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• New St. John's priest welcomes Muslims, Sikhs at installation

• Pacific's new president is meeting community, learning area

• Friends hold 'high tea' at home of Lockeford founder

• Regional Roundup

• Public Meetings

November 19th, 2009

• Logbook

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Operation: Christmas

• Corrections

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Chase ends in crash

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

November 18th, 2009

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Regional Roundup

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

November 17th, 2009

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Regional Roundup

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Clarification

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

November 16th, 2009

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Regional Roundup

• Correction

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Public Meetings

November 14th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

November 13th, 2009

• What to expect with new homebuyer tax credit

• Lodi Muslim: Local mosque not involved

• Regional Roundup

• Burglary suspects are under arrest

• Lodi veteran recounts close calls in Vietnam

• Mayor Larry Hansen points out Lodi's economic progress

• First phase of Lockeford park by 2011?

November 12th, 2009

• Logbook

• Correction

• Robotics team at Jim Elliot invited to compete in Israel

• City of Lodi begins annual leaf removal program Monday

• Liberty Ranch construction at standstill as state pulls funds

• Will Lodi adopt a program that will allow volunteers to work at parks?

• With song and speech, veterans are recognized in Lodi

• 20 years later, Acampo man remembers the fall of the Berlin Wall

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (130)
• Obama is not a moderate (129)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (60)
• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise (49)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (45)
• Lodi Flames slim playoff chances vanish in setback to Tracy Bulldogs (25)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• The haves should help the have-nots (25)
• Tokay Tigers blow late 27-point lead in loss to Wolf Pack (22)
• Nightmares about America's future (21)

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Graphic designer Alison Wong shares the art of creativity

Alison Wong is a stay-at-home working mother who uses her creative skills to design scrapbook pages, rubber stamps and even paper products you may very well have in your pantry.

She and her husband, a Lodi native, have lived in Lodi for 13 years and have a toddler daughter. Until 2006, Wong owned the Memories for the Making scrapbooking store on Lockeford Street, and she still frequents the store.

Fresh from a week-long creative conference on the East Coast, she shared a bit about her flair and how she makes it all work.

I understand you design artwork from your home. Tell me more about this.

I design and license my artwork to several manufacturers in different industries: Creative Imaginations for scrapbooking, Hampton Arts for rubber stamps and Creative Converting for paper products (paper plates, napkins, party goods).

I also work with two other designers completely remotely, through the computer. We send our art files back and forth via the Internet, making changes and revisions as we go. I recently started working with a licensing agent who will hopefully expand our work into things like fabric, bedding and toys.

Have you always been creative?

I always knew I wanted to make a living drawing or being creative. In high school, I was fortunate to have a wonderful art teacher who was an excellent mentor. He steered me to California State University, Chico's graphic design program.

Did you have to go to school to learn to draw and design things?

Today is so much different than when I was in college. We took classes in fine art, drawing, etc. Today you need to learn electronic design and software programs to create your artwork, (so) I had to learn most of those through work experience. Last year I was fortunate to have a design student as an intern from University of the Pacific who taught me as much as I taught her!

What would you tell someone who says they aren't creative or can't draw?

These days it really doesn't matter if you aren't creative or can't draw. You can learn so much through computer graphics programs, that anyone with an imagination can be creative.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I get my inspiration everywhere! It can be from signs and graphics at Target, to ads and magazines, to the menu at Panera Bread. We find several Web sites also very inspirational. Our favorite is www.etsy.com.

What is your favorite personal design?

Of my own work, my favorite is the artwork that we wind up selling to several industries. Ideally we do a collection for the scrapbook industry, then modify the art and sell it to the other manufacturers I work for as well.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.