Crafter in The Spotlight 28 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello Crafty Folks, I am delighted to introduce & feature yet another talented Crafter this week! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for December 2016 is “Rashmi Tater”! An MBA in Marketing & HR, this talented crafter is now pursuing MBA in Hospital Management! 

Rashmi is very thankful to her mother for inspiring her creativity & loves colours & crafting so much so that she spends at least 5 hrs each day crafting! J

“Glamorous, Shabby Chic, Vintage ” she says is her style & I find her creations gorgeous & elegant!

What really inspires Rashmi, her tips for fellow crafters, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to crafting world if she had magical powers?? To know all these & to know more about her interesting journey & to see a step by step project of hers, please read the interview & leave your comments for her. 

Here are excerpts of my interview with Rashmi Tater:

Rashmi Closepet, MD, Itsy Bitsy : Tell us a bit about yourself & your background? 

Rashmi Tater : Hey all! Firstly I’m super duper exited to be chosen, this recognition is indeed an honour! and I just can’t thank enough the Itsy Bitsy team and Rashmi Harish! So many (!) marks can obviously prove my excitement.

I’m Rashmi Tater. I’m from Andhra, but presently I’m staying in Jaipur after my wedding. I’m an MBA in Marketing and Human Resources and currently pursuing MBA in Hospital Management. So that was all about the academic qualification.

My husband is in a busy profession which gives me ample of time to myself thus I focus all my energies on creating something new each day and make it a point that I learn a new technique each day exploring new horizons and improving myself.

As a person I’m a happy go lucky kind of a person but sometimes I get disheartened on small things but then I do have my knight in shining armour right to my side. So why worry J. He and my entire family love me so very much and are my constant support system. They encourage me in every possible way and I’m so happy to have all of them in my life! I consider myself very lucky J

RC: How did you get into crafting?

RT: I love colors. That is actually the best statement I can quote because since childhood I used to always love to play with them be it crayons or water colors they were my best friends! Growing up I used to love the SUPW classes at school and mom always used to help me create the best projects in the class which was like an energy boaster and helped me get inclined towards crafting and now if you ask me what I love the most. One word! “crafting” it just gives me so much happiness and helps me be a better person each day!

I have started taking classes in Rajahmundry, Andhra while I was pursuing my MBA but only in vacations but when I moved to Jaipur, I had ample of time then the whole idea of starting an online store and page popped and I started taking orders and classes online. So this was my short story, summing it all up - so crafting happened to me out of the love for colors and creating! All thanks to my mom!

RC: What is your favorite type of craft?

RT: Undoubtedly MIXMEDIA because it is such a wide concept with endless possibilities it’s so flexible and can be done on practically everything! This comes from the heart and imagination can bring stale things to life!

I also love scrapbooking but then it’s my new found love <3 and I’m still exploring it.

RC: What are your favorite products at Itsy Bitsy?

RT: I have a huge huge list here! To begin with Stencils, papers, sprays, ribbon, ink, embossing powder, bigshot, an amazing die collection, heat gun etc etc

I especially like the flowers they are so beautiful! and perfect add-ons to your projects

The chipboards are amazing esp. the ones matching to stencils are to go crazy for.

The latest little birdie range of papers are awesome! Commendable I must say.(thums up)

And the color splash sprays : just falling in love with them!

RC: If you had magic powers, how would you contribute to the Crafting world?

RT: I would create a gift card with endless limit! so everyone can practically shop for all the supplies they want in the world and open an itsy bitsy store in every city of the country!

I so wish this dream comes true  …..

RC: Your prized possession in your craft stash from Itsy Bitsy?

RT: I practically love everything from little birdie brand, but if you ask me to choose one it has to be my vintage flowers, they are so pretty that I still don’t have the courage to open the pack and use them!

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

RT: My style of crafting is undoubtedly glamorous (according to me ! J) I create floral, shabby chic and vintage but then it all depends on what the client wants! But if I’m given the freedom then I love mixing, matching, creating layers and trying new techniques on each project, with each project I make I feel I improve. So actually I don’t stick to a particular style but I love adding elegance to whatever I make.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

RT: I’m surrounded by my supplies all day so whenever an inspiration strikes I’m on it! Hopping from the kitchen to grocery shopping to togetherness time and again back to crafting but definitely I make sure I spend a lot of time creating! You can say like 5 hours a day with my supplies and if I don’t do it like when I'm travelling or when I’m in Nepal I like crazy miss it!

So actually it’s my daily dose of happiness.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft?

RT: Just follow your heart, experiment, do mistakes, make messy looking projects and then improvise them until they start looking appealing to you, then work hard to master the techniques and then practice, practice, practice until you have an awesome looking project in your hand which everyone shall appreciate. For me: The amount of handwork you do is directly proportional to the love and affection you shall get for your projects. Also be humble always! There is no point playing the blame game.

RC: Your all -time favorite quote?

RT: EVERYTHING COMES TO YOU AT THE RIGHT TIME. BE PATIENT AND TRUST THE PROCESS.

Here is a gorgeous project by Rashmi & step by step description :

So now it's time to share a creation using few of my favourite products from the store

I have created a Mixmedia canvas of size 10.10

Step 1: Coated the canvas with Gesso and Colored in shades of marigold and blue using Color splash sprays and heat dried using the heat tool, then textures with the modelling paste from the store, adding little purple color using itsy bitsy stencil on both the corners and alowed it to dry naturally.

Step 2: Next step i used the Brick stencil and used the Inkpad from the store in purple color and created bricked background by blending the ink with the help of an applicator. You can use general sponge too! I used itsybitsy green pigment ink and distressed the corners a bit. And then again with purple.

Step 3: I took a floral sheet from the store and fussy cut the flowers then embossed them with my tool and then layered them to form 2 flowers. From the rest left over flowers I pasted a few on the canvas to create the background more floral (I used the same ink to distress the edges of flowers as well)

Step 4 : Then I used some pearls, glitter swirls and handmade embellishments and stuck them with Silicon glue from the store. 

Step 5 : Allowed it to dry. And coated it all with spray varnish. To seal the project. tada we R done!

Hope you like and will try to create something like this too! 

Here are a couple of Rashmi's other awesome creations:

Many congrats Rashmi for being the CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ITSY BITSY

You will receive Rs.500/- Itsy Bitsy gift voucher :-) :-) & a Crafter in the Spotlight badge, which can be proudly displayed on the side bar of your blog and other platforms. Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!