10 Questions with Becky Fleck, Founder of PageMaps.com

I'm a little obsessed with Becky Fleck, founder of PageMaps.com so it was an absolute honor to pick her brain. Why do I love her so much? Well, she's a sketch artist master. She creates numerous sketches each month for everyone to benefit from FOR FREE. I've secretly desired to see more of Becky and now I'm thrilled to announce she has a book coming out, and a monthly sketch gig with Memory Makers magazine!! Read on to find out more.

1. How do you create your sketches?
   I use a combination of hand-drawings, Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and my Motion C5 tablet. It's a quirky little process, but it works for me. Most of the time, I create the sketch first. But there are instances where I create a layout based on the sketch and it turns into something totally different, and then I create a new sketch from it. Funny how that works sometimes!

2. How long does it take to create a sketch?
   That depends on two things: what two football teams are playing and who is winning and who is losing. I do most of my sketching during football season while watching college and NFL games. But for the most part, I try to finish ten sketches each Sunday.

3. How do you feel when you open scrapbook magazines and see one of your sketches in print?
   On occasion, I recognize a sketch immediately, but other times I'm not sure. The beauty of a sketch is that it is up to the artist's interpretation of it. The women who contribute to Friends of Pagemaps each month really amaze me. I'll receive their layouts for the newsletter and say to myself, "Wow, I love what she did with that sketch!"

4. Tell us about the new book.
   Scrapbook PageMaps is a hard-cover book with an interior spiral binding so it can lay flat on your work surface or even stand up on end. It contains 60 never-before-seen sketches in five popular sizes, along with 140 samples of artwork created by myself and 13 other artists. The coolest part about the book is the bonus card deck. In the back, there are 15 laminated sheets of cards and a die-cut box. You punch out the box and assemble it, then punch out all of the cards to place in the box. It's like a mini version of the book, but so handy for taking to crops, events and shopping. I love the card deck concept and think it is a real value-added part of the book! The book will be available February 28, 2008 and can be ordered directly from Memory Maker Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many local scrapbook stores and book retailers.

5. WOW! You created this book with us in mind. I think my favorite part is the laminated cards. How about you?
   I had wanted to produce a deck of cards for quite some time. In fact, a friend had even discovered a resource that could print a set for me. When I met with Memory Makers about this book in the fall of 2006, I suggested that the card deck idea become part of the book, and they were game for it!

6. When using your own sketches, do you ever take them to the next level by converting PageMaps to altered items, cards, gift bags, etc?
   Oh yes, many times! Just recently I used one of my sketches on a gift bag and another one to make an altered frame. In fact, there are several altered pieces in the book that show the versatility of sketches. Many of them work great for cards, too.

7. Where is the weirdest place you found sketch inspiration?
   I subscribe to a magazine called Anthem and I get a lot of inspiration from the crazy ads and the forward-thinking layout of the magazine. I also saw a billboard in Canada last year that inspired a sketch!

8. When you first started creating sketches at Memory Creators, I remember people referring to you as "the other Becky." Now you are huge and everyone knows your full name. Did you expect to come this far with your website, a book, and a deal with Memory Makers Magazine?
   Trust me, it was the last thing I saw coming! When I first started creating sketches in 2004, it was really more for my own benefit than anything. I share the sketches for free on my site because I don't think there are enough resources for beginning scrapbookers. When I began scrapping in 2001, I had a hard time finding much of anything to help me out. Scrapbooking has come a long way since then!

9. Where are you headed? What else can we expect from you this year?
   After finishing the book, I went back to work at BasicGrey, so I'm doing a lot of traveling and really enjoying a different creative process. BasicGrey is such a unique and unusual company and they are a really great fit with my creative style.

10. You have helped countless amounts of scrapbookers with the hardest part of scrapbooking-composition. What do you get out of the deal?
    Hee, hee, that sounded like a question Dr. Phil would ask! J Hey, everyone hits a creative wall once in a while. I know I do all the time! My payoff is helping scrappers break down the wall and get on with the creative process. A big thanks to everyone who sends me such kind emails about the PageMaps site. "Pay It Forward" is the cornerstone of PageMaps and it's great when someone takes the time to say thanks for the free resource. Also, a HUGE thank you to all the Friends of PageMaps. They create their beautiful layouts for the newsletter and site each month, giving freely of their time and talent. Y'all rock!

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