Love Crafts, but new to Crafting!

Another post after my unplanned hiatus over at the blog. It's unfair sometimes. :( I get so occupied with work and home committments now that I don't get time to jot down my own ideas or thoughts.. let alone blog posts to eleborate my random musings or observations. I have a couple of blog posts pending, I have my material ready but need to compile it together.

The post today is exactly what it says, Love Crafts but new to Crafting!

You may wonder what sparked me to post this today, it's actually something that we need doses of now and then to remind us of what works and what doesn't. I sometimes ask my friends about what works in a layout and what doesn't.. I even try to research and learn more about color and design in my spare time.

I'm not the crafting queen, and my words are not set in stone, so if you have anything to add to these, points, share em :) A background for some who may wonder, I have 4 years of professional design training and almost 10 years of paper crafting experience in the U.S., Pakistan and now Hong Kong... I felt I could share what some of you could benefit from. InshaAllah x

When I began paper crafting, I didn't have all the fancy stuff. (tools, punches, inks, stamps, die cut systems and so forth). I just had a flair to make something and make it look awesome. (even though several attempts were epic fails.)

In the last year specifically, I have observed an improvement in the work I produce, be it in composition, detail or overall effort. You could say it's evolving. And I wanted to share some tips on how you can apply that to see your work evolve, too! :)

• If it came out of the box, it doesn't mean you 'assemble it' and pass it off as 'crafting'. What I mean to implore here is we often get hold of kits and 'card in a box' or 'album in a box'... what we don't realize is when they say 'it's everything you need to create'... it means you use it as a platform, and make the most of your skills to add to it. Don't leave things 'raw'. ie... take a floral background, and use a red border punch to embellish it. Why? Any other person that gets hold of that background or that punch, is going to be able to do the same. What's your input? Have you composed it? Have you added personalized details? Did you get your hands dirty to paint, ink or create a dimensional flower?

• Make your work your own. It is very easy to see a color combination you like, with a product you like, and a request to create the same thing. Rule number one, politely hold your ground and clarify that the work requested belongs to someone else, and you would love to create something based on the same idea, ie floral, vintage and so forth but would not replicate the same colors on the same product.

• Inspiration versus copy. Be confident in your own piece of work. Like someone's idea? execute it in a way that the piece looks like it's your own individual concept, your own aesthetic.

• Don't stuff every 'color' on the planet onto one canvas. IF not done tastefully, it will look like a colorful mess. (in not so nice terms)

• I know it's tempting, but just because you're doing an album, don't force a vintage key into it. If your palette is bright bold hues or delicate pastels and you're not careful in placement of your embellishments, that key is going to be smack in your vision and will look off from the rest of your project, despite the ohmg, look at that KEY syndrome.

• The thing with stamping, embossing, glittered accents, metal embellishments and bling. These 5 are a lethal combination when used and applied the right way. You want them to blend as a theme, as one, and not look like a bit of everything, just because you wanted to. Know when to use them, and when to skip. While the effort is no doubt commendable, it may look too gaudy or over done.

• Less is more. Work on creating layouts and compositions to help you develop a form of story telling, that moves your eye, and motivates admirers to look closely at your work. The simplest of detail can be most impactful when piecing together your projects. Don't scatter bits and bobbles everywhere to confuse the person.

• Binding, do I go for jute, ribbon, rings, or spirals?
  If it's a formal affair, avoid using spirals. If you opt for rings, camouflage them with delicate trims and ornate laces. If you want to opt for a natural feel and have managed to blend in eclectic elements, opt for jute. Be careful, as jute and spirals, if used incorrectly can make a fab project look floppy. Ribbons are great for almost any occasion. Be selective about which ones you use, if you use stiff ones or those that are too 'shiny', they may throw off your beautified craft piece within seconds. I personally use the binding rings because they work with formal and fun projects. They look solid enough and don't remind me of a school notebook or something I picked up from the photocopier. (no offense to others, I've got gorgeous journals bound with spirals and I love them to bits.. handcrafted just look different when used with spirals)

• All that glitters is not gold. While most people look at the sight of glitter and fall to uber appreciation, if used in excessive amounts, can look tacky. Control your glitter urges folks, accent it with a line, a smaller embellishment, as glitter stands out!  You don't want it to over power the rest of your layout. :)

• Compose, compose, compose. Don't let your work float everywhere. Make it look grounded with a visual experience. If you like working with straight lines, do wonders with them. If you like asymmetry, don't make things float everywhere.

• Proportions are vital when doing albums and cards. You don't want two large flowers and one small one. Try balancing one large flower with two smaller ones, or with one small or medium. It makes a big difference.

• Lost in Space. Keepsakes are intended for 'keeping' for the 'sake of memories' for most. If you have created or crafted an album, especially a mini. Make sure you leave room for photos and text and don't centralize your embellishments. Mini albums are smaller in size, and have less room for photos and journaling to start with. If you have large embellishments, it may look pretty, but would defeat the purpose and practicality of being an 'album'.

• Hand written. If you feel like incorporating your handwriting in a project, try not to let it float or look like a sloppy note you'd pass in class. Take a minute to draw a line with a scale to write on the line. If your cursive isn't the most exciting, don't go for it, print it instead.

• First Love. Don't fall in love with your work. Be pleased when you put together something you put your heart into, but never fall in love with it. Because that's going to stop you from doing better or striving harder. Which will stump your growth and grooming as a crafter or artist.

Hope these little bits and pieces of information strike a chord and help you rethink your projects and help you for amazing future ones. I have yet to share some amazing work by Pakistani Crafters from our Craft Month Celebrations. You'll see some talent from simplest of pieces when I do :)

I often tell my students, that when you have the eye to appreciate something beautiful, your admiration shows your aesthetics are pretty awesome! So never tell yourself you're not very good at being creative ;)

Much Love.
Smile Sunshine!
 

Help? How do I fill this thing?

When we first introduced the tag wallets, tag books and minis, the first question was.. what is it? How is it used? But it's so tiny! How do you add photos to this? To give you all a better idea, I played around with one of the albums I made... to show you how you can add your photos to them.

This is super basic, nothing fancy, very simple.

The pictures used here, may NOT be used elsewhere.
PS: This is a photoshopped demo, sorry for the edits!

Paper Hunt Magic, Task One and Tag Wallets!

Soooo. I've spent the last couple of days resting out my fatique by taking cold and flu medicine and sleeping like no tomorrow. I feel much better Alhamdulillah! And feel a little refreshed and energized. So with that thought, I'd like to share what was the product of our Tag Wallet Class :)

We kicked off a little late, but that didn't stop the creative thoughts at all. I had two students, Anne and Iqra who had been looking forward to the Tag Wallets for the longest time I had actually suggested the Tag Wallet Module to Iqra as she was new to working with surfaces and took a while on decisions. Figured we'd start with something a little easier and small... She had ten seconds to make her decisions while with me. :)

Anyhow, my requirement for the class was, bring embellishments.. any and whichever you have along with a 12x12 piece of paper. These guys had lovely chart paper with them, but given class had already started late, I didn't want them to waste time on measurements and trimming. I came up to the studio. Pulled out two random sheets of paper and came down to class with them.

I handed Anne the green one and Iqra the pink. Without further delay, we began our folds for the tag wallet, working out the creases and importance of scoring. These guys managed to perfectly within a few minutes. That wasn't the hard part at all. :)

I feel I put the two of them with a couple of challenges, despite the Keepsake being super easy to do:

• they had no idea I was going to give them random colors to work on their project
• they had to make do with embellishments they found in their stash
• nothing was newly bought, nothing was exclusively purchased for the project, ie in terms of color
• again, because of time constraints, I just handed them my box of scraps... they had to pick out shades and tones of colors that matched their theme. 
• There were only two punches these young ladies worked with, the scallop and ornate.
• The tags were cut out by hand by tracing out a template off one of mine

Both began working on their tag wallets. They wanted to distress, to make their tags. I had shown them my engagement Tag Wallet... to have an idea of all the crazy and fun things you can do to make your work stand out. In the process, these are the things they came up with. I think they did a fab job. The only say I had in their projects was to make them think a little about placement or contrast. The rest was their call. They learned how to make little ribbon flowers to embellish their projects with, since the embellishments were limited. Iqra pulled out aces from her stash which was by luck, a compilation of pinks and beads and girly things. Anne had some lovely vintage buttons and trinkets in her stash.. which went great for her Tag Wallet. :)

It's amazing what these two did with their scrap pieces of paper and assigned colors. It worked out better because both of them had voiced out their fright of colors and how picking the right ones was always hard. Going into monochrome narrowed down decision making. Picking the right pink or the right green to go with the tag wallet was also important. Well done, you two!

I hope you're less afraid of colors and your own creativity. You can do wonders when you put your mind to things :) It was a two hour class, which carried on for almost 4. They didn't want to eat, they didn't want to take a break.. They just wanted to craft and create. :) Which is the way to go! 

Happy Birthday Iqra :) hope your birthday was one of the best experiences ever ;)

I keep getting queries on classes and tutorials... and while the last two weeks have been class-ilicious, I suppose I can do another round after Eid inshaAllah. *given I am in town*

MONOCHROME PAPER HUNT PROJECT

TASK ONE

Now for the Paper Hunt. If you'd like to join my next class over at the blog, here's what you need to do.

You're going to create a scrap file. Which will have bits and bobbles of paper, card stock and left over invites, tissue paper, etc.. This can comprise of a4 paper, chart paper scraps, wrappings, left over gift wrap paper, textured paper, other materials (leather, canvas, fabric)

You're going to sort them by color.. you can do the rainbow, with reds, blues, yellows, greens, etc.. you can also separate your blacks and greys and browns, and take them into whites, off whites, ivory and creams.

This is similar to the scrap paper stash I had sorted last week. :) You're organizing what you have to make building your projects easier!

Once that's done. You're going to bring out your stash of embellishments. Pins, stones, studs, rhinestones, glitter, laces, buttons, keys, ribbon etc. Could be left over charms from an old bracelet, beads... pretty much anything you want to stick on to your project :)

You can sort these by color too. :)

Once you've completed task one. Leave a comment below, so we can start task two! with a link to your stash. Snap a photo, upload it to your Facebook profile, make it public. You can leave the link with the comment, so we can see what you came up with :)

I'm posting a link to my scrap paper project here:

http://firefly-girl.blogspot.com/2012/07/scrap-paper-scissors.html

Scrap, Paper, Scissors

Every one of us who crafts has that stash of paper snippits that are too pretty to throw away, and you think that, oh, I'm going to just use these in my next mini, or the next tagbook could use some of that.. I'll just store it for later.

......

what happens though, you end up storing it in like a million different places, and every time you sit to do some work, you don't know what to do with all this paper... Paper you've spent money on, paper that is in great shape to use for next time, paper that is getting dents and creases sitting in a pile here, there, on the desk, on the corner shelf, in that box, sticking out of that file, and waiting under that heap of other embellishment stuff you'll be using very 'soon'.

So given, I've been on a studio revamp yet again, I thought I'd start with rearranging these 'scrap' pieces of paper. I had my 12x12 stacker shelf made a few months ago, so those papers, and the slightly larger scraps sit in there neatly. It's the little pieces here and there that drive me crazy.

Since I shifted some stuff to Hong Kong, I had a couple of these storage boxes that were empty. The poor lid is going to have to rot out some where for a while, but I managed to organize those scraps. Been meaning to do this for a really long time, but the last time I tried it, I didn't use boxboard dividers, and everything just looked really messy.

I tried it again today and it worked. Alhamdulillah! I've sorted the papers by color... and then have a few extra slots of themes like vintage, baby, birthday and 'pattern'. These I've kept separately because these I have a regular use of, and it makes more sense to store everything together here. :) I also stored my birthday themed and baby themed stickers and what not in here too since the box is a great size... so it holds up most of the a5 sizes and standard packaged contents :)

Just a little how to on organizing your bits and pieces. :)

PS: I did the dividers with a Tim Holtz Die. :) Was planning on labeling them properly with color tabs and all, got lazy. Just markered it out :)

How I did it was super easy. I snipped down the papers, just enough so they didn't look super messy. I cropped them in areas I knew I couldn't use anymore. ie dents, punched out shapes, ink splatter, etc... and this helped fit them in the box as well.

If you don't have a pretty box lying about, get a shoe box, and pretty it up with some gift wrap or leftover scrap booking paper :)

I sorted the papers by color to be divided by Kraft. I cut down to the size of the box. An A4 sheet of Kraft paper does the trick when you use the cutter down the middle. Super simple.  If you want to pretty up the dividers, you can. I just wanted to get my room to look tidy and had some work to finish up.. do didn't bother with it. :P

Have fun :)