Crafter in The Spotlight 26 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello Crafter friends, I am delighted to introduce & feature yet another talented Crafter this week ! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for December 2016 is “KHUSHBOO GANDHI”!

A commerce graduate, Khusboo has done a lot of interesting & varied things in life from being part of cabin crew in Kingfisher Airlines to working in an ad agency, getting a diploma in jewellery designing & a whole lot more but crafting is what she loves & enjoys the most!!J BTW, Mixed Media is her new found passion in life right now!J

Experimental, Elegant & vibrant she says is her style & i find her works to be very creative, vibrant & cheerful!

What really inspires Khushboo, 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 & also 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 Khushboo:

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

Khushboo Gandhi : Heylo :D! First of all, I’m so happy and excited to be here :D (as can be seen from my smileys lol!). I’m extremely thankful to Rashmi Harish and the Itsy Bitsy India team for giving me this honour. Yayy!!!

I’m Khushboo R. Gandhi, and I’m from Mumbai, India. I’m a Commerce graduate (and well, that sums up my academic qualifications lol). If there ever was a first love in hobbies, I think ‘writing’ was it. I love words, and I love writing (I have a blog I used to post a lot of fictional stories, poems and book reviews on). Apart from that, I enjoy painting, photography, reading (especially classic books – Jane Austen has been my childhood favourite), listening to music, travelling <3, watching English movies (a lot of them lol!), shopping for crafty items :P, and playing with my niece and nephew whenever we’re in the same country J.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

KG: It was pure happenstance…

I was always good at studies, but somehow I was never inclined to pursue an MBA further. Ever since my childhood, I’ve had a creative bend. I was good at painting, writing, and ‘tinkering’ with stuff at home. Somehow, I did not pursue painting either. Over the years – I’ve worked as a cabin crew with Kingfisher Airlines, held a diploma in jewellery designing from IGI, travelled quite a few countries, worked in an Ad agency, and yet I kept searching for something that I’d really love to do for the rest of my life. Then last year, I came across a mixed media video that almost completely changed my life. I had finally found my passion :D! I had always loved making cards as a kid, dresses for my barbies :p, pouches, etc, but I never knew that crafting was elevated to such a sophisticated level. It’s a world of its own within our world. And so a little less than a year ago I launched my brand for handmade products.

RC: What is your favorite type of craft?

KG: Oh wow. This is really difficult lol. I started off with decoupage; and at the time I thought there’s nothing more beautiful than that art. Then I found scrapbooking and card-making, and I was in awe. And now I’m into mixed media, and I’m speechless at the endless possibilities of it. I don’t think I have a favourite, because I like to juggle between all these different craft forms (since I can get bored very easily :P).

RC: What are your favorite products at Itsy Bitsy?

KG: Itsy Bitsy was one of the very first few websites that I made my first purchases from. All my mdf products for decoupage are bought from IB. However, my most favourite products from IB are handmade flowers, chipboard embellishments, stamps, and colour splash sprays – completely love them!

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

KG: If I had magic powers, I’d give an endless supply of craft materials to every crafter – the moment they’d use something from their stash, it would get refilled/replenished magically :P.

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

KG: My IB ‘handmade flowers’ –infinite styles, colours, sizes, types, materials – I just can’t stop buying these; and IB stamps – they’re so delicate in their designs and absolutely beautiful!

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

KG: My style of crafting is essentially elegant; experimental and vibrant. I love colours and I love creating complex things. I experiment a lot – try to mix and match – be it different mediums, or products, or techniques. I literally have to try hard to turn down the complex-o-meter a notch and try creating simple styles at times lol.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

KG: I wish I could organize it! But I don’t believe in it (at the moment anyway). I work on my projects whenever inspiration strikes –even if it’s late at night.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft?

KG: Experiment. Experiment. Experiment. There are no cast-in-iron rules for crafting. Try out different techniques. Find out what you enjoy creating the most. And always use your products in a way that minimizes wastage. Even the tiniest bit of scrap paper, or the paint held in your thick brush can be utilised in effective ways.

RC: Your all -time favorite quote?

KG: Non-crafting related: ‘Smile… it confuses people.’

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

Project: Making a card classy card.

Materials used:

·        Itsy Bitsy black cardstock

·        Itsy Bitsy stickers

·        Itsy Bitsy silicon glue

·        Digital image

·        Ribbons

·        Perfect Pearls

·        Watercolour pencils

·        Sentiment stamps

Method:

1.   Take a black cardstock, score and fold to make the base of your card.

2.   Take a smaller piece of black cardstock and distress its edges with a distress tool.

3.   Now take an image of your choice – I’ve used a digital image and coloured it with watercolour pencils. You can use either stamps, or digital image and colour it the way you want.

4.   Take two pieces of ribbons – I’ve taken a golden 1 inch ribbon; and a ½ inch sea green ribbon (these co-ordinate perfectly with the colours of my image). Stick the golden ribbon first onto the smaller distressed cardstock. Then place the sea-green ribbon on top of the golden one as shown in the picture.

5.   Now stick your image on the ribbons.

6.   For the sentiments, versa-mark your stamp and powder it with perfect pearls. Cut every word separately and position them as shown in the picture.

7.   Finish the look off with Itsy Bitsy’s co-ordinating stickers (I’ve used the fishes and weed).

8.   Now stick this cardstock onto the scored and folded cardstock that you made in Step 1. Add foam dots beneath for a 3D effect.

9.   Voila! Your beautiful classy card is ready to be written in and gifted J.

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

Many congrats Khushboo 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!