Get To Know Me Blog Hop

You might have already come across this new type of blog hop, as it seems to be spreading like wildfire. It is a blog hop that is not affiliated with a scrap store, or scrap company etc. It's a blog hop to share a little more about yourself, introduce your readers/followers to some scrappy lovelies that they may not already know and it's all about having fun. Tina Connelly invited me to be part.

 

Tina is a new scrapbooking buddy I have made since joining the Couture Creations design team. She is a lovely, friendly person who creates such wonderfully detailed and layered pages. I got to take one of her classes at the Scrapbook Expo in June and had a great time.  If you want to check out her blog hop post, it's here.  

 

So, moving on to the 'get to know you' part of the blog hop. It looks like some people have changed the questions around so they might be different depending on who they are following on from. I've taken questions from a lot of different people who have taken part in this hop.

  

1. What am I working on?

I'm meant to have been working on my Scrapmatts DT projects over the past four days however I ended up doing baby-related things instead so I'll have to whip them up tomorrow night now, which is a bit last minute given I need to have them ready to post on the 16th! I'm definitely a last minute scrapper, though I'm hoping to get ahead during my coming start of maternity leave from the 18th. I have also been taking part in the D-lish Scraps cybercrop to celebrate their 5th birthday. This was another thing I wanted to work on more over the last four days but didn't get around to. I can share a sneak peak from my Couture Creations Christmas in July project which will be shown on my blog in the next fortnight. 

 

 

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Umm...I don't know. Lots of the scrapbookers I admire have quite distinctive styles, whether it's the way they use paint or layer their paper or even just a similar composition on most of their layouts. I don't think I've really developed this myself, I tend to jump around a lot depending on what challenge I'm working towards.

 

3. Why do I create what I do?
I like to have an excuse to get messy. Scrapbooking for me is about getting a chance to play with the paints/mists/glues and let loose. I also like that it gives me a reason to go through all my old photos and remember different moments spent with my family and friends. I wish I was better at recording journaling in my layouts though, as the memories get pretty fussy after time.

My 'Feed the Birds' layout is a perfect example of this. There's paint on the shipboard and flicked over the page. The photo is of my and my family on holiday from way back in 1989. I think it's a great photo and I would hate for it to remain stashed away in an album and never looked at again if I hadn't scrapped it.

 

 

4. How does your creating process work?
I normally need a reason to scrap, whether that is a challenge or a design team commitment. It's very rare I will create 'just because'. I like that this gives me a jumping off point, sometimes it's only a little jump and sometimes I can take quite a broad interpretation of the challenge but I need that prompt to start me off. Once I have that it's normally a matter of choosing my photo(s) to suit, picking papers to match the photos, messing it all up with wet mediums and then embellishing to finish it off.

5.  How long does it take to create a project?
How long is a piece of string? I used to be a quick scrapper, sitting down to create a layout and not getting up again until the layout was finished, normally 1-2 hours later. Then I started playing with mists and paints, so you need to walk away while they dry (I didn't have a heat gun) and now I end up working on most projects over a number of days. I think this is partially why I'm less productive recently. Having said that though, I'm also a very impatient scrapper and after getting the bare bones of a layout sorted I will quickly move to just sticking things down, often meaning I need to peel things up again later when I change my mind. :P

6. How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
The internet definitely helps me to stay inspired. Whether it's looking at the blogs of so many of the wonderful scrappers I follow, or popping into a forum for some feedback, or taking part in a challenge, or even just scraplifting something from Pinterest. Conversely though, I think the internet is also the thing that takes up the most of my time away from scrapping as I know I am guilty of wasting hours sitting on the computer when I should be cleaning the house or creating.

 

From here I'm meant to link you up with three other fantastic artists who inspire me and they would schedule their post for next week. Unfortunately, no one I asked was able to participate so this part of the hop ends with me. :( If you want to take part and follow on just leave me a comment and I'll give you a shout out here.

In the mean time though I can't leave you without any inspiration, so here are a few of my favourite artists.


Linda Eggleton (Lou's World) - Linda is such a creative scrapper, I always turn to her blog when I need more inspiration. I love the way she uses stencils and layers her paper. She also seems like a lovely lady from the interactions I've had with her. Linda has already taken part in the blog hop, her post is here.

Natalie Elphinstone (One Scrappy Doctor) - Natalie has a very different style of scrapping to me but I love how much journaling she includes in her layouts. She is very honest, both in her journaling and on her blog. She also has two of the most adorable girls who feature in most of her layouts.

Annette (Annette's Art Alchemy) - Annette does not consider herself a scrapbooker, despite creating some amazing paper creations. She is definitely an amazing jewellery maker, specialising in steampunk designs. I'm lucky enough to have one of her wonderful rings which she sent me as a present.