Interview by Amy Kingsford
GIS Username: Sherelm
Joined: April 2009
Posts: 2,642
Most Active In: Non-Scrapbook Related Forum
Alum of: In Loving Memory, Beautifully Handmade Cards and Beautifully Handmade Embellishments with Tania Willis; Oodles of Doodles with Michelle Houghton; Building Pages with Debbie Hodge; Shutterfly Saavy with Pattie Knox; and Scraproom with a View with Doris Sander.
Sharon’s Blog: Dreams of My Creative Mind
Sharon Linda Knopic (who was given her sister Linda’s name who passed away one year and a day before Sharon’s birth, as a middle name) has always lived in the Hershey, PA area—home of Hershey Chocolate and the Three Mile Island nuclear facility. Though Sharon would describe herself as “technically” living alone, she also shares her home with two dogs (Disney and Scully) and two Siamese kitties (Clarkie and Pearl) She also receives frequent visits from all of the geese and ducks on the lake she lives beside. In addition to being a scrapbooker, Sharon plays both the piano and the organ, and also loves to crochet, sew, and quilt.
I recently asked Sharon a few questions about her hobby…so let’s hear what Sharon had to say about her scrapbooking in her own words:
- I’ve been scrapbooking since 1996, the year after my mother died, and left so many priceless photos of the family. I wanted to give my siblings their own photos, so I did my first albums for them. Since then I became the first teacher at Hershey’s “Times to Remember” LSS and taught at the Great American Scrapbook Conventions and Memories Expos.
- I scrapbook two things: 1) my mother’s heritage photos, and 2) my life .
My goal is to have names to go with all of my pictures, from the turn of the 1800’s into the 1900’s, before I’m done scrapping. - While I love scrapbooking with my friends in Paradise, Lancaster County, PA, I really enjoy scrapbooking on my bed. Before I had a scrapbook room, that’s where I scrapped, and old habits are hard to break. I do try to do a little each evening, but most of my scrapbooking is done on the weekend. Once winter comes, I love my hobby even more – snow falling and scrapping with cocoa – it doesn’t get any better than that!
- I’m an anything-goes scrapbooker, no one style in particular. If I see an idea I like, I’ll try it. I really love to hand-cut things, so I’m one of the few people who didn’t buy a Cricut because of that. To me, that makes my pages mine –I love to freehand draw or cut something and then place it on my page.
- If I could only keep three supplies, it would have to be my Bazzil cardstock supply, my Scrappy Glue, and my tiny pointy scissors. I could put together most pages with just those three items.
- Always on my “wish list” is more storage, although my son teases me that I should “store” my supplies in a scrapbook. No one likes smart-aleck kids! Besides that my other two wishes would be MORE Scrappy Glue and more cardstock. Notice how the word “more” keeps coming up, much like it does with other scrapbookers?!
- I really would love to have the luxury to incorporate more art journaling pages into my scrapbooks, but right now, it seems like I’m going to die with a lot of pictures still to be put into albums!
- I have a group of four gals – Deb, Debbie, Cherie (a GIS’er) and Mindy. These gals are my inspiration. I love them both in their spirits as well as their artistic abilities, and we feed off each other. We give each other weekly challenges, and that’s where almost all my inspiration comes from.
- My favorite class is between Oodles of Doodles and Building Pages. I can’t decide which one taught me the most – and honestly, that’s what classes are all about – learning new things, to keep the hobby alive, and making you constantly pleased with the finished result. These two classes did just that. But then there’s the “When Life Gives you Lemons” and Tania Willis’ ever-thought-provoking handmade items. OK. Put me down as being unable to pick a single favorite class!
- This is my favorite layout. I did it years ago, and it still is the one I consider to be my favorite. It’s not overly artsy, but it captured the moment like no other had before or has since. It was the first time the older two (and the little guy) had ever seen the ocean – and they had to drive there that first night, even though we were staying a full week. And I stood back, watching my son explain how the water went on and on forever. And how the waves were lapping, just as the journaling says. I was also proud of my “crabs, seashells, and beach at night” – done using different papers, punches, and tearing. I can go back to that night whenever I look at this page, even though the “little guy” is now 21, and plays professional hockey.
Thanks so much to Sharon for sharing with us this month! I hope you enjoyed taking a closer look at her work and her life!
