Today we are happy to announce ABritsWife as our April Gotta Be Me Featured Scrapper. 

Here's her interview.  Also, we will be continuing the GBM Scraplift Challenges each week.  Be watching tomorrow for the first week's challenge!

 1.   What is your full name and Gotta Pixel username?

Sonny Southworth aka   ABritsWife

2.   Tell us a little bit about you...what would you like other members to know?

I was born and raised in Southern California. Yes a Native! I tried to be a stay at home mom for my 4 sons but life got in the way of my dreams and I worked on and off since my eldest was 3 yrs old. He is 31 !! Now? …for the last 9 years I work at a local private Christian School in North Hollywood. I love my job and working with the kids at school. My 2 youngest attended LHS until they moved on to high school.
I have 4 sons: Jeremy 31, Joshua 28, Adam 19 & Tanner 16.5 yrs. I have 2 stepsons ages 34 & 25.  Grandkids: Ariel, James, Vance, Sean, Shaye, little Faith & her new little sister, Lira Jane born on Grandpas birthday in March! Add hubby Nigel, 3 kitties & 2 doggies…(one is a mini doxie who is the daughter I never had), and I have no reason to ever get bored!
My mother was always a ‘crafty’ person so I am naturally inclined to sew, crochet, woodwork etc. My husband is my soul mate; my mother & my sister are my ‘bestest’ friends in the whole wide world, and I live and breath for my sons. They make me a better person! The grandkids are just icing on the cake.

3.   How long have you been scrapping?

I discovered scrapbooking in 1995 when my sister had seen an example of a ‘Westrims’ photo scrapbook on display in a church bookstore. She called me so very excited and dragged me to see it the next weekend. We told a friend what we had seen and she had recently seen a Creative Memories demo…

4.   Do you paper scrap, too?

…My sis and I called that very CM consultant and got a personal demo the next day and each bought the biggest kit plus! And we were hooked for life! I was a consultant for 5 yrs…but again, real life got in the way of my fun and I had to go to real work again. Scrapbooking has been my creative outlet since them. I paper scrapped solely until about 1 year ago when I discovered….GOTTA PIXEL. I was so excited because the ‘creations’ were available in kits for way less than the 3D stuff, I would not have to depend on my imagination and the BEST thing of all… Noting to Clean UP!!

SO, yes I do paper scrap…did exclusively for 13 yrs. Now I do my paper scrappin when I go to my sisters or anywhere to a crop

5.   Do you do other crafts?

I sew…but with the boys grown, now I mostly sew baby floor blankets as gifts…and mend things. Scrapbooking has really become my fulltime craft of choice. Other walks of life ie. school, church etc…provide with opportunities to craft in other ways. I can crochet too…but haven’t done so since my 16 yr old was born. I crocheted him a pink dress and then, well, he too was a boy!

6.   How does your family feel about your scrapping?

They are very supportive. My husband really likes pictures, so he is happy that I choose to display them in this fashion. The boys have all been recipients of scrapbooks of their formative years and do enjoy them. The only time I get grief is when I want to take posed pics for Family Christmas cards, or milestones in their respective lives. They tend to tease me about not being able to pass a scrapbooking store or midnight runs to Wal Mart with my sis to get a supply fix! My mother and her friends love to ooh and aah over my online stuff and mom is always the first one who gets LO’s of the kids. It is my only real vice so it is supported.

7.   Tell us about your computer and software.

In time, I would like to have a wiz bang laptop to scrap on exclusively. But until that time, I have a big old GatewayVX930 and a separate 80 gig hard drive to store my files on. I use programs such as Kodak EasyShare, FastStone Image Viewer(for resizing) and Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 (anniversary edition)as my main digital image scrap program.

8.   What/who inspires you when you are doing a layout?

Of course my family and pets are my main inspiration. To leave the kids a legacy to know their family intimately and remember the good, the bad and the ugly in years to come is why I am so passionate about this craft. But often I gain creative inspiration from the other scrappers who are so talented or simply see things differently than I am able too.

9.   What is your favorite topic to scrap?

Holidays and milestones! Anytime the family gets together for an event, I can be sure of some wonderful memorable moments to create pages with. I love to take candid shots…real time moments when the personalities and feeling show. I am constantly behind the camera take more photos than I am sure it is legal to take but I want to capture the memory, not just the posed headshot.

10.  What colors do you gravitate to?

I really love autumn colors, warm colors, however, real life often calls for primary colors in bold or muted shades. Having 4 boys I spend a lot of time in blues and greens. I delight in using pinks now that I have grand daughters. My favorite colors are emerald green and crimson.

 11.   What kinds of supplies do you have a lot of in your folders?

Kits: I appreciate kits. Someone else had the forethought to put things together that work. But I love chains, metal looks, buttons brads and doodles…I am not a big collector of flowers. In paper, I tend to be very traditional, with few 3D objects in my pages. I tend to digi scrap traditionally too. Less embellies and more photos in the LO.

 12. What styles have you not tried, but would like to?

I cant think of any really…again I am fairly traditional.

 13.    Are there any styles you stay away from?

I think I just stay away from ‘portrait pages’ where one pic is the theme.  Some are great, but for me, scrappin is about the memories in the pics…not the decorations on the page.

14. What layout in your Gotta Pixel gallery is your favorite?

This is the hardest question by far. My LO’s all have meaning and that makes it hard to choose. Some accidentally come out more appealing than others but favorite…After pondering them all…I would say the 2 pg LO of my Boysenberry Pie Birthday. It is full of life and the colors work great.

~~ You can see and comment on Sonny's Favorite LO here:

http://www.gottapixel.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=88502

15. When doing a layout, do you open pictres then look for a kit to go with them, or open a kit first and find pictures to go with it?

I usually know what event of group of pictures I want to scrap…I don’t open them. I will open a kit and pre-build the basic page…then open the pics and fit them in the LO.

16. Do you make any of your own supplies?

I have crafted a few bits and bobs like frames and tags, when I can’t find what is in my minds eye but I don’t really make my own supplies. I am not very familiar with Photoshop and programs like it so I just stick with relying on all the talent available online who have that knowledge.

17. If you do, what stores are they sold at? N/A

18. Have you been published yet?

No, I sent in a paper tearing LO years back to a Scrapbook Magazine and never heard from them. It would be nice, but not necessary for me to enjoy what I do.

19. What are your future goals in digital scrapping?

I would like to learn enough on Photoshop to be able to ‘make’ my own torn, folded or crumpled paper edges. I would also like to learn how to use shadowing and highlighting to make things more 3D.

20. What is one piece of advice that you would like give to anyone who is just starting out in digital scrapbooking?

Find a digital site like GP, a personal favorite of mine, and scan their gallery regularly. Go ahead and scrap lift. Just copy anything you are attracted to. It is a compliment to the creator of the LO and it gives you results you can be happy with and good experience until you find your own style. If you don’t know how to do something, ASK. The digi community is always happy to teach!

 ~~ If you would like to leave Sonny a comment on her interview -- please click here to be taken to the forum thread.