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I love my work to have originality. My style came to be because I like the look of a lot of texture and contrast in artwork. In my layouts, cards, and paper crafting projects, I try to apply the knowledge that I have gained through all of my art classes to make my work more original and interesting. I also love to stretch my mind and try techniques that I have never seen before. I hardly ever look at other people's work for inspiration because I like to rely upon my own creativity to create projects.

I plan the layout based on the photos I want to showcase. First I chose a photo or several photos that I want to feature. Then, I pick paper that matches or accentuates the color, theme, or feel of the photo. When I choose paper color, I make sure that there is an element of contrast which adds interest to the page. I like to pick random paper that has different patterns but similar colour elements and put them together on a page. Once I lay out my background and photos, I love to ink and sand the edges for a vintage look. I use a lot of flowers, large alphabet letters and any other embellishment that adds dimension. Foam dots are wonderful friends of mine that I use to adhere embellishments or photos - they really add a lot to the page.

I am inspired by my love for special people around me. As a professional designer in the scrapbooking industry, I am around scrapbooking all day and when I go home, I very rarely scrapbook in my free time. When I do scrapbook at home, I create gifts for my family or friends. I love to create mini albums that they can cherish forever. There is nothing like a homemade gift that shows someone that you care about them. At home, my inspiration comes when I am doing something nice for someone.

My favorite product would have to be patterned paper! I love paper because there are so many uses. You can use paper as a background on a page, create your own embellishments by cutting the designs or words out, decoupage paper and make any craft or make your own album. With paper, your possibilities are endless!

Use your own handwriting to creative funky page elements. Free-write on patterned or lined paper about a certain subject or person that you want to feature, to create your own text patterned paper that you can use as a background. (Free-writing is wonderful because you don't have to worry about content because a lot of the writing on the paper will be covered anyway). You can then mix other patterned paper, photos, and embellishments to create a wonderful work of art. Your handwriting tells a lot about you so when future generations look at the layout, they can see a glimpse of you.