New Beginnings: Get to Know Jill Sprott

1. Must Have Scrapbook Supply?
Patterned paper, kraft cardstock, stamping ink, and a smooth-writing gel
pen.

2. When & why did you start scrapbooking?
I officially became a scrapbooking junkie about seven years ago, back in the days of shaped scissors and sticker sneezes. I started scrapbooking out of curiosity, and although it took me a long time to shake off the fear of “messing up,” I kept scrapbooking because that curiosity never quite went away. I’m always am looking forward to the next page or the next project -- I never quite know where my love of paper, pics, and storytelling will take me. Robert Frost claimed that poetry is “a way of remembering that which it would impoverish us to forget,” and I feel exactly the same way about scrapbooking.

3. Guilty Pleasures?
Rootbeer (I started drinking it to kick my Pepsi habit, and now it’s become my new habit). Going to the movies (sometimes more than once a week!). I know it’s overpriced, but there’s no better way to watch a movie than in a theater while eating equally overpriced movie food.

4. Two things you want very badly at this moment?
No bills would be nice.
A new camera lens.

5. 3 items that are in your purse?
Ticket stubs from the No Doubt concert I went to on August 11.
Batteries for my point-and-shoot (it runs through these like crazy).
My iPod and headphones.

6. Favorite Scrapbook Technique/ or Style?
I’m all about the details and nuances. For instance, patterned paper is lovely by the sheet, but it really comes alive for me when it is cut into smaller pieces. A variety of styles and techniques appeal to me, but I always gravitate toward a little bit of charm and a lot of color.

7. When do you feel most creative?
I feel most creative on the weekends and during vacations, when I put my “work self” on hold and start to play. Sometimes, though, I find that creating in the midst of a stress storm is just what I need to calm the tempest -- if only temporarily. Playing with new photos and products or re-organizing old photos and products also gives me a creative rush.

8. Do you snack while you scrapbook?
No. Klutzes, food, and precious memories do not mix well.

9. Do you have a scrapbook confession?
Over the past seven years, I have spent the equivalent of the GNP of a small nation on scrapbooking supplies.

10. Favorite TV Shows?
True Blood, The Big Bang Theory, Top Chef, Lie to Me, Psych, Grey’s Anatomy, and Gossip Girl (another guilty pleasure)

11. Jobs you've had?
I have assembled pinwheels, shelved books, answered telephones, compiled street information for maps, written for a newspaper, tutored college students in writing, and served as a medical assistant. I’m now a teacher and VP by day and a college instructor by night.

12. What are you listening to right now?
Ra Ra Riot, Ingrid Michaelson, Regina Spektor, Matt Costa, Gomez, The Submarines, and Weezer -- for starters.