:17] Not many people here is following so when I travel to United States I try to visit stores where I can see. Because the local store that I have nearest me right now is like 30 minutes from me. And I usually don't pass through it. So when I want to get something I go there. Or I buy online which is the easiest way for me.

[00:21:46] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. Now what sizes or formats are you typically creating in today? I'm imagining the way that you scrapbook looks a little bit different than it did when you first started.

[00:21:57] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I started doing most double pages 12 by 12 double pages. Because I have the the impression that that album should not have two different 12 by 12 pages. So I'm always make double layouts. Right now I'm still in the 12 by 12. But I mostly do individual pages. I don't care anymore if one on the left I have Disney and on the right I have a summer. I don't care about that.

[00:22:28] I I try to organize my albums by date. By year, especially not exactly in chronological order of that year. So I try to have them by year and by person. I have one for my little daughter, another for my bigger daughter. But not, I'm not very organized in having the layout stack very chronologically. I scrapbook about what I want and what makes me happy. It doesn't matter when I took the photos.

[00:23:00] Jennifer Wilson: Sure. Sure. No, that makes sense. Yeah. I think that works for a lot of people. To get it, you know, close ish to the year if that's the way you like to store your layouts. So.

[00:23:10] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, yeah, I try to take some time during the year to remove the layouts from the albums. Especially the ones that I created more recently. And stack them in order, but I'm not very stressed about having them in complete order of date, just by person. I like to have them. Because I think if someday, I don't know if it's going to happen, but I have faith that if they move from my home and they want to take the albums with them. So they can have them ready, this is yours or this is yours, so take them with you because this is about you.

[00:23:51] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. I don't know. I. I have that hope as well. But I also think that if I make like an 8x8 photo book of Here's Your Life, that she would prefer to take that with her.

[00:24:05] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I have, you asked me about the sizes.

[00:24:08] The truth is I have all kinds of sizes. I have six by six albums. I have eight by eight. I have a lot of, most of them are 12 by 12. And recently I started creating not a lot, but just a few pages, eight and a half by 11. And I enjoy it because it's very easy to finish an eight by and a half by 11. Uh, because that's a smaller, the page as, quicker as you can make it. And I enjoy it. Um, I made the eight and a half by 11 for the Scrapbook and Cards magazine because they gave me the opportunity to create covers for them two times. And I, the format is in eight and a half by 11. So I made them. And I have them in my 12 by 12 album inside a plastic, but I don't have an album dedicated only to 8 and a half by 11.

[00:25:06] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I love how the eight and a half by 11 and the nine by 12 page protectors, at least the ones with three holes all fit in that 12 by 12 album. And they, you know, they're not too different so that it doesn't, it's not a big deal. Um, I love eight and a half by 11 as well. I think it's a fun size. It's not as, you know, six by eight can sometimes feel really small. Um, particularly if you're not doing pockets, but eight and a half by 11 is definitely a sweet spot.

[00:25:34] Rebeca Ruiz: I like six by eight when I'm doing mini albums. I like that for mini albums because I enjoy making mini albums too. But for scrapbook pages that I want to tell a story with a few photos, I prefer 12 by 12. Because I have more space to add the photos and to add lots of embellishment because I like embellishing.

[00:25:58] Jennifer Wilson: So on that note, um, whose products are you completely obsessed with? Maybe you can share both, you know, what, what teams are a part of as well as, um, maybe the, the types of products that you like to purchase and would otherwise.

[00:26:11] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I used to have a store. So before having that store, I have my own store with a lot of products at my home. Then I have the store with more products. And when I close the store, I came with a lot of machines to home. I have to sell a lot of them. And I've been following a lot of companies from so long because I started in this hobby, I think like,

[00:26:41] in 2004. I started scrapbooking, then I got the store in 2009, I closed it for maybe 2014. I think it was. And I've known companies that are no longer here that I love, for example, BasicGrey was a company that I love. I, Tuesday, there were some Tuesday, October afternoon, October afternoon that I love a lot.

[00:27:09] But a company that I love since the beginning and I'm still with them is Simple Stories. And I'm so thrilled to be in their design team. This is a dream came true. I still can't believe that I made it into their design team. And I love, love the quality of their product and all the variety of embellishment that they release that makes my life easier when when crafting. Because at the beginning of a scrapbook, the company's really sometimes papers and stickers. And we have to make magic with that. So we use our creativity, maybe sometimes more. We create our own flowers, we find figures, like, if you are doing a Disney layout, you start printing stuff and cutting around it to create your own embellishment. But right now, they have some so many products, die cuts, stickers, chipboards, um, foam. And it is easier to have all that on hand and create. That I don't have to have so many tools and so many things around to, to create nice projects.

[00:28:26] Jennifer Wilson: No, that's, that's a very good point. Cause I think when I, so I started scrapbooking in 2008. But I started digital and I really didn't transition to paper until like 2011, 2012. And by that time, there were so many manufacturers that had such a wide variety of embellishments. And so my tool supply is actually quite small. Because I wasn't, I wasn't scrapbooking in that time when there was the need to make so many of your own embellishments. So that's definitely something that I. Yeah, hadn't really thought about in a lot of detail.

[00:28:57] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, I've seen this industry grown and then decrease and it's different because, well, right now, there are not so many companies. But the ones that we still have are doing their best to provide us with nice quality.

[00:29:17] And they are trying always to create different stuff to, to, stay in the, in the top of the, of the industry and, and to reach more clients and it's nice. But sometimes I miss creating stuff and this is when I go to my die cuts or to my electronic cutting machines and cut some flowers, some leaves to add them to the project because sometimes you have so many stuff in the package. But the only thing that you are looking for to fill a gap in between the flowers, you cannot find that. So you create your own by using die cuts or.

[00:30:00] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, certainly.

[00:30:01] Rebeca Ruiz: Fussy cutting something from another paper. So those are things that, that we still use and everything that we learn in our life is valuable because we can use that for anything. We can try to use them anytime.

[00:30:17] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, for sure. I, I'm definitely guilty of having used like most of the flowers, if not all from a package on one layout and then realize, Oh, I have no more flowers because I used them, but I want more.

[00:30:28] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes, I did that recently with a an autumn collection. That I was working and I start adding flowers and flowers and flowers. And I think I left the package with only three flowers and, and now I have a lot of paper. So I'll be cutting flowers or buying another pack of flowers. I don't know what will be easier or faster.

[00:30:53] Jennifer Wilson: I don't know. Sometimes fussy cutting too can be fun if you have flowers.

[00:30:56] Rebeca Ruiz: Oh, I love fussy cutting. I love fussy cutting. It's something that to some people it gave them stress. But for me, It destress me. I enjoy cutting. I sometimes take a paper, cut it like crazy, all the flowers, put them in a resealable bag. And then I took them when we are traveling to a far place. I took them in the car and I start cutting while we were traveling or when watching TV. I, I enjoy that.

[00:31:26] Jennifer Wilson: So kind of in that same vein, is there something that if we look at your layouts that we would notice that you use or do on most of your pages?

[00:31:34] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I love using pattern papers. I love mixing pattern papers. So you are always going to find more than three different patterns in my paper. Sometimes I use six, sometimes I use seven, eight. And I like to give dimension to my projects. So I use foam tape in my project. And something that I learned now because at the beginning when products are not so available and maybe I don't have all the money to buy them because I was a student and now I can get more.

[00:32:13] I used to, to, I add very big foam tapes to my projects, so I stack sometimes two or three pieces of foam tape together, so the project has a lot of dimension. And right now that I have so many layouts on an album because I don't throw my, my previous layout, I don't care if they are not so pretty anymore. But I still love them, and I still have some, some care about those projects. And they are very bulk, so right now, I try to use, um, foams, tapes that are not so thick

[00:32:52] that I can measure that I can give dimension. And I play with the way that I place those dimensional foam tapes in my layout. So I don't stack them anymore. But they look like they have a lot of dimension. But when you see them in person you see the dimension but they are not bulk. So I play with the positioning of those tape just to to have the dimension there but not the bulkiness.

[00:33:21] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, well and I love we just have so many options of different thicknesses these days. Um, you know, there used to be a much smaller number of products to create that dimension, maybe just like foam squares, and they were always super thick. And now we have various thicknesses of tapes and lots of different sizes and different, um, different levels of stickiness. And yeah, it's, it's handy. So.

[00:33:43] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes, it's very handy to have them. And I love all the companies are doing to provide us with those nice products. I remember at the beginning when I started scrapbooking, I used the Scotch, the green mounting tape. That was the tape that I was using for for my dimension in the layout. So it is in a roll I had to cut it in little pieces and stack a lot of pieces together to give the project dimension. Because those tapes are not very thick so I stack a lot of them.

[00:34:19] Jennifer Wilson: So let's talk about kind of your process a little bit in terms of how do you find the time and energy to be consistent with your scrapbooking?

[00:34:27] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I don't sleep a lot. And to a scrapbook, I need to have , a quiet environment, And a lot of light. I don't like a noisy environment. I am in a family room, so everybody comes here to watch TV, to play video games, and when they are doing that stuff, I cannot, um, have any creativity in my mind.

[00:34:53] I take the time to maybe fussy cut products, to, to organize, to clean. But to create something, I wake up early and I take that time alone to create, or when my husband, in the morning when my husband goes to work and my daughters are in school, I can create. So in the weekends it's hard for me to create, and in the night it's hard because I have a vision problem. I need a lot of light to see the stuff. And when I have a lot of light, the cameras don't record well. Because of the, the bright, the brightness in the photos and all that kind of reflection. So, I prefer to work in the mornings, so sometimes in the night when the, my daughters are sleeping or something, I prepare the stuff, I find the papers, I find the photo, I look through the embellishment and see, oh, I can use this one and this one and put them on the side to try them later, but in the morning is when I create. I really create, unless I am in a rush, because I am late on a day that I have to bring something or for the class that I'm working with and I, there's no remedy and I have to work in the night. Well, I do it, but it's not what I enjoy.

[00:36:23] Jennifer Wilson: That makes sense. And I think, yeah, the more that we can identify and align, uh, how we're feeling and the types of things that we can do, and we're feeling that way, uh, the more that we can line that up, the more that we can be prepared and to, to follow that system. Cause I, yeah, as well, I love, I like the natural light too.

[00:36:42] And I'm realizing that sometimes it is that I can see better during the day at night I have to like, start using my reading glasses to look at my phone and all of that.

[00:36:51] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes, I need my glasses to see from near and from far, so I'm always with my glasses. I just took them for a photo and tell me where I should smile and I smile there, but I'm not seeing you.

[00:37:06] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. But yeah, I think, yeah, if you can, even if, how do I say this? I think we think about, okay, this is the time for scrapbooking and you think about all the different things that are related to scrapbooking, but no, you don't necessarily have to put it all in that one spot. So you can do some planning, some preparation, some tidying, you know, just what we call maybe a puttering around, uh, in certain times. And then when, you know, you have maybe more of a prime time and you do feel, you know, motivated, that's when you can actually make your page. So I like how you've aligned that.

[00:37:39] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, and sometimes I start a page and I have something in my mind. And when I start arranging the things, it is not coming out as I was planning. So I pause everything, just go to do something else. And I return back with a fresh mind and put everything out and start again from scratch. Or if I have something that I like, I leave it and continue from there.

[00:38:06] But I, I, something that I learned is if it is not working, just put it on the side, go away, and come back fresh. Because, when I stay there trying and trying with something that I am not liking at the moment. At the end I finish damaging a lot of products or cutting stuff or doing things that maybe later I didn't want to do. So I learned best is to pause go out and come back fresh.

[00:38:34] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. I think that's especially, I think as scrapbookers, we can, you know, agonize over the last few embellishments. The last pieces, like what’s going to make it just so. But if we can walk away then it kind of will come back together. So.

[00:38:42] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes.

[00:38:51] Jennifer Wilson: Is there anything in our hobby that you've tried, or maybe even haven't tried, but you've decided like, it's not for you. I'm, I'm not going that direction. Um, whether it's a size, a technique, a format.

[00:39:04] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I've tried so many things. And I can tell you that I really love this hobby because it's so versatile. I can do so many stuff from the core, from recording your memories with photos, from albums, cards. And everything that I try, I really learn something and love and enjoy something about it. But the project, maybe the style that I like the less, because I like it, but It's not something that I'm passionate about.

[00:39:40] It's the 12 by 12 pocket pages. I, I, don't like them because I feel that they limit me on the decorations. Because I have to go maybe for a 4 by 6 or a 3 by 4 pocket. But I have to put some embellishment there and have a gap in between the next pocket. And I like to see the continuity, like, like having a, um, like an art canvas there and not divided. I think it's the divisions of the pocket that make me don't feel so, so related to this type of scrapbooking.

[00:40:23] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that's totally fair. I think that a lot of people feel that way. And I think the larger the pocket page, the more that that is obvious.

[00:40:30] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah. I know people that love, some of my friends love pocket pages. Because, the big canvas of a 12 by 12 make them nervous. And by having a small pocket they feel comfortable. Because they think in a small spaces. I had a photo here with some stickers But I think it limit me.

[00:40:52] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I think that's, that's totally fair. And you're not the first person to have mentioned that in this question either. So.

[00:41:02] Rebeca Ruiz: Another thing that I've tried, I'm not too passionate about it because I love how it looks and for example my daughter love it is to paint. Um, when I had the store, the paintings, the, the painting, the, the, the dolls, the doll paintings, like the magnolias at that moment, or stamps about dolls. The Prima marketing dolls that came out at that time, it was a hit.

[00:41:33] People love painting with the distressings and the Copics and all that stuff. And I try it and it is very nice because, you can forget about everything and just be painting like a kid and enjoying. But I'm so hyper. I'm always doing stuff and moving and going from here to there, and I don't have the patience to wait until the paint dries and come back.

[00:42:00] But I'm not, no, I'm not that type of person. So I, gave everything I have for painting to my daughter, my big daughter. She loves to draw and paint. And I gave that to her and she's enjoying that when she have the time. Because right now she's in college, also studying engineering as my husband and I. And the time is not always there available to do that. But when she have the time, she, she paints. She's not a scrapbooker. She tried, but it is not for her. So she have my painting stuff.

[00:42:33] Jennifer Wilson: You know, and she'll, she'll come back to it. Like, I think, as you said, you were, you know, always into crafty things as a child yourself. And when we, we go away and have more limited space and especially something that's taking up all of our focus, which is going to school. Um, but we always find our way back. Cause I remember taking all of my art supplies with me and they, they stayed in a box under my bed for four years. And then, you know, eventually I found my way back to it.

[00:42:57] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes. I think, when we have more stress in life, we need something to escape from that stress. And having a craft or a hobby that we love, no matter what hobby it is, it is something that is, I think having a hobby is something that every person needs to have. No matter if it is reading, if it is photography, if it is just walking, or, I don't know, talking with some people. Everybody needs a hobby and escape from the reality of life and the stress and all the adulting that we have to do.

[00:43:32] Jennifer Wilson: All that adulting for sure. I mean, yeah, so, uh, organizing definitely can feel like adulting unless maybe it's someone like you who really enjoys it.

[00:43:42] Do you have any additional, uh, tips or solutions that have worked really well for you with organizing?

[00:43:48] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I I am a huge organizer. I tend to have my design team products apart from the stuff that I buy. Because when I'm designing for them, I want to go to that place. So I have a tote, for example, for Simple Stories, I have a tote where I place all my collections since they released them.

[00:44:15] I have them in order and I have another tote for the washi tapes and another tote where I have the embellishment in a bag for collection. For example, if I'm doing the Christmas X Christmas collection, I have all the embellishment in that bag. So I have to create something I go for the paper the embellishment and the washi and I have them together. I have them in totes in my family room under the table. It's not the best spot, but it's where I can reach them easily. And I don't take anybody that visit me to this area because I don't like them seeing under my table. But this is how I have to stuff them, and the other things, since I don't have a lot of paper, well, I have the papers in plastic bags, resealable plastic bags. I place them by, if they have a specific theme like Christmas, or if they are Disney related, or if they are Halloween, well, I have those by theme. The other general stuff that you can use any time of the year, I have them by manufacturer. So I have my summer stuff labeled, my Christmas stuff labeled, my school stuff labeled, my Disney stuff labeled. Some things like this, and the other stuff by manufacturer. I still have some Basic Grey, I still have the October Afternoon that I mentioned. Um, the Sassafras. I still have some of those.

[00:45:55] Jennifer Wilson: I think I have one piece of paper of Sassafras still, so.

[00:45:59] Rebeca Ruiz: I still don't know if I want to use them or just collect them because they are so pretty that I don't know if I want to. I have those type of, of arrangements so I can look easily when I want to do some school project I go to that box. And find all the papers there. And then on the family I have the embellishment in a canvas

[00:46:22] tote. And there I place the embellishment by theme, as I mentioned. Because since I don't have a lot of space, I use a lot of resealable bags. So I can play with the limited space that I have. I wish I could have everything by together, the papers and embellishment. But I don't have the space to have them. So I need to use what I have without losing my products.

[00:46:52] Jennifer Wilson: Well, and to kind of to optimize the space that you do have as well, because the bags take up, they're less bulky than say a box, for example.

[00:47:01] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes. I tried having them in boxes but it was so much space that I was needing that I need to get rid of a lot of stuff that I like and I said no. I prefer to go back to the bags and forget about the boxes I can live with the bags.

[00:47:18] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes.

[00:47:20] Rebeca Ruiz: And they are inside a canvas tote. So nobody see them in the, in the bags.

[00:47:25] Jennifer Wilson: There you go. Yeah, no, that, that helps too. If you can, you know, hide your storage a little bit, um, as long as you remember what's in there.

[00:47:33] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes, yes.

[00:47:34] Jennifer Wilson: So our last two questions are a little bit more big picture, a little bit more, you know, uh, thinky or deep. Um, so where would you like your scrapbooking to be in 10 years?

[00:47:44] Rebeca Ruiz: Well, I enjoy sharing my knowledge with people. And I enjoy, when people ask me what I do and how it is done. I love that question because I can show them and I initiate them in the hobby if possible. I give them stuff so they can fall in love with the hobby. Because I think if we share that and other people learn, this will continue. So it is a win win for everybody. Because we can continue growing in this hobby more people come to it and it is a win win for everyone. So I hope in the next coming years I can have a better space. Right now I'm thinking on maybe making a room outside the home where I can have my My stuff all together. And have a designated spot for everything. But I'm not sure about that because I'm scared that well kids grow and they want to have their own home their own life.

[00:48:50] So maybe one day they will go. And I can't have my room back, so what I'm going to do with that empty space, some more to clean, so less space to scrapbook. So I'm giving it some thought. I'm not sure right now about having that room outside the home. And, but what I'm sure I know, I want to have maybe a website. Where I can Um, sell the classes that I made. And I will continue growing my YouTube community and my social media community. And I don't know what else is going to come. I'm not a TikToker. I'm not into TikTok. I don't know if I'm going to do that maybe in the future, but I don't think so. So I think I would like to grow my community, to share with other people what I know. And continue doing this just for fun and enjoying it. Because the best part is to enjoy the process while documenting the memories. If it is not giving joy, then it is not worth it.

[00:49:55] Jennifer Wilson: Well, that joy just leads to everything else. So I think if you always bring it back to that, it all works out.

[00:50:02] Rebeca Ruiz: Yes.

[00:50:02] Jennifer Wilson: Then finally, what has being a scrapbooker taught you?

[00:50:05] Rebeca Ruiz: I've learned from a lot of scrapbookers. Because I enjoy watching different people in YouTube and social media. So I've learned a little bit from everybody that I, I follow. Because it doesn't matter if the person is new maybe the person have a good idea on how to use a product. Or how to store something or how to clean a product.

[00:50:37] There is always an opportunity to learn from everybody. That's what I believe. So it doesn't matter if it's new or if a famous person or not. I can always learn from everybody, maybe a trick about how to use the photo, how to print, the best quality of paper, the best quality of product. By, by following people, for example, I've learned to edit my photos better.

[00:51:07] So I can have, since I use a white cardstock a lot. For example, in a class with Meghann Andrew in the SCT online workshops that they provide. She taught us about how to edit the white areas and I learned that and it is a huge change that I made in my photos just with a simple trick, something very easy and I appreciate it.

[00:51:35] I have used it a lot. I've also learned how to do the chain stitching. How to use the mixed media products by watching Vicki Boutin and the stencils and her classes. So there is always opportunity to learn from people. Sometimes I learn about products in Ikea from looking at other people's stuff that they teach us. So it's always something there.

[00:52:03] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, for sure. I think, yeah, that there's, and there's always something new as well. There's always a new perspective. So it's just, it's an ongoing source of, of inspiration, being a part of the

[00:52:14] Rebeca Ruiz: community.

[00:52:15] Yes, yes, and the story, the story that people share, why they scrapbook or how they start this and what they scrapbook about. Those stories, the journaling in their stories, their journaling on Instagram or on Facebook or when they share their projects, this is something very important for me. I enjoy learning about them.

[00:52:42] I enjoy, because sometimes I learn to look at the things in a different perspective. And I never thought about scrapbooking about that. But when I see what happened to them, or why they are scrapbooking that, it's like turned the light on and says, Hmm, this is important and I never thought about that. So, it's something that I enjoy doing and it's always great to learn from other people. This is a community that always is taking care of one of another and supporting one another, so it's the best hobby. It's the best community. And I love everything about it because it's really helpful for the soul.

[00:53:23] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, yes. Well said. This has been so lovely to get to know you better. Can you share where our listeners can find you online? Anything you might have new or coming up at the very end of this year?

[00:53:34] Rebeca Ruiz: Sure, um, you can find me on Instagram, under my name, Rebeca, this is R E B E C A underscore ruiz, RUIZ zero one. I use my name because I, I, everything was taken, so I didn't stress a lot. I used my email. That's it, , and you can find me on Facebook by Simply Rebeca. You can find me on my blog, Simply Rebeca on blogspot.

[00:54:06] And I have my YouTube channel, Simply Rebeca. You can find the links to almost, if you visit one of my social media, you are going to find the links to the other there. Right now, I'm working on classes. I'm teaching online classes. And people can get the kit to create the layouts with the class. I will ship them to Puerto Rico and United States. And people from other areas that don't want to buy the kit.

[00:54:36] They are also buying the digital instructions. I'm doing a summer event in Puerto Rico. I started this year. It was very successful. I do it with my friend Dorymar, who is also from Puerto Rico. She is not living here right now, but she is very talented. I teach layout and she teaches Um, mini albums. It was an amazing weekend and that's basically what I'm doing.

[00:55:04] So maybe in the future I will have a website where you can get the, the kits for the classes easily. Because right now you need to contact me and I will get the information and get the kit to you on the mail. But I don't have a website as it is. But I'm doing great. The community is well growing and I'm enjoying by sharing my talents and my knowledge with other people.

[00:55:34] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that's fantastic. And we will definitely include all those links in the show notes.

[00:55:39] Thank

[00:55:39] you.

[00:55:39] again for chatting with me.

[00:55:41] Rebeca Ruiz: It was amazing knowing you and having this conversation and thank you so much for the opportunity. And I can't wait to see your class to get my childhood memories done.

[00:55:54] Jennifer Wilson: It's called Before Your Story. It's a whole, like it's a whole system with worksheets and all the things that you need to, to, go through your brain to figure out what memories you want to include. So.

[00:56:04] Rebeca Ruiz: Yeah, it sounds amazing. I know it is going to be amazing.

[00:56:07] Jennifer Wilson: And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to scrapbook your way.