Crafter in The Spotlight 45 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello arty-crafty folks,

It’s Thursday and time for me to introduce you to a talented crafter and her amazing craft skills. This week’s chosen one is Ashwini Vinayraj, a B.E in Computer science from DSCE, Bangalore.

Ashwini is a seasoned crafter and has been pursuing her craft passion for many years.  Art and craft gives her enormous joy and she is also a certified decoupage instructor from Bangkok. Some of Ashwini’s specialities are Tanjore painting and creations with water colours, which she is pursuing for twelve years.

How did Ashwini get into crafting, what inspires her, what are her tips for fellow crafters, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to the crafting world if she had magical powers? Read answers to all these questions, discover more about her interesting journey and catch a glimpse of a step by step project by Ashwini in this interview. Don't forget to leave your comments for her.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Ashwini Vinayraj:

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

Ashwini Vinayraj :Thanks Rashmi Harish, Anitha Mallesh and the entire Itsy Bitsy team. This is such a wonderful moment for me.  I am a certified decoupage instructor from Bangkok, Thailand. I have been doing Tanjore painting and water colours from 12 years. During my school days I have won many certificates for art and craft. Being an artist or a fashion designer was my dream and being an engineer was my parents dream. In fact both are fulfilled now. I wanted to create my own identity. For me, art and craft gave lots of happiness and it's a stress buster too. It gives me immense joy and it's my "SOUL".

I LOVE working with younger generation kids and older generation women. In the pretext of teaching, I also learn a lot.

My strongest support for crafting comes from my hubby, parents and sisters who always encourage and stand by my side.

RC:How did you get into crafting?

AV: My passion brings me here as a crafter. As I laid my hands on scrapbooking a Decoupage, it turned out well. I started trying on new techniques and getting new ideas. It made me so crazy that I started creating new themes with new ideas each and every day.

RC:What is your favourite type of craft?

AV: I love Decoupage and Scrapbooking. I also do mixed media, altered art and journaling.

I can work on any surface as a base for my project. I love to play around with colours and create textured looks. It makes me invent new ideas of creativity. Chalk paints are a ‘must’ in my games to play.

RC:What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

AV:Itsy Bitsy is the best place to walk in and pick up all the raw materials required for my creations. Of course chalk paints are my favourite. You heard me right!! More stuffs like paint brushes, gesso, colour paints colour sprays, DCWV paper packs, cardstock are also in the favourite list. Not to forget shabby chic burlap…

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

AV: If I had magical powers, I would really introduce art and craft as an equivalent subject to children in schools.

I would love to make them explore their creativity and make them LOVE themselves for being so creative.

There are many children who love creativity but lack behind due to time constraints and need of guidance. “I would love to support such children”.

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

AV: Chalk paints, stamps, dies, spray paints and papers.

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

AV: My way of working is quite simple and unique. My style of crafting means, "Best Quality, Perfection and Satisfaction to soul”. It's a true motivation to keep you going the miles……

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

AV: I work for about 3 to 4 hours a day. I work with lots of passion to get the quality of customization.

RC:Tips for people who want to craft

AV: Craft with passion with an expectation of SOUL satisfaction.  Keep it close to your heart as you put in your precious time and feelings.The seed (passion for craft) you sow,the fruit (satisfaction and success) you reap.

RC:Your all -time favourite quote?

AV: "Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time.Vision with action can change the world".

 Here is a gorgeous project by Ashwini & step by step procedure:

For making the tags, firstly I used a thick white cardstock measuring 3" × 6", Artists acrylic colours and colour splash.

Sprayed colour splash all over the paper. Dabbed with artist acrylic colours. Let them dry.

There after I embellished them with white linen cloth, burlap, black corrugated paper, flowers, beads, lace, butterflies and leaves. Stamped some sentiments.

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

Many congrats Ashwini 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!

Crafter in The Spotlight 38 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello arty-crafty folks,

Thursday is here again. It’s time to introduce our ‘Crafter in the Spotlight’. This week we feature talented crafter “Pooja Sharma”! Pooja is from Gurgaon, Haryana and crafting is her passion.

 A commerce graduate and a fashion designer, Pooja taught art and craft in a woman’s Polytechnic. She decided to work from home after she got married and that motivated her to start her own art and Craft studio. However, now that Pooja has a two year old kid, she prefers to devote most of her time to the little one and crafts only when there’s time.

Pooja’s teachers noticed her creative work right in college because they were different from the ordinary. That is when she realized she could also pursue a career in art and craft.

How did Pooja get into crafting, what inspires her, what are her tips for fellow crafters, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to the crafting world if she had magical powers? Read answers to all these questions, discover more about her interesting journey and catch a glimpse of a step by step project by Pooja in this interview. Don't forget to leave your comments for her.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Pooja:

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

 PS: Thank you IB team for giving me this opportunity, I am Pooja from Gurgaon (Haryana). Craft is my only passion. I am a fashion designer and a B.Com graduate from Delhi University. I worked as an art and craft teacher in a woman’s Polytechnic but after getting married I decided to work from home. Thereafter, I started my own art and craft studio. Once I became a mother, I took a break so that I can devote most of my time to my little one. Now that he is two years old, I craft only when I get time.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

 PS: Well! From my very childhood, I used to make things from waste. Creative things always attracted me. While I was doing my fashion designing, my folders, colouring sheets, projects were noticed by my teachers because they looked different from rest of the lot. I was the topper in my batch and when people started appreciating my work, I realized that I can do something in this field too. I started my job as a F.D teacher and later got an offer from a woman’s polytechnic, where my art journey started professionally. 

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

PS: I always wanted to do various kind of art which I love. I also love learning different things and working with different medium. That is why I love to make murals, clay modelling, waste material craft, siporex and now I am enjoying paper crafting. Lately, my favourite is mixed-media and I really enjoy making mix media projects

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

PS: I am really a big IB fan. None of my work is complete without IB products.

I like their huge verity of craft materials at reasonable prices. My most favourite things are stamps. I must say IB has a gorgeous collection of stamps and more important thing is they are extremely affordable. I also love the stencils, gesso, flowers, chipboard shapes and variety of inks.

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

PS: If I had this power I would really want to change the mentality of those people who still think that art and craft is just waste of time and this profession cannot earn us much money. I want those people to realise the value of handmade things in the true sense.

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

 PS: It would be stamps, stencils, spray, dies, everything…. whichever product I bought from IB will be my prized possession. The latest in my wish list are chalk paints.

RC : How would you describe your style of crafting?

PS: I love to do experiments. I always try to make and learn different techniques and styles. I don't want to stick to just one kind of craft; I like to make things out of waste because I believe nothing is useless in this world for a crafter. I like bright colours, so most of the time I use vibrant colours in my work. I love to do mix media projects the most.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

PS: This is really a tough question. I also wish I have more free time like others crafters, but being a mom of a little baby is really very tough for me. I can only craft when my baby is sleeping or when my husband helps me a lot to manage things at home. 

RC: Tips for people who want to craft

PS: My tips to the crafters is “do enjoy …while doing art work, comparison with others is not good, just believe in yourself. The most important thing is, do not be afraid to make something if you really want to make it. Take the plunge and make it without caring about how it will look because no one is perfect and we all learn here!!

RC: Your all-time favourite quote?

PS: “Nothing is permanent so be calm in every situation.”

RC: Thank you Pooja for sharing your story with us. We look forward to many more gorgeous creations from you and wish you all the best in your creative journey!

PS:: Thank you Rashmi.

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

I chose green and maroon hand made papers to begin with. 

 I have lots of stamps in my stack from IB, this time I chose to use these clear stamps for my flowers and leaves.

I stamped flowers and leaves of my choice and coloured them with pencil colours and crayons

          I layered two stamped flowers to make one flower, used ball tool to              give it a 3D look as shown in the pic .

I simply distressed  the edges of the green paper with pigment ink from IB and arranged  my flowers on doily cut out.

After I was done with these steps, I used this clear stamp for the background in the remaining area 

                   To convey the message I used this Itsy Bitsy clear stamp

Then I added a piece from my Itsy bitsy pack of corrugated sheets to upscale its beauty.
I prettified my creation with some shining crystals too. 

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

Many congrats Pooja  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!