Step inside my home and you will see that despite my neutral coloured home décor and noticeable lack of art on the walls, inspiration is everywhere. Motivation to create comes from the people around me, the things we do and the conversations we have. It only takes one of those ‘awww that’s so cute’ moments for me to be inspired to create something to remember it by. In that respect, inspiration for what to create my pages about comes easily to me.
Once I have the photos and the supplies my thoughts turn and I look for motivation in different places. I find myself browsing magazines and websites for interesting colour themes and general design features. A swirl down the side of an advertisement, an interesting font or perhaps the way a page is graphically designed can spark an idea. Often a group of colours such as the ones in the images below will be all it takes to have me searching through patterned paper.
Once I have my supplies grouped I start sketching. My desk is made of white Formica and I draw straight on there with pencil. At any given time, (to my children’s horror), my scrapping desk is covered with pencil sketching, journaling ideas and prompts that have come to mind while I have been creating. The advantage is that I can wipe it off easily every now and again and disadvantage is that my desk is normally so covered in supplies that I can’t see my any of the sketching!
Which is about where I turn to the computer. I love googling images of ‘abstract art’ or ‘fabric’ and have spent hours browsing the new Etsy stores that have started popping up. The inspiration in some of the Etsy shops is bountiful.
As with most scrappers, I also find my creativity is sparked by other scrappers, whether in magazines or on websites and blogs. One of my favourite scrappers is Linda Albrecht. I first noticed Linda in the ‘Freestyle’ book and have watched for her layouts since then. I love the way she layers patterned papers, adding an effect of dimension that makes the focal photos pop. Her ability to add just the right embellishments and her perfect inking and painting effects make me go back to look at the details again and again.
Another favourite scrapper is Candice Greenway. Candice primarily scraps pages of her pets. I don’t have pets but I am drawn into the design Candice uses, her beautiful photography, her timeless colour schemes and last but not least, her story telling. I love a page that tells a good story! Candice’s pages contain all the sentimental type stories as well as a good deal of humour.
As I sit in my scrap room with thoughts of colour schemes, design and photos on my desk running through my mind there is a few things that are almost certain to happen when I create the layout I have in mind. It is possible that I will take around 6-8 hours to create a layout. It is probable that I will change my mind at least 3 or 4 times on the papers I will use and after some frustrated swapping of patterns and colours I will end up with none of the patterned papers I started with. And it is almost certain that I will listen to Dido on my laptop, check my emails 400 times and stop and dance to Hi-5 at least 6 times.
With such ritual followed it is no wonder my layouts seem to have many of the same components. There are many things I love doing on my layouts and I will often go with a technique or colour scheme for numerous layouts in a row, just because I’m enjoying it, isn’t that what it’s all about?!
In the layout “Nic Style:” I have compiled many of my scrapping favs from the last year. The BasicGrey Pheobe line along with Scenic Route Laurel. The teal colour scheme along with black. Embellishing with Queen & Co beads. Strip journaling and flowers. Layering, hand cut elements and circles. It’s all in there.
My second layout “I can do it all by myself” is a layout I created recently that again shows some of my favourite techniques and products. The large circle is made from punching circles through all the layers and backing it with cardstock. I love using multiple pictures on a page and I love layering tonnes of patterned papers. One of my most surprising finds when I created this layout though? Heidi Swapp decorative tape. I used it across the bottom and down the left side in this layout. It is self adhesive so it’s easy to use. After I had placed it on this layout I had a small piece left – I randomly stuck it to the left side of the layout under the first photo, stood back and thought “Hey, that’s not so bad!”. And so I think I have found my next fav product – you’re bound to see it over and over on my layouts in the near future – as I said, that’s what scrapping is about, isn’t it?!
