ALL ABOUT BEING SYLVIE SANCE

Hi everyone welcome to the third interview from our 'SPOTflight Series' which are a little look into the lives of some of our fabulous Sissy Sparrows followers.  We get a fab insight into their motivations, influences and favourite Sissy Sparrows products.
This month we are having a conversation with the wonderful  Sylvie Sance ...most of you would know her as Rarou47 in digiland! So sit back, relax and discover more about this talented lady!

1: What program are you using to create your projects and if you are a keen photographer what camera do you use?

I use Photoshop Elements 10. I began with PSE 5 and then as each new, more interesting and powerful version comes onto the market I upgrade. I am learning to use Art-rage too but have only just begun teaching myself.

2: Can you share a little bit about yourself?

   I am 49 years old, happy (not always!) as being a mother of 4 daughters aged 22, 21, 19 and 9 can be overwhelming almost 264 days a year he he. I am divorced after a long and hard seperation but am in a happy place now.

I live in the South-West of France, between Bordeaux and Toulouse near the sea and the mountains.
I work as an auditor, in a chartered accountancy office and am extremely busy with work. Thats why I am a 'Coffee-holic'! I can drink more than a litre of coffee a day, and love it! I will have it any way offered, warm, cold, with milk, without. With cream, ice cubes and vanilla, can you tell I am a fan of coffee? I am trying to reduce my coffee intake though because I suffer from insomnia....hmmm I wonder why?

I am a bad blogger since I discovered Facebook, lol! But will blog from time to time.

3: Have you always been a digital art journaler/scrapbooker or was it a gradual progression into this form of self-expression?
I discovered scrapbooking in 2005 whilst in the U.S. I began paper scrapbooking and have spent a small fortune on papers and embellishments and still have plenty to use. I began digital scrapbooking 4 years ago when I was in hospital. Prior to my 3 month stint in hospital I was making big collage canvasses and was sad to not be able to create during my hospitalisation, but when friends gave me PSE5 I immediately loved the no-mess feeling, the reuseable possibilities of all the digi products and therefore began my love of digital scrapping.... it saved me!

I began art journaling as a therapy after my fathers death. As I was really shy, I couldn't explain all my feelings just with words and found it helped me to express those emotions visually. To this day I still keep a paper journal, where I collage, paint, draw and experiment. But most of my digital layouts explain my feelings. I joined the Art Journal Caravan with Tangie Baxter in August 2011.

After my recovery, I decided to share my experience with other people and established a weekly art journaling workshop in Bordeaux and have a group of digi students too. I also co-ordinate crop parties 2-3 times a year which is a lot of fun.

4: Where do you find inspiration and what is your process in creating a page or art journal entry? 
I am a 'sponge'. Every single detail can inspire me. A colour a recipe, a magazine, a dress a piece of  music. I am not a good photographer, but I take a lot of pics with my phone and have a special 'Inspiration' file. 

I always begin a page with a word or quote. I have plenty of notebooks filled with them which I have either read in a book or heard over the radio and when I journal I am always mindful of the feelings these quote evoke in me. Pinterest is another really good source of inspiration for me especially the 'Gardening' sections and I  often refer to the Design Seeds site for colour inspiration.

My preferred effect in digi scrapping is to use the blending modes.  I  can't make a page without it and love to layer so will often play around with these effects for hours.

5: What is your favourite 'Sissy Sparrow' product/kit include a short description as to why you like it? It's hard, because I really love all of Sissy Sparrows products. My favourite kit is probably 'Catching Dragons' Bundle for the feeling of happiness. The gorgeous papers, the light, the dragonflies and the vintage ephemera...but I also love the Room 19 series. They are so versatile and I fancy the templates that match so perfectly with each kit. I'm completely addicted to the painted Word Art, I have a special file dedicated to handmade word art and are my go to products.

One of the most important things for me when making a page is to keep it as realistic as possible just like a paper project so I love that Sissy Sparrows includes lots of handmade products to play with. 

Here are two of Sylvie's fabulous pages. Sylvie has a unique style synonymous with collage which probably comes from her other love of creating traditional canvas collages. The blending and layering in her work is viewed as a fun bold juxtapostion of elements and textures melded together to form lovely expressive backgrounds.
Sylvie's choice of colour palettes are all very eye catching and evoke an emotional depth with some elements of surprise added by overlaying the Grunge Brushes.

 'Take me as I am'

Digital Credits:

Room 19 Project 2 by Sissy Sparrows

'Toxic Love' Digital Credits: Catching Dragons Art Journaling Collection by Sissy Sparrows Grunge Brush Vol.1 by Sissy Sparrows Grunge Brush Vol.2 by Sissy Sparrows The Painted Nest Challenge Freebies Toxic Love Facebook Freebie
Below is an example of a Moodboard that will inspire and jump start Sylvie's creative process.

Sylvie has been a loyal forum member of Scrapbookgraphics since 2007 and for the last 3 years has been involved with Tangie Baxter's Art- Journal Caravan for teh last 3 years so to see more of her fantastic art and CT work visit her Scrapbookgraphics online gallery HERE 

or by visiting her blog 'Le Blog de Sylvie'.

Hope you have enjoyed that open and honest insight into Sylvie Sance, she is a wonderful artist. We can not wait to share with you over the coming few weeks Sylvie's projects so keep an eye out for her fabulous work and please make welcome by saying hello to our August Guest Creative Team Member.