A little while ago, we had a great question from Amanda Ross for our Design Team.
Amanda asked:
"I would love to know when the Design Team ladies find the time to scrapbook and also where they get their inspiration from?"
Thanks for asking, Amanda! Here are the answers from some of our talented Design Team...
Kirsty
I scrapbook and make cards when I should be doing other things! Usually in the evening after the kids are in bed - cup of tea and chocolate at the ready...Time is the most difficult but inspiration, oh geez it's everywhere. I am often overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of ideas I would like to give life! Mostly though, I work at what needs doing - DT deadlines, workshops, swaps and classes mean I'm often expending my creative energy to meet others requests *sigh* not that I'm complaining...When I'm totally in my own creative head space, I'm borrowing colour schemes from nature, advertising, fabrics, anything that crosses my path. I love story telling (writer wannabe lol) so I'm recording events in pictures in my head all the time. I also really enjoy the challenge of giving random and unexpected objects new life. I saw a guy at the markets last week who had made a bunch of jewellery out of old typewriter keys. Right up my alley...but I digress;) Hardware stores, op-shops, trash and treasure, mixing the old with the new (SU of course!) There's a bunch of stuff out there just waiting for someone to craft it up...
I
make time to scrapbook and create every day. Id much rather create than do housework that's for sure! I don't like to create at night as that is my family time/computer/Tv watching time ..not that I watch a lot of TV! ..and as I'm a dairy farmer too I am often too tired to create at night time. I create during the day while my kids are at school and any farm work is out of the way (eg milking the cows). I LOVE milking the cows and plan my day/ Layouts or projects I'm going to create that day. I have the radio on in the shed and often a song lyric or title will pop into my head and I'm sketching my LO on the whiteboard in between cupping!! My hubby thinks I'm nuts!
I am also inspired by fabrics, advertising and especially colour combos I haven't tried yet. My blog surfing at night also gives me inspiration especially if its a technique I haven't tried before. I love being on Just Add Inks Design Team because I also get inspiration from my fellow DT members and the lovely creations you all provide each week in your submissions.
Tania
I love to spend time at night with the tele on, kicking back relaxing while researching for ideas and new techniques through places like Splitcoast and or random blogs etc on the laptop. I now only create in the day time but I used to be only able to create in the evenings - weird!
I tend to get an idea pop into my head and I cannot shake it until I make it!!! Sometimes it works - sometimes it doesnt. Generally I take inspiration from others work - I pick bits I love from here and there and put it all together! I dont have a set time to create, if I feel creative usually wild horses wont keep me from my supplies, but if the mojo isnt there, it just doesnt happen but I am always super encouraged when I make something I really love, then I can't help but make something else and the ball keeps rolling!
Chantell
I'm in my Craft Room all the time....so much so that my sister calls it "The Black Hole" and my daughter calls it "Mummy's Bedroom". I am always in there pottering around on the next project - especially if there is something I am bursting to make or finish. Although most of my serious crafting time is at night - after my daughter is in bed. Occasionally I will squeeze in a morning while she is at school - although I try to ban myself from "The Black Hole" until I have completed the housework.
My Inspiration comes from just about everywhere. There are so many things that trigger an idea - it could be something on TV or in Magazines, in Gardens and Shops, Ads, marketing material and occasionally even something I've dreamt about! (Sad when you dream about Crafting)! I get alot of inspiration from other Scrapbookers and Card makers too. I often take several ideas from others and put them together....a layout from there, a colour combo from here, an embellishment idea from somewhere else etc.
I find entering Challenges is a great way to extend your Scrapbooking / Card Making ideas and can take you outside of your comfort zone - it provides opportunities to try new things.
Bronwyn
I've taken over the entire Rumpus Room as a craft area and spend most of my Mondays in there and the occasional hour or two on the weekends. I work 4 days a week so don't get a lot of time to create. I try to get a group of friends together one night of the month so I don't always craft alone between workshops. At the moment most of my time is taken up with JAI commitments and SWAPS for Convention. There's about 4 different designs on the go at the moment, all in various stages. A friend of mine has offered to come around and help me glue, snip away etc. so I can get my SWAPS done as well as all my school reports etc!! I try to keep nights free to spend with the family but sometimes deadlines keep me tapping away on my netbook in front of the hours of recorded programs I don't have time to watch live and am nowhere near caught up on. Blogging and surfing the net is more fun than watching TV.
That's where a lot of my inspiration comes from. I have my favourite blogs on my side bar that I try to visit weekly. I usually either follow or subscribe to them so I know straight away when they update. The Ning Network for the JAI team is full of inspiration (talented bunch of women) and you get to see the results of all their hard work on Fridays!! I also spend hours on Splitcoast mostly looking for new techniques. Of course I'm also inspired on a daily basis as I visit the blogs of all the challenge entries. I have taken heaps of notes about favourite colour combos, techniques, sketch designs etc. and store them away for a 'rainy' day. Now that ESAD is in Ning it's heaps better to view all the lovely work in the gallery. There's so much talent there and I'd love to see some more of those Aussie/NZ demonstrators joining in the challenges at JAI as well. I buy the Aussie Card Making and Papercraft Magazines too, get ideas from SWAPS I've collected, challenges I enter, the Impressions' Magazine and the SU demo site. Lastly, I must admit that I see the world through Stampin' Up! colours and practically everywhere is 'inspiration'. My mind is constantly ticking over with ideas for layouts, colours etc. and I have to sketch or write it down before I forget.
I find the only time I can give 100% to csf (crafting stress free!) is when the kids are asleep, or busy crafting themselves, but even then I find I'm supervising and helping more than getting anything done myself. So night time, with a bit of background music is the perfect environment for me to work!
I get my inspiration from so many places - I love how the internet is full of so many talented ladies sharing their ideas and inspiration, and I admire them all too! And as biased as this sounds, I love Just Add Ink for our little group of talented players - the group is getting bigger as the weeks go on but every single person that plays has their own unique ideas, style and talent - and most of the stamp sets they use are accessible for Aussies for a change!
I used to buy magazines, but have found that most of them are getting so expensive and you can find even more daily inspiration on the net!
Nicole
It is difficult to find the time to stamp and scrapbook with a toddler and a newborn but I make sure I find the time, at least a few times a week. Like Kirsty, once the kids go to bed around 7 I make myself a cup of tea and head to my craft room. I try to keep my craft room full of inspiration, with my magazines, laptop (for blog surfing) and cards close by and on display. A lot of my projects are for my children. I am inspired by colour schemes in their toys, bedding and books. As for card and scrap page layouts and colour schemes, I love to browse through my magazines, the Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalogue and blogs for ideas. I'll often take part of a layout that I like and change it to suit what I am doing.
I feel the most creative and inspired when I am up to date with the housework and other jobs and I can think clearly.
Danielle
I'm a notoriously slow scrapbooker, and I'm discovering that I really need to be alone to get a page finished. I love having craft time with friends, but I rarely get anything accomplished! I also usually have
lots of projects happening at once, so it will seem like I'm not getting anything done for a little while, then all of a sudden I have lots finished!
I'm lucky enough to have a craft space that also accommodates my daughters play area, so I often craft while she's playing, or she sometimes crafts with me. She's 3 and already she loves using the Big Shot! I also craft after she's gone to bed... there aren't many days that I'm not doing something! My inspiration wavers a lot, but mostly I'm inspired by other crafters. Not necessarily one project, but usually their entire style.
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Welcome to the team girls!! 
Come back at midnight to check out our next challenge! We're going easy on you this week ...
