Blog Hop with a difference....

Last week I was invited to join a Blog Hop Tour by Mary Anne  of UKScrappers fame :) It's a different sort of blog hop than you generally see and the idea is to answer a few questions and then pass the batton on to 3 more  friends for the following week so it spreads out as it goes week by week... So, here goes...


What am I working on?

I always seem to have a few different things on the go at once. This week I'm dividing my crafty time between my design team commitments for  the Scrapology challenge blog, which is a card and a layout every month (which I can't share!), my pocket album, which is a page a month, and making all kinds of papercrafty goodies to sell on my shelf at The Thrifty Thistle. (The Thrifty Thistle is a fabulous shop in Felixstowe where crafters, not just papercrafters, can rent a shelf to sell their handmade items). I'm making peg notice boards, pencil pots, gift boxes, peg magnets and lots more!

It's amazing what you can make with a baked bean tin and some scrapbook papers!

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Well I guess the obvious difference is that I choose to work in the American A4 size, 8.5 x11" and always in portrait. The majority of Scrapbookers work in 12x12, which I now find incredibly difficult.
I don't buy huge selections of ready made embellishments for my pages, although if some come in a kit, I'll happily use them!
Most of my pages have a 'home made' look to them, I don't use lots of fancy complicated techniques or tools, and I love to recycle found/saved trinkets,tags and momentos. Cutting and sticking is what I love....
I make the patterned paper work very hard for me, and nearly always let the photo dictate my colour combinations.
I love pretty patterns and my work has to be NEAT and coordinated.....  I'm hopeless with inky, splatty, art-journaly or ecclectic styles!

Why do I create what I do?

I'm like alot of other scrapbookers that I've met in person or through blog-land, who say they've always been crafty.  It wasn't till I discovered Scrapbooking in 2006, that I actually felt at home. I've always kept photo albums, and loved my sugar paper scrapbooks, but had never combined the two.
Scrapbooking for me is FUN, its what I love to do....well it beats housework every time:)
Of course, I'm preserving memories and satisfying my creative side at the same time with something I can KEEP.
My latest layout is always my most favourite, and I stick them high up on the wall in my craft room untill there's no room left and then they have to go in an album.
If my layout doesn't have much in the way of journaling on the front...then I always write all the details on the back for future reference.

How does your creating process work?

My starting point these days is more often than not a sketch. It really means that the hard work of designing the page is already done and I can concentrate on the fun stuff .
I rarely stick completely to the original and always try to do something a little different. I pick a photo, choose my colour combinations, and dig around in my stash till I'm happy.
If I'm honest, my finished layout doesn't end up how I imagine it in my head...it just evolves.

Sometimes I get stuck with a title if it's not obvious, and that's one of the really great things about attending a monthly crop. You can bounce ideas around with other like minded folk and not just your long-suffering family!!


So, that's all from me for now..

Next week it's the turn of  Sadie  and  Elaine. Click on the names to visit their blogs... and pop back on Monday 9th June.

Sadie is one of my Scrapbook buddies at the monthly Papermaze crop in Otley. She hasn't been posting lately on her blog but I get to see her work in real life!  She is a lovely, kind hearted , fun loving family person which shines through on every layout she creates :) She takes some fabulous photos, and clearly loves creating, on and off the page.

Elaine is a fabulously busy scrapbooker who I  know from UKS and blogland. She loves challenges, is never afraid to try something new and tackles some fairly scary looking sketches whilst managing to make it look easy! She so obviously loves scrapbooking; every post on her blog is like a mini tutorial, always full of hints and top tips so it's well worth a visit.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to pop back next week to see what Sadie and Elaine have to share.

Bye for now
Karen x