Suzanne Preece by Angie Felix

Supplies:

• Paper Pizazz® patterned papers: Joy’s Vintage Papers
• Tombow Glue
• Stamping It embossing powder
• Sharon Sonnef stamp sticker
• studs
• Bazzil cardstock
• gold acrylic paint
• vellum
• sculpey –terracotta with gold rub ons and clear embossing powder
• computer font: Edwardian Script, Old English, Parchment

Three years ago, with a pile of photos building up in boxes, Suzanne Preece decided to take on scrapbooking. Today, after her discoveries of the internet and crops, Suzanne admits that scrapbooking has became not only an obsession, but a passion.

“It’s the first hobby that I have stuck to and I think that is because it’s so useful and meaningful,” Suzanne says. “The children reinforce my efforts too, as they love reading about themselves. It demonstrates to them and my husband what they all mean to me.”

Suzanne and her husband live in New Zealand with their four children—a four-year-old, six-year-old and two high school boys. Though the family keeps her busy, she still finds the time for her paper crafting. “I have a very supportive husband who tries hard to take out all four children to give me a bit of extra scrapping time.” And Suzanne needs it! In addition to caring for her family, she recently began consulting for a scrapbooking company called Kiwiscraps. “I love being able to combine scrapbooking and my teaching skills!” she says. (Suzanne is a primary school teacher and will return to the classroom next year once Eleanor, her youngest begins school.)

Suzanne shared a bit about her scrapping life in a recent interview.

What gives you creative inspiriation?

Everything visual—a colourful flower, a detailed leaf, an expression in a face, an outing, a feeling about things my children have done, other people’s layouts, or a need to communicate a story. Seeing how other people have done things in a way I hadn’t thought of also inspires me, as a new product also sometimes does. My scrapbooking friends inspire me also—we spend lots of time encouraging each other's ideas and swapping books and magazines.

What part of designing is most fun for you?

The initial planning part is my favourite—finding matching paper that just feels right with my photos, collecting and making all the embellishments…deciding on the title and journaling and working out where it all looks best.

When it comes to gluing it all on, I tend to feel like the fun is over and I’ll be thinking of the next layout. I like the feeling of satisfaction when a layout feels balanced and coordinated and the photo looks like it was meant to be amongst the paper and embellishments I have chosen.

What’s the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you?

Definetly finding the money for all of the lovely products and the time. There is never enough time. So far I work chronologically on a family album which is a year behind and I occasionally throw something in from the past. I do try to produce simple and quick pages, but once I get started ideas just evolve—keeping it simple is a challenge for me!

What are your must-have scrapbooking supplies?

Cutterbee scissors, a metal ruler, an X-acto® knife, plenty of beautiful paper and cardstock and good glue. Plus, I have to have my computer!

What project are you currently working on?

At present I am working on last year’s Christmas pages. I finally got a heat gun and have enjoyed embossing gold titles and frames. I also belong to a Yahoo group called Queens of the Crop and we have challenged ourselves to complete a layout using a sketch.

What other types of crafting do you enjoy?

I now incorporate other crafts into my scrapbooking such as sewing, watercolour painting, three-dimensional crafts such as sculpey and modeling paste creations. I also enjoy sketching—I like to make my own diecuts that match my photos. I used to knit, too, but that has not found it’s way into my scrapbooking YET.

Scrapbooking has given me the chance to make some of the other crafts that I enjoyed more useful. Wheareas before I’d just dabble, I now have finished projects that are enjoyed and used, hopefully well into the future.

Tell us about this layout.

I have found the pre-school years to be the hardest and most rewarding. I have only scrapbooked for the last three years, so I missed the opportunity to record my 14 and 16 year-olds' pre-school antics. Now when Eleanor demonstrates that typical mischievous exploratory nature of a four year-old, I make a mental note to scrap the story. I have to say I’m a bit more relaxed about Eleanor’s adventures than I was with my first child. Now I know that the “developmental” behaviour will pass.

I love the look of Victorian decoupage and thought this paper would be well-suited. To make Eleanor’s photo fit the character of the paper, I transferred a black and white photocopy onto a piece of calico fabric. I edged it with gold acrylic paint and chose patterned papers of the same colour and tone. I also made a little angelic face with sculpey, but using a fairy ornament to make a mould and then pushing sculpey into it. I embossed the title by sprinkling powder on the title as soon as it came out of my printer. I used my X-acto® knife to cut out some of the flowers from the floral paper, which I layered over other areas of the layout, to create continuity amongst a range of patterns.

Suzanne’s Journaling:

This is the face that melted my heart when…

You coloured the television screen with permanent marker.

When you went through a mixing phase and cracked eggs on your bedroom floor.

When you cut huge chunks out of the side of your hair and hid it under the couch.

When you cut your fringe to the scalp.

When you decided my scrapbook glue needed a wash until there was none left.

When over a long period of time you ripped a large hole in the wallpaper beside 
your bed. Each night you picked off more pieces. I was forever vacuuming up 
the evidence.

When you decorated your own face with permanent black marker.

When you would disappear for a while and I would discover that you had been 
in the bathroom making a potion with all the handsoap.

When you unwound the tape out of the cassettes often your favourite ones.

Love you always Eleanor

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