Guest Blogger Natalie Kalbach

My name is Nat Kalbach and I’m a Mixed Media Artist and Scrapbooker living in the second biggest city of Germany - in Hamburg. I love to design, teach and write - doing all of it wholeheartedly. Well...besides working as a paralegal in a big mostly legal aid handling law office. I am on several Design Teams - including the two that I share with Vicki :) Tattered Angels and SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES by 3L™. I also love to teach and travel like Vicki a lot around to do so.

Living in the heart of the city in an art&craft- thriven neighborhood, I get inspired by my urban sourrounding. I have a big heart for Graffiti and tend to take a lot of pictures of Street Art which I later on include in my layouts and designs.

When Vicki asked me to write a guest design post I knew exactly what I wanted to write :) I want to write how much she and ...for that matter Cat who posted yesterday influenced me and inspired me - and they still do!

I started scrapbooking in Fall 2004 after I got married in the States and I wanted to do something special with the wedding pictures. My husband asked me why I wouldn't do a Scrapbook and I had now idea what he was talking about since that hobby hadn't hit Germany in full force yet. So I did some research, loved the idea, found a big wellknown scrapbooking website in the states and it didn't took to long until I found a kit club where Vicki and Cat where both on the Design-Team for. The Kit Club was different back then from most of the exisiting one - it had each month a special feature on a technique and included tools or materials for this technique in their kits and on top they had a newsletter where each designteam member talked about the techniques they used and how to and showed their projects. It was STUNNING. I totally loved the idea of techniques and I still love to try out new things and do my own embellishments or backgrounds.

I remember that each month I would impatiently await my kit - often had to go to the customs and get it out of there with an extra payment of duty - and open it and ahhiiinng- and oohhinng mostly over Vicki's and Cat's projects. They were ...and they are still - just so geniune and on the messageboard and the gallery they were helpful, inspiring and pushing the members forward. It took me a couple months until I was even able to cut the papers and show my work in a gallery. My very first scrapbooking layout had machine stitching on it...speaking of being inspired - LOL. (I would say that was Cat's thing- cause she wrote the most amazing book with Stitching Projects!).

In 2006 I even interviewed them both for my blog...here is the link to Vicki's interview- can you believe it is four years ago? http://www.scrapbook-trends.com/?p=24And here is the one with Cat http://www.scrapbook-trends.com/?p=133 Many people wonder why I'm so drawn to techniques and how it came that I include them in my layouts- and all I can say is "It is all Vicki's and Cat's fault" LOL! I mean- hey...I learned how to use stencil paste on my layouts when I was just scrapping for a couple weeks ;)

Can you imagine how much it meant for me to meet my sweet muses :) at the Winter CHA 2010?

I was sooo sooo excited and it makes me still so happy that those two were the motor and driving for my creative adventure. They are wonderful people and I want to say thank you for everything you two ever did for me!

Love ya :)

Nat http://www.scrapbook-trends.com/\

edited by Vicki...

** remember to leave a comment in any or all three posts (Thurs, Fri, or Sat) with Guest Bloggers... to have your name put in the hat for giveaways.

3 different giveaways .. one each day! I'll post announcing the winners Sunday evening.