Loni:  Random? Eclectic? A hot mess? Like a bachelor with commitment issues?  I do love to stack, layer and cluster. But I’m so all over the place, that mostly I feel as though I’ve got Scrapper’s Tourettes.

Lorie:  I love your clustering and your scale.  Can you describe your process for building an awesome cluster and talk a little about how you resize your elements for a cluster?

Loni:  What a lovely compliment, Thank you!  Unfortunately, my creative process is such an erratic mess, that it’s tough to offer much insight.  lol  I never begin a page with any sort of idea, or preconceived plan.  I just sit down and start.  I digi scrap in much the same way that I approach art quilts and art journaling.  I amass a huge collection of scraps to first create the foundation and let the pieces lead the way. or most of my heavily layered paper stacks, I cut all the wonky paper shapes by hand and rarely use plain/solid papers because I simply love the contrast of both color and visual texture the patterned papers create.  Usually the paper layers come first and are followed by the addition of the elements, and the scale is influenced by the size of the overall cluster.

Lorie:  In your opinion what are three things that every good scrap page should have?

Loni:  That is like the million dollar question isn’t it?!   I really wish I knew the answer!   I never know how well my own pages will be received by others until I publish them… and often times pages I’m head over heals for get little to no response while pages that I feel are good, but nothing spectacular receive loads of love??  I find it’s all so subjective.   I, myself am drawn to a huge variety of styles, but greatly appreciate the aesthetic values of pages with a lot going on (I love clustered pages!) that allow my eye to travel a great distance and discover a plethora of delectible details highlighting terrific shadows and a strong composition with a confident use of pattern and color.  Though, I don’t think all of these need to be present to create a wonderful page.  And personally, I’m  just out to create pages that I love.  If someone else enjoys and appreciates them, well, that’s just icing on the cake for me.

Lorie:  What is the best kind of compliment you can receive on a layout?

Loni:  When the galleries are absolutely bursting at the seams with gorgeous pages… the fact that I receive a comment amid all of that beautiful chaos is a huge compliment in and of itself.  It touches me that something I created gave someone pause to stop and take notice and to be told they were inspired by it amazes me every single time.  I truly find it humbling.

Lorie: Is there a part of the scrapping process that you struggle with? If so, why?

Loni:  Journaling & templates.  I have a very difficult time journaling on scrapbook pages.  Journaling is a very personal experience for me, and is usually reserved just for my real life art journals, where most of my text gets painted or collaged over.  And as silly as it sounds I find it nearly impossible to work with templates.  I think for most people they are a wonderful catalyst to spark their creativity, but for me, I often struggle against the prearranged composition and feel completely restricted and bound down by them.   I figure that it must boil down to how I work.  I’m the same way with other projects; I cannot follow or stick to a quilting pattern for the life of me.  lol  Oh & mini kits!  I really, really struggle to scrap with mini kits because they’re just so… small.  I need me a whole lot of patterned papers and an offensive amount of ellies to be content and happy!  🙂

Lorie:  What is your favorite color palette to work with?

Loni:  I don’t really have a preference and love color.  Pastels and primaries aren’t palettes I’d decorate my house with (which is comprised entirely of earth tones), but I can scrap with just about any color that’s thrown at me.

Lorie:  Why do you CT?

Loni:  I’m a SAHM to 3 little boys who has moved around a LOT in her adult life, in other words, I don’t get out much, so opportunities to venture out and make friends is often a difficult task for me.  I love the sense of community and friendship my creative teams offer me.  It is truly a blessing to have the support of other like minded artists who can relate to and share this creative passion.

Lorie:  Final question Loni.  What are your scrapping goals? 

Loni:   I simply want to have fun, be inspired, and hopefully have the chance to work with some of my favorite designers along the way.

I want to thank Loni for agreeing to step outside her comfort zone and answer all my many questions.  I appreciate the time and the guts it took her to open up about herself and her artistic process.  I enjoyed getting to know her and taking an in depth look at her amazing body of work.  I hope you did as well.

The layouts I have shared with you here are only a small sampling of Loni’s work.  To see more be sure to check out her galleries at My Scrapbook Art and Digi Shop Talk.  Once you do, I know Loni will become one of your favorite scrappers too.