Meet the Design Team: Chris Millar

This is another new feature on our blog - we'd like you to get to know our Designers better.  We start this week with Chris Millar, who shares a little about herself, her influences and inspirations.

 

Chris Millar

Chris shows her love for rub-ons in this layout - she thinks they are the perfect embellishment for decorating a layout without making it bulky. Using blanket stitching around the frame of her photo really draws your eye to focal point of the layout.

Chris has recently discovered a love for card making. She says it's the perfect way to use up all those left over bits and pieces from recent scrapbooking creations. She also enjoys the smaller format of creating and the joy it brings to those who receive the cards.

In her words...

It is not uncommon to find sketches and notes scribbled onto the back of an old grocery receipt in my handbag. I admit that some of my best layout designs have been formulated whilst waiting to pick up my girls after school. I also keep a note pad and pen on my bedside table in case inspiration strikes whilst drifting off to sleep. Ever since my interest in this craft became more of an obsession I find that I see inspiration everywhere I go. Recently I had to visit some display homes to for a project my husband and I are working on. The display homes were so beautifully furnished with some very funky décor. Here are a few examples of what I discovered.

Whether it be a colour scheme or design aspect, there were so many items of inspiration within the display homes. I thoroughly recommend putting aside a few hours one day to visit a display home in your area.

I am also constantly inspired by advertisements in magazines and on television. I have a folder full of torn out pages from magazines that I look through when I need some inspiration to start me off on an idea for a layout. Here are some of the magazine pages I have in my folder.

The first image here is an advertisement for shampoo, but when I saw this ad, I thought about the angle the photo was taken from and it reminded me to look for interesting photographic opportunities when I’m out and about with my camera. The second image is a funky idea for framing a photo, I could definitely incorporate this into one of my layouts by using rub-ons in the same sort of frame design as seen here. The third image is a mixture of different ‘Moroccan’ style objects and items. I love the colour combinations I see when I look at this image, there are stitched sequins, a leather stitched frame, a ladies shirt with flowers and doodling as the print and so much more.

A major source of inspiration for me is that of my fellow scrapbookers. From layouts in magazines, to online galleries and personal blogs, viewing cutting edge, fabulous pages has never been easier and more accessible. There are so many scrapbookers whose work I admire and draw inspiration from. I’ve chosen to share with you just a couple of those scrappers.

Michelle Grant’s style appeals to me on many levels. Michelle is a very organized scrapbooker, her stash is wonderfully sorted and stored. She also has the most amazing inspiration journals full to the brim with fantastic layout sketches she has designed, along with ideas, tips, magazine clippings etc. I think her layouts replicate how organized she is with how fabulously balanced and flowing they are. Michelle is also always experimenting with photoshop and can transform her photos into works of art!

Kate Mason:  I’ve been lucky enough to take part in a few classes that Kate has taught and the thing I love most about Kate’s classes and her style of scrapbooking is that she always reminds me how to have fun with this craft. She loves nothing better than to get messy playing with different mediums, techniques and ideas. She also reminds me not to measure everything! Kate has a natural ability of being able to put together the most wonderful colour combinations. I love all the beyond the page items Kate creates including her amazing mini albums.

Loretta Grayson : Hand crafted is definitely a word that comes to mind when I think of Loretta’s work. She creates such amazing designs for her layouts by crafting pattern paper into fabulous accents for her pages. Loretta’s handiwork with a sewing machine is a real talent of hers. I also greatly admire the way Loretta tells a story in every layout she creates. I find her title ideas and journaling techniques are always mind provoking and they inspire me to try come up with new ideas myself.