Gold Star – Susan

Today, we will meet a very active member of our community. Susan has been with us for over 3 years now and she loves photography!

Tell us a bit about you

You can call me Susan, but I will answer to any version of my name, such as; Suz, Sue, Suzy, Suzy-Q, Suzin, and even Sue’s-In, which I used jokingly for a period of time.  However, there is one version that is a no-no to call me.  That is Susanna, the name my mom called me when I was in deep, deep trouble.  That is why I do not like that name.

I was born in June 1965, on the Westcoast, in a little seaside town called Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia (Canada). I only lived there for 3 days when my parents made the trip to Vancouver and whisked me off to the interior of the province.  There, I met my three older siblings; all of us adopted.  I don’t remember a time when either of us didn’t know we were adopted.  I am the youngest with a brother (also Vancouver born) 2 years older, a sister and brother (both Saskatchewan born) 7 & 9 yrs older.  The oldest siblings are actually full blood brother and sister adopted 2 yrs apart, but that’s a story for another time.

I have lived most of my life in the province of British Columbia, in various cities just outside the Vancouver area (called the Fraser Valley) or in the interior of the province in both the Thompson and Okanagan areas.  I have lived near mountains and water most of my life and would consider myself a mountain girl.  Now, I live one province to the east in St. Albert, Alberta.  The land of incredibly expansive beautiful skies, sunsets, sunrises and of course Northern Lights.  Alberta is also well known for Jasper and Banff national parks which are about 3 hours south (Banff) and west (Jasper) from where I live.  The only problem living in a flat area of the province is I have no sense of direction and get lost driving anywhere; there are no mountains to tell me what direction I’m going.

How did you start working with PSP?

Photography led me to PSP.  Two important people in my life at two very different times would set me on the path of photography that would eventually lead me to PaintShop Pro and Scrapbook Campus.

My brother (+ 9 yrs older) gave me a Ricoh KR10 SLR camera for Christmas one year (1982).  Which lead me to take photography and darkroom film developing in high school, where I also used a Pentax K1000 SLR camera.  Four years later I would become a photo lab supervisor for 6 yrs.  I ate, drank, and breathed photography in those years.  When film photography started to fade, I switched to some other hobbies where I found I needed to photograph what I was doing.  I got my first very basic entry level dSLR camera in 2007.  Flash forward to 2017, while attending my nieces wedding, I re-connected with my brother-in-law who I had adored (and lost touch with due to a divorce).  He sent me home with his older camera he wasn’t using anymore, a Canon 7D.  It was a heartfelt moment  as I never thought I would own a camera of this caliber.  A week later a box arrived in the mail with an extra lens and two shiny colorful boxes; Paintshop Pro X4 & X9 Ultimate!  I could not figure out how to use it and so it sat unused.   I opened a Corel email on Christmas Day in 2018, they had a version for $25 CAD.  At that price I figured there was no risk if I didn’t use it.  I would go on to purchase 2019 and 2020 before I ever used it.

I chose PaintShop Pro because it is a standalone program that doesn’t require a subscription and because it’s a powerful yet affordable program.  I bought it initially to learn how to edit my photos but through the magic of layers I learned I would be able to express my creativity in a much larger way.  I consider myself a beginner who’s on the verge of average.  I think I’d need three lifetimes to explore what I want to learn with PSP.

How did you get to join the Campus?

When I was about to give up on learning PSP, in May 2021 I received another email from Corel where I saw the advertising for the Scrapbook Bootcamp….for FREE!  There was nothing to lose at that price.  I sure wasn’t expecting the incredible journey it would lead me on, and the wonderful people I would meet. This journey has sparked my passion for photography in a whole (still unbelievable to me) new way.

I completed my very first project (aside from the sandwich and setting the table) in the Scrapbook Bootcamp, May 2021, and I felt like a rock star! I couldn’t believe I made it.  After the bootcamp, I didn’t want to the momentum to slow down so I bought the Basic Scrapbook course.  And after that I still wanted more instruction and I took the trial Diamond membership deal.  It changed everything.  It’s one of the most bang-for-your-buck memberships I’ve ever had.  And Carole’s teaching style is perfect for my learning style.  As for what style layouts do I do.  Well, that is yet to be determined as I am enjoying exploring different styles and learning from the all the amazingly creative members who inspire me, cheer me on and guide me when I need it.  Being a Diamond member gives me constant access to Workshops, Notebook Labs, Tutorials, Masterclasses, Monthly Challenges and Diamond-Only Workshops so learning at my own pace can continue….for those three lifetimes that I need.

I know that if I had not opened that email about the Bootcamp I would likely have given up learning how to use PSP.  I am truly grateful for Carole and all the members of the Scrapbook Campus; you changed everything for me.

Can you share some projects you have created?

Here are some of the projects I created through different events and sections of the Campus.

This was the very first project I created during the first bootcamp I joined, in 2021.

This one was part of a random challenge in the forum.

Here is a project following a Lab module that included banners and lifted flaps techniques.

During the Mask Workshop, I completed this among the multiple projects.

A scraplift challenge.

And even one project created following a tutorial in the book Digital Scrapbooking Made Easy with PaintShop Pro.

For someone who joined the Campus "just to learn about PSP", we can say that Susan has become a skilled scrapbooker! If you want to join the Campus as a DIAMOND member, and access all those classes, tutorials, and workshops that Susan mentioned, you can do so by visiting this page. Come and join our friendly and supportive community!