July Special Agent - Jill Sprott

[Debbi Tehrani]

Hi all!  I was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii, where I live with my husband and daughter.  I am an English teacher, which means that my weekdays are usually pretty busy, but when the weekend rolls around, I shift from working with words to playing with words (and pictures), surrounded by patterned paper.  Like teaching, scrapbooking is a creative, challenging, colorful, and rewarding endeavor, and when I immerse myself in it, I am in my element.  I see us all as authors of our own stories, and scrapbooking is instrumental in the documentation of that story, motivating us to embrace “a way of remembering that which it would impoverish us to forget,” as Robert Frost once claimed about poetry, and which I think perfectly captures what scrapbooking can do for us as well.  I like to think of my personal style in terms of "convergence," since I love to pull together bits and pieces until they click for me, until they all say what I want them to say.

Interrogation

What is your favorite color(s) to work with? Maybe this is because I live on an island, but I love working with oceanic blues and greens, sandy browns, and sunny yellows.

What would you say is your "fingerprint" on your scrapbook pages? (i.e., what do most of your pages have that make it your signature style?) For me, journaling is at the heart of every page. I insist upon it, on every single layout, and I really do try to make the words matter. My pages also include a lot of color and layering.

What do you find most challenging when working on a layout? On every layout, I try to enhance the theme or message through the thoughtful selection of papers and accents. I tend to be deliberate in my selection, but at times, that deliberation can border on the obsessive. I can get a little too caught up with sifting through my stash in my quest for an ever-so-meaningful accent to complete the layout, and as a result, it can take me a long time to finish a project.

What is your favorite part about CSI--the colors, the stories, or the inspiration? I am always in search of inspiration, and CSI most definitely delivers!

Confession time. Okay, fess up! What secret do you not want to admit but are willing to confess here? I am a very, very messy scrapper. There is very little about me that is organized! The magnitude of my messiness would leave most people appalled, I’m sure, but messy works for me and my go-with-the-flow approach.

To see more of my work, please visit my blog, Use Your Words.

[Jacynthe Loubier]

Yeah, Jill !!!! I'm so happy to "see" you here. I think I might have mentioned it once, or twice, or a dozen times ;), how much I love your work. Your use of patterned papers, not only as backgrounds, but also as embellishments, always amaze me. Love your handwritting on every layout. Love your style. I would recognize one of your layouts anywhere. Hope you won't only stay for the month of July. :)

[Jill Sprott]

I have to laugh at your opening. I just wrote something similar under your profile!  :)  Ha!   After participating in this challenge, there is no way that I would just do this once.  I will definitely be trying this again! 

[Debbie Standard]

So glad to see you - love seeing everyone's style here and how each of us interprets the challnege

[Jill Sprott]

I completely agree!  I was just looking through all of the layouts and thinking the same thing. 

[Anna-Karin]

Hi Jill! I am so happy to see you here and the stuff you wrote about scrapbooking is so great.

Did you know that your patterned paper challenge on Two Peas (I think it was in 2006), based on Ali's book, was what made me start posting layouts online? And the very first scrapbooking challenge I ever did.

I love your layouts, your use of patterned paper, your journaling and how meaningful they always are. Looking very much forward to seeing what you create for CSI!

[Jill Sprott]

Anna-Karin, of course I remember you from our challenge days at Two Peas!  I learned so much from those days.  In participating in the CSI challenge this week, I felt the same rush I used to feel when creating a challenge layout back then.  I so enjoyed the process, and I'm looking forward to the next one. 

[Sarah Martin]

Hi Jill, welcome abroad this month. It's great to have you here. I loved reading a bit about you.

I too must admit I'm a messy scrapper. And I know it's all because I like you go through everything single piece of my stash, getting everything down and trying to find the perfect piece. LOL it can be a slow and messy process    : )

I am following your blog now! What gorgeous work you do.

[Jill Sprott]

Thanks, Sarah!  Messy scrappers unite! 

[Adrienne Ford]

Beautiful work Jill! Happy to have you to inspire us all!

[Debbi Tehrani]

Jill, it's such a pleasure and delight having you here with us. How I enjoy your art and writing and sense of humor, and like Anna-Karin, I was a part of your patterned paper challenge. In fact, I was just putting away some stuff in my new house and came across Ali's book and had a moment of reminiscing about that challenge! I do hope you'll continue playing with us. I think the Case Files are a perfect match for you! Thank you for being our Special Agent this month!

[Jill Sprott]

It's been a thrill, really!  It's an awesome creative s t r e t c h. :)