Creative Team Spotlight: Cristal Hobbs!

This month we have the privilage of getting to know Cristal Hobbs.  Cristal's carefree approach to crafting is always welcoming to both newcomers and seasoned designers who love to craft. Cristal is also an avid blogger who shares about her love of creating through demos and new projects each week. I asked Cristal to answer a few questions to help us get to know her, this is what she said:

Q. What is your favorite Technique?
I don't really have one, I like to try new techniques all the time. If I can create it with paper or fabric I will. I love making paper ruffles, using fabric on layouts, coloring outside the lines.

I love the dimensional and textural qualities of this fun card. Isn't that trio of flowers so cute? Cristal used Kokeshi paper line Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations. She also used Real Wood paper from Creative Imaginations.

Q. Where did you learn to design?
I didn't, I just picked up crafting and just wing it. I only began scrap-booking 3 years ago. I just started in my home and it spiraled from there. Kind of the like the Rachel Ray of scrap-booking...I'm no chef I just play with paper! hehe

Cristal created a gorgeous purple flower at the base of her fan for added flair. Patterned paper is from the Kokeshi line by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.

Q. What influence your design choices?
Mostly nature and anything from fashion or past eras. I love 50's bold designs, 80's colors...I love it all, there is something special in every season. I am always thinking about the purpose and reason behind the design before I design. I love that crafting allows you to share your heart and soul. That influences me the most.

Cristal made this little dress with fabrics from the Enchanted Garden Collection by Samantha Walker for Riley Blake.

Q. Who are your artsy inspirations?
Probably the crafters I meet that are so kind in person, those people you just can't believe how amazing the are when you meet them. Eva Dobilas, Karen Maldonado, Shemaine Smith, Rhonda Van Ginkel, Lori Allred. Those people inspire me because they have heart and it shows in their creations.

Cristal made this sweet kitchen sign with many various scrapbooking products, and added a hanging sash with fabric from the Wanna be a Cowboy collection by Samantha Walker for Riley Blake Designs. 

Q. What do you enjoy doing besides crafting?
I love raising my boys,being really old school. I raise chickens, garden, gather my own eggs, read alot, spend time baking and love doing things the old fashioned way. I used to have a real fire burning stove/oven. I love baking bread and the simple life.

Cristal created this with patterned papers from the Kokeshi collection by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.

Cristal created this little sign with patterned papers from the Blossom collection by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.

I hope you will go and visit Cristal's blog often.  She always has something fun and fabulous going on...and great giveaways!

Creative Team Spotlight: Eva Dobilas

Each month at the begining of the month I am going to feature one of my creative team members so you can get to know them.  This Month, I'm starting with Eva Dobilas.  I love her flair for design and bright color choices.  I know I enjoyed getting to know her better, I hope you will too!

Love card created by Eva Dobilas with Ooh La La collection by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.
Eva used Silhouette dies: artisan_rectangular_C00444_19210, abstract_flourish_border_C00447_19210

I interviewed Eva, and this is what she said:

Q: What is your favorite technique?
A: I don’t have a favorite technique per se, I simply like to try new things that attract me. Sometimes, it’s an old technique, that is was just rediscovered strikes me and gets me inspired to create. One thing I love is using my Silhouette, so if that can be called a technique, than that would be it

Eva used papers and stickers and ribbon from Sweet Tooth and Christmas in the Kitchen collections by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.

Q: Where did you learn how to design?
A: I have been creating for 13 years or so, and throughout these years I learned a lot from my peers, just perusing magazines, online galleries, and I have been fortunate to take classes from well known artists and you could say I picked up a lot of things from them. But I always say, if one has the passion for something, they will learn everything that helps them to achieve their goal and my heart is in designing, so you could say I have done a lot of “homework” and practiced a lot. It’s been a fun journey and it’s something that I am still on as I continue to grow.

Eva used Silhoutte die joy_word_snowflake__C01091_19210  to create this ornament.

Q: What influences your design choices?
A: I lot of things can influence my design choices, not all at once, of course, but here are a few to mention. Silhouette shapes, colors, textures, papers, fabrics, stamps, coloring mediums….

This card was created with papers from the Ooh La La collection by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations.

Q: Who are your artsy inspirations...
A: Throughout my years of drooling over gorgeous creations done by other designers, I have collected a lot that inspire me and that I just adore. Here are a few, but really there are so many designers that I just love, so it’s hard to narrow them down to just a few: Amy Sheffer, Betsy Veldman, Jennifer McGuire, Tim Holtz, Christine Middlecamp.

Q: What do you enjoy doing besides crafting and designing…
A: I enjoy cooking, baking, in fact I am thinking of writing a dessert book based on my mom’s recipes, which are all incredibly amazing Hungarian yummy pastries, nothing like that on the market and everyone should have something sweet in their life…lol. I also love to knit, and just recently made a really pretty scarf for my hubby. My other favorite thing to do is reading anything spiritual and coaching people to change their perception about things that may have held them back in the past and help them achieve happiness and peace in their life.

Eva used paper and stickers from Wanna Be a Cowboy collection by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations. She used Silhouette Die set: 3_nesting_artisan_shapes_C00493_19210  

Eva is quite creative, and has shared with us a step by step to create this fun embellished T-shirt.
Eva was inspired by a technique she learned from Amy Tangerine’s t-shirts and also her son’s sweatshirt design inspired me to do this.


1. You will need a t-shirt, fabric and Silhouette machine.

 
2. Cut out Love Letters Silhouette shape and cut large enough design for t-shirt. Eva used fabric from the Enchanted Garden collection by Samantha Walker for Riley Blake Design. Eva also used Silhouette die: love_letters_C00754_19210 

3. Trace pattern on the fabric and cut it out, leaving enough space around it, so you can stitch around it.

4. Turn t-shirt inside out and place the cut out fabric on the inside, where you would want your design to be.

5. Hand stitch on the traced line.

6. Once all stitched, turn t-shirt right side out and cut t-shirt inside the stitched lines, so the fabric will show through.

And the end result gives you a designer t-shirt.

Introducing Karen Maldonado

The next Creative Team member I would like to introduce to you is, Karen Maldonado. She has a very ornate, yet graceful style, and loves to work with sultry colors.  She caught my eye because of the little details that she adds to each of her creations.  You can tell she loves crafting as she pays attention to placing everything "just so" on her cards by adding little flowers or ribbons in just the right place.  I know the recipients of her art must feel loved when she passes on a little piece of herself through her creations.  Heck, I feel loved anytime she puts a few of my products into her designs.  I have linked any of the Silhouette dies that she used directly to that file on the Silhouette site to make it easy for you to find the die. 

I love pennants...they just scream Celebration!  Combine them with fun colorful paper, and you've got a paper party going on.  This card is so cute!  For Karen's "Birthday Wishes" card she used die cuts from the silhouette digital download store (Polka Dot Pennant  -C00951-19210) She used two of the four layers to create this string of pennants.  There is an addtional polka dot layer and offset pennant layer you can use too!

Karen gives a festive twist to a Halloween card by creating a hand made paper carnation.  She has a tutorial on her blog for this technique. She used a few of my Sillhouette die cuts to complete her design:

"Bats" (C00927_19210) and The card base is another Silhouette die cut "Artisan Nesting Rectangular" (C00685_19210) which can stand upwards or sideways!!

What kid wouldn't love to receive this little treat bag that Karen created for Halloween.  She used  my Silhouette die,"Scalloped Favor Bag (C0156)" and also used my "Hanging Ghost (C00931_19210)" Silhouette die. She cut two each of the ghost, covered the back of the ghost with black cardstock so the eyes would be black.  This is an excellent tip for minimizing layering details when using the Silhouette. Cute and clever!

In celebration of World Cardmaking Day, Karen created this beauty. The card has a antique vintage feel complete with lace and aged ink techniques. She used my Silhouette (Crown Border Square/C00637-19210) as her card base.  There are also some more of those cute handmade paper flowers...tutorial here.

Isn't this fun? I love the way Karen added a pink bow to my Silhouette "Kitty Cat Favor bag" die.  One of my favorite things about this project is how she used little pearls for the shine in the cat eyes...that's brilliant!!

Karen made a little mini album with a couple of my Silhouette dies (8 piece scalloped round corner set C01032_19210 & swirly frame C00796-19210) which she squeezed so it was more square and omitted the swirly center.  That is something that is always good to remember about the silhouette, you can always choose which lines you want to cut by ungrouping the file and deleting what you won't be using in that cutting pass.  Karen makes use of that feature all the time to make shapes work for her projects. and I tell you what...Karen is like the queen of flower making...here's another cool handmade flower...details for making this sweet beauty are on her blog.

Karen also has a lot of fun with Copic markers...a fun blending markers for stampers...if you haven't heard of them...check them out...very cool stuff!  She used several of my my silhouette dies to create the center of her card including: artisan_with_swirls_C00487_19210, she omitted the swirl part of the design and just used the out line. That is a cool thing you can do from within the Silhouette software. She also used: 8_piece_mini_scalloped_oval_set_1_C01037_19210

I think this card is just lovely.  Karen put an unexpected bright pop of color in the ribbon and the pink pearls--great idea to add contrast against the muted background. She used a few of my dies from Silhouette including the dual_edge_half_moon_scallop and 3_nesting_retro_flowers_C00494_19210 for the base of her flower.  

Karen has a knack for making cute little journals like this beauty. She used one of my Silhouette Dies called "3 Nesting Artsian Shapes" (C00493_19210) " it comes with three different files in this one set!!  Of course you know I am going to say I love her flower and ribbons.  

This card that Karen designed makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  Love the autumn cozy colors of the designer papers she used (Basic Grey's Wisteria collection!)  I love Basic Grey and how they revolutionized the scrapbooking industry when they entered the market.  They are an awesome company. She also used my "Artisans Nesting Rectangular (C00685_19210)" Silhouette die design to mat her cute little stamped girl.  Then, she tucked three of my Silhouette "Snowflakes (C0301)" dies to go with her autumn/winter theme!  She was clever and cut the snowflakes in 3 different sizes.  I think the snowflake die would also be cute cut large and used as a doily under a plate of holiday cookies.

I hope that you enjoyed getting to know Karen.  I certainly have been enjoying getting to know her through her designs.  I hope you visit her blog and frequent it often as there is always some kind of inspiration there for you to enjoy.  

Introducing creative team member Eva Dobilas!

Last month I selected a team of 10 fabulous crafters to work with my product over the next year.  I selected them because each of them had a unique "something special" about the way they design.  Some love bright and bold...some like a simple graphics approach, some love to make cards, some paper mache, and others are true scrapbookers at heart.  I have had the joy of watching them post projects on my Facebook page that feature the use of my products.  I would love to introduce you more in-depth to each of them over the next week.  


Today, I am starting with Eva Dobilas.  


Let me introduce you to Eva.  She is a delightful person to know...always up-beat and positive and it's catchy...not only in her words, but also in her craft.  I discovered her beautiful work about a year ago, when she did a lovely project with my birdhouse Silhouette die. I loved how she added so much life to this simple die design...and particularly loved the stamps she was using.  To make a long story short...she was the one who introduced me to Unity Stamp Company...and the rest...is history.  I am grateful for that introduction as I have been having so much fun designing stamps for Unity! Eva loves to use bright colors, and pays attention to detail.  Here are some of the things she has been busy making over the last 6 weeks...I bet you she crafts every day...because this is just a sampling of many projects she has created in the last little bit.  She has a true love for design.

To make this gorgeous fall card, Eva used one of my digital cutting files from the Silhouette digital download store called:  2_layer_swirly_leaf_C01028_1921010/19/2010.  I love her choice of fresh gingham ribbon to make this card POP! 

Eva used stamps from the Ippity Fall for You set  (this is Unity Stamp Co. sister company)  to create this festive fall pumpkin. The Thanksgiving sticker is from my Harvest Collection for Creative Imaginations and the label that holds the cute arrangement of  stamps at the top, is one of my digital dies: 1_label_frame_tag_C00885_1921008/09/2010, available from Silhouette designs.  Here adorable project was created with papers from my Harvest paper line by Creative Imaginations.  I love Eva's detail in her rolled flower at the top of her pumpkin!  

For this lovely card, Eva used my fern_artisan_C00375_1921012/17/2009 Silhouette cut set and my Encompassed Grace stamps from Unity. Eva started out with white paper, but she inked it up with Ranger Distress inks--very cute! Love it, Eva!

This cute pair of dimensional projects by Eva, make me smile! She made this adorable little Halloween House with my birdhouse die from Silhouette, papers from Basic Grey (a company I LOVE--they are good people) and stamps from Ippity and Unity stamps.  Eva's second project uses another one of my dies from Silhouette called, spider_web_treat_bag_C017107/07/2009 , which you can fill with candy for your favorite little trick or treater.  She also used Copic markers, which Eva is really good at...as she demonstrates on the witch in this project. The bats are also some of my digital Silhouette cuts, bat_circle_set_C01015_1921010/18/2010.  I think these projects are precious!

Eva created this card base with my Silhouette die: jack_o_lantern_card_C20090904130829_19210

09/04/2009 .  Her card turned out so fun with all of her extra layers and embellishments, including stamps from Ippity.  I sure love it! 

Eva used my Ooh La la paper collection from Creative Imaginations to complete this cute card.  My favorite thing about this card is her choice to add an unexpected pop of blue!  Clever way to add spark!

I have to Credit Eva for inspiring me to design this snow globe die for Silhouette (christmas_snow_globe_C01068_19210)  She asked if I could do it for a project she had in mind...I was happy to oblige...as I knew Eva would do fabulous things with it! I added the scalloped border around the snow globe knowing this kind of motif is something Eva already loves to do with her cards.

Eva used My Wanna Be a Cowboy papers from Creative Imaginations and all the shapes were cut with the following Silhouette digital cutting files:  

10_piece_rectangle_stamp_set_2_C01052_19210

nesting_artisan_frames__C20090810001943_19210 08/10/2009

basket_butterfly_2_C00588_19210 03/22/2010

Here is another card by Eva.  For this card she used papers from my Harvest collection for Creative Imaginations, and coordinating stamps from my Fall Family Memories set for Unity Stamp Co.  Eva also used my artisans_nesting_rectangular_C00685_19210 05/04/2010 available as a digital download on the Silhouette die cut machine site.

Make sure to check out Eva's blog.  She is a regular blogger and always has inspiration to share.  

Scratch-book'n...

Here's what I walked into this morning after my shower...my kids at the kitchen table, crafting.  Isn't that a sweet picture of pure bliss?

"What-cha doing," I asked...

My little son replied, "Scratch-book'n, Mama."

I thought it was so cute...and it was...until they realized that they only had one glue-stick between the two of them.  Two pair of scissors, but one glue-stick...I riffled through the junk drawer trying to find another one, but came up dry.  Literally.  I found three dried up ones with the caps off.  Ugh...I'm constantly reminding them to put the caps back on the glue, and the caps back on the markers too, and to clean up when they are done...and and and...

Their argument got a little heated...

I explained sharing...(as if this were a foreign concept, this is my favorite topic to talk about with them lately.)

"Take turns." I said.  "When she cuts with scissors, you use the glue stick, and vice versa." Everyone will be happy.

They chose not to understand the lecture...

So out of desperation (because I can't stand my kids fighting..) I got out my dot n' roller adhesive.

Okay...in my mind, they both have glue, everyone's happy now, right?

WRONG!  Oh soooooo wrong.  I felt so stupid.  Why didn't I see it coming.

Of course.

One glue is obviously better than the other, and it's not too hard for anyone to figure out which one is superior.

Doh!  I guess I mean dot!

Back to square one...

"Okay, Sydney, when you are cutting, let Colin use the dot n' roller."  "Colin when you are looking through the magazine, you let Sydney use it."  Hmmmm....didn't I just hear that repeated in my head nearly seconds ago?

Here's the solution I came up with...

Okay, so if I were a perfect Mom...I would have probably said, "okay, then we will put it all away if you can't share." Then dealt with the aftermath.

However with insurmountable mounds of laundry piling up in my laundry room, deadlines for work, and just needing a moment of sanity...I gave in to two rollers.  I hope they don't enjoy them as much as I do...I'm a glue freak too, and I want some left for me.

Silhouette Build a Damask Set

Well a great idea came through on my Facebook fan page on Tuesday from Angela Thomas, for a Silhouette die design, and I ran with it. (I still have other requests on my list that I haven't gotten to...so there is a good chance your request will still be created, if I told you it's on my list. However, as an artist, I sometimes get carried away with one idea, and it spawns another...then another, and soon I am on a snowball of ideas--growing and gathering more as it goes. When that happens, I can't stop...as that is all my mind can think about. Building a damask just happened to be one of those ideas.)

Angela asked for a damask pattern that she could make a stencil out of...something where the pieces could be bigger so that she could stencil her wall. So I started making pieces for a damask...then one flourish inspired another...then a string of related borders...then soon, I had all these pieces I could use to build a damask. So I tried to decide how I would arrange them, and realized that there were endless options. So I decided that I would just give you the parts and let you decide how to arrange your damasks...or use the pieces independently as elegant flourishes. I'll start you off with some inspiration with some patterns I came up with...the pieces that I used...and then you can duplicate or make variations of the samples I show. To make a pattern use as many or as few of the pieces as you want, duplicate and reflect pieces...ungroup the designs and use just parts of the images if you want to simplify the look. I was planning on a project to go with these designs...but my husband just told me we are going camping today (we are a very spontaneous family), so that will have to wait until next week. But just to get you started...here are some of the patterns that I created...






I would LOVE to see what you come up with and how you use these pieces. So please send me a picture of your project when you finish show I can share your inspiration with others here on my blog or here. PS...there is no right or wrong way to do this, so feel free to explore and get creative!