Tell me about yourself. I’m Rachel, the lady behind the blog, Big City Quiet. I’m from Ontario, Canada but was transplanted to Las Vegas, NV in January 2011 where I now live with my husband and toddler son. I’m your basic head-in-the-clouds, heart-on-my-sleeve, passionate, creative 30 year old with dreams of working for myself and being location independent.
What is one weird or interesting fact about you? I can make my bottom eyelashes move from side to side. I had a friend in College who was so creeped out by it that I used to do it almost every time she looked at me, especially when she was least expecting it. It was endless entertainment for everyone.
What do you do to express your creativity? Anything I can, really. I’ve always been a very visual person. When I was younger it was painting (watercolor and acrylics mostly) and then I went through a charcoal phase where I produced some of my favorite pieces I’ve ever made. I have always been a writer of poetry, short stories and novels, and I have kept a journal for over 22 years. Photography has always been and always will be a big passion of mine, and then at the end of November 2012 I began project life scrapbooking, and haven’t turned back!
How did you get started doing this? Sometime in 2011 I came across Ali Edwards’ blog and I was so blown away by her memory keeping system. I had always wanted to try scrapbooking but the large 12×12 traditional style scared me, so when Ali introduced me to project life I just knew that it would be a perfect fit. However, at the time, despite being newly married, I felt as though my life was too boring to document, so I waited. When I got pregnant with my son in 2012, I knew it was a perfect time to begin documenting.
Who or what inspires you? As a super visual person I find that I am most inspired by other people’s work. I could look at a painting and feel inspired to write a poem, or a photograph can inspired a new set of project life designs. These days my biggest inspiration comes from how people are living their lives: like Caylee Grey who inspires me to push forward with my business, Ali Edwards who inspires me to truly live a life worth documenting, and Meg Fee, who constantly reminds me of how beautiful the written word is and pushes me to improve my own writing.
How do you stay inspired? What do you do when you feel stuck or uninspired? I have to laugh because I’m so terrible at staying consistently inspired when it comes to project life. I come and go in waves, it’s pretty bad! When I’m feeling stuck or uninspired the first thing I do (honestly) is complain to Caylee and Kelsey over a few texts, and then I bite the bullet and log on to pinterest. Whether I’m browsing a design board, or fashion boards, something always jumps out at me. If I’m having a particularly rough time with a spread, I try to step away and look at it again either a few hours later, or the next day. By then I usually have any idea of what I can change.
Why do you do what you do? What motivates you to be creative? Long story short: because I need to. When life is getting me down, when I’m stressed out or having a bad day, or even I’m having the time of my life, creating always balances me. I feel a pull to write… every day, or photograph and document my life… every day. Life is what motivates me. I want to remember the big and little moments of this one life I’m given.
Describe your creative style. This is a tough question to answer. One thing I know is that I always try to focus on great photographs, and I make sure to add in a lot of journaling, but I don’t think that really answers the question. Sometimes I feel like other people have me pegged much better than I do. Let me ask you: how would YOU describe my creative style? 🙂
Name your top five favorite tools or products.
- My DSLR and iPhone, for sure. I will count those as one 🙂
- Lightroom
- My Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (seriously, I’m basically addicted to a stapler!)
- Wood veneers
- Paislee Press products!
Are you an early bird or a night owl? When are you most productive? My husband and I have a good laugh about this often, because I am TERRIBLE at staying up late. And I mean, terrible. I’m definitely an early bird. If I can get up, make a coffee and get right to work with no distractions then the first 3-4 hours of my day are my most productive. However, my son is also an early bird, but unless he is at his grandparents, I never get to take advantage of those productive hours.
What project(s) are you currently working on? I’m always working on my project life albums, but I also have a 6×8 one little word album in progress as well. I will soon be starting a project MY life album – like the lovely Kellie Winnell – and of course I’ve been keeping busy designing project life sets for my Etsy shop!
If you had to be a color in a crayon box, which color would you be? Gray, I think. It’s not as dark as black, but it’s quiet and usually understated, like me. When you want to spruce yourself up a bit you can add a nice pop of color and look fantastic.
If you could possess a super power, which one would you choose? I would definitely want to read minds. I drive myself crazy wondering what people are thinking (and sadly, what they think of me).
What is your favorite quote? “What’s for you won’t pass you by.”
Follow Rachel on her blog, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube and Etsy shop and tell her I sent you!
