I was tagged by Dear Lizzy to do a Q&A blog hop. She posted her answers to several questions below HERE. She has all these cute photos included with her post. I have none of me scrapping and creating while looking adorable. I don't have any of me even just looking adorable!!! So I decided to add my favorite layouts EVER to this post. Which will be hard as I have made hundreds of layouts over the years. But perhaps answering these questions will be even harder - ugh! (Please click on the images for a better view)
This layout was made about four years ago and uses many Hero Arts stamps. I made it for a CK assignment. It was my highest paid layout ever published as Hero Arts paid me for using their products and CK paid me - I remember being really proud of making some money on this one! AND it ended up being one of my all time favorite layouts! I love that it is so playful and represents my scrapbooking style so well.
1. What am I working on right now?
The only time I scrap lately is when my Studio Calico kits come and I make a couple of project life spreads. Its not that I don't want to, rather it's that I can't seem to find the time to! I spend almost every minute of my free time for one week a month making those and then the other three weeks I work on getting the rest of my life in order!
BUT, let's pretend I could be working on something creative right now, then what would it be? I want to make a 4x4 WRMK mini album about my daughter's 15th birthday last week. I even pulled all the products to make it. Time, I just need MORE time!
This layout was made when I was on the American Crafts design team a few years ago. I love how I cut the title out with my Silhoette using one of the Dear Lizzy Neopolitan papers. Her products are always my favorite!
2. How long does it take me to create a project?
That is a very subjective question! When I worked for CK for four years, I primarily made scrapbook layouts for assignments. They usually took me about 2-3 hours. Now I'm a bit slower because I am so out of practice! I've only made about 10 layouts in the past year (and I really miss it!). The longest part of the process for me is pulling all the products I want to use. That is one reason I really love using the Studio Calico kits to scrap as it limits what I use which makes the process much faster! If using a kit, I can finish a layout in less than an hour. I spend a lot of time on my project life spreads as I do a lot of embellishing! They take about a full day to put together after my photos are printed and again, working with a kit makes it WAY faster!
I love this layout because of the black background, the hummingbird photo and the hand stitching of the title and swirls. It is more graphic and simple than many of my layouts, but that is also what draws me to it. I really DO prefer clean lines on layouts. This layout was made when I was the guest designer for Studio Calico about four years ago. It's not as old as most of these others, but I think the style is classic, so it get's first place by me!
3. What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?
Definitely SC kits as like I said above, they make the process easier and since I am on the team, they are my newest products. I usually end up ordering a few of the scrapbook kits as well as I just love every single one every single month! It's a great way of getting some exclusive products, some trendy products, and some of the newest products on the market.
I also love watercolors! I primarily use my Neocolor Crayons for watercoloring. I was addicted to my Copic markers for a while, but Neocolors have replaced them for me and they are way less pricey! I use them on layouts, but also to color in my doodles. I also love stamps - using watercolors and stamps together is the most fun creating experience for me!
My two current obsessions (yes, I'm OCD about these things) are the Ashley Goldberg stamps that were just released at SC - I ordered every single set and signed up for the class! They will be here tomorrow so I'm really excited to play with them. And second are Filofax organizers - I am dying to order one and start decorating it! I just spent all my money on the stamps though!
It's crazy how OLD this layout is and that I still like it! I think I made it in 2006 or so. It was never published. I made it using Love, Elsie stamps (a beautiful mess). I was on her design team for the short time she made scrapbook products and took a class from her at my local store years ago. I am SO glad she is getting back into the scrapbook industry through her association with Studio Calico!
4. How does my creating process work?
I always start with photos. I like to scrap photos right after an event has occurred when I am still excited about it/them. I print them and then pull products that will go with them. Once that is done, I feel like things get easy - I can just create. I love that part! It's the printing and the pulling that kill me!
I think the reason I love this layout is because these are some of my favorite photos of Chloe ever. And I love how it is so simple. Again, I seem to be drawn to my simple layouts the most - hmmm.... interesting! I also love the little snippets of ribbon that I layered - so colorful and a great way to use up scraps!
5. How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
THIS has never been a problem for me. I am always inspired. I'm a pinterest addict - my boards are HERE. I found it to be a little overwhelming to get inspired by the sheer amount of layouts and cards in my folders, so I created a Scrapbook Layouts Favorites and Cards Favorites Boards. I often clean these up moving items back to just layouts and cards so they are always representative of my current favorites. This allows me to quickly scan them when I need inspiration - instead of scanning 1,000, I'm scanning 100. I am always so motivated and inspired when I am on pinterest - it's my favorite tool! I also LOVE the SC gallery - so much goodness there! I visit it every day!
I made this layout for a Big Picture class where they had the CK Dream Team share a layout about their life dreams. I like the subject and the design of this one. I love using black backgrounds as they really make things pop.
6. What is my signature style?
My style is definitely colorful first off. The second word that comes to mind is fun. The third word I think of is playful or whimsical. So that's my style I guess! What do you think my style is? Sometimes it's hard to judge our own work. I also switch it up a lot. I've been incorporating much more mixed media into my layouts lately just to challenge myself. And I'm always trying to stay up with the current trends (although this proves to be challenging to me).
I made this layout back in 2007 when I was on the Love, Elsie design team. It's very dated, but I added it because it cracks me up. It is representative of my style - playful, fun and colorful though. Glad that hasn't changed through the years!
I love to use BIG photos on my layouts. This one makes me feel like the photo is three dimensional. It's so fun decorating large photos. Photography is such a love of mine, so I like to show off my favorite photos on this type of page.
And now it is MY turn to tag some scrappy friends. Hmmm....my favorite three scrapbooking friends. This is hard! Well first there is the obvious because I talk to her every single day! Deb Duty and I met when we became Studio Calico creative team members almost two years ago. She has become one of my bestest friends and favorite scrapbookers. Next, I'm going to elect Miss Maggie Holmes because I adore her in every way! I just have to see if she will actually find the time to participate in this little hop! And one more - hmmm, how about Megan Hoeppner. I worked with her at CK for years and she was always my favorite editor there. She became a close friend and one of my favorite industry people as well over the years! These three girls will hopefully have their blog posts up next Monday, October 13th.
I hope you enjoyed this little blog hop Q&A. If you want to participate, please leave your answers to these questions in the comments section! I always LOVE when you leave comments on my blog - makes my day! Happy Tuesday friends! suzy
Thanks for sharing. Loved going down memory lane with you.
Posted by: Sandy | October 08, 2014 at 04:06 AM
This is a very interesting post and I enjoyed reading it. I especially liked the old photos of the kids and family. What a fun post!
Posted by: Liz Elliott | October 12, 2014 at 07:06 PM