Crafter in The Spotlight 28 - Itsy Bitsy

Hello Crafty Folks, I am delighted to introduce & feature yet another talented Crafter this week! This week’s crafter in the Spotlight for December 2016 is “Rashmi Tater”! An MBA in Marketing & HR, this talented crafter is now pursuing MBA in Hospital Management! 

Rashmi is very thankful to her mother for inspiring her creativity & loves colours & crafting so much so that she spends at least 5 hrs each day crafting! J

“Glamorous, Shabby Chic, Vintage ” she says is her style & I find her creations gorgeous & elegant!

What really inspires Rashmi, 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 read the interview & leave your comments for her. 

Here are excerpts of my interview with Rashmi Tater:

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

Rashmi Tater : Hey all! Firstly I’m super duper exited to be chosen, this recognition is indeed an honour! and I just can’t thank enough the Itsy Bitsy team and Rashmi Harish! So many (!) marks can obviously prove my excitement.

I’m Rashmi Tater. I’m from Andhra, but presently I’m staying in Jaipur after my wedding. I’m an MBA in Marketing and Human Resources and currently pursuing MBA in Hospital Management. So that was all about the academic qualification.

My husband is in a busy profession which gives me ample of time to myself thus I focus all my energies on creating something new each day and make it a point that I learn a new technique each day exploring new horizons and improving myself.

As a person I’m a happy go lucky kind of a person but sometimes I get disheartened on small things but then I do have my knight in shining armour right to my side. So why worry J. He and my entire family love me so very much and are my constant support system. They encourage me in every possible way and I’m so happy to have all of them in my life! I consider myself very lucky J

RC: How did you get into crafting?

RT: I love colors. That is actually the best statement I can quote because since childhood I used to always love to play with them be it crayons or water colors they were my best friends! Growing up I used to love the SUPW classes at school and mom always used to help me create the best projects in the class which was like an energy boaster and helped me get inclined towards crafting and now if you ask me what I love the most. One word! “crafting” it just gives me so much happiness and helps me be a better person each day!

I have started taking classes in Rajahmundry, Andhra while I was pursuing my MBA but only in vacations but when I moved to Jaipur, I had ample of time then the whole idea of starting an online store and page popped and I started taking orders and classes online. So this was my short story, summing it all up - so crafting happened to me out of the love for colors and creating! All thanks to my mom!

RC: What is your favorite type of craft?

RT: Undoubtedly MIXMEDIA because it is such a wide concept with endless possibilities it’s so flexible and can be done on practically everything! This comes from the heart and imagination can bring stale things to life!

I also love scrapbooking but then it’s my new found love <3 and I’m still exploring it.

RC: What are your favorite products at Itsy Bitsy?

RT: I have a huge huge list here! To begin with Stencils, papers, sprays, ribbon, ink, embossing powder, bigshot, an amazing die collection, heat gun etc etc

I especially like the flowers they are so beautiful! and perfect add-ons to your projects

The chipboards are amazing esp. the ones matching to stencils are to go crazy for.

The latest little birdie range of papers are awesome! Commendable I must say.(thums up)

And the color splash sprays : just falling in love with them!

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

RT: I would create a gift card with endless limit! so everyone can practically shop for all the supplies they want in the world and open an itsy bitsy store in every city of the country!

I so wish this dream comes true  …..

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

RT: I practically love everything from little birdie brand, but if you ask me to choose one it has to be my vintage flowers, they are so pretty that I still don’t have the courage to open the pack and use them!

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

RT: My style of crafting is undoubtedly glamorous (according to me ! J) I create floral, shabby chic and vintage but then it all depends on what the client wants! But if I’m given the freedom then I love mixing, matching, creating layers and trying new techniques on each project, with each project I make I feel I improve. So actually I don’t stick to a particular style but I love adding elegance to whatever I make.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

RT: I’m surrounded by my supplies all day so whenever an inspiration strikes I’m on it! Hopping from the kitchen to grocery shopping to togetherness time and again back to crafting but definitely I make sure I spend a lot of time creating! You can say like 5 hours a day with my supplies and if I don’t do it like when I'm travelling or when I’m in Nepal I like crazy miss it!

So actually it’s my daily dose of happiness.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft?

RT: Just follow your heart, experiment, do mistakes, make messy looking projects and then improvise them until they start looking appealing to you, then work hard to master the techniques and then practice, practice, practice until you have an awesome looking project in your hand which everyone shall appreciate. For me: The amount of handwork you do is directly proportional to the love and affection you shall get for your projects. Also be humble always! There is no point playing the blame game.

RC: Your all -time favorite quote?

RT: EVERYTHING COMES TO YOU AT THE RIGHT TIME. BE PATIENT AND TRUST THE PROCESS.

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

So now it's time to share a creation using few of my favourite products from the store

I have created a Mixmedia canvas of size 10.10

Step 1: Coated the canvas with Gesso and Colored in shades of marigold and blue using Color splash sprays and heat dried using the heat tool, then textures with the modelling paste from the store, adding little purple color using itsy bitsy stencil on both the corners and alowed it to dry naturally.

Step 2: Next step i used the Brick stencil and used the Inkpad from the store in purple color and created bricked background by blending the ink with the help of an applicator. You can use general sponge too! I used itsybitsy green pigment ink and distressed the corners a bit. And then again with purple.

Step 3: I took a floral sheet from the store and fussy cut the flowers then embossed them with my tool and then layered them to form 2 flowers. From the rest left over flowers I pasted a few on the canvas to create the background more floral (I used the same ink to distress the edges of flowers as well)

Step 4 : Then I used some pearls, glitter swirls and handmade embellishments and stuck them with Silicon glue from the store. 

Step 5 : Allowed it to dry. And coated it all with spray varnish. To seal the project. tada we R done!

Hope you like and will try to create something like this too! 

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

Many congrats Rashmi 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!

Nesting Dies Ideas

HI 

 Lekha here with my new post with Itsy Bitsy dies and would be playing around with few easy techniques to create some simple and fast cards. I am playing around with nesting dies (scallop heart die and decagon die) and 220 gsm thick white cardstock.

For the first card I have used the  decagon die to create a de-bossed effect. You can use the other side with embossed effect. 

 

I have placed the nesting dies in a eccentric pattern and taped it to the cardstock. While embossing place the first cutting plate on Tab 1(using Big Shot machine) followed by rubber pad and than second cutting plate. 

 Here is the deboss look.

I have hand cut the butterfly and stamped the flowers and sentiment from the hope and smile stamp set.

For my second card I have used the scallop heart die to create a window and frame for the front panel of the card.

For the window use the smaller die and for the frame use both smaller and larger one from the set. 

For stamping I have used Itsy Bitsy chalk ink trio. I love how juicy are these chalk inks. And you get three colors in single ink pad. 

The leaf background comes from the leaf die I cut multiple time from a single piece of card stock and later used it as a stencil. This way you can even use your scraps and create interesting backgrounds. 

Another interesting use of nesting dies can be in creating embellishments. Here are few I made. 

The birdie comes from my handmade resin embellishments stash and the papers are from the new Itsy Bitsy launch chevron aquarelle papers and used flowers to complete the shaped tags.

 I have used rose from the angle rose carnation collection, I totally love the roses from this set.

Also, you can maximize the use of dies by using them as templates for shaker embellishments. Here I have used WRMK Fuse tool with the largest die from the decagon die set as the template to my shaker pocket. I love creating shakers and fuse tool is one great tool to have in your stash. You can use them with your cards, embellishments, scrapbooks etc...

And the hearts are cut in felt  from the smallest scallop heart die. These dies cut felt like butter, you can check my last post on felt plushies for more ideas. 

Supplies used:
scallop heart die 
 decagon die

thick white cardstock
Big Shot machine

chalk ink trio
hope and smile stamp set
chevron aquarelle papers
flowers
WRMK Fuse tool 
felt  
lace trims
sequins

Hope you liked these ideas to maximize the use of your dies. And do not forget to join us for the #ITSY BITSY CHALLENGE 3 .

Deco Decor

Hi,
Gopi here and I'm back with Decoupage my new obsession...
Decoupage can be done on a large variety of surfaces like wood, glass, metal, fabric, etc etc.... It is one of the way to alter things and also one of the way to create beautiful Home Decor articles.
Today's post is about creating some home decor articles... All the articles created are out of a single piece of decoupage napkin.
So let's get started....

Altered Wine Bottle

To begin with, I submerge the wine bottle in hot water for few hours and then scrubbed the label off it making sure no residues are left.

There after I selected my decoupage napkin and accordingly selected the base colour for the wine bottle. I have used Zebra stripes and white gesso. Apply 2 coats of white gesso making sure each layer of gesso dries perfectly well before the next coat.

Next I gave 2 coats of Itsy Bitsy's Decoupage Glue Matte using a wash brush again making sure each layer was dried well before the next one.

Then I cut the decoupage napkin to a desired size and peeled off the top ply. Using a damp sponge slowly started adhering the napkin to the bottle.

For the neck and bottom of the bottle I have wound the White Twisted cord .

At last I carefully applied 2 more coats of decoupage glue, only on the napkin, to finally seal it.

Then using the brick stencil and Modelling paste I gave a texture on the napkin area. Finally, I embellished the bottle using white lace, adhesive pearls and Blanche Carnation flower collection.

Pillar Candle

Decoupage on candles is very easy and fast but tricky too. Firstly out of the remaining piece I cut the decoupage napkin to the desired size. Candle decoupage is easy and fast as there are not coats of glue to be applied. Using a heat gun I started adhering the napkin to the candle. Now comes the tricky part. The heat from the heat gun has to be maintained otherwise the candle will start deforming. So I started by heating a particular patch. The moment the wax melts the napkin changes colour as being wet. Thats when with my finger I rub the napkin to fix it with the melting wax. Keep doing this in small patches till the entire napkin is adhered.

See the colour difference at the bottom part of the candle

Once the candle is covered with the napkin I embellished it with white twisted cord, white lace, adhesive pearls and Blanche Carnation flower collection.

And the candle is ready...

Canvas

The last article to this home decor set is a Canvas.

To start with I gave a generous coat of gesso to the canves and let dry.

Meanwhile, using the newly released Lamour paper pack I created the center part of the canvas. Using a wet paint brush I outlined the patch. Use good amount of water and let it seep into the paper. Then start tearing from the wet edges. This will give a fibrous edge which will help in merging the piece to the canvas well

Once this was done I applied 2 coats of Decoupage glue. After the glue was completely dry, I adhered the remaining pieces of the decoupage napkin to the canvas as desired with the help of a damp sponge. Then applied the same glue on the back of the pattern paper and stuck it in the center of the canvas.

Finally applied a generous coat of decoupage glue to the entire canvas to seal the napkin and center patch. Don't worry about any air bubble forming. it will settle on dry.

Once the entire canvas was dry I gave it a texture using the brick stencil and Modelling paste. 

At last I embellished it with white twisted cord, white lace, adhesive pearls and Blanche Carnation flower collection.

Thats how the entire home decor set was created!!!

For some more decoupage inspirations you can check my previous post here.

Hope u had the same fun reading this long post as much as I had creating these articles.

Supplies Used:

1. Wine Bottle, Pillar Candle (from my Stash)

2. Canvas

3. Decoupage Napkin Zebra stripes

4. White gesso

5. Brick stencil

6. Modelling paste

7. White Twisted Cord

8. White Lace

9. Adhesive pearls

10. Blanche Carnation flower collection

11. L'amour Paper Pack

12. Decoupage Glue Matte

13. Wash brush

14. Heat Gun

And the final click...

 Happy crafting!!!