It’s easy to come up with new ideas when you have a huge and reliable source of inspiration to depend on. I am inspired every day by the creative minds on Instagram who are generous enough to share their art with others to learn from. I decided it’s time I contact these creative minds and ask them the questions many like myself would love to know.
I reached out to Paula, (espibie on Instagram). I’ve been following her for a while now. Her style, I would say, is modernistic with plenty of fine detail. As a card-maker myself, I know exactly how much effort she puts in each of her beautiful creations.
She incorporates inks and hand-colored stamped images to create bright and beautiful cards that really stand out. There are several techniques she very skillfully uses that draws the attention of the viewer. I personally find the color schemes she uses very refined, not to mention the watercolors she artistically incorporates where she can. (I am biased about watercolor use anyway.)
Mona: Where are you originally from?
Paula: I’m from Spain, more specifically from Gran Canaria, an island with amazing weather.
Mona: Why did you start making cards? Do you sell your cards?
Paula: About 10 years ago I moved to Germany and, in winter, it got dark very early (at 4 pm, more or less) so I spent a lot of hours at home. One day looking through some videos on YouTube I found out about the FIMO world which, for those of you that don’t know it, it’s a type of mass that hardens when it’s put in the oven.
I started making little figures but I wasn’t really good at that. I kept on watching videos until I came across some videos related to scrapbooking and card making and, from that day on I continue to make cards, but I don’t sell them because I wouldn’t know how to price them since I put my heart in each one of them and that’s hard to rate.
Mona: Do you just make cards or do you do other crafts as well? Like scrapbooking, bookmarks, painting, etc?
Paula: Normally I make cards but, truth be told, sometimes I make boxes or an album but I prefer doing things that don’t take a lot of time because my patience runs small.
Mona: Who is/are your favorite artists?
Paula: This one is so easy! Jennifer McGuire, she has an incredible amount of techniques which she explains in an amazing way.
Mona: What are some of your favorite supplies (dies, stamps, ink pads) that you use most often?
Paula: I’m going to start naming the ones that we don’t see: – Tim Holtz’s Glass Media Mat – Stamping tool. For me, they make the process of card making easier. On the other hand, the ones that have seen my cards already know that I love using stamps, specially the ones from Mama Elephant and the inks from brand distress, both distress ink and oxide.
Mona: What inspires you? (Craft supplies? Nature? Another artist’s work? Pinterest?)
Paula: This question is really difficult to answer! I think that it could be the materials, but other times it could be Instagram when I see a combination of colours or structures that inspires me.
Mona: What do you love most about card making?
Paula: The opportunity that has been given to me to meet people with the same hobby and, even though we are in different countries, we can make crafts together (through video calls, obviously).
It was a pleasure to learn a little more about Paula than we do from Instagram posts. I’ll be back with another artist very soon. Happy Monday!