Interview with Angela Richards

I recently judged at a county fair, as I have almost every year for the past two decades. Overall, the quality of the entries was outstanding. There were glue gun strings on a few of the entries, but thankfully no fleas. The entrants made my job fun by forcing me to closely examine each piece to search for any flaws, any tiny details, that could mean the difference between first and second place.

As I said, I've been judging for many years. This year I did something I have never done before: I was so impressed with a project that I asked the Exhibits Coordinator to give my name and contact information to one of the entrants. Her project was so outstanding that I felt like it needed to be seen by a wider audience than those who attend the fair. Angela Richards has graciously agreed to be interviewed so that you can learn more about the artist behind that amazing project. Here's what she entered:

There is so much to love about this project! Not only is it beautifully designed, but the topic is so much fun. Angela did an excellent job of balancing all the elements. The journaling is outstanding and the whole thing is unlike any other scrapbook page I've ever seen. Here's a closer look at each side:

Cindy: Angela, thanks for agreeing to an interview! Tell us a little about yourself.... starting with your age.

Angela: Currently, I am seventeen. However, I’ll be 18 before summer's end.

Cindy: How long have you been scrapbooking and how did you get started?

Angela: I’ve been scrapbooking on and off for eight years. Usually I’ll get an idea and hope that I find the time to sit down and create. How did I get started? I don’t really have a definite answer. I guess it was just another creative thing for me to try.

Cindy: What inspired this project? Are you a stamp collector?

Angela: One of my favorite vacation destinations is Washington D.C. and my favorite activity is visiting museums. The newest Smithsonian, the National Postal Museum, was my inspiration for this project. I love how their galleries use stamps to tell United States and Global History. On my first visit there, I was delighted to find the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. This exhibit allows visitors to look though trays of historic stamps and select a few to take home with them and is where I acquired my first historic stamps. Am I a stamp collector? No, not really. What you see on my layout represents most of my ‘collection'.

Cindy: How long did this project take to complete? Any particularly challenging parts?

Angela: From idea conception to final completion: about 3 months. From when I actually began work: 36 hours. It did present some challenges. The first was finding an effective method to anchor the stamps without damaging them. Eventually, I settled on using photo corners on two opposite corners of each stamp due to trial and error. Another challenge was how I wanted to tell the story. Originally, I thought about creating a poster, however a scrapbook layout seemed much safer for my stamps. My initial plan was to have a timeline from America’s discovery to present day but as with any project, it evolved as I worked.

Cindy: I'd love to see more of your work. Do you have a blog or a gallery where you upload projects?

Angela: Not yet. I’m hoping to get something together eventually...

Cindy: Let us know when you do! Are you primarily a paper crafter, or do you have other creative outlets?

Angela: Paper crafting is just one of many things that I do. Fiber arts (knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, needlework), creative writing, cake decorating, and more are also in my creative repertoire.

Cindy: Angela, thank you so much for your time!