Contributor Center Stage: Natalie Elphinstone

This November, we're thrilled to dedicate the Contributor Center Stage to Creative Team Contributor Natalie Elphinstone (natalieelph)! Natalie is an active part of the Studio Calico community, sharing her beautiful layouts and creations. Be sure to check out her projects in the Gallery this month! Take a few minutes to learn a little more about Natalie — her scrapbooking history, organization techniques and more! We're so thankful for our talented team that helps to spread the joy of memory-keeping all over the world.

How long have you been scrapbooking?

I started scrapbooking soon after the birth of my first child. It seemed like making an album was the thing you ‘should do’!! Mind you, I don’t think that album was finished until she was about 2 years old, so not sure I was quite the mum I imagined I would be in my own head ;-) In the beginning I had all the supplies from my local craft shop, but no motivation to do anything with them. It wasn’t until I discovered the online world of blogs and stores and galleries that I really gathered the inspiration to start creating, and once I did… there was no stopping me! My eldest has just turned 9 so I guess that means I’ve been scrapping for about 7 years now.

What’s your go-to technique?

My style has definitely evolved over time, but there are a few things that I do on pretty much every layout and that includes lots of handwritten journaling (gotta get the story down!), stitching things in place with my sewing machine (saves glue!) and a splash of ink to finish off (makes me feel arty!)

Would you mind sharing some photos of how one such project came together/some text describing the stages?

The first layout I created when the Lollipop Guild kits hit my doorstep was this one titled ‘Enjoy’.

I started off with one of my recent favourite techniques and that’s to print off a really large black and white photo onto textured cardstock which gives it an appearance of being on canvas. I stuck it down onto some patterned paper to figure out how much more space I would have left to play with. I mean, the photo is classic, but I still want to have pretty embellishments to add colour and dimension! Looking at all the stars in the kit gave me the idea to have them sprinkled across the page so I used my Silhouette to cut some stars out of some scrap paper and used it as a stencil to sponge on the acrylic paint to create a random pattern.

When it was dry I added a whole variety of other stars – the rubber ones, the enamel ones, the vellum ones and more cut out of patterned paper. It’s a really simple design but the texture in real life is incredible!

How do you stay organized?

I’m a firm believer of ‘a place for everything and everything in it’s place’ but I live in a rental property and we move often, so my craft room is set up for ease of transport rather than lovely bits of furniture built specifically for this space.

My scrap table is a fold-out trestle and many of my supplies are stacked up underneath it, still in the boxes I packed them into last! Classy hey?! I like to mix up my purely practical (and often recycled) storage containers with a sprinkle of decorative items so that I can at least pretend to have a taste of Pinterest-worthy inspiration around!

I’m all for the idea of having my stash within viewing and grabbing distance so that I’m more likely to use it, but that just means my work surfaces get a little crowded, and I often resign myself to scrapping on the floor ;-) However, if you think that all makes it sound like I’m not very organized you’d be wrong! I still have all my leftover Studio Calico kits packaged into individual crop bags with a list of what’s in it and the date it was released arranged in chronological order on my shelves. And yes… they date back to 2009!

What is the crafting tool you can’t live without?

If I was only going to chose one then it would be my trimmer – I’m a lover of straight lines. But if I was going to be honest and let you know all the tools I have set up on my desk so that I can use them all the time then the list would also include my Silhouette, my Minc, my Selphie, my heat gun and my sewing machine!

Where do you go to get ideas?

If I want purely scrapbooking inspiration then I head here to the SC galleries. Nobody does it better! But if I want a little out-of-the-box eye-candy that just might spark something extraordinary then I’m a Pinterest addict like the rest of you. I might try looking for interesting typography, or magazine layouts, colour combos inspired by interior design or patterns from the latest fashions. I love trying out unique ideas – they don’t always work, but I love trying them out!

Anything else we should know about you and/or your style?

I think the most important thing for me to remember when I’m scrapbooking is to keep the focus on doing it for myself and my family. The layouts where I chose to add a particular product over adding personal touches such as journaling or memorabilia are the layouts that I have less of a connection with later on. As my kids grown older and enjoy looking back through their albums I know that they’re appreciating the real-life photos and the heartfelt stories far beyond the pretty design of the page. And that’s why I love this hobby!