Sunday Spotlight - Jackie {jsmith84}

As I was cruising the Trixie Scraps Gallery recently I noticed several pages that really caught my eye, so thought I would track down the creator, Jackie (aka jsmith84), and find out a little more about her.
I mean, check out this page –

I really loved the split page design turned on its side!

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Jackie, I’m 27 years old and was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I recently relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia. I live here with my boyfriend. No kids, no pets. I have a degree in Biological Engineering, but am currently searching for a job, since I left my last one to move here.

Wow! Moving is tough! Good luck in your job search, too. That sounds like a really interesting field to work in!

So, how did you get into digi?

I have been on the internet a lot lately hunting for a job. I honestly can’t remember what I was searching for, but I stumbled upon a digital scrapbooking forum. I’d had Photoshop Elements 10 installed on my computer for a while but hadn’t used it, so I downloaded a few freebies and started playing around with them. I was instantly hooked! This was at the beginning of February of this year, so I have only been at it for 3 months and still have lots to learn.

Only 3 months! No way! I totally couldn’t tell you were new looking at your pages. How did you find Trixie Scraps?

I found Trixie Scraps through her store on Gotta Pixel.

And, what is your favorite Trixie kit?

I would have to say Defining Me. I absolutely love the colours of this kit. The turquoise is my favorite colour, so it grabbed my attention immediately. I am currently using it as one of the main kits in an album I am scrapping about a trip I took to Europe a few years ago.

Oh, I love doing trip albums, it really helps extend the fun of a trip as you relive those memories. Can you tell us something fun or unique about yourself?

That’s a toughie. Ok something fun: I volunteer for an organization called Destination Imagination. It is a non-profit organization that provides programming for students from kindergarten through university that promotes the development of creativity, teamwork, and problem solving skills. I participated in the program for 7 years as a kid, and then began volunteering when I graduated from high school. It is amazing the things that kids can come up with and accomplish themselves.

That’s awesome! I love to hear about people that give back to their communities. So, what do you like to scrap about?

Well, I may not have kids, but I have a very large extended family. I really enjoy scrapping photos from family events.

You are so lucky to have a large extended family. I bet those pictures will keep you busy! I am interested though, to know where you find your inspiration?

I’m usually inspired by a combination of things. Most often though, I think it is that a particular kit just grabs my attention and I NEED to use it. I also really enjoy scouting out different galleries for inspiration.

Oh boy do I know about NEEDING to scrap. It’s finding the time that I struggle with! So, when do you scrap?

Right now, I am out of work, so I have the luxury of scrapping whenever I want to. It will become an evening indulgence once I am working though. We don’t have cable, so that frees up lots of time for creative endeavours.

Wow, no cable huh? I usually scrap with the TV running… So, what do you listen to while you scrap?

I like background noise, but often have a hard time settling on what music to put on, so I usually let a movie run in the background as my white noise.

I hear you on the music issue. That’s what keeps me scrapping to TV. What is the one design/scrapping tool you couldn’t do without?

I love templates. Especially since I am a fairly new digi scrapper, they are helping me develop my composition and clustering skills by leaps and bounds. Sometimes I just use them for inspiration, other times, especially when I need to just get a layout done quickly, I will actually use a template as is and clip my papers and elements to it.

Templates are one of my all-time favorite digital tools! So, what’s your favorite TS layout?

My favorite Trixie Scraps layout that I have done is Long Haired Ladies –

The photo is of my sister and I and two of our cousins, and it was taken the day before I moved across the country. I don’t get to see them very often anymore, so it’s nice to have a recent photo of us together. Plus it uses my favorite TS kit.

Look at all that LONG hair! I am so jealous! Mine never gets that long!

Moving on to non-digital pastimes – what’s the name of the last book you read?

The last one I finished was Mockingjay. I am currently in the middle of A Clash of Kings. I love science fiction and fantasy, but will read anything really. I got an e-reader about a year and a half ago, and it just feeds my reading addiction.

Ah, The Hunger Games Trilogy. A lot of the Trixie Scraps Stars were all abuzz both when Mockingjay came out and then again with the movie release!

It’s getting to be time to wrap up, but I have one last question – if you could have dinner with anyone, famous or not, living or dead, real or fiction, who would it be and why?

Well, having just moved across the country this year, I have truly come to appreciate my family, and how close we all are. The best dinner company I can think of right now would be all of them at a big pot luck like we always have. Hopefully I’ll get back to visit them this summer.

Oh, I hope you do! Thanks for sharing a little about yourself with all of the Trixie Scraps readers this month!