Crafter In The Spotlight 14 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello friends!! Itsy Bitsy brings you "CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT" – a unique way of encouraging and appreciating the talented crafters. We recognize talented crafters week after week, turn the spotlight on them & feature them in our "CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT"! We love what you talented crafters create & are amazed at each of your unique creations every single day! We love the way you use Itsy Bitsy products & give life to those products.

I am delighted to introduce & feature yet another Crafter this week ! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for September 2016 is “SUCHISMITA CHATTERJEE” ! A Business Editor by profession, this very talented crafter says Itsy Bitsy was what got her into Crafting! J  Passionately making Scrapbooking Albums was a natural progression for this talented crafter who loves everything about stationery, photography & albums! 

Elegant shabby & vintage is her style & her creations feature some of the most beautiful flowers & metal charms. What really inspires Suchismita, 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, please read the blog & leave your comments for her.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Suchismita:

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

Suchismita Chatterjee: I live in Hyderabad, India with my husband and work at a professional services firm as a business editor. As a couple, we like to travel and, since my husband is a hobby photographer, we spend a lot of time taking, viewing, and talking about photos. My love for stationery and the abundance of photographs directly led into me finally taking the plunge in pursuing my new hobby--creating photo albums and scrapbooks.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

SC: At the risk of sounding corny, I say this: Itsy Bitsy got me into crafting! My love for stationery attained new heights when faced with the ocean of crafty goodness that IB offered. This was way back when IB started. At this time, though, I would hoard supplies but rarely craft. I was always fond of paper and stationery, and photo albums! (I browse family albums regularly, design and order photobooks online, the only home decor I buy are photo frames--I pretty much do anything I can to preserve memories.) I believe my scrapbooking efforts are my little way of preserving this love. Maybe this is why my albums until now have all been gifts for friends, or for my own use.

  

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

SC: That will be scrapbooking and paper-crafting overall--but I am gradually leaning towards greater use of paint, inks, stains, media, and textures. I have not painted in the past, so I need to start from scratch. I also enjoy creating charm dangles, bracelet closures, and altering metal charms.

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

SC: Boutique elements flowers! There is really no match for them--at least among the options available to Indian crafters, especially at reasonable rates. I do use Prima and Petaloo flowers in my projects (they are lovely, but often difficult to find OR expensive) and I can safely vouch for the quality and finish IB flowers demonstrate. Some other products that regularly feature in my IB hauls are cardstock (IB has a wide range in A4 sized cardstock, which I do not find in my usual cardstock brands: American Crafts and Fabriano), jewelry findings (IB covers a wide range), beads (especially faux pearls), ribbons, crochet elements, chipboard shapes, card bases, stickers, the newly introduced crochet trims, specialty papers...I could go on and on!

RC: What products from Itsy Bitsy do you think are must have’s for a crafter? 

SC: That is a tough one--It depends on which kind of crafter we mean. IB probably has the widest variety in supplies for different crafting styles and media.

RC: What product would you like to see at Itsy Bitsy? 

SC: Card bases and envelopes of higher weight and in more sizes, paper bags with gusset, metal closures and clasps in more colors, rhinestone embellishments, brads (sentiments, flowers), wood words, fancy paper clips and binder clips (vintage colors, pastels, white). Haha! OK call me greedy--but IB might very well be our answer to Michael's, and so much more than that! I think assorted packs and grab bags (charms, brads, trims, buttons, beads, findings), and big cardstock bundles (12x12 and A4) will be very useful, especially during sales.

RC: You draw inspiration from? 

SC: Ginger Ropp of My Sisters Scrapper remains my favorite teacher, she is absolutely the best! I have also to thank Rina of Scrapbook Fashionista Designs by Rina for all the inspiration. There are others whose work I absolutely adore (Shellie Geigle, Terry's Scrapbooks, Claire Charvill, Anne Rostad being a few of them)--but this blog post will never end if I were to list them all.

RC: What are your other interests?

SC: I am a movie/tv show junkie so much of the time I craft while binge-watching TV shows with my husband. When I am not crafting or watching YouTube tutorials, I read.

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

SC: I would go without sleep--craft and film tutorials all night, and get back to office on time in the morning :D

RC: Your prized possession in your craft stash?

SC: A tough one again! I think my Prima Marketing stash (4-5 older collections) is the closest to my heart--I keep going through the box now and then. Prima and Kaisercraft are my favorites :D Another haul I have been stingy with is one from Hobby Lobby sent over by my sis-in-law earlier this year. Other than these, I use up craft supplies quite generously :D If you would like to know about possessions I treasure the most, I think that would be most of the tools--especially my MS Scoring Board and the WRMK Envelope Punch Board.

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

SC: My creations are usually elegant shabby or vintage--in embellishments, I like flowers and metal charms; in patterns, I like newsprint, ledger, script, florals, damask; in built, I LOVE chunky.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting? 

SC: My waking hours during the week are almost entirely spent at work--leaving only the weekends for crafting. I try to make my crafting time coincide with TV time--the rest of the weekend being spent on errands, outings, and socializing. Crafting has definitely made me less social than I used to be--but my lovely friends forgive me when they see my work :D

RC: Tips for people who want to craft? 

SC: Follow people that inspire you, take time to learn and do not rush into commercial production--deadlines are bound to hamper learning unless you are trained already. Set high standards for yourself because if you do not take your craft to the next level, who will? When following a role model, be inspired by them but do not stifle your creativity in trying to follow their style.

RC: Your all -time favorite quote? 

SC: My all time favorite quote, and almost a credo, is the following:

The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for. --Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Here are a couple of Suchismita's awesome creations :

Many congrats Suchismita 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.

Also, visit our Youtube channel to view & to know more about this crafter – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6lA7ypgL0U

Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!