JBS Mercantile March Guest Natalie Elphinstone!

Our guest this month is the fabulous Natalie Elphinstone!  Here is a peek into her life and creativity.  Be sure to check gallery updates tonight and midnight CST for all of Natalie's inspiring work with this month's kits!

Hi, my name is Natalie Elphinstone and I live in the city that boasts all 4 seasons every single day; Melbourne, Australia. I'm very blessed to have a husband who supports both my full time career and my very full time hobby/obsession. I also have two beautiful girls who comprise the vast majority of my scrapbook subjects and whom I love to bits! My day job (actually it's currently my night job) is as a doctor specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology which is occasionally a little demanding. So when I get home I need to spend time unwinding with my family, and then thrashing it out creatively in my Scrap Space - it's how I relax. And I guess it's in my nature not to do things by halves, I do things wholeheartedly or not at all! I discovered this great hobby 4 years ago and haven't looked back since. (Similarly, you may have noticed that I've just discovered Instagram!) I love that I can be my family's memory keeper and have a whole bunch of fun at the same time, and I love that I've made friends all over the world doing exactly the same thing :-)

This layout gave me such a hard time - I must have rearranged those tickets in a million different patterns before finally sticking them down! And it was probably because it was reflective of my emotions going in a million directions at the same time. I wanted to capture my thoughts on recently turning 30 and all the victories and challenges of the past year. The title "Falling and Flying" is inspired by an Aussie HipHop album of the same name becasue it just seemed appropriate. There are plenty of things that I'm good at and I'm proud of achieving, but that's balanced easily by the things that I'm still working on and I wanted to be realistic about that. I believe in scrapping the everyday stuff, and scrapping it with honesty (I also believe in hiding my journaling in pretty Printed Pockets if I need to!!!)


I've only just recently moved houses again which means that my Scrap Space is not yet planned properly and that I can't do too much personalisation in a rental house anyway. But on a positive note, it also means that the supplies that are out remain in their post-unpacking organised state. Here's a little glimpse into the Type A personality in me..... scrapping supplies organised by category and lined up neatly!! I just have to wonder how long it will remain that way before the 'creative mess' begins?

I'm not often concerned about taking a perfectly composed photo, or having great lighting or any of those design details that make a photo fabulous. What I love about this photo of my two girls is that it captures a moment and a mood. This one is a recent favourite because to me it expresses the playful feel of summer as they sip a drink on a hot day, the carefree nature of youth as their wild hair blows in the wind, and most importantly the love they have for each other as they share so intimitely. You'll see a scrapbook page featuring this photo in the future for sure!

Thanks for the inspiration Natalie!  Can't wait to see the rest of your creations in the design team gallery!