Hello arty-crafty folks,
Thursday is here again and it’s time for me to introduce you to yet another talented crafter. This week the limelight is on Nidhi Mittal, a crafter born and brought up in Haryana who has made Bangalore her home for last 10 years.
Nidhi started exploring her creative flair since childhood and encouragement from her near and dear ones kept her motivated always. Itsy Bitsy is Nidhi’s and her son’s favourite one stop craft shop. She loves recycling, sketching, doodling but also is interested in learning new techniques.
How did Nidhi get into crafting, what inspires her, what are her tips for fellow crafters, her favourite quote, how would she contribute to the crafting world if she had magical powers? Read answers to all these questions, discover more about her interesting journey and catch a glimpse of a step by step project by Nidhi in this interview. Don’t forget to leave your comments for her.
Rashmi Closepet, MD, Itsy Bitsy: Tell us a bit about yourself & your background?
Nidhi Mittal: Hi, I am Nidhi. I was born and bought up in Haryana and am now staying in Bangalore for more than 10 years. I have completed my Engineering and MBA and am working as an IT professional. A full time mother and a passionate crafter, I am also a big time foodie and love to decorate and organize my home.
RC: How did you get into crafting?
NM: I am into crafting right from my childhood and have always tried different things. I would say all this is because of my mom as she always encouraged me to learn new things. We were from a small place but she always tried and made sure that I get all possible opportunities to learn. I cannot be more blessed because after marriage my husband and mother in law always supported me. During my childhood, I have tried different things like oil painting, stocking flower making, fabric painting, soft toy making, pot painting etc. During my college days, I was always very active in art and craft activities and won different competitions like poster making, tattoo making and was the head of art wing as well.
RC: What is your favorite type of craft?
NM: I have been doing lot of decoupage of late but when it comes to favorite type of craft, I may not be able to categorize as I love to recycle, sketch, doodle and I observed that I enjoy making things for my home.
RC: What are your favorite products at Itsy Bitsy?
NM: This is the toughest question, I would say. Itsy Bitsy is not only my favorite store but it is my son’s favorite place as well. Whenever I plan to visit the store, before me, he is ready with his wish list. I love almost all the products and always plan to buy and try new stuff. What I love is the variety that Itsy Bitsy provides under one roof. Be it embellishments, paper, beads or anything else, there is plenty to choose from. Their supplies are not limited to one type of craft, you think of any type of craft and Itsy Bitsy can be your one stop shop.
RC: If you had magical powers, how would you contribute to the crafting world?
NM: If I have the magical power, I would like to make people understand that don’t judge the value of a piece with the amount of supplies that have gone into making it but understand that you are holding a piece which is made only for you and not mass produced in machines.
RC: Your prized possession in your craft stash from Itsy Bitsy?
NM: The Dream Cut machine
RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?
NM: I would say passionate and excited to learn and try new stuff.
RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?
NM: This is one question which everyone asks me and I have only one answer that this is my lifeline and stress buster. According to me, if you love something you can always find time to do that and that’s what happens with me.
RC: Tips for people who want to craft
NM: Just start and go with the flow. Sometimes you will be surprised and realize that you yourself didn’t know that you had it in you. Till today I am surprised with some of my creations and when I look at those, I have that proud feeling that I made them.
RC: Your all -time favorite quote?
NM: Never stop trying.
Here is a gorgeous project by Nidhi & the step by step procedure:
Decoupage key holder with Vintage look.
Supplies Used:
- Camlin Gesso
- Chalk Paints
- Texture tool
- Palette Knife
- Decoupage Glue
- Decoupage Varnish
- Flowers Embellishments
Procedure:
Take Plain MDF base and prime the base with Gesso.
I applied little more gesso with palette knife and then gave some texture using little birdie texture tool. You can see some texture and lines in below picture.
I used different chalk paints here as next step and using dry brushing technique I applied colors on this plaque. Middle part of the plaque is kept on the lighter side and sides little darker.
Last paint color used for dry brushing is black and used it mainly on the sides and little bit dry brushing in the middle.
Then I took a nice vintage looking tissue matching with the background color and decoupaged it on the plank using little birdie decoupage glue. See the dry brushing which I did in the middle of the plaque with black color is seen from tissue and giving it more weathered and vintage look.
Next step is to embellish the project, so I used a MDF tag and hand painted it and wrote ‘Bless our home’ with black chalk paint. Used Paper flower from the store to embellish the project further.
Fix ‘J’ hooks in the end, and the vintage looking Key Holder is ready
Here are a couple of Nidhi’s other awesome creations:
Many congrats Nidhi for being the CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ITSY BITSY !!
You will receive Rs.500/- Itsy Bitsy gift voucher ?? & a Crafter in the Spotlight badge, which can be proudly displayed on the side bar of your blog and other platforms. Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!
Many congrats Nidhi for being the CRAFTER IN THE SPOTLIGHT – ITSY BITSY !!
& a Crafter in the Spotlight badge, which can be proudly displayed on the side bar of your blog and other platforms. Looking forward to many more creations, Happy Crafting!