Meet Dani!

Wow. The beginning of another month (where did September go, anyway?) and we sadly wave goodbye to our past guest designer, Norma Kennedy. Thanks for joining us, doll. Your pages were a delicious addition to our weekly challenges.

Now that the new month is upon us, we have another wickedly talented woman on board for the five fridays' worth of challenges! Yeah! Meet Dani Johnston. I found her on SisTv - my favorite place to find kick-ass scrappers. Check out her three favorite layouts below and be sure to scraplift them before the last day of the month. Post the link to YOUR page in the comments section below and a winner will be announced in November.

Alright, here she is, the one and only - Dani!


Q:Tell us a bit about you and your family.

A: I am a 24, married with three furbabies. I'm a wedding, event and portrait photographer, which I started doing full time this year. I'm still in school - will probably be for awhile as I have this desire to learn and know as much as possible. College was never about a career for me, I've been lucky that I was able to study and learn my career right along with all my other interests! I call Missouri home and truly do love living here. My husband is my very best friend, we love going on new adventures together. Someday we hope traveling the world is included in those adventures. We have a sad addiction to most all things science fiction. I'm very dramatic, silly and emotional pretty much all the time. I have an amazing family, extended family and lovely friends.

Q: How long have you been scrapbooking and where did you get your start in this craft?

A: I guess I've been scrapbooking about 3 years or so? I got started by discovering a scrapbook magazine in a bookstore. I've always done some sort of art journaling or collage type of craft, but when I saw all the layouts, mini books and projects I realized I could easily apply this sort of thing to what I was already creating.

Q:What inspires your creativity when you are scrapbooking?

A: Hmmm... that's hard for me to describe. Usually it is the photograph I'm planning on working with. I tend to create very emotional pages - most every photo has a huge meaning to me. Even if it's just a photo of one of my nieces or an animal at the zoo. The small stuff was still a moment of my life! I love that I can catch moments in time and have that image, so to create a page around it that expands on it even more is so exciting to me.
Sometimes my inspiration comes from the fact that I really just have something I NEED to say. I find creating these pages to be so therapeutic sometimes.
And then other times it's not really that deep - I'll get a new set of stamps or some pretty paper and I just have to play with it... :).

Q:Describe your creative style

A: I've always sort of just made pages without many techniques or rules. I don't have a paper trimmer. I never really read through anything about beginning to scrapbook. I'm not saying that those things are bad, I just don't take advantage of them, they didn't fit for me. In fact, I've found paper trimmers to be one of the most frustrating tools I've ever tried to use! I think everyone has to figure out what fits and works for them. My pages aren't in order. Everything is usually a mess - which is weird since I enjoy organization and order in most all other areas of my life. I tend to blur the lines between what most people think of as art journaling and what most people think of as scrapbooking. I don't enjoy all the definitions anyways. I just enjoy using images - especially personal ones in the things I create... you can call it whatever you want. If I don't like what I'm making I have no problems starting over, trashing it or just leaving it for another day. I also do a ton of journaling all over the backs of my pages. I tend to have trouble fitting what I want to say just right on my design, so I save all the crazy and long winded stuff for the back! :).

Q:What are your three favorite products/techniques right now?

A: Hmmm.... probably:
1. Inks of all kinds. So fun to spray and splatter.
2. Distress stickles. I can't get enough of the yummy texture. They add a bit of rough shimmer to page.
3. Gesso. So many ways to use this stuff. It saves my pages so many times.

Q:What project(s) are you currently working on?

A: I've actually be going through a ton of old photos, paper clippings I've saved and things like that. Trying to get them all scanned and organized.
I'm planning on making a little mini book for all the cards and letters I've saved over the years. Something very simple, just so they're easy to look through, but not just sitting in a box either.
I'm also planning on tackling all the online classes I've paid for over the past year but haven't taken the time to do! I'm thinking that this is all going to help me push through a bit of a rut I've been feeling for a little while, try some new things!

Q:Describe your perfect day

A: Waking up early, with time for meditation and yoga (hey... you said perfect day, I'm really going to dream something up here!). Eating a really yummy, healthy breakfast. Taking time to enjoy the morning and the weather, whatever it is. Taking the dog for a walk, bringing along my camera just in case. Hot shower - time to do my hair properly and being able to wear what I want, without fear of it being too tight, too crazy or too anything! Maybe go see a movie with my husband or check out a market or festival we've been wanting to visit. Good healthy lunch. Then relaxing at home, my husband would probably pick up a book to read or watch some science fiction show. i would probably just start messing with my supplies, spend a couple hours creating things without any intention in mind. Just creativity for the sake of creativity! Amazing, healthy dinner - with something awesome for dessert like gluten free smores or caramel apples! (can you tell I like healthy meals? I've got a ton of food allergies/intolerances so food can make or break my day.) Maybe a little bonfire with whatever family we've gotten in touch with that day - my family loves to get together for any reason. Then being so tired from it all that we can lay down and actually get a really good nights rest.

Q:What are your three favorite layouts of all time that you’ve created (published or not)?

A: This was not easy to do - I could have included about five more layouts and maybe more than that (does that sound so conceded?). I just chose the first three I found that I loved. I tend to really love most of my pages once I feel they are finished - that's usually got nothing to do with how it looks, much more to do with the emotion on the page. I like feeling like I conveyed what I was feeling when I created it.