Gallery Girls ~ lego (Elisabeth)

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

 Hi everyone!! :o)  Kylie here…and I’m really, really, really excited to bring you my very first GALLERY GIRLS feature!! (Thanks SP!!)  I LOVE the fact that every month the lovely SP has been spotlighting one of our ‘regular’ gallery posters whom we have all come to ‘know’ and love…her ‘gallery girls’!!  It’s one of my absolute favourite posts!  As the end of each month rolled around, I’ve looked forward to getting to know each, and every, extraordinary ‘new girl’ just that little bit more…and I LOVE that I get to share this month’s special post with you all…what a privilege!

And what a way to start!! :o) I am thrilled to ‘introduce’ you to the uber-talented Elisabeth aka LEGO!

Elisabeth burst onto the Shabby Shoppe scene several months ago with a LOTW win and since then each and every layout she has posted has been a pure delight! She’s a real sweetheart, heaps of fun, and an awesome digi-scrapper with passion aplenty! Her creativity knows no bounds…especially when it comes to colour! Her ability to see more than just the kit in front of her never ceases to astound me. Talk about getting the utmost out of a kit…Elisabeth is a genius!! So let’s get on with meeting our beloved Elisabeth and checking out all the amazing new eye-candy she created especially for this post…inspiration galore!!! Elisabeth will also be uploading all of these new layouts to her gallery…so you can see larger images and more info about each there :o) 

To start things off, I couldn’t help but begin right here with this quintessential lego layout! Isn’t is FANTABULOUS?! COLOUR-rific is the ‘word’!! ;o) I could stare at it all day and find new surprises – a treasure chest of elements! – a little sprout, goose bumps, clementine, hopscotch, sweetiepie, gigglebox, blossom, yours truly, gabby collection…the list goes on!! And the photos of her sweet Paulina are just as cute as cute can be!!!

(There are lots more new and super-cute layouts sprinkled throughout the post below…so be sure to scroll down)

On with the interview…

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF…

I’m an English and Spanish teacher for 10 – 18 year olds living in Vienna, Austria – very close to Schönbrunn Castle if you’ve ever been to our beautiful city. I’m married to the loveliest and coolest man in the universe who happens to be a graphic designer (yippee, yippee, yeah!) and about a year ago we became parents to Paulina which – as stated in one of my layouts – was quite a change in our lifestyles. But we enjoy it a lot! Before I used to travel as often as I could, with friends, my boyfriend or all alone: I’ve been to 35 US states, studied in Spain and Ecuador, took a “round the world trip” for over two months. We actually do plan to continue this passion of ours with Paulina by returning to New Zealand for seven weeks in the upcoming winter. We’re sooo excited ;-)) When we are in the country or even at home, we sit in front of our laptops ;-)), read, make plans, do some sports and eventually cook (my second favourite passion) or eat out with friends (mind you: for inspiration ;-)). Nowadays I’m rather keen on finding out which veggies my baby likes to munch …

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCRAPPING DIGITALLY…AND DID YOU EVER GIVE PAPER SCRAPPING A TRY?

I started more than a year ago when I was pregnant, actually by discovering the SP site =). When I first saw it, I knew instantly that this was made for me! I had never really done any paper scrapbooking apart from all the travel diaries I kept (with sticking in tickets, postcards etc. and lots and lots of journaling, of course). The digital approach is perfect for me for I don’t want to buy and store all the paper stuff. I like keeping things simple. Besides, I can redo layouts without having to throw away tons of material.

…a couple more pages from Elisabeth…adorable everyday moments captured with such style!! Loving the pops of red!

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR SCRAPPING STYLE?

Non-existent.

I don’t think I have a style. A couple of weeks ago I would have definitely added “yet” to the previous sentence and the fact that I couldn’t manage to make a decision about the scrapbooking style I wanted to concentrate on even haunted me a bit, but admiring all the different styles I realized I don’t really want to limit myself to one only. I don’t like a “too photoshopy” kinda look with loads of blending etc. I really like layouts that look “as if” (they could exist on paper). I came to the conclusion that there are three influences that appeal to me the most: the Cathy Zielsky style (graphic, simple, clear – I loved her book); the KayleighWiles/Georgeinci/Nath… style (a bit messy, loads of elements and brushes) and – of course – the Shabby Princess/Kylie/Beckie… style (e.g. devine clustering, great ideas, …their layouts just make me feel good!) Another scrapbooker I admire enormously is Elizabeth Kartchner: no digital stuff – the real thing, amazingly creative, crazy, sooo tasteful and her outrageous use of colours, material and patterns is just so full of life.

…ready for some more fun?!! Yes, please!!! Loving the graphic look with the ‘Amazing’ layout – utter gorgeousness!! And the “Pauli Loves Water” page is pure joy!

WHAT IS THE FIRST COMPONENT OF EACH PAGE YOU CREATE…OR DOES IT VARY FROM PAGE TO PAGE?

Actually only half of the times it’s the photo. I’ve this stock of layouts that I did and do when there are no recent pics to scrap. Others take a bath, watch a movie (we don’t even have/want a TV set), have a glass of wine to call the day…  I try to learn new things in Photoshop or Illustrator, or on a lazy evening (like mostly LOL) I try to create a new layout or just scraplift. That is the perfect form of relaxation for me ;-) So the starting point of my pages is at times a layout I want to copy/create, a new kit’s components or a photo I want to use. And very rarely it’s a story/memory I want to save.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LAYOUT (TO DATE) AND WHY?

 I like it so much because it was so not planned and yet the details are just perfect for me, like my dad’s shirt matching the club’s logo, for instance. Additionally, it was so much fun to find, alter and place all the embellishments, I like the colour combo and most of all: Paulina’s facial expressions really seem to be the ones of a fervent soccer fan. (And our team really did win this year’s national league !)

And here is SP’s fabulous pick ~

SP says ~ “I just love the HAPPY look and feel of this page! Who could resist all of these precious little munchkins…the layout just screams CHILDHOOD! I LOVE the arrows pointing to the ‘treats’ of choice (tooooo cute!)…the creative use of the floral paper…the PRECIOUS photos…the placement of the ‘word’ buttons…and the ‘subject’ matter, too! The fact that their special group of friends had babies so close together…and they manage to see each other weekly (as a group) – LOVE it…what a wonderful tradition for both moms and babies :o) While it wasn’t easy choosing a favorite from Lego’s AWESOME gallery…this one definitely caught my eye :o)”

WHAT TIP/TECHNIQUE DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SCRAPPING DIGITALLY?

The recolouring/desaturating of items in the non-destructive form of corrections and the use of layer masks. (It’s a blessing to have an expert at hand, but he does get impatient with my sometimes complicated working methods after having told me over and over again, how easily it could be done ;-)) and the “alt”+”cmd”+”z” shortcut!

WHAT IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE INSPIRES YOU IN YOUR SCRAPBOOKING?

That’s a difficult question. My child (and her little friends) is/are the reason and justification for me to do this scrapbooking thing. When we have a lovely snapshot of her, I am really looking forward to employing it in a page. But other than that it’s mostly fellow scrapbookers and the world out there in posters, ads, nature etc. that help me to choose forms, colours, elements. My husband gave me this sketch book insisting I should scribble and draw before starting a layout. Sometimes I do it, not very often though. But when I do it, the layouts are better.

I just ADORE these two layouts! How cool is that underwater photo! WOW!! And a special birthday invite with cutie-pie pics…super-sweet!!

TECH STUFF :o) Tell us about your camera and software!

I have a Canon EOS 300D with a Canon EF 50mm 1:1.4 objective (at least half of the good pics were taken by my DH ;-) who also just told me the exact objective description btw). I use (his) Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5.

FAST FIVE FACTS!

• Favorite COLOR: teal (this being the only fave-question with just­ one answer ;-))
• Favorite FOOD: asparagus risotto followed by a “susi cake” (dense chocolate cake topped with a rich mousse au chocolat)
• Favorite MOVIE: No one knows about Persian cats, Breaking the Waves, Pretty Woman, The Shawshank Redemption … there  are too many!
• Favorite SONG: “Endlessly”, “Starlight”, “Take a Bow”, … by Muse, “Elephant gun” by Beirut, “Teardrop” by Massive Attack and “Tirol Concerto” by Phillipp Glass, “Times like these” by the Foo Fighters … and believe me: I could go on and on! (Is there really anyone in the world with just ONE favourite song??)
• Favorite MEMORY: having the easiest, quickest, not very painful (and all of that very unexpectedly) natural birth I’ve heard of and being able to take this tiny little treasure home from hospital after just a few hours. And without question our wedding day which I had never even dreamed of being like it was. Additionally, I have so many travelling memories I treasure a lot, but one stands out a bit: one week of paradise on the Tui Tai diving ship in Fiji.

And last, but certainly far from least, a gorgeous page by Elisabeth to round off the post! Monotone softness at it’s very best! And I just LOVE the adorable photos of little Paulina with her Theo….oh my, PRECIOUS!!! :o) 

I sooo hope you enjoyed this GALLERY GIRLS post…and getting to know Elisabeth (lego) a little better! Be sure to visit her stunning gallery at the Shabby Shoppe, where I am sure you will find bunches and bunches of inspiration for your own pages and projects! And, of course, we’ll be bringing you another new and exciting GALLERY GIRLS post next month…so stay tuned :o)

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH, Elisabeth…for letting us get to know you and your gorgeous family a little more. It has been an absolute pleasure! You are so much fun and such a true talent. We all adore you here at the Shabby Shoppe…and can’t wait for your next beautiful layout to hit the gallery!!!

Thanks for visiting the blog today…we’re soooo delighted you did!! :o) Be sure to join me tomorrow when I announce the WINNER of our Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge 15 and share number SIXTEEN!! Yay!!

KylieGallery Girls, Inspiration, Uncategorized 8 Comments