Hello!
Tasnim here, and today
we have a very talented Paper crafter joining us here. She was one of the top
20 contestants of Paper Crafts magazine's Gallery Idol for two consecutive
years! She has won numerous contests, published many of her works in various magazines
and continue to be featured around the Arts&Crafts community. Let's hear it from
Nina Yang!
Name: Nina Yang
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
I am a 30 something
living in central Arizona, US with my loving and supportive husband. I
work from home and usually spend half of my day with number and syntax, and the
rest of it with paper and stamp.
2. How and when did
you start crafting?
I have been collecting pretty patterned paper and stationery for
as long as I can remember. About 3 years ago, I stumbled upon a card magazine
and was so inspired that I started stamping and card making myself. Blogging
and online challenges have made me many new friends. I joined a few design teams, started
submitting to magazines and never looked back.
3. From where do you
draw your inspiration?
Not like some of my crafty friends who are real designers,
I don't really know much about "design rules". But I always try
to create something "clever". Craft products themselves inspire me.
Let it be a piece of patterned paper, an embellishment, a cute stamp or a fun
sentiment, ideas come to me when I try to use them in a unique way. I also like
to find new techniques in magazines and blogs.
4. How would you
describe your style?
I am open to try all different styles. Most of my cards falls in
the Clean & Simple category but I've been having fun with Freestyle Collage
lately.
5. Tell us briefly
about your design process.
Get the products in front of me, think what I can do with them,
get the project done… Let's try again: I usually start my card by picking up a
sentiment. I like sentiments that
tell stories. And usually, the rest of my card is designed to support the
sentiment. When there is a specific theme, I usually google to see
what has been done and will try to come up with something different.
6. What are the 5 top
tools in your crafting space?
Scissors, scoring board, bone folder, paper trimmer and dies.
May I add punches too?
7. What’s your
favorite technique?
I suppose we are talking about stamping techniques here? My
favorite is masking. There are so many ways we can mask a stamp and give it a
new life.
8. Do you sell your
projects?
No. I am a slow crafter who can easily spend 2 or 3 hours on a
card that I don't know how to put a price tag on. I've been sharing quick and
easy projects on my blog, but they are "quick-n-easy" because I
spend a lot of time "designing" them that way. The quickest way
to achieve the most amazing result has always been my goal. Most of
my projects went to magazines, trade shows or got donated. I give some of my
favorites to my husband who keeps them in a shoe box.
9. How much time do
you spend crafting every week?
About 20 hours. But I spend countless hours on craft blogs and
shopping for supplies, haha!
10. What do you do when you are not
crafting? Job? Other hobbies and interests?
Paper crafting
combines two of my other favorite things to do: taking still life photos and
playing with my computer (editing photos, tweaking my blog, drawing in
Illustrator…). Lucky me also had the opportunity to put together stamp
sets for Avery Elle (Simply Tags and Texture Tiles). I enjoy every steps of the
whole process.
Wow! that was amazing.
Thank you Nina for giving us a little insight into your creative mind! I particularly
liked how you start a design with the sentiment, that is quite an interesting
approach, and I must give it a try!
What do you think
friends? Isn't she one super talented crafter? You can see more of her work
at http://waffleflower.com/
Great Day Ahead!!
