Saturday, February 27, 2016

Today we welcome Lisa Ryder! Intro post...


Hi all! I'm Lisa, and I am a returning Artfull Crafts  DT member this year-- thanks so much to Liz for keeping me around the place! I also work in the shop on Saturday mornings, so if you've ever phoned up or called in at the weekend, chances are you heard my voice or saw my face (or witnessed me doing battle with the shop till. We have a feisty relationship, shall we say. Ahem.) A little more about me: I'm Timaru born and bred, and I still live here with my husband, Ivan. We've been married for 27 years and counting. We have one grown-up daughter, Lauren, who is 19 and studying to be a chef as well as working part time at a local restaurant. She's moved out of home, but we still have one "kid" around the place-- our wee dog Ruby, who is my constant companion. (And who pops up in my layouts from time to time.)



It seems that I've loved playing with and creating things from paper for as long as I can remember. I kept scrapbooks as a kid -- the kind with the old-fashioned sheets of scraps that you cut out and then glued on the pages (anyone else remember those?) and I also used to make paper dolls cut from magazines, complete with many outfits for them, too. As a teenager, my scrapbooks contained mostly popstars --the majority being of Duran Duran. ( I still have those scrapbooks today-- always worth a laugh when I look back through them.) These days, I have a deep and abiding love for themed mini-albums, art journals, mixed media, collage and home decor items such as canvases and other BTP projects. I really love the Project Life concept and really want to get some more pages done this year. I have a huge (seriously, it's HUGE!) box of many, many Project Life cards that are all gorgeous and I need to actually DO something with them besides keep adding to the collection!

Where do you get your inspiration from?
As far as inspiration goes it can spring from something as simple as a photograph,  a page in a magazine, or even a piece of music that creates a visual in my head. Sometimes it's as simple as a combination of colours on a piece of paper, or a certain pattern. I also love to spend time looking at arty, creative blogs, and websites like Pinterest and Flickr. My instagram feed is also a constant source of beautiful eyecandy and inspiration.

Who is manufacturing your favourite crafty products?
When it comes to paper companies, Crate Paper are my absolute favourite, I think-- I'm pretty sure all of my layouts contain at least once piece from a CP collection in them somewhere! Other favourites are Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp, Amy Tangerine, Teresa Collins, and Simple Stories. I also really like Kaisercraft , and I'm sort of addicted to the Collectables they put out with each range.



What items do you reach for?
My everyday crafting basics are glue, double-sided tape, my trusty scissors and a black ink pad, but I would also have to add to that: sprays, distress inks and tiny attacher staples. Those all tend to appear on most of my layouts and projects lately. Top of the list, though, would have to be: WASHI TAPE. In all-caps, to try and convey the depth of my love. Seriously, stand still long enough around me and I might just decorate you with a roll or two of it. :D I love the variety of patterns and designs, and the myriad of things it can be used for: from a touch of it on a card or layout, to using it as the main design element in a project. Plus, it's re-usable, which is awesome.



Embellishment-wise,  a current favourite of mine is touches of gold and/or silver, from washi tape, doilies or sprays. I also love a spatter of black or white ink to "finish" a layout (to stop it from looking too picture-perfect, I think.) I love distressed, inked and hand-torn edges, and a mix of layers and textures. I really like to use a mix of different elements in my layouts and projects, including things like old maps, dictionary pages, hand-drawn-doodles, scraps of fabric and other ephemera. I like to reuse, repurpose and upcycle objects to turn them into something completely new, and love fussy-cutting elements from larger pieces of paper to use in whole new ways.


Who inspires you?
As far as inspiration from the craft world goes, I really love Ali Edwards' style: her layouts are what first drew me into scrapbooking after years of purely being a rubberstamper. I really like her technique when it comes to Project Life documentation, and I think she has the most amazing handwriting. Other favourites: Tina from lifelovepaper, Jamica Edgell, Jamie Waters, Tim Holtz, and oh-so-many others. I like to be inspired by a bunch of different people with different styles and techniques. :) My Instagram feed contains a mixture of eye-candy from creative folk all over the globe.

Crafty Goals for 2016
I have a couple of craft-related goals this year: a lot of my layouts lack journalling, so I would like to include a little more of that. I'd also like to complete some more mini-albums, some more PL stuff, and perhaps get back into keeping a regular art journal, too. I'm also keen to learn more about die-cutting machines and gadgets, as I don't have any myself, so it's all a whole new world to me. (I'm very old-school, and cut out everything by hand!) Liz, Juanita and Miss Betsy have been all very patient with me as I have learned a little bit more about all these goodies, and who knows, soon I might actually know what I'm talking about, haha! In the meantime, there is a myriad of information available on YouTube when it comes to learning about new things in the crafting world, and I'm a keen student. :)



Lastly, if I had a piece of advice for anyone just looking to start out in the crafting game, it would be: You can do it! So many people claim that they're not creative enough, or that it all looks too hard. It's really not! :) There are so many tutorials around for all kinds of projects, with clear step-by-step instructions. Also, Artfull Crafts offers a  variety of regular card classes and fortnightly craft evenings and there is no better way to begin crafting than with like-minded folk around to chat with and to help you out. :) The store's thriving facebook page is a great place to start-- there is always someone around who can surely answer any queries or questions you might have. And like I mentioned earlier, YouTube is always a great resource. If in doubt- just ask!

Here's to a wonderfully creative 2016!
Cheers,
Lisa

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