Friday 27 September 2013

Condolences


"To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return"- The Holy Quran
Our deepest sympathy to aunt's family on the sad demise of her life partner. 
We ask the God, Allah, to give his family patience and solace. 
May Allah forgive him and grant him the Paradise.

Friday 20 September 2013

Artist #107: Nina

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!!

Friday 13 September 2013

Creative Crafts

Sometimes you come across some great artists who will not only amaze you with their creativity but also bring smile on your face by their writing skills.. Hello friends, its Deepti and I am here to introduce you to one such amazingly talented, brilliant and fun crafter- Lynn Hayes. I found her blog recently but ever since… I am always excited to visit her blog to get inspired from her cards and laugh over her fun filled posts J I am sure you would love her talent both in the cards she makes and the humor she adds in her blog posts, so without delaying any further we welcome our star crafter for the week …



Name – Lynn Hayes

1.  Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
I live in an extremely small town in Texas, am married to a wonderful man, and have a little dachshund named Rambo. I have two grown children and three lovely granddaughters, with another one due in a couple of months. I retired several years ago after being employed as a Pre Trial Officer with a local Probation Department. I love being retired as it gives me time to craft and enjoy life.

2.  How and when did you start crafting?
After I retired I felt I would have time for this craft and a friend of mine showed me the basics of how to use stamps, ink, and paper.  I started making cards and also started my blog four years ago.  

3. From where do you draw your inspiration?
My inspiration comes mainly from other blogs, card galleries, magazines, and Pinterest.  Things in nature and my every day surroundings also inspire me.

4. How would you describe your style?
My style tends to be more clean and simple.  I've tried to make cards with a lot of layers and different elements on them, but never can seem to pull it off to my satisfaction.  You'll also often see humor in my cards and my blog posts.

5. What are the 5 top tools in your crafting space?
Sometimes I feel I'm a buy-alcoholic instead of a craft alcoholic but would have to say the tools I use most are my stamps, coloring mediums, Cuttlebug, embossing folders, and dies.

6. What’s your favorite technique?
 I love using embossing folders and dies.  I feel the texture of the embossing and the fun of using dies really adds to cards.

7. What are your go-to colors?
You'd think with three granddaughters I'd use more pink than anything, however, my favorite color is blue so I use that color often.  I also love the look of red, white, and black on a card.

8. Do you sell your projects?
A couple of years ago I made cards for a baby/children's shop in a near-by town.  They have since gone out of business and so I no longer sell my cards.  I send my creations to family and friends and also donate cards to different organizations when possible.  

9. What do you do when you aren't crafting? Job? Other hobbies and interests?
If I'm not crafting you can probably spot me reading a book. I love to read and will read just about anything.  My husband and I also have a large garden and love growing our own vegetables. We also love to go fishing (but I usually catch the bigger fish)!

10. Are you currently designing for any blog?
 I've been on quiet a few design teams and am currently designing for Digi Haven.  





Wasn’t this an amazing interview...even more amazing are her fun creations. Thank you so much Lynn for sharing with us. I am sure you loved the few creations she shared with us and now my friends its time for you to get much more inspired by visiting her blog. Enjoy!!

Friday 6 September 2013

Bhavana's Blending

It's the first Friday of this month and everyone must be excited to know our new feature... She masters creating paper flowers that are simply jaw-dropping,,, Her creations are unique and made with true passion!! Without further ado, pls help me welcome sweet Bhavana... 
Name: Bhavana Kesarkar
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
Before starting i would like to thank Noor for featuring my cards in “Fascinating Fridays" 
I am Bhavana staying in Bangalore. I work as software engineer in MNC. I met my husband in office and after 5 years of courtship we got married in 2011. My parents, sis and my husband have always been supportive about my art and craft stuff :)

2. How and when did you start crafting?
I have been crafting since my childhood. I always loved craft classes in school (called as SUPW).Would make my parents go around the city to buy all my craft supplies. I started blogging to share my creations on internet as a hobby. Started quilling and making cards for more than 3 years.

3. From where do you draw your inspiration?
I draw inspiration from everything i see around, blogs, craft galleries. Currently Pinterest is the great source of inspiration and got hooked to it.

4. How would you describe your style?
I don't follow any style but yes i don't like messy or cluttered things so i can say my creations are clean and simple. I go with sketches, color scheme, theme while making the cards.

5. What are the 5 top tools in your crafting space?
My top 5 tools: Stamps, inks, scissors, glue, black PITT pens.

6. What’s your favorite technique?
Love to try all techniques but favorites are Stamping, Fussy cutting, paper piecing, like giving 3D effect using foam dots, making handmade flowers.

7. What are your go-to colors?
White, blue, red, black.

8. Do you sell your projects?
Yes i do sell some of my projects to friends, family and colleagues but most of them are for gifting.

9. What do you do when you aren’t crafting? Job? Other hobbies and interests?
When I'm not crafting me and my husband watch movies and English serials spend time together, busy with household chores, cooking. Also currently playing games on my iphone, and trying out new apps.

10 Are you currently designing for any blog?
Yes currently i am a DT at Indian Craft Room.






Such calming and well executed projects!! Adore the color choices and the handmade flowers just look so fantastic... These cards will definitely rock our creative spirits... Thank you for sharing this beauty with us, Bhavana!!