This time we bring you an interview with Karen Leahy a.k.a. Scrapdolly.  Karen has had a number of works published in various magazines and she’s spared us some time to answer a few questions for our readers.

How did you get started?
I guess, like many scrappers, I came to scrapping through card making. I had always been a ‘crafty’ person, painting, knitting, embroidery, folk art etc. and one day I saw a glimpse of scrapping on QVC. I went to America on holiday and bought my first scrapping supplies but didn’t dare use them for a few months. I had no clue how to start. Then, through the Disney site, I found UK Scrappers and I was off!

How would you describe your style?
My style is very clean and simple and I like pages to look quite balanced. I like colour coordination, symmetry and balance and my pages tend to reflect that. I have moved far more towards hand journaling though.

What are your influences?
I think I am most influenced by colour – it matters a great deal to me when making layouts and mini books.

Who do you admire most in the crafting industry?
Gosh, that’s really hard. There are so many people I admire for so many reasons. I admire Heather Pearson enormously as she is so skilled right across the scrapping genre, from traditional paper scrapping to digital scrapping and gorgeous hybrid work. She is also very grounded and so supportive to everyone. I admire Jake Walker whose work is always so vibrant and full of energy and I love the work of Dawn Evans, Maria Horton and Fiona Beckham. I admire Mary Anne Walters, not only as a scrapper, but as someone who has contributed so much in so many ways to the scrapping industry in the UK.

Are any of your family crafty?
My Dad was a great woodwork crafter and my Mom was a knitter extraordinaire. My husband Nigel is very crafty and artistic. He’s even made digital scrapbook pages LOL

What’s the one piece of crafting equipment you couldn’t live without?
I couldn’t scrap without my computer. I print my own photos, I frequently hybrid scrap, I digi scrap, I print journaling and titles. In case that doesn’t count as crafting equipment the other thing I couldn’t cope without would be my clear stamps and inks.

What is your favourite colour scheme to work with?
It does vary from time to time, but at the moment I am loving blues and greens with lemon accents.

What was your biggest creative disaster?
Making a really nice mini book with loads and loads of pages. It was a class called Daily Essentials. The book was beautiful and it was the first time I used the Bind It All. I ruined the book. The cover wouldn’t go in as I had been stupid enough to add the embellishments first. I ripped it trying to get the embellishments off. Then I didn’t line the finished pages up properly and finally I crushed the wire badly. Total unmitigated disaster from start to finish.

What are you proudest of? What was your proudest moment?
I was so proud to have been chosen as one of the winners of The Best of British Scrapbooking 2006. I also remember the real sense of pride when I had my first ever page published. I was proud last year to have run an on line class on my blog and have loads of people sign up for it. It was just a bit of fun, but made so much better by having other people play along with it.

What is your favourite crafting technique?
I love stamping using acrylic stamps and I also love creating embossed chipboard letters to look like enamel.

What is the last craft item you bought?
My most recent purchase were some lush new Technique Tuesday stamps

Which craft item did you buy but is still unused?
Um – can I take the fifth amendment on that!!! It could amount to quite an admission. I am prepared, however, to own up to the Notch and Die tool being unused!

What is your crafting space like?
I am lucky to have a lovely scrap room and share it with my hubby, so we can pursue our hobbies together. I designed what I wanted and he fitted it out. For example he shelved one cupboard, bought for the purpose, to fit art bins perfectly on different shelves and he made the most gorgeous prima shelves ever. It also has beautiful views which do inspire me. Its perfect …,. Or at least it was. It is a fact of life that whatever space you have is enough only for a short while. I’m afraid I have overfilled it now. There are lots of pictures on my blog of my scrapping space.

Do you have a favourite inspirational Blog/website?
I love Pencil Lines as to me, scrapping from a sketch is so relaxing. It is not something I do other than for specific challenges and it takes so much of the thought out of it. I also enjoy the challenges on UKS. I only ever digi scrap them as it is my way of chilling out in front of the telly.

Thanks again to Karen for sparing us the time to answer our questions.

How did you get started?
I’ve always been arty and enjoyed drawing and all sorts of crafts. I took a number of fine arts courses during my 20s and then gravitated more towards textiles and crafts, trying out various different techniques and crafts. I was in a card making phase when I stumbled across www.scrapbookbytes.com  (http://www.scrapbookbytes.com) by accident one day and discovered the magical world of digital scrapbooking!  I downloaded my first free kit, started playing around with PhotoShop and instantly knew  that this was something that could take over my life!

How would you describe your style?
As a scrapbooker, I’d say my style is messy and colourful.  Someone once described one of my layouts as “beautifully controlled chaos” and I thought that was a wonderfully flattering description! I love elements,
embellishments, doodles and alphas and use a lot of them on my pages, usually with only one sheet of paper. I’m drawn to bright colour and usually make multiphoto pages (which has more to do with my lack
of photography skills and inability to capture one “great” shot than anything else I think!) The same style applies to my digital designs too, I like colour and rather than making full co-ordinating kits I enjoy making little extras for people to add to their pages (such as doodles, buttons and flowers).

What are your influences?
Most definitely my children – in terms of subject matter for my pages and inspiration for my designs.  Interesting colour combinations and patterns inspire me too, ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere really. I still have my student sketchbooks so when I’m stuck I often flick through those for ideas.

Who do you admire most in the crafting industry?
There are a lot of digital designers I admire greatly, notably Gina Miller and Natalie Braxton both for their designs but also for their generosity and ability to seamlessly blend a family life with a designing one!

Are any of your family crafty?
Yes, quite a few of the women in my family have an interest in needlecraft in particular, my Grandmother is still weaving and creating tapestries in her late 80s!

What’s the one piece of crafting equipment you couldn’t live without?
Adobe Photoshop. And my scanner. I know technically that’s two but they go hand in hand, they are the essential tools of my trade.

What is your favourite colour scheme to work with?
I gravitate towards the same colours a lot, usually a combination of hot pink, turquoise, lime and orange. I also seem to be using black backgrounds a lot at the moment, to really help to make the colours “pop”.

What was your biggest creative disaster?
Oh good grief, there are too many to mention…  And they usually involve me trying to use watercolour paints and making a complete and utter mess of it, although I did once manage to dye about half of my mother’s kitchen when I knocked over a pan full of hot dye.  In terms of scrapbooking, the beauty of digital is that every mistake can be deleted before it becomes a full blown disaster, so I’ve managed to get off lightly in that department!

What are you proudest of? What was your proudest moment?
Oh wow, that’s a difficult one. Probably being asked to write the digital column in Creative Scrapbooking
magazine when I had only been scrapping for a few months. For weeks I was convinced it was a joke!

What is your favourite crafting technique?
In terms of scrapbooking, my favourite part of creating a layout is adding the shadows and just watching
the page come to life.  In “real” (!) crafting I enjoy pretty much anything that gets paint or ink on my hands, I’m always blending things with my fingers and experimenting. Or “getting in a mess” as it is otherwise known!

We’ll be interviewing a top crafter and finding out what makes them tick, where they get their inspiration and any other questions you would like us to ask them!  This time we will be talking to the very talented Lousette Ashton. You will probably recognise Lousette from various craft magazines where you can also see her many crafty creations.

How did you get started?
I started making cards in 2000 as a creative outlet.  My daughter was just over two years old, and as a stayat-home-mum I desperately needed something to do that was just for me. You would not believe how quickly I got hooked, and I subsequently bought all the craft mags I could get my hands on. After a while I started to sell my cards locally, and in 2004 I took the plunge and submitted some cards to Practical Crafts as well as Popular crafts magazine. They decided to publish them and from then on I became a regular freelance contributor. In 2005 I got an e-mail from my editor saying that she wanted to start a scrapbooking magazine (Scrapbook Magic) and asked if I scrapbooked. I did not, and was sure that scrapbooking was definitely not my thing, however I said I would give it a try. How wrong was I. Scrapbooking soon took over my life.

How would you describe your style?
Definitely leaning towards clean and simple. Every now and then I try and be more arty, but I usually go back to clean lines.

What are your crafting influences?
The world of graphic design is a big influence. I love advertisements, banners, brochures, magazine layouts, CD covers … you name it.

Who do you admire most in the crafting industry?
Having worked in the magazine industry for about 4 years, I know how hard it can be to try and stay fresh and come up with new ideas.  For this reason I truly admire Jennifer McGuire and Ali  Edwards (Creating Keepsakes magazine), their creativity never ceases to amaze me, and I do not know how they manage to keep on producing the goods time and time again. I also love the clean
lines, colours and elegance of Venessa Matthews. As for card making, I really admire Paula Pascual. Her simple style is always spot on and her ideas are truly inspired.

Are any of your family crafty?
Actually, thinking back my mum had a real crafty streak.  She used to dabble in all sorts of things like pottery, macramé, dress making etc.  It must be passed down in the family, as my youngest
daughter is addicted to scissors, glue and paper.  She is most definitely a little crafter in the making.

What’s the one piece ofc afting equipment you couldn’t live without?
I couldn’t possibly choose only one. However top of my list would be Green and Black almond chocolate, it always inspires me. After that my craft knife and cutting mat. They are both well worn, but truly loved.

What is your favourite colour scheme to work with?
I don’t have a favourite colour scheme, but I tend to use a lot of pink, green and loads of Kraft brown.

What was your biggest creative disaster?
Hmmm, I cannot think of any real great big disasters, but I have had all of the little ones.  Beads and glitter accidently tipped over, ink splodges on a nearly completed layout, glue on the carpet – you know, all the normal crafting dilemmas.

What was your proudest moment?
I was absolutely thrilled to bits when I was told that I had been picked as a BOB winner in 2006.

What is your favourite crafting technique?
Oooh, this is very hard. I cannot say that I really have a favourite. In scrapbooking I love to play with text and fonts on my pc, and I have always been somewhat of a hybrid scrapper. Card making
is a totally different story, and there I use many techniques, some of my favourites are using die cuts, wire and acrylic stamps.

What is the last craft item you bought?
Loads of dies from Ellison because they were having a sale, and it would have been rude not to buy products at such reduced prices. I do love a bargain.

Which craft item did you buy but is still unused?
A paper quilling tool. I bought it about a year ago and I don’t even know where it is.

What is your crafting space like?
I have the upstairs box room as a dedicated craft room, but it is mostly a great big mess. Far too much in a small space, which means the floor, shelves, table and any other surface is usually covered with half finished projects or ideas in the making. I know I am lucky to have a dedicated space, but honestly I could do with a room 10 times the size.

Do you have a favourite inspirational Blog/website?
I love to blog surf, but don’t really have any favourites. I sometimes check in on Cathy Zielske , also Donna Downey and Ali Edwards (I always like to see their ideas). From there on I just follow links until I have spent the entire morning surfing the net. Other times I just click on people’s blog links in their signatures on the forums and then follow links from there.

Is there a style or craft item you really wish you had come up with first and do you have any ideas in the pipeline?
Electronic die cutters – now that was inspired. Wish I did have some idea in the pipeline, but I cannot imagine what else the craft community can possibly come out with. We seem to have every
gadget known to man (or at least that is what my husband says when he dares go near my craft room).

My name is Cleo I am a 26 year old Welsh girl living in Bristol with my husband and our 3 sons. I love using texture and bright colours on my layouts. I was recently a runner up in the Scrapbooker of the Year competition.  I teach at crops and workshops, and have recently started my own scrapbook kits.

Tracey Grundy

I am married to Marcus and have an 9 year old daughter, Rachel.  I have always been arty crafty ever since I can remember. There are also arty people in my family (drawing and painting) and my Mum still makes Faberge eggs and does amazing flower arrangements.  I used to make things and bring them in to school to sell them.  I took ‘A’ level Art and had planned to go to college to do graphic design, but it didn’t quite work out like that and my first job took me away from art and crafting.  It wasn’t until about 6 or so years ago that I got into cardmaking by sheer accident(which is pretty ironic as my parents own a card shop!).

Jayne Loughlin

I’m a married mum of 3 girls & I live in Bristol. I’m addicted to Scrapbooking & love trying new techniques and challenges. I Think my next little venture will be Hybrid scrapbooking !!! I teach a Scrapbooking class at my local crop and would like to do more teaching in the future. Scrapbooking is so great as it incorporates my other two loves , my family and love of photography even if I am a novice !! I also have a website where I make Tiaras & jewellery for Weddings and special occasions. Finally I like the idea of blogging to reach people all over the world and I think that’s cool!

Fiona Haigh-Gannon

I’m a Yorkshire girl born and bred but I moved to Cheshire about 6 years ago with my husband Patrick and my son Josh and I currently have the luxury of being a full time mum, which I love. Card making is my main hobby and passion but I also love altered art too. I keep having a go at scrap booking but it’s just such a big space to fill and I find it more a labour of love than an enjoyable hobby. I’ve also just started doing a few ATC swaps and I think this is something I could get into as they are great fun to create and I love receiving the little pieces of art work from my crafty friends in return.

Stephanie Block

I am a full-time Mum and I really got into paper crafting when I made my own wedding invitations 6 years ago, then I started card making and it’s gone from there really. I never thought I would get into scrapbooking, however I soon discovered that it is addictive and now there is no stopping me! I also love mini books and altered art. In fact I now very rarely get any card making done.  I am currently addicted to Circle journals. I have completed 5 and am in the middle of another 5. I love getting the finished books back and it is great receiving them in the post each round. I LOVE the  internet as there is so much inspiration and many great sites with challenges and friends.

Taslimah Dauhoo

My friends call me Tassy for short and I’m passionate about Art and Crafts. I was born and lived in Mauritius and went to University in South Africa where I did a degree in Fine Art. I am currently working in a secondary school as a Special Educational Needs Assistant.  I discovered card making about 5 years ago now but didn’t have access to the materials back home. When I came to  London, I unleashed my desire to learn more about card making and anything to do with crafts. I like experimenting with different techniques and try out new products. Card making is really addictive, but when we are passionate about something, it is always addictive isn’t it!