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Meet Kanga -- June's Gotta Be Me Featured Scrapper PDF Print
Written by 2BoysMom   
Monday, 02 June 2008

The Staff at Gotta Pixel are happy to announce our Gotta Be Me Featured Scrapper of the month for June -- Kanga (Sarah Senior).  Here is her wonderful interview. 

Also, once again, we'll be starting the Weekly Scraplift challenge of her amazing gallery on the 6/2, BUT we'll be changing things up each week, so be sure to check back tomorrow to find the new challenge.

 
1. What is your full name and Gotta Pixel username? Sarah Senior aka Kanga  

2. Tell us a little bit about you...what would you like other members to know? I’m Sarah and I am addicted to my computer, especially to scrapping and designing.  I am a full time stay at home Mum with two (normally) lovely children – Graeme who is 6 and Katie who is 3 and a half.  I’m 34 and have been married to my husband Tim for over 10 years and started going out with him way back in 1990 when we were both still at school – he was my first boyfriend (ahhhh).  We currently live in the south east of England – but have lived in various places within the UK, and even spent a short time out in Australia.  We have one pet – a Maine Coon cat called Tilly – she is a big ball of fluff and probably the wimpiest cat you have ever met, she even gets scared of the mice she catches!  Before children, I did a degree in Physics and Chemistry and worked in the industry as a research scientist.  I now make a little money as a Virgin Vie consultant – a company in the UK that produces yummy bath and body products, skincare, cosmetics and jewelery – I take them to people’s homes and we have fun themed girls’ nights in where people can buy the products.  I also get involved with the community – I used to run a toddler group and am currently on the committee for the pre-school that Katie attends and I guess it won’t be long before I get involved with Graeme’s school too!   

3. How long have you been scrapping?  I’ve been scrapping since January 2006  
4. Do you paper scrap, too? Yes – I actually discovered digi-scrapping when trying to find paper scrapping supplies.  However, I really haven’t done many paper pages at all – I find the space it takes up difficult, and I am really nervous about cutting up some of the gorgeous papers I have as I am afraid I will spoil them!  

5. Do you do other crafts? I make lots of cards – I’ve been making (and selling) handmade cards for 5 years now and still love it – I normally have around 150 card in stock (excluding Christmas ones!)  I used to do tapestry and cross stitch, and want to start up again – it’s just a case of finding the time!  

6. How does your family feel about your scrapping?  My children really don’t understand what I do – they are still only 3 and 6.  But Graeme does get fed up of me taking his photo sometimes, which is a spin-off from scrapping – I have to take photos everywhere!  My husband is very supportive as long as he doesn’t have to say more than “that’s nice” when I show him a LO – if I ever get a long sentence about a LO, then I know he loves it!  I think sometimes he doesn’t like me spending lots of time on the computer doing scrapping (or designing) but then he has a computer next to me, so we end up talking to each other whilst working on our own things.  

7. Tell us about your computer and software.  It’s a big cream box on the floor which works!  Seriously, I really don’t know much about computers – that’s my husband’s job.  Having asked him he tells me I have a Packard Bell Core 2 Duo 2.13GHz with 2GB RAM and 160GB hard disc and a Radeon 2400XT 256MB graphics card (don’t ask me, I just know it works well!)  I also have a spare hard drive (the one out of my old computer which ended up with a fried motherboard) and another EHD, both of which are used for backups.  (there are then another 4 computers in the room which are all Tim’s!) As for software, I originally had PSE (the original photoshop elements) which I had prior to scrapping. I upgraded this to PSE4 right at the start of scrapping and now I also have PSCS3 which I got after I started designing and wanted a little bit more out of my program.  

8. What/who inspires you when you are doing a layout? It’s normally a mix of photos and journaling – I like layouts which have a story behind the photo.  So, mainly my family inspires my scrapping.  Sometimes it can be a kit that inspires me to scrap – I love a kit so much that I will hunt for photos to make a perfect LO.  It’s normally the colours in a kit that make me want to scrap with it “badly” so I guess colour is an inspiration too.  

9. What is your favorite topic to scrap?  I have no real favourite topics – favourite photos, yes, topics – not really!  So I guess it would be photos I love as an answer J  

10. What colors do you gravitate to? I tend to like more muted, subtle colours, especially greens, blues and purples.  The same kind of colours I like to wear!  But I also love black & white LOs with a splash of colour.  

11. What kinds of supplies do you have a lot of in your folders? Where do I start?  I have tons!  And if I want something I don’t have, I make it!  Before designing, I was on lots of CTs (including Gotta Pixel) and worked with some fabulous designers which means I have a real mix of styles and colours in my folders.  However, I mainly use full kits when scrapping – I’m not really keen on mixing and matching as it takes too long to find things.  So I will usually scrap with just one kit (occasionally creating an extra piece myself)  

12. What styles have you not tried, but would like to? I think I have now tried most of the styles there are – I love graphic/blended LOs and eventually conquered my fear of trying them and some of my favourite LOs now use these techniques.  

13. Are there any styles you stay away from? I don’t like over cluttered layouts with lots of “real” elements – it just doesn’t work for me.  I find them too distracting from the photo and I can’t imagine them “in real life”  
14. What layout in your Gotta Pixel gallery is your favorite? This is a question I have answered before, and I know my answer changes every time I look at my gallery!  At the moment, it is “reflect” – probably because it uses one of my favourite photos of Tim and Graeme, and also because it was the first LO I had scrapped in ages that didn’t use a CT kit!http://www.gottapixel.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/96182/ppuser/5874

15. When doing a layout, do you open pictures then look for a kit to go with them, or open a kit first and find pictures to go with it? When scrapping with CT kits or my own kits to show them off I will look for photos to go with the kit.  When scrapping for me, I will look for a kit to go with a photo (which can take a very long time as I have so many kits!)  

16. Do you make any of your own supplies? Yes! And sell them.  

17. If you do, what stores are they sold at?  Plain Digital Wrapper  

18. Have you been published yet? No, but then I have never tried!  Not really a big thing I want to do – if it happens, great, but I’m not that bothered!

19. What are your future goals in digital scrapping? I want to scrap more – I thoroughly enjoy both designing and scrapping, and I find I spend more time designing and not enough scrapping.  I want to scrap more of my everyday photos rather than just re-scrapping my favourite photos in different ways.

20. What is one piece of advice that you would like give to anyone who is just starting out in digital scrapbooking? Don’t be afraid – you can always undo something if you don’t like it!  Look for inspiration at all the fantastic digi-scrapping sites out there and also ask if you don’t know – all of us didn’t know at the start and learnt by reading and asking!
 
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