I am constantly inspired by Stephanie’s work – she combines pretty paper, photos, and stories so beautifully in her projects. I know you will enjoy reading more about Stephanie and her creative process as we chat today. Welcome to the blog, Stephanie!
Tell me about yourself. Hi! I’m Stephanie and I guess I would call myself a “creative”. I’m a momma to two sweet kids and a wife to a husband, who I’m pretty sure can be counted as my “third child”. I love taking pictures, usually of our everyday and my children, and I love documenting our life. I’m passionate about recording our memories in some form or fashion! I usually let my creative energy speak for itself, and you can usually find me creating mini albums, art journal pages, layouts, Project Life pages or some type of craft!
What is one weird or interesting fact about you? I can remember and recite song lyrics like it’s my job…seriously. Weird, huh?
What do you do to express your creativity? I find my creative energy ebbs and flows a lot, so I usually focus on what I find “intriguing” and fun at the moment. My first outlet is typically photography. I love taking photos, playing with the light and experimenting with my camera. I think I feel most “free” when I’m behind my camera, which maybe sounds a little weird. These photos usually inspire me to create something paper related (mini album, Project Life spread, etc.). And if all of my photo/paper creative energy runs dry, I will usually turn to knitting, painting or something else “hands on”.
How did you get started doing this? I ventured into the paper crafting world through Project Life after my son was born in 2010. I found myself swamped in photos, memorabilia, letters, notes and thoughts and really didn’t know how I was going to keep up with all of this stuff. I stumbled across Ali Edwards’ blog and her Project Life pages and was hooked! From there, I started graduating into creating layouts, mini albums and art journals. I found the process so freeing and creative and I loved that I was able to express myself and my feelings through paper.
What do you love most about what you do to be creative? I think I love the feeling of that burst of creative energy. I love when I get in a groove and the ideas just come and come. I’ve learned that this feeling comes and goes, so I tend to run with it when the ideas are there!
Who or what inspires you? I am inspired by so much and so many people. I love getting a peek into other’s creative process. That’s super inspiring to me! I’m also incredibly inspired by photography and the light within photos. There’s just something that speaks to me creatively when I see an incredible photo!
How do you stay inspired? What do you do when you feel stuck or uninspired? I remember feeling this panic years ago when I felt like all of my creative juices had run dry. What if I never had another idea? What if I never created anything ever again? The panic and stress was definitely there, but I carried on and found that yes, that energy does run dry, but yes, it comes back again. I don’t really stress or worry about it anymore. I usually use that time to try something new, like weaving or film photography. I find that changing gears is an awesome way to jumpstart those creative juices.
Why do you do what you do? What motivates you to be creative? I think I have an internal drive to create. I’ve always been a creative person, but I don’t think that my energy really came alive until I started paper crafting!
Describe your creative style. My style is light and airy with fun pops of color. White is always present. Always.
Name your top five favorite tools or products.
- My typewriter
- Sewing machine
- Wood veneer
- Vellum
- Resin flowers
Are you an early bird or a night owl? When are you most productive? I am definitely an early bird. I don’t always necessarily like waking up early, but once I’m up, I’m good to go! I find that I work best during daytime when there is a lot of good, natural light. Once the sun goes down and my craft room gets dark, I’m useless!
What project(s) are you currently working on? Right now I’m working on filming a bunch of videos for the 25 Days class at Studio Calico! I’m super excited to be teaching this class this year! The December Daily album is my very favorite project of the year and I can’t wait to share my album and ideas with the class!!
If you had to be a color in a crayon box, which color would you be? Hmmm….I think I would be the white crayon. It’s light and neutral, and you don’t really know it’s there until you need.
What is your favorite quote? “You don’t have to better than everybody else. You should strive to be better than you ever thought you could be.”
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