Designer Spotlight - Susie Roberts

It’s time to shine our Designer Spotlight onto another Scrap Girls designer! This month, we’re learning more about Susie Roberts as we peek behind her artistic mask and see what makes her tick! Plus, she picked out 10 of her favorite products for the Designer Spotlight 40% Off Sale — so pop over to Susie’s store before June 21st and load up your cart with her colorful creations

How long have you been designing, and how did you get into it?

My designing career evolved from being a creative team member back in 2008, then as a video instructor, and finally in 2012, I began designing products for a store. I’ve always adored digital scrapbooking, so it was a natural progression for me to sell the products that I was teaching others how to make.

Favorite product and why?

My favorite product is My Grandma’s Kitchen Collection Biggie and its companion, My Grandma’s Recipe Book Easy Page Pro. I love the vintage style and, being a very keen cook, I naturally have lots of special recipes to scrap. In saying that, I also love all my “nuts and bolts” products such as my Rustic Stitching, Tear Away Edges, and Aged Scotch Tape. These are products you can use with any collection, so they come in handy!

Where do you call home?

I call Australia home (pardon the advertising pun)! I live on an island connected by a bridge to the mainland on the Central Coast of NSW (New South Wales). The climate is very temperate so it’s not unusual to have a 70°F day in the colder months. My husband can indulge his passion for boating and fishing, and I have a lovely view of the water from my desk.

Favorite part of the day?

My favorite part of the day is watching the cormorants go fishing. There is a large mangrove island a few hundred meters from our waterfront, and if you are watching at the time, it’s quite a sight to see a huge flock suddenly take flight and sweep up the canal beside our house to herd the fish. The seagulls and pelicans join in the feeding frenzy, along with egrets and white-faced herons. I love how they all work together to get a feed.

Who would you like to sit next to on a 10 hour flight…and why?

My mother! We haven’t had enough time together because she and my father separated when I was a young teenager, and my brothers and I had to stay with our dad! At the age of 23, I married my husband and went to live in another state, so for the last 40 years, my mother and I have been 10 hours driving distance from each other. During my entire life, we’ve spent less time together than any other member of my immediate family. So, as you can imagine, there’s a lot of catching up to do.

What’s on your desk?

I’m an Apple girl so I have an iMac, iPad, and iPhone, and even an iPod. I also have a Canon color printer, a scanner, and a Silhouette Cameo, which I don’t use as often as I should. I have my large designing notepad to keep track of the settings I used to make things and a Webster’s Pages A5 Planner. My go-to plastic-sleeved binder is full of categorized fonts so I can find one quickly that will work with whatever I’m making. Like Syndee, my desk gets messier and messier until I have a big clean-up and put everything away. When I’m designing, I’m a bit like the mad professor, with bits and pieces of flotsam and jetsam waiting to be scanned or photographed and extracted for a kit. It’s not unusual for me to have abstract watercolor sketches scattered all over the kitchen bench and dining room table, waiting to be scanned.