About Us

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GENERAL INFORMATION	MISSION STATEMENT
BELIEFS	METHODS
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE	HOW WE CAME TO BE

Scrap University is devoted to providing a scrapbook education to scrapbook businesses, scrapbook instructors and scrappers of all kinds by providing the necessary tools of the trade. We are located in Dayton, Ohio and use the internet to reach all those interested in expanding their scrapbook knowledge. We focus on educational programs that allow scrappers to scrap beyond a 2-page spread and truly Master The Art of Scrapbooking.

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Master the Art of Scrapbooking

What Our Mission Means: We have the resources and classes available so that all who scrapbook have the opportunity to learn the skills and the tools necessary to truly master the art. No matter what your personal scrapbook style is, there are still fundamental concepts and techniques to be learned. Learning these skills better equips you to think beyond the ordinary to create extraordinary works of art!

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We believe that scrapbook businesses need to be equipped with the proper tools to be successful; tools for organization, management and effective class programs.

We believe scrappers have a desire to see more value in the tools they have or want and yearn to learn beyond the 2-page spread.

We believe that participants should be taught in such a way that they are able to create for a lifetime instead of one layout for a day.

We believe in classes where participants walk away with a comprehensive understanding of the techniques taught as well as have tangible materials that can be referenced to replicate those techniques.

We believe classes should be fun and interactive where all levels of scrappers can share their experiences and learn new techniques.

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Research - We take the time to research the products we use in our classes. We focus on tools and products that are great additions to the industry but that are not seen in every market or that are overshadowed in existing class programs. By showcasing these product lines, we keep the classes fresh and exciting and support those manufacturers who are creating outside the box (or should we say page).

Class Packages - We offer comprehensive class packages for scrapbook businesses and instructors geared towards educating the instructor and equipping the business with all the pieces needed to market and have a successful class program.

Business Management Tools - We offer several organizational & business tools, along with consulting services to help the success of scrapbook businesses.

Class Kits - Educating scrappers goes beyond a store's walls as we send classes into homes.

Resource Binders - We have two different resource binders which extend the learning process beyond the class. A binder for businesses offers marketing tips, make-and-take ideas and more while the scrapper's version organizes their tools and provides additional tips and resources for continued education.

Online Learning - We continue to educate and inspire through our online campus where we have a library of resources, an art gallery, an interactive forum and more.

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Lisa is the Dean of Program Development and brings with her a variety of professional experiences that are perfectly suited for this position. She has a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry; a minor concentration in effective group and interpersonal communications; and has a Master's Degree in the Management of Nonprofit Organizations.

She has been a professional trainer and leader in the nonprofit sector both as a volunteer and through employment opportunities. She has conducted extensive workshops on leadership, effective time-management, team building, conflict management, coaching, volunteerism, effective board management and has taught a class on leadership at the University of Dayton. She has developed the majority of the materials and workshops that that she used in her trainings.

She has a passion and love of the visual arts which started at a young age and led her to attend extensive classes over a four year period of time and continues to educate herself in this area. She has been scrapbooking for over 10 years and prior to working with Scrap University, taught scrapbook classes at a local shopping center.

She comes from a family of entrepreneurs and was involved in working in a family retail store at the early age of twelve.

We are happy to have Lisa on board and believe that her experiences will be invaluable in working with Scrap University!

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The owner of Scrap University has been involved in retail stores since the early eighties with extensive management and training experience. She has been the head of management training for a regional retail chain where she developed and implemented the training program for all the retail store locations throughout Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Prior to being promoted to the training position, she simultaneaously managed two stores. She then oversaw the opening of several super-sized locations.

She also has an entreprenual background as the past owner of two retail stores with one business having two different locations. Because of this experience, she understands the needs of retail business owners.

Although she works mainly behind the scenes, her past management and entreprenuial experiences are key aspects of this new venture with Scrap University.

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I've been scrapbooking for over 10 years now. It was a natural craft for me to pick up since I have always been involved in art and love to take pictures. Scrapbook pages became my new canvas and has really let me explore my artistic side which I had neglected for some time. Within in a very short period of time (probably after the first page I completed), it became my passion and my addiction. I can't get enough of it or its tools.

For many years, I scrapbooked in my own little world in the corner of my family room. Then after moving back to my home town, I found a scrap group that met every week at a local scrapbook store and quickly became friends. Because of this group, I started attending classes, going to conventions and retreats and spreading my scrapbook wings. As our group began to grow, I noticed that I was spending much of my time helping the other group members than working on my own pages when we were together. I didn't mind it and in fact, rather enjoyed it. I like helping people - it's an even stronger passion than scrapbooking.

Within this group, I became known for a few things -

My obession for using rulers. I use rulers for everything! I don't trust paper cutters so I pre-measure before I cut. I use a ruler to line up everything on my page and to place each element. I have rulers that are 1/4" wide, 1/2" wide, 2" wide and in a variety of lengths. I have straight ones, ones that tear, T-shaped and L-shaped rulers. I even have one that lets you make a perfect curve.

My ability to match colors. With my art background, colors came naturally to me so if anybody ever needed help matching colors or choosing colors for a page, I was the one they came too.

My ability to teach.

My ability to organize.

Through this interaction with my scrap group, a few events happened that pointed me in the direction of being involved in a scrapbook education center. The first event that sticks out in my head so clearly was when a group of us decided to drive to a new scrapbook store that was a little distance away. While at the store, someone saw the new EK Success color wheel and we started discussing color. As I began to talk to about how to use the color wheel, a small crowd was forming around me. At first, I just thought it was my friends but then realized that almost everyone in the store was listening to what I was saying. Well, the store owner must have been happy, because they sold out of the color wheels and actually didn't have enough of them for everyone. This event repeated itself at two other stores when I was with friends and again was showing them how to use the color wheel.

It didn't surprise me that I could teach. I've been a leadership workshop trainer since the early 1990's and was a professional trainer in the nonprofit sector for several years. But I was amazed how much scrappers wanted to learn about the tools of the trade! They either owned the tools and wished they could use them more or didn't even purchase the tools because they didn't know what to do with them.

The second aspect that lead me to Scrap University was my growing disappointment with the classes I took. Don't get me wrong, they were well taught classes. I just happened to see a stack of 2-page spreads, tags, borders, etc. piling up in a binder and not being used. The main reason I wasn't using them is because the colors or themes of the projects weren't suiting my scrapbooks. The second reason I was becoming more and more disappointed was because in looking at the time spent in class, we were spending more time on creating the two pages than we were in learning the technique.

In the two and a half hours that we were there, we only made 4 quilled designs, all of which used the same quilled shape and took a matter of minutes to create. The rest of the time was spent making the tags where we attached the quilled designs. It felt more like a tag class than a quilling class. I was really looking forward to that class but left so disappointed that I stopped taking a lot of classes.

I created a few classes with a new format in mind and offered the classes locally. All three classes were well received and participants commented how much they learned and liked the format. So the idea of making classes began to blossom into a complete business plan. I joined forces with a friend who has many years of retail experience. She started the business and I became the Dean of Program Development and Scrap University was born!

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Master the Art of Scrapbooking