Veronica Spriggs: I Came About Scrapbooking The Backwards Way

Studio Vivarant has a very sophisticated, elegant design style. Her kits are full of unique, realistic elements. I love her pennants and flowers that she included in “Cherish” this month! I also really love her calm color combinations! Let’s take a closer look at “Cherish the Day” that is included in The Digi Files this month:

Here are some layouts created using Studio Vivarant’s contribution:

Layout by Jenn; Additional Credits: Typewriter Scribbled font.

Layout by Lauren; Additional Credits: Courier font.

Layout by Anne.

Layout by Karen; Additional Credits: House Blends Sampler by Jenn Lindsey (template, flipped); Fonts: Zapfino, Times New Roman.

Layout by Jacki; Additional Credits: XOXO Karen font.

You can see more layouts created with this kit on our “Team Inspiration” page.

I’m Veronica Spriggs aka Studio Vivarant. I live in Delaware our nation’s first state. There’s just lil ole me so I have lots of time to find things to get into. Mostly that’s a good thing. When I’m not scrapping or creating I spend time hanging out with my bf.

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I’ve never actually been a paper scrapper. I did keep a scrapbook back in college but that was back before I even knew what scrapbooking was. I just thought I had a super cool photo album! My journey into scrapbooking has been completely digital. I started back in ’06 when I wanted to learn how to make embellishments to adorn tags I used to create. I’ve always had the desire to do some type of design as a career. I figured I’d be a web designer but once I discovered scrapbook design I knew it was for me. And it’s not nearly as frustrating as web design! I supposed I learned about scrapbooking the backwards way. But that’s not atypical of me. As a designer, I became more and more interested in scrapbooking and eventually began creating digital layouts. I will confess designing layouts comes a lot harder to me than designing kits. And still to this day I haven’t scrapped a traditional layout yet but it’s on my list of things to do.

Designing for me is like reading a good book. Once I’m done with a project I instantly want more. I stay inspired by the design process itself. I try to make a mental note of things I find inspirational, which could be anything, from something I’ve seen at a craft show to something I’ve seen on the web. But mostly when I’m creating, the ideas just come. I have a sort of tunnel vision when I’m creating and I barely come up for air.

This may be a very odd tip but I do it all the time. When I’m done a layout sometimes I find the layout or perhaps the colors look a bit dull or flat. So to add a bit of pop I do this simple trick. See it here if video doesn’t show: http://youtu.be/Ws1ITuq3t1M

What kind of computer do you have?
I am on PC and Mac. My PC is a Gateway with a dual core processor @ 2.66GHZ and 4 gigs of ram. My Mac which is a laptop has 3.06 GHz processor and 8 gigs of ram. Even though my mac is more powerful I have to confess I’m really a pc girl at heart. My plan though is to someday be completely reliant on mac for my designing. That would probably mean loading windows on mac though and I’m not too keen on that idea.

What program/s are you using?
Photoshop of course, CS4. I hear CS5 is to die for so eventually I will upgrade but I’m in no rush. By the time I get around to it CS6 will be out. I started in Paint Shop Pro and generally kept a copy installed but so many reformats I decided to keep it stream lined. I am a fan of PSP though and it took a while to kick the habit. I also use Illustrator

What kind of camera?
I started with the Nikon D40x and although it takes great photos once I started taking photography courses I just had too hard a time trying to operate it so I upgraded to the Nikon D90 and I love, love, love it. But then as it always happens they came out with the Nikon D7000 but I’m just going choose to ignore it . Although I am a bit curious what it has to offer I seriously doubt I would upgrade again unless I were going for a full frame camera but that won’t be until I hit the lotto. And I don’t even play lol.

Do you use a tablet or any other tools?
It took ages for me to actually USE my tablet once I got it, I’m such a creature of habit I just couldn’t get out of the habit of using a mouse. But now I am hopelessly addicted to my tablet. I use it almost exclusively. That’s partly because since I moved my mouse to the port on the front of my pc it’s always falling on the floor. My first tablet was Wacom’s Intous3 now I’m using the Intous4. I gave my I3 to a friend I’m kinda wishing I’d kept it as I really miss it. Another essential tool my scanner. I use Canon’s canoscan 880.

Here are some of my favorite products by Studio Vivarant:

Here’s some more inspirational layouts using Studio Vivarant’s products. All of the layouts are linked to the originals with credits.

Studio Vivarant has a special offer for everyone! First, sign up for her newsletter and receive two bonus quick pages created with “Cherish the Day” (see preview below). Here’s a coupon for 25% off your $10 order. (Collabs excluded, expires May 31, 2011.)
Code: vjsDailyDigi

Go have a look in Studio Vivarant’s store! We will randomly select a winner from the comments to win $10.00 in product from her store! (Comments must be posted before midnight EST to qualify)!