About SDU


Taught at your local scrapbook store, Scrapbook Design & You® teaches beginner through advanced scrapbookers the essential scrapbook theories and principles of design. SDU® will dramatically enhance the skills of any scrapbooker to create dynamic scrapbook pages. Program graduates will be able to fully embrace the value and message of our slogan for SDU: Theory - Technique - Foundation - Success™!

In each class, you will receive all the materials necessary to complete the coursework. You may be expected to bring along some tools of your own, as well as have the opportunity to try out some new classroom supplies. All class projects fit right inside your collectable binder. The assembled binder will become your complete guide to scrapbooking.



The core SDU Curriculum provides each student with:
  • A 10-part education series for every skill level.
  • A chance to get acquainted with the tools of the trade.
  • The opportunity to learn successful color selection & layout design theory.
  • An appreciation for the importance of journaling, hand lettering and titles in design.
  • New techniques for matting photos, getting stickers out of the collections, and giving new life to punches.
  • A certificate of completion and graduation pin upon completion.
Foster the core foundation with the advanced SDU Methods. Discover how to:
  • Effectively mix a variety of patterns.
  • Create unique embellishing projects.
  • Develop intricate design work using EK Paper Shapers® Punches.
  • Collect a designer pin each time a Methods class is mastered
Explore the magic of Disney® with the Selectives™ class:
  • Complete twelve 8x8" scrapbook pages.
  • Receive a Disney collector's pin
  • Take home an idea book full of additional Disney layouts.



How SDU Got Started 
SDU started with one passionate scrapbook retailer who wanted to show her customers how fun and easy scrapbooking could be. Joy Macdonell and her sister opened the first scrapbook store in the Washington D.C. area in 1997. When Joy discovered that traditional scrapbook classes did not teach how to develop a strong scrapbook foundation, she set out to write her own curriculum. Joy's philosophy is "there is no wrong way to scrapbook, but if you know the fundamental theories and techniques, you will be empowered to create any page with your own style."


About the SDU® Team
Joy Macdonell, Education Director/SDU Founder/National Spokesperson
Joy has been taking pictures and crafting with photos since childhood. She has taught scrapbooking since 1996 and is the Education Director and National Spokesperson at EK Success. She hosted "Greetings" from DIY, has crafted on 50+ segments on DIY Scrapbooking, and appeared on Paint, Paper and Craft! and hosts the new EK Success DVD "Scrapbooking with Joy". Joy has had her story featured in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, interviews and writes regularly for trade magazines, industry websites, podcasts and blogs. Joy's love for scrapbooking is inspired by her husband Duncan and children Ginny and Devin, whose faces smile all over the pages of Scrapbook Design & You.
Joy Macdonell


Shane Hershey Shane Hershey, SDU Education Manager
Shane is the SDU Education Manager for EK Success. He holds a BA in Counseling from Ohio Christian University and began working in the Craft and Hobby Industry in 2002 as the Director of Retail Operations for a local scrapbook store and internet commerce site. Shane has been scrapbooking since the early 1990's and has enjoyed industry responsibilities that include: independent retail public relations, marketing, buying and a successful implementation of the SDU curriculum in a retail environment. Shane has had many journalistic experiences and has a true passion for capturing memories through writing. He has written for such publications as Scrapbook Retailer Magazine and takes each step in his career as an opportunity to promote the growth of memory preservation.