Cartwheels In My Mind

Art Shoppe Interview: REVolution.

Revlie is one of the craftiest person I know. It always amazes me how she finds the time to create all that she does. She has such a wonderful personality, sense of humor and a no-nonsense attitude. She has a heart of gold and a wonderful friend.

On top of being a mom/wife, artist and full-time business owner, Revlie finds time to create lushes mini albums and tutorials, that you can find in her etsy shop, REVolution. They are filled with loads of techinques, textures & ideas you will love. When you go to her blog, Life Is Good, you will be amazingly inspired by her crafty goodness. I always look foward to seeing what she has up her sleeves next! She is quite the innovator!!

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Revlie Schuit
35 years (36 on October 7 :D)
live with hub Arjan and our 2 muppets: Sanne (7, girl) and Ruben (3, boy).
Netherlands
company owner
chocolate
Vichy handcream
imac
colors
handmade stuff
scrapbooking
sewing
crochet
running
tulips
i should go to bed more early than i do now
i bite nails when i'm nervous or anxious
i laugh too loud and i'm extremely clumbsy
that about sums it all up ...

Describe your business.
I write online tutorials for mini albums and sell those tutorials and sometimes kits to go with it on Etsy. You can, of course, design the mini  you like, but if you need a little get-go you can use my step-by-step instructions. I’m working on tutorials for crochet and sew projects also.

What made you decide to open an art business?
I heard a lot of friends and scrapbook friends say they loved my mini albums but did not know how to make them themselves. So I thought,  step-by-step instructions with LOADS of pictures was what we missed. If you are a beginner you can easily create the mini albums, and if you are a pro already you can simply skip some steps you know how to do already. Also, if you just need some inspiration it’s perfect to use my tutorials and give them your own twist. Love that!

When did you start doing art?
mmm. I guess since my childhood, but since my kids were born (Sanne in 2003) I’m more into it ‘professionally”.

Where does your inspiration come from?
Mostly from everyday stuff and my kids. Love homemade magazines and “live mindful” magazines (all dutch :D)

What are your long term career goals?
I also own a business for Secretarial Services (Artifex Support) since 2000. So 10 years already now. Arjan & I run that together and to be quite honest, I’ve been there, seen that and done that, I feel I need to run a creative business more fulltime than I do now. So, my long term goal is to take a step back from my Secretarial Service business and invest more time in my creative business. Now it’s just a matter of lack of time. With 2 young kids (Ruben goes to school in 6 months from now, that’ll give me more time), 1 very, very hectic company and starting 1 creative company I’ve got my hands full :D

What kind of music do you enjoy listening to while you create?
All sorts of. Jason Mraz (spell that ok?) is my favorite. And Amy McDonald, of course the Black Eyed Peas, and some Dutch Artists (Alain Clark, Ilse DeLange, Jan Smit, Nick&Simon).

What and/or who are your influences?
Mostly every day life for scrapbooking, for crochet & sewing and my kids. I love to ‘solve problems’ (make something out of fabric or crochet something they think they need to buy in store, haha). I love to visit some blogs from great artists like Kal Barteski, Elsie Flannigan and some sewing masters :D

Do you have a motto you live by?
Life is good! Even if it sucks sometimes, it’s still good. And of course, “weather you think you CAN’T or CAN do it, you are right :D),

Where do you see yourself & your business in the next 5 years? mmmm, I like to take smaller steps, but I’m sure in 5 years I’ll be running my creative business fulltime and can be there for the kids when they are not in school. So for them, I’ll be a stay at home mommy, I would love to only work during school hours.

Any tips and tricks to other artists/business owners?
Just GO for it. If you love what you do, success WILL come. I know I can reach my goals if I set my mind to it. Proof for me is my company Artifex Support I run now. 10 years ago I simply quit my well payed job and started it from home. People told me I was CRAZY. Insane! I wouldn’t make it. Of course, I proved them wrong. ha. Don’t let other people hold you down from YOUR dreams and plans.

Describe your creative process...
During the day I’ve got a lot of ideas I jot down in my idea book or any paper that’s nearby. In the evening, when the kids are asleep, I go to my creative room (scrap, sew, crochet) and start making what I had in mind, or go on with what I was already creating. It’s like I’ve got so many ideas, my head would explode if I don’t write them down. There’s just too little time to make them all.

Advice you would like to share for someone looking into starting their own art business?
Stick to your own ideas and plans. Don’t let other people give their opinion on your work. Believe in yourself. Don’t be shy. You need to be a little outgoing and straight forward to reach your goals. Advertise, advertise, advertise!! Get your name out there. You can place banners on blog(s) that doesn’t have to be expensive. Try to get an interview with crafting magazines or other magazines. In Holland, it works like: you send something you sell to the editors of the magazine trying to get them to publish it. Keep positive. It takes time to set up & run a business.

Can you cartwheel? If so, we'd love to see a photo!
:) haha. See, I’m like extremely clumsy. So, if I could even TRY to do a cartwheel, I’m certain I’ll break a bone you didn’t know you have in your body. So, I'll just leave you with that mental image...

When you're looking for inspiration be sure to check out Revlie's blog, Life Is Good. You can also find more of her artwork at on a regular basis at these fun scrapbook inspiration & challenge blogs...One Little Word & Color Conspiracy.

Revlie has generously offered two lucky readers a chance to win the Embrace My Life tutorial from her REVolution shop. All you have to do is leave a comment to this post and two winners will be randomly chosen. You have until Sunday at evening. So good luck! :)

Thanks so much Revlie for sharing your creative world with us and wishing you tons of success!

Cheers :)

Artists Studio: Marcy Penner.

This month I thought I would share one of our team members art studio. Each Cartwheels designer has been introduced on the site and we've all had the chance of getting a glimps their studio. And ever since I've seen little bits & pieces of Marcy Penner's creative space, I've been intriqued to see more. So, of course, I couldn't resist asking her to share with the rest of the world, where her brilliant creations take place.

Marcy is an amazing talent. Her photography is so beautiful, you feel like you are actually there while memories are being captured through her eyes. Marcy also keeps herself busy creating handmade journals, embellishments and all sorts of crafty kits and sells them in her Etsy shop. I just love her style and how she conveys it on paper & in her home.

What is your scrapbook style? Eclectic simple?  Kind of a mash up between simple and random I would say.

How do you find inspiration? Usually from the internet, product and my photos.  Most of the time I don't sit down with a plan.  I just start sticking things down and it takes off from there.

Favorite product? My favorite scrapbooking product hands-down is patterned paper.  It's just a Jack-of-all-trades!

Favorite storage solution? My letterpress drawer I snagged up at an antiques mall a couple of months ago.  It's perfect for storing all my little bits and pieces.

Favorite tool(s)?  Hmmm.  The Crop-o-dile is handy.  I'm not a big "tools" kinda gal.  I recently even put my paper trimmer away.  Usually a pair of Cutterbee scissors and a pen seems to be enough.

Are you a daytime or nighttime scrapper? I used to stay up to the wee hours scrapbooking.  But, lately it's whenever I can grab a minute... usually during the day.I'm really happy with my new inspiration frame. I've used the large frame previously in photo sessions, but I decided it needed a more permanent home.  It got a fresh coat of paint and some kennel fencing for the back.  

Most of my art projects this last little while have been home decor related... like this vintage chair I recovered in houndstooth fabric.

And of course there's still scrapping going on...

This year I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in Elle's Studio Online Journaling Class (http://www.shopellesstudio.com/blog/jc2010/JournalingInYourOwnWords2010.pdf) and, of course, I joined the Cartwheels in my Mind team.  Designing for a manufacturer in the scrapbooking industry is definately on my bucket list!  ;)

When I'm not renovating our 120 year old home, decorating or scrapbooking I'm taking pictures.  Being a natural light photographer and living in Canada though means for a short season.  But the creative break is always welcome!  :)

Now that you've gotten to know more about Marcy, sit back, relax, grab a hot cup of tea (or coffee...) & enjoy the studio tour!

My studio has changed often.  It's just never been "right".But right now we're in the process of putting in a new kitchen and I knew the old kitchen island just belonged in here.  In addition to this are lots of thrift store finds for storage.It's a tighter space now for sure, but it's now a room that the kids enjoy too.  Plus I would rather have a larger workspace than, for example, room for a chair.

This is the view from the doorway off the living room.

Right on the left is my little sewing station. Our basement stairs jut out into the room here so I stacked some white cubbies and made a little storage unit.

 
Along the other side of the wall (on the right) I have a series of random shelves.The first set is a shelf from a store that closed out here a while ago.  I love the little slots for my alphabet stickers.  A quick coat of white paint and it was good to go.The shelf above was from the thrift store and also painted white.  It's the perfect size for all my little clear containers. Next is another series of shelves.

The large shelf on the bottom is actually part of our old old kitchen. (We started a temporary kitchen renovation when we moved here 12 years ago to tide us over to the "real" one we are in the process of completing). We painted the upper cabinets white and set them on the floor.  Above that we stacked another shelf... painted white ;).

Beside this wall lives a little blue (!) shelf from the thrift store. Here I keep my cardstock and a letterpress drawer filled with little embellishments.  The art is from Andrea Jenkins.

And here's what that side looks like from my viewpoint.

Right now my patterned paper is stored in file folders under the island. We need to build some shelves and some rolling storage boxes for them yet.

On the other side (behind me now) is the closet.  We've never used it as a closet though.  It's the "office". Wicker baskets hold miscellaneous crafts... embroidery, envelopes, sewing notions, tools, ephemera... stuff I don't need access too as often.

Underneath the counter in the "office" is a wooden toolbox... say it with me... "painted white".  Good.  ;)  The bottom drawer houses items listed in my etsy shop.  The other drawers are the perfect size for punches.

My newly purchased product sits on the counter above in wire baskets.

The clipboards one the back wall are super handy!

So.  That's it.  Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Ahh, yes! Marcy, it was a true treat to see more of where all the magic happens. Thanks so much for sharing your creative space and creative storage solutions in all it's glory.

To read more about Marcy, check out her website: An Inspired Life and see what yummie goodies she has for sale up in her Etsy shop, too.

 

Cheers:)

  

Update Your Room - Inspiration Wire!

Hello all!  

As I started to think about how I was going to pull our guest room together.. I kept coming back to the idea of adding an inspiration wire.. less for inspiration purposes... more just for decorative fun!  Something that I can easily add to as time goes on.. switch up with the seasons, or even add personal touches for the guests that might be spending time at our house!

I gathered all of the items on the wire from around the house!  I spent no extra money on this project.. which is always a bonus!  I used some scrapbooking supplies including butterflies punched from this yummy SEI patterned paper!  Some fabric, black and white photos of my kids and a tree printed from this digital kit!  Such a great feeling using items from around the house!  ..I may or may not have raided the bulletin board in my crafting space! heee! ;)

Yay for fun inexpensive ways to add yummy texture to any space!  When I say any space.. I really mean it!  You could work one of these fun inspiration wires into any room of your home!

Check out this one created by Veronica Jennings which was showcased in this article all about her wonderful creative space!  LOV-ING the cardboard deer head!!!  I love how she grouped it with other objects!

Or this super fun colourful photo wire that hangs above Miss Cheryl's bed!!  YUM!!  This is seriously cute!  So inspiring!

OK.. who else is feeling the urge to go make inspiration wires? lol  After seeing Veronica's and Cheryl's again.. I know I want to go add one to every room... not just the spare/guest room!!  Happy creating everyone!!  Yay for handmade decor! :)

Organization Tips & Tricks 04

 
 

My scraproom was built just a little less than a year ago when we refinished our basement.  I love having my own space, but am always looking for ways to organize all my supplies.  I love when I find ideas that are unique and fun...but still functional!

I found this 3 tiered stand at Hobby Lobby recently and use it to display all my small embellishements - jars  of brads and buttons, bowls with tags, patterned tape, and misc small embellishments, and .  I love having all this out on my counter and within reach instead of buried in a drawer....plus I love the color it adds!

These 4 little metal bins sit right in front of my main work area.  I found them in the dollar spot at Target (one of my favorite places to find containers for organizing!) several years ago.  I use 2 bins for new supplies - one for stamping related supplies and one for scrapping/art supplies, another bin is for cards I'm working on or have just finished, and the last one is for pictures I want to scrap soon. 

Many artists use vintage items for organization in their creative space. 

Cheryl has found some fun storage items for her buttons and punches:

 

Karen Russell uses hobnail glass to store stamps:

Stephanie Howell uses a muffin tin for small embellishments and vintage blue glassware to hold pens and scissors:

Jenny B. Harris used a tiered cupcake holder and mug trees for organization in her studio:

Layle Koncar uses a vintage suitcase to hold some of her supplies (and check out the awesome display made from a bed spring above her suitcase - LOVE!):

 

Nora - one of our own design team members - is a girl after my own heart....she organizes her ribbon, cardstock and stamp pads in RAINBOW order.  I ♥ rainbow order!!
  

Cindy - another Cartwheels design team member - recently purchased a new organizational item at IKEA - this set of drawers - and uses it to store punches, paints, and even her die cut materials.

 

For more fun ideas, you can check the categories (click on organization or art spaces to the right for other ideas that have been shared in Cartwheels articles!  I'd love to see any creative ideas you have for organizing your creative space.  Be sure to share them on our flickr site!!

HAPPY ORGANIZING!

Photo of the Day, September 29, 2010.

(c) Marcy Penner

Organizing little bits at pieces at arms reach.

Artists Studio, Davinie Fiero.

 

I have been following Davinie Fiero for several years and admire her scrapbook designs. Her pages are always refreshing and trendy. I love her drive in sharing techniques and ideas to fellow scrappers across the globe through her personal blog davinie.blogspot.com. She is very much an inspiration to me and to others around her.

Davinie has been creating for quite sometime and is well known throughout the scrapbook industry. You can find her work published in several scrapbook/craft magazines, such as, Scrapbook Trends and Scrapbook & Cards Today, to name a few. I'm so excited Davinie is sharing her craft room with us today. I couldn't wait to get a glimpse into her space & see how she keeps all the chaos organized where she creates some of the most amazing projects.

Read more about Davinie through our interview...

What is your scrapbook style?
I haven’t found the single word that describes my style.  What I would say is that it is clean, balanced homespun.  Balance and design is always something I think about when creating a layout, but I love texture as well, so I like to layer and must sew in some form on every project I make.  

How do you find inspiration?
I check out my favorite blogs on my google reader.  Some favorites include the Creature Comforts blog, wedding blogs like Style Me Pretty, and I love the Crafty Crow for inspiration on kids projects.  

Favorite product?
Crate Paper’s Restoration line is a huge favorite right now.  

Favorite storage solution?
Repurposed vintage items are my favorite thing.  My bind it all is in an old suitcase on top of my Expedit shelf, I have 5 locker baskets for stamps and alphas, a wooden coke crate holds mists and other bottles that need to stand up, and some old milk crates hold altered items and albums.  I also have several lunch boxes that hold things like ink and pens.  

Favorite tool(s)?
I wouldn’t be able to function without my sewing machine and my border punches, in particular, my Fiskars scallop sentiment punch.  I use both on just about every project I create.  

Are you a daytime or nighttime scrapper?
I work part-time in Health insurance from home, so when I’m not busy bustling kids around town, I should be working.  When I have time to craft, it is usually at night after the kids are in bed.

Davinie's designs for Studio Calico, Scrapbook and Cards Today, and Crate Paper. So be sure to check out more of her amazing work.

Also, since 2009 I have been hosting a monthly scrapbook challenge on my blog called Project 12. In 2010 began collaborations with Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine and Becky Fleck to have monthly sketches designed for this challenge, and to have prizes awarded too. You can check out Project 12 here.

Now, let's check out some photos of Davinie's craft room, as she shares organizational ideas & tips in her own words.

When we first moved into our home, what is now my craft room was once a room built around an 800 gallon water tank used for solar heating.  This heating system was never efficient, and one of the first things we changed about our house as we began renovations (which may NEVER end…..).

Today it is my crafty place.  There is still a lot of work to be done and I change my mind quite frequently on what I want, but I wanted to share a few things about my space that I’m sure about.

The first is this built in.

My husband built me a countertop the length of this recessed area in my room.  I love it because I often want to create standing up, or sitting at my counter height stool.  I also have my computer and printer in this space.

On the wall behind this unit is my vintage inspired receipt holder, as well as two magnetic canvases that my husband made for me.  You can read about how to make one of those here: How to make a magnetic canvas

I tried a couple of things and wasn’t happy with the results before settling on painting them the same color as my walls. I just didn’t want them to stand out too much. I haven’t settled on a permanent solution for my most used supplies, which is one reason I still use a portable tote.  

Adhesive and extras are in the blue bucket, and my inks are in the vintage lunchbox at my desk.


To the left of my desk you can see a snippet of a stack of 12 iris container drawers which hold my monthly scrapbook kits.  This is the easiest way for me to keep track of the contents as I go back and use older kits until they are down to the bits. I keep no more than 12, though.  Each month the one with the least amount of product gets parted out to the rest of my stash to make room for the next kit.


Directly behind the counter built in is my sit down table that I purchased from Target.  I often float between working at both locations.  Sometimes, they are both covered with projects (as in, probably 10 minutes before these photos were taken…    ).

On the right shelf is an iris container with the most current scrapbook kit I have received.  Underneath, the locker baskets on both sides of the desk hold my many punches.  They are FULL.  Behind them, the other locker baskets hold other inks and supplies that I need within easy reach.
This desk faces the one window in this room.  The door to this room is to the left of this desk.


To the right of this desk is my 8x8 Expedit system that I picked up from Ikea.  I am in serious need of some purging here.  I have some plans, but they involve milk crates from John Derian for Target that have yet to reach me (I want five of them in the Moth pattern for the top shelf), and some major goodie boxes for the elementary school as I eliminate some of this clutter.


I have 5 vintage locker baskets on this shelf that I love.  In them I put thickers and sticker sheets.  One of them holds my Studio Calico stamps in Making Memories stamp folders.  

I always love taking a peek inside creative spaces.  I hope this gave you some good ideas or you at least feel some comfort in knowing there IS someone out there who has a messier space than you do. (wink, wink).

Davinie

Here is a recent favorite project Davinie created. Her style shines through so perfectly, such great design & adorable photo of her daughters personality. Lots of great details!

To read more about Davinie's daily happenings and for inspiration, check out her blog: davinie.blogspot.com

Thanks for sharing your craft room with us Davinie...it's been so cool to see where all the magic happens.

Cheers :)

Digikit "Maddie Embellishments" by Erica Hernandez