The Best of British Scrapbooking & Cardmaking

Alison lives in Cardiff, Wales, with her husband Ryan and their six-year-old son, Lewis. She says, "Family is very important to me and being a mother is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I cherish Lewis and every day we have with him as we were lucky to have him because Lewis was born 14 weeks early!"

Alison works full-time as an occupational therapist for a specialist palliative care team. She enjoys her work very much. "I feel I'm able to offer some help and support to patients and their families in an extremely difficult time in their lives."

Even with her work and family time, she manages to have a few other hobbies: acting as a Scout Leader for a local troop and reading romance novels.

Alison started scrapbooking in May of 2003. She discovered it through the internet whilst looking for stash for her cardmaking. She says, "I’ve never looked back. Scrapbooking captures my love of photography with my creative side. It also gives me an opportunity to share my thoughts, feelings and knowledge with others and generations to come. Lewis will always be able to look at a photograph and know where it was taken, who is in it and the special memories that go with it."

Of her layouts in The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking, Alison’s favourite is My Boy. The photograph is dear to her because it shows her son’s character, his strength and determination. She also loves the mixture of papers in that particular layout. In fact, her favourite technique is mixing patterned papers, layering them and combining ones that you would neve think would go together. And, Alison loves fibres, the texture and richness of them.

Her favourite subject is her family. She says, "I love to complete the pages and sit and look at them of an evening—they make me feel warm and comforted."

We asked her for any advice she might share with other scrapbookers and she told us, "Make sure you scrapbook for yourself. You have to find a style of your own, and it will come. Most of all have fun!!!"