Feature Artist - Anna

Happy Wednesday all,
Today's feature artist is the fabulous Anna Bowkis, who is the founder of Pencil Lines; runs her own personal blog and has an amazing photography website too:

Who is your biggest creative inspiration? Gosh this is a hard question! I am inspired by many. My favorite scrappers are Christine Middleton, love her use of dimension and texture! I also love Elizabeth Kartchner and my fav UK scrapper is Emma Trout, she is so talented. Her work up close is stunning, so much detail.


Why did you start creating? I have always been creating as long as I can remember. I did Fashion and Textiles at Collage and then I moved into Interior Design, and had my own business for 6 years. I love colour and texture, and use it everyday in different mediums. Whether its in my garden, in the kitchen baking, or crafting in my studio, being inspired and creative is part of my daily life!

What is your favourite thing to create (and why)? Mmm, I love creating mini books, but alas they don’t get seen as much as they should, they end up on a shelf or in a box. Layouts are fun and not so time consuming. I usually create a layout using my most recent photos and I always have a layout displayed in the dining room as a reminder of that event. The girls love seeing my layouts too :)


Do you have a favourite song to create too? I don’t, to be honest, Ioften scrap in silence, our home is such a busy and noisy place that often I like the peace in my studio!

Who are your favourite manufacturers? I love Crate Paper, Dear Lizzy American Crafts and Maya Road ribbons!


You are the founder of Pencil Lines, where do you get inspiration for your sketches? I get my inspiration from many things. I love looking at advertising in magazines and bill boards, they provide a great starting point for placement, also CD covers!

How do you keep the balance between your blogs? Good question. I have just started my photography business full time as of 3 months ago and have a photo blog and my Scrapping Tonight blog. I have now made the decision to keep photos on my Anna Bowkis Photography blog and my Scrapping Tonight blog for personal and crafting bits. Unfortuanetly my personal blog ahs been lacking content recently and I must get back to blogging more regular; I actually miss it!

What are your top 3 photography tips? 1. Read your manual – seriously any good photography workshop will tell you the same, read your manual , everything you need to know about your camera is there 2. Light! - Good light makes a great photo. Try not to take photos when the sun is at its strongest, you will get glare and squinting faces from your subject! 3. The best photos are those that are spontainous moments. I used to get so sucked into my scrapbooking, and realized I was scrapping yet another portrait of my girls, my favorite layouts are those where I have caught a cherished moment. And at the end of the day trying to get your kid to play for the camera when she/he doesn’t want to , is never going to make a great snapshot!

Anna has offered a copy of the Pencil Lines sketches book for one of my readers!!!! If you want to take part just leave a comment and a winner will be chosen (at random) sometime soon........

A huge thank you to Anna for being the feature artist today; I have loved reading your answers and getting some photography tips!!!

love, V xoxo