RCS Summer 2018 Design Team Reveal

Hello Everyone,

Today we're pleased to be announcing our New Design Team. A new term, a fresh look and a whole lot of new ideas for you all.

First, we welcome back our Blog Coordinator - Aditi Mahajan 

My mother- Sunila Mahajan and me- Aditi Mahajan, started Dots to Lines and our forte is home decor, mixed media and altered art. I have pursued MSc. in Clinical Psychology and Dip. in Special Education; and too to arts and crafts since school days and also practised art therapy when working with children with special needs. I have completed an art course from School of Visual Arts, New York.

Crafting has been a part of daily activities mostly in the form of various altered projects or making gifts. We run a home decor business by the name of Dots to Lines and we handcraft products using techniques of mixed media and decoupage. We are into paper-crafting, layouts, journaling, album making and scrapbooking. Our style of art and craft is a fusion of techniques and use of vibrant colours.

Under the name of Dots to Lines, I have been officially creating and crafting. Apart from selling products and blogging, I am a part of various Design Teams.

Today, I am glad to be continuing my role as a Blog Coordinator. This is a prestigious position and I hope to do justice to it. Rainbow Craftykari is a great store and has to date provided a great education programme for fellow crafters. I hope to add to its growth and success.

Below are her Social Media Links and a few images of her creations

Blog

Instagram

Youtube

Facebook

Pinterest

Let's move on to our Design Team Member Introductions

Let's welcome

Vidhi Jadeja

I am Vidhi Jadeja from Mumbai, an artist by profession, an avid blogger, a doting daughter-in-law, a mother of two sweet little angels, a full-time homemaker, a compassionate person, the girl who migrated from “aapnu Amadavad” (our Ahemadabad in Gujarathi) to “Aamchi Mumbai” (our Mumbai in Marathi) post marriage, a trained artist with post graduate in commerce and a Diploma in Fine Arts. All in one and not necessarily in the same order of priority!

I have been passionate about art and craft from early childhood and have loved creativity in all forms of ART. I even had Painting Exhibits along with other artists during my Fine Arts day. Post marriage with a new life, a different setting, and addition to my family, it was a different canvas. To invest in the family, I had put my creative pursuits on a back burner. But the artist in me wouldn’t sit quietly for long. I started conducting Art and Craft sessions for kids which rekindled my love for creativity. Thus, my entrepreneurial foray was born with “Artery Crate” (www.arterycrate.com) and there is no looking back since then...

The types of Art forms that interest me are Decoupage, Mix media art, Art Journal, Layouts and Album making. I like all traditional Indian art forms. With the passage of time, I realised my love and inclination towards vintage, rustic, wooden, masculine, distressed and ethnic art forms. No wonder then that most of my projects are created around the same theme.

Creativity for me is all about inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and still having fun!

Below are Vidhi's Social Media links and a few images of her creations

Facebook
Blog
Instagram
Pinterest

Megha Tainwala

Born and bought up in Bangalore, but my roots trace back to Rajasthan. I am Megha, a finance and business management graduate and I work for Payment & Account Coordination in the Entertainment Industry. I love listening to music and enjoy travelling. Art and Craft is my escape place. I am enthusiastic and passionate towards art and craft, I've always been curious about colours and different art mediums and forms. 

My passion for art and craft is unending. In my spare time mostly on the weekends, I keep myself engaged in all forms of art, that brings me peace of mind from the daily chaos around. I enjoy art journaling on a daily basis. I constantly try my hands and improve my skills in mix media and decoupage. 

Below are her Social Media Links and a few images of her creations

Blog

Instagram

Facebook

Saloni Agarwal

I am Saloni Agarwal. I am from Arunachal Pradesh and am now settled in Bangalore. I am a CA by profession. I love listening to music and love travelling. Crafting is my passion and a great stress buster for me. Since a young age, I was inclined towards art and craft and I used to make handmade gifts for my near and dear ones. It was then in 2017, that I decided to take my interest in crafting to a next level and chose to be an entrepreneur with the support of my family.

Below are her Social Media Links and a few images of her creations

Facebook

Blog

Instagram

Spardha Angra

I am an architect and an interior designer by profession and have been blogging since 2008 (i think!). I took a little break from the crafting community while studying for my degree but I realized all it did for me was to make my base stronger and now I am back to crafting and exhibiting my work and hosting workshops locally!

I also have a brand under the name of "The Lazy Owl Designs" and I design stationery and corporate gifting items for start-ups.

I have tried my hand at all of the mentioned but I feel the question can be subjective as to how much time I had to experiment with the media.

I absolutely LOVE scrapbooking (that's where I first started) and cardmaking. I gradually started experimenting with altered art and I have the least bit of experience in mixed media.

Below are her Social Media Links and a few images of her creations

Blog

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

Priyadarshini

I am a researcher by day and crafter by evening. I reside in Mumbai along with my husband (my rock). My inspiration for art and craft is my aunt. She is an excellent artist. When I was young, she motivated me to start drawing images from colouring book which was my first step into the world of crafting. I make CAS cards, stamping & die cutting, rearrangeable rangoli, foamiran and scrapbooking. I also take classes at home. I love experimenting and trying out new things in craft. 

Below are her Social Media Links and a few images of her creations

Blog

Blog 2

Facebook

That's our team for the next three months starting April 2018. Watch out for tutorials, inspirations and challenges:)

Vintage Card Video Tutorial by Blog Coordinator Aditi

Hello everyone,

A very happy November to you all! We have an interesting challenge this month and we also have a collaboration with Paru's Card Making Blog. Check all the details regarding this here. 

For the challenge, I have created a Tri-Fold Vintage theme card! I have a video tutorial for you all. 

Here's a look at the card, with some close-ups:

Here's the supply list with the basic measurements, before you proceed to the video:

• White Cardstock- 12" x 5.5"  for the card and 1" x 12" for the belly band

• Pattern Paper Kaisercraft Be-You-tiful Pack- cut to the following sizes- 5 3/8" x 1 5/8" (2pieces first flap); 5 3/8" x 2 7/8" (2 pieces second flap); 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" (1 piece last flap); 7/8" x 3 3/8", 7/8" x 4 3/8", 7/8" x 3 7/8" (Belly band)

• Sizzix Thinlits Flower Die- 661806

• Old book page

• Altenew Painted Butterflies Stamp Set

• Gold Stickles

• Staz On Black Ink

• Distress Ink- Vintage photo

All the mentioned materials are available at the Rainbow Craftykari store or can be pre-ordered by sending an e-mail to rainbowcraftykari@gmail.com

Hop on over to see the video tutorial...

https://youtu.be/ansIwYyeVBw

Sun catcher Wall hanging by Blog Coordinator Aditi Mahajan

Hello Everyone,

Time surely flies! It's October and I'm back with an inspiration for you for our October Challenge! 

Today I decided to make some DIY gifts for the festive season. These project ideas are so simple, that parents/teachers can teach kids to make them and they can proudly flaunt their hand-made creations. 

First up is a Sun Catcher Wall Hanging- Included the twist of lights in the form of the Sun and the celebration here are the festivals!

For this hanging, I altered an MDF piece, however, you could simply take an image of the sun from the internet and trace it onto chipboard (those good at drawing can draw it also). Next, cover the surface with gesso if your base is dark. Play with colors. Here I spread colors on the gell press plate and lifted them on my surface. First yellow, next orange and then some magenta. Do this on both the front and back, since it's a hanging both sides will be visible. Next, pick a stencil and place it on the base, dab some gold paint with a piece of sponge. This enhances the look and adds some interest. Cut out pieces of chipboard for the eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrow and paint them. Stick them with glue. Punch two holes- one on the top and one at the bottom. String a few beads and a bell and tie it to the hole at the bottom. Similarly, string some beads with a hook and add it to the top. That's it, you have a fantastic wall hanging.

Here are some close ups:

Next, is a tea light holder.

For this, I used an MDF Coaster base, and brushed white gesso. I stuck some pieces of newspaper and then covered it with gesso again. I then used some modelling paste through a stencil for added texture. Next, I applied some sand texture. I then spritzed some colours. Next, On the sand texture, I used Inka gold to highlight it. Finally, I mixed some metallic paint to modelling paste and applied it with another stencil. 

Supply list:

• MDF/Chipboard Base

• Acrylic paints- Standard and Metallic Finish

• Gell Press

• Assorted Stencils

• Beads

• String

• Bell

• Plastic loop for the hanging

• Inka Gold

• Sand Texture

• Modelling Paste

• White Gesso

• Newspaper pieces

Hope you're inspired and do participate in the challenge!Happy Crafting!Aditi

Family Layout Tutorial & Video Tutorial by Blog Co-ordinator Aditi Mahajan

Hello Everyone,

A very happy September! With the beginning of a new month, we have a wonderful new challenge!

Today I'm here to share an easy to make Layout Tutorial with you all which is also an inspiration for our challenge this month.

Many craft brands come up with coordinated sets/kits. Most often we end up buying the paper pack alone and using it and then in a future date we end up buying the die cut/embellishments and use them individually. However, have you realised how worthy it would be to invest in the entire kit and use it in your projects? Sometimes we are creating an album, a layout, a card, and using all the coordinated elements leads to a great creation.

In my layout today, I will be using one such kit from Kaisercraft- The Golden Grove Collection. All the elements go so well together, that within minutes a quick layout can be created.

Let's begin...

Step1: First begin by choosing a photo and a base paper. 

Step 2: Choose a contrasting pattern paper to mount the photo on. Here I have kept it a 1/4" bigger than the photo on all sides. Stick the photo on the paper. Add some depth to the entire photo mat with waste chipboard/cardboard. Distress the edges of the paper.

Step 3: This Paper Pack has one sheet with flower clusters. So I fussy cut those from the sheet. Usually, every paper pack has one such pattern from which elements can be fussy cut. 

 

 

Step 4: Use a stencil and add some texture with modelling paste. 

Step 5: Pick inks of the colours on your base paper. Here I used distress inks. Randomly add some colour on your paper, especially to blend in the texture. Ensure to leave some texture white as that adds extra interest. Distress the edges of the base paper.

              

Step 6: Add more interest with stamping. Choose one colour that dominates the background colours (in this case green) and black. Stamp randomly around the focal image using two background stamps.

    

               

Step 7: Layer and play with the fussy cut elements, the collectables (die cut elements coordinated with the sheet) and the wooden collectables. Stick some with glue and some with foam tape. Run the blade of the scissors on the edges, to give the flowers and leaves some dimension. Pick a title from the collectables. 

Step 8: Complete the layout with some splatter in white and green.

Since this is a layout, and it's difficult to merely read instructions, I created a video tutorial for you all :-)! Click here

Supply List:

• Kaisercraft Golden Grove Collection- Paper Pack, Collectables and Wooden Flourish pack

• Kaisercraft Doily 12 x 12 Stencil

• Mont Marte Modelling Paste

• Distress Inks- Vintage Photo, Mustard Seeds, Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss

• Archival Ink- Jet Black and Library Green

• Kaisercraft Stamp- Lattice

• Finnabair STamp- Messy Script

• Glue

• Foam Tape

• Photo courtesy Pinterest

• Lindy's Spray- Drope Dead GOrgeous Green and Sidewalk Chalk

Hope you're inspired! Looking forward to your creations and participation in the challenge! 

Happy crafting!

Aditi