Crafter in The Spotlight 25 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello Crafter friends, I am delighted to introduce & feature yet another Crafter this week ! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for November 2016 is “NANDINI KARMARKAR”! 
A qualified Textile Engineer, this very talented crafter has even done costume designing for films & ad films! Way to go Nandini!

Primarily a card maker, Nandini also loves Origami, Crochet & Quilting! She is also passionate about teaching & has been teaching kids for several years. “Clean & Simple” she says is her style & I find her creations as lovely as her gorgeous smile! J

What really inspires Nandini, 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 do visit our blog & leave some love for her:

Here are excerpts of my interview with Nandini :

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

Nandini Karmarkar  : Hi! I am so thrilled and excited to be featured by Itsy Bitsy!

I come from a family of talented women who were always into all sorts of crafts. I never remember my mother, grandmother and aunts without some project or the other in hand. I learnt crochet from my grandmother. My mother conducted sewing classes for years and learnt stitching and embroidery from her.

I qualified as a Textile designer and ended up working as a costume designer for films and ad films. I quit work when my daughter was born and ended up doing a one year Art & Craft course. At the end of the course a group of us got together and started holding exhibitions of hand painted articles. But then I had my son and decided to stop commercial work for some time.

Though I am primarily a card maker, I also love origami, crochet and quilting. I also like teaching and have been holding workshops for kids for several years.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

NK: During the Art & Craft course I was introduced to quilling and that got me interested in paper crafts. I started making cards and money envelopes for sale during our exhibitions and had a tremendous response. I slowly started learning the card making techniques through blogs and YouTube and got hooked to card making.

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

NK: I love all sorts of paper crafts. I also love quilting and sewing. Hopefully I will have more time to devote to those hobbies once my son is a little older.

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

NK: That is a tough question! There are so many that I like! I love the heat embossing powders, dies and stamps at Itsy Bitsy. I am also very keen on trying the new colour sprays.

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

NK: If I had magic powers I would make craft supplies accessible to all! The more you craft, more supplies will be available. So everyone will have an incentive to craft more!

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

NK: It has to be my Big Shot! I bought it several years ago and use it in almost all my projects. I am also excited about the new dies that Itsy Bitsy has come out with.

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

NK: My style of crafting is very clean and simple. I am not comfortable with too many layers or embellishments. Other that sequins and pearls I rarely add much to my work.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

NK: I believe that if you really love something, you will find the time to do it. That being said, I do find it tough to find large stretches of time for crafting. I normally work when my kids are in school. We are a no television family. So that saves me a chunk of time.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft

NK: I would say – just start! Many people feel that they need loads of stuff before they can start. That is not true. You can start with the most basic supplies and then build your stash over time.  Do invest in good quality craft tools though. Because they will last you a very long time. For card making invest in a good cutter, die cutting machine and heat embossing tools.

RC: Your all -time favourite quote?

NK: My all-time favourite quote is by the famous American poet, writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou – You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

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

I started with a piece of watercolor paper, some inks and the new stamp set from Itsy Bitsy called Dream.

I stamped one of the blooms with orange ink. To create a mask, I doubled up some paper tape, stamped the bloom and then cut it out with my scissors.

I stamped the leaves with light green ink first, masked them and then stamped with dark green ink.

I then stamped another bloom with yellow ink and added pale green leaves.

I felt that the spaces looked empty. So I added some dots with pale brown ink.

Once my stamped panel was ready, I cut it with rectangular dies to get a frame. The idea was to create two cards from a single panel.

This is what I ended up with

I created the sentiment panel by die cutting a scrap of watercolor paper. Since I didn’t have the matching orange embossing powder, I stamped with the orange ink and immediately covered it with clear embossing powder. I then mounted the frame and the sentiment panel on some foam tape.

As a finishing touch I stamped the yellow bloom and flowers on the sentiment panel.

For the second card I used a green card base and a sentiment cut out of some metallic gold paper.

I mounted the stamped panel on some foam tape and added the sentiment.

Here are the final cards

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

Many congrats Nandini 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!