Project Gallery 

Judges' Notes:
"Different, Unique, Fearless, Texture, Personal, Unexpected and Fun. Erika’s work is one of a kind, we love the sense of wonder and freedom in each piece. You can see that everything is infused with heartfelt emotion and just has a “realness” about it. We really like her unexpected pairings of supplies in her submissions."

Hello, my name is Erika Jennings. I’m a daytime sales manager and a nighttime crafter. A born and bred Northwesterner I live in Vancouver, WA with my 2 daughters and husband. I love traveling, cooking, lots of crafts, reading and just hanging out with my friends and family.

I have been scrapbooking for about 6 years now. My style has evolved over time, but for me half the fun of this craft is in the creation itself. I think my style is best defined as clean, fresh and colorful. I like giving everything new a try. Since I have daughters a lot of my pages are feminine, but I’m not a big fan of frill and lace. I have a bit of a habit of buying the latest and greatest accessory or paper. That keeps me always trying new products and techniques. I don’t think I’ve ever spent less than 2 hours on a layout.

Right now the collage or layering technique is my favorite. If one layer is good three must be better, right? I love working with multiple patterns whether they be in papers or ribbons or accessories. I don’t have any design background, I really just go by feel and mood. I’m willing to try anything in my scrapbooks.

It took me a while to realize that although I love to see and buy all the latest papers and accessories, really enjoy the creative release of taking bare paper and making it alive with color and feeling and absolutely adore watching people look through my books, enjoying the layouts, what I really love about scrapbooking is that it’s my very small way of making a difference. Whether my daughters know how much I love and admire them because of a sappy layout I made about them or someone laughs because they read a layout where I reveal my natural flaws or my future grandkids will know what my typical day is like because of a layout I create, I hope to really connect with people through my scrapbooks.

If I was stranded on a remote island, my ‘must-have’ supplies are ribbon in every color, size, texture and style, lots of patterned paper, rub-ons, anything sparkly and a great digital camera.