A "Something Different" Favorite Scrappers Blog Hop

Hello and happy Monday everyone!
I am back today as part of a fun little blog hop that is going on in the online scrapbooking community where we share and highlight a little bit of our favorite scrappy people that we are inspired by and then share a bit about ourselves. I was tickled and humbled when my crazy talented friend (from halfway around the world and more) Sasha Farina tagged me!

If you are not familiar with Sasha and her beautiful hand stitched creations, I have to wager a guess that you are new to scrapbooking! ;) Sasha's designs are uniquely her own with hand stitching, meaningful journaling, and spectacular photography. You can get a great feel for Sasha's style, talent, voice, and sense of humor by clicking over to her blog here: SASHA'S BLOG.

So, as part of this hop, each of us were given a few questions to answer.

Q: What are you working on right now?
A: Right now I am working on tidying up my scrap space and putting away some brand new products for a DT assignment of which I cannot share just yet, but I will as soon as possible! ;) I did find a little bit of time to scrap last week before leaving for NYC. This is a bit of what I was working on.
Little bits of machine stitching, enamel dots, and lots of trims and embellishments. :)

Q: How long does it take me to create a project?

A: Wayyy too long! Seriously I am a pretty slow scrapper unless I already have a sketch or a finite amount of items to create with (Like my Cocoa Daisy kit), then I seem to be able to create a bit more quickly.

Q: What are my favorite things to create with at the moment?

A: My Cocoa Daisy Kits never cease to disappoint me each month and get my creative mojo flowing! I also still love to use my Silhouette Cameo and recently my Fuji Instax printer. I love that I can get Instax photos but can use any image from my iPhone or Mac to print from it! So cool!

Q: How does my writing/creating process work? 

A: I'd like to say that my journaling comes first, but most often it does not. I have found, however, that if it is a really sentimental story, a story that pulls on my heartstrings (like stories about my Angel Sister; Linda, or her kiddos) those words seem to come more easily. I guess because it is a way to help me with my grief and it makes me feel good to know I am helping to document memories for her kiddos and for the rest of her loved ones she left behind.  To help remember. To never forget. 

Q: How do I become inspired and stay inspired? 

A: I am seriously inspired by everything around me! Things my boys say, the tiles on an airport bathroom wall, magazines, music, commercials, nature, other people, and of course, Pinterest (although I really enjoy most being inspired by what my eyes see and my ears hear -in real life!) :) 

I think I best stay inspired by balancing my creative life with my daily life. For example, if I am not feeing super creative at a moment, I will go for a run on the treadmill and I often find myself feeling inspired to create afterwards! Maybe its the endorphins kicking in, yes? I don't try to force my creativity. If I am not feeling inspired, I often will tidy up my scrap space and that seems to help too. A clean space to create helps declutter my mind and makes it more open to creative possibilities. :)

Q: What is my signature style:

A: While I think my style is always evolving and changing as I grow, I think there are a few components to my style that seem to transcend time. My designs almost always have stitching on them, they always have repetition of design and visual triangles, and they usually have a fair share of white space. I love trying out new trends and techniques while still staying true to my own design aesthetic. I never tire of using my Silhouette Cameo and some stamping on my creations. (And my vintage typewriter. It's fun to use as well!)

Little details that help add to the story that I am trying to convey on my design are always a must. I try to keep it simple and not overwhelm the eyes with too much visual clutter-especially if the stuff does not add to the story I am trying to tell. I think each detail should have a purpose in helping to add to the story. If it detracts, it doesn't make the final cut.

Here is a recent layout I created that I think is a good example of my current signature style:

The inspiration for this layout was the "+" patterned paper and the wood veneer viewfinders. 

And while this design is a bit more "busy" than I customarily do, I think you can see my signature style exhibited in it and that there is some white space still evident!

 The repetition of design; with the play of my title work to the wood veneer viewfinders, to the view in my photo, and me facing the title of my design, to the repetition of the theme of positivity in my title, the patterned paper, the stickers "picture positive" and to the Silhouette cut file I created. All of this was very intentional. I continued with repetition of design with the yellow color in my title work, the star pin, and the star sticker, and the yellow arrow sticker. The destination theme was repeated in the tags and geotags on my layout. My stitching was repeated as well; around the Silhouette cuts, along my title work down the side of my layout, and around "happiness". 

So, you can get a pretty good idea now why my creations take so long to create! Lots of thinking (and overthinking) involved! LOL 

Now on to three of my favorite scrappers!

First up is Tara Elias! I love this girl's spirit, her positivity, and her clean and simple style. It has been so fun watching her find her style over the years and to see it evolve to what it is today; stunning! Go find out more about Tara here: TARA'S BLOG

Next is Jan Matsunaga (aka "MochaJan") I first met this lovely girl at Winter CHA. She is so talented and humble, and I love her giving spirit! She shares the love of all things Project Life with so many people not just online but in her local community, having taught several classes on PL in So Cal as well as helping others to get started with PL online via social media (namely Instagram and Facebook). And most recently, she has helped Shanna Noel get the story out on Bible Journaling too! You can read more about Jan and get a strong sense of her PL style and philosophy as well as her servant's heart here on her blog: JAN'S BLOG

And lastly is Ginny Hughes. I have yet to meet Ginny in real life, but have had the honor and blessing of being on a few design teams with her and getting to be her "cyber friend" via the online community at SC. I just know if we ever met IRL, she would be exactly like her online presence is; radiant, positive, and supportive. Ginny has a huge heart and a hugely talented noggin for creativity. Her designs are some of the most inspiring I have found and seriously- the woman works outside of the home and cares for 5 little chickens! (er...I mean kiddos!) to boot! I love that she has taken on and embraced hybrid scrapbooking too and I look to her for inspiration on a regular basis. Please get to know Ginny a bit more on her "5 Little Chickens" blog here: GINNY'S BLOG  

Go. Now!

I promise it will be worth your time to learn a little bit more about these inspiring crafty ladies! ;)

Suz