Crafter In The Spotlight 19 - 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.

We are delighted to introduce & feature yet another Crafter this week ! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for October 2016 is “Mukta Parvatikar- Maniar” ! Engineer by qualification & crafter by profession, this talented Mumbaikar says “Crafting comes naturally to her”. :-) :-)

She has been a craft buff since childhood. Embellishing & Gift Wrapping is her forte & she loves to work with embellishments, flowers and papers from Itsy Bitsy. Shabby chic is her style & she likes to work with pastel and vintage themed products. What really inspires Mukta, her passion, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to crafting world if she had magical powers ?? To know all these & more about her exciting journey, please read the interview & leave your comments for her.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Mukta:

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

Mukta Parvatikar- Maniar : Hey guys. How are you all? I would like to thank Itsy Bitsy for this wonderful platform and thank you everyone for appreciating my work. I am a true Mumbaikar, born and brought up here, found love here and now married for almost 3 years here. I am an Engineer by qualification but a Crafter by profession. I indulge in crafting any moment I can and it is not restricted to me being in my workspace. My husband Chintan is a Petroleum Engineer and is on a 21-21 routine, so I have ample time to craft and ample space to stock my craft supplies and crafted products...wink wink!

RC : How did you get into crafting?

MP : Well, crafting comes very naturally to me. I still have my school craft books and I was my craft teacher Kaur Mam's pet. I learnt craft from her and she taught me to cut, crease, fold and stick with maximum neatness. I have always been crafting for as long as I remember and back in school days, I would make sitars and drums from newspaper, newspaper bowls and other things for my Grandma for her Bhajan mandal. Later, I indulged myself in my nephew, Ayush's craft projects. But I started seriously crafting full time only after I got married. I did a lot of upcycling projects, newspaper products, handmade products using pebbles etc. My husband and my Mother-in-law are the reason why I even started crafting full time....they have encouraged me constantly and I finally started blogging from April 2016.

RC : What is your favourite type of craft?

MP : Its very difficult singling out one type but I have to say this, I love gift wrapping and embellishing. Its my forte and I love doing it. Recently, I have started making Albums, journals, 3D projects, stamping and gift boxes and they are my recent favorite along with upcycling and altered art. I am a self learned crafter and I keep learning new things and try to retain and reproduce what I learn.

RC : What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

MP : Embellishments, Flowers and Papers are my most favorite products from Itsybitsy. The variety and options is endless and I can spend hours just wandering around in the embellishment section in your store.....I am not kidding I once spent 2 hours in just that section and my husband went off to sleep on a bench outside the Mumbai store. I love the quality and the finishing of the paper flowers and paper embellishments from your store....amazing. I also love ribbons, stencils, glue, beads and paints from Itsybitsy.

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

MP : Well, it really depends on the area of crafting....but I think as a paper crafter.....Papers, flowers, embellishments, Silicon glue (My new found love), ribbons and craft tools are a must have from Itsybitsy.

RC : You draw inspiration from? 

MP : I draw inspiration from nature and market places. But if I have to name a few people than I am inspired by my sister Amruta as we both have been crafting together from childhood, Ginger from My Sister Scrapper, Shellie Geigle, Amy R from Prairie Paper and Ink, Jennifer McGuire, Lindsay Weirich from thefrugalcrafter, Kristina Werner.

RC : What are your other interests?

MP : I like gardening and I have started enjoying it because my father has a green thumb. I am always amazed at what he can grow in a small pot. I am a big foodie and I like cooking, pickling, and baking. I am an obsessive reader and I like fiction, mystery and sc-fi books. Any novel I buy I read it non stop and finish it in a day or two.....so I avoid buying new books when I have work on my table. Also, I like to do a lot of stationary shopping and keep an eye on unique stationary products for my Bff as she is a stationary hoarder.

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

MP : Ohhhhh.....Magic!!!! I would slow down time so I would get more time to craft....I would increase my efficiency magically and make more projects. I would also use my magical power to buy anything I want with a blink of an eye....I dunt know if this would benefit the crafting world but It will surely benefit me as I would save a lot of time.

RC : Your prized possession in your craft stash?

MP : This must be a very common answer...MS scoring board. It was my first purchase when I started blogging and I love it. Now that I have it, I can't live without it. Also, my Tonic craft trimmer and guillotine cutter and Titanium blade scissors are my favorite craft possessions. I have a fetish for embellishments, charms and paper flowers, I keep collecting and hoarding them and I let only my sisters and my bff Ushma touch and see them.....lol.

RC : How would you describe your style of crafting?

MP : I think its called shabby chic. I like working with pastels and vintage themed products. I have also done bright and colorful projects. I like to use lot of embellishments in my work and I think it defines my work. I like crisp and clean projects rather than messy style.

RC : How do you organize your time for crafting?

MP : My husband has made this very easy for me....his 21-21 routine gives me enough time for craft. When he comes back from Oil rigs, I do not craft through out the day and try to finish my blogging and crafty work in an hour or two. When he is on rig, I am crafting thoughout the day and sometimes even late at night.

RC : Tips for people who want to craft?

MP : For anyone who wants to craft, I think all you need is a sharp eye and a clear mind. I think creativity cannot be taught but its a journey you take yourself on and learn on your own. If you have the passion and determination, nothing can stop you. Also, I would like add that one cannot copy and become a crafter...you need to take the inspiration and then use it to make something on your own...in that way your actual style and talent can be seen. Unless you challenge yourself, you will not know your limits. We all have our individual styles and designs and we should continue exploring our own personality rather than forcing someone else's style and try to become them.

RC : Your all -time favourite quote?

MP : "Keep krafting" is something I say a lot and I do take that quote very seriously. Also, I say these two quotes a lot "Craft like no one's watching" and whenever someone enters my room while I am working I greet them with "Beware, Crafter at work!".

Here are a couple of Mukta's awesome creations:

  

Many congrats Mukta 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=PC48wDBhNDY&feature=youtu.be

 Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!