Crafter in the Spotlight- Anamika Sarkar

Hello crafty folks! As always, I am back with an interesting story of an ardent crafter this week. Today in ‘Crafter in the Spotlight’, Anamika Sarkar, an enthusiastic crafter residing in Delhi shares interesting facts about her journey with us.

For Anamika, crafting is like a de-stressing therapy. She quit her teaching job a few years back to pursue her childhood passion for arts and crafts. Although Anamika enjoys all forms of crafting but her favourite is mixed media. She loves the flexibility which this form of crafting offers. Anamika admires experimenting and allowing her imagination to flow while working with her mixed media projects.

Her favorite products from Itsy Bitsy are Little Birdie’s Decoupage glue, Gel medium, Chalk paints, and Color Splash sprays. Anamika wishes to fill the world with creativity and inspire every individual to find their creative sides.

How did Anamika 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 along to find answers to all these questions and discover more about her interesting journey and catch glimpses of a step by step project by her. Don’t forget to leave your loving comments for her.

Rashmi Closepet M.D Itsy Bitsy: Tell us a bit about yourself & your background?

Anamika Sarkar: I did my Masters in Museology and Bachelors in Education and have been into the teaching profession for almost 20 years, but my passion had always been arts. Being married to a defense officer, I could never indulge in my creative ventures wholeheartedly but would always keep exploring and learning.  2 years ago, I decided to quit my job from a renowned school and started exploring my creative side. Today I am a passionate crafter, enjoying my time and exploring my creative side to the fullest. Besides crafting, I enjoy painting, listening to soft music and reading books.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

 AS: Art and crafts have always been on my mind since my childhood. Making best out of waste, participating in art contests, taking up art as a subject in my school, etc. encouraged me and gave me the confidence to carry on with my passion. As the years passed by, I started taking classes in various craft forms. I always kept in touch with my passion by making arty crafty gifts for my friends and families. Two years back, I quit my job to start venturing out into my creative side. Crafting gives me immense satisfaction and its more of a de-stressing therapy for me.

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

AS: I enjoy all forms of crafting, but my favourite amongst them is mixed media. I love exploring the various avenues of mixed media, the way I can use my imagination flow, the flexibility it offers me, the way it lets me use various mediums and things, unlike the usual stereotyped forms…. it lets my imagination flow without any bounds.

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

AS: This is the most difficult question……all the products at Itsy Bitsy are awesome!! The best part about the products in the store are, they are available at such pocket-friendly prices, thus giving you the liberty to explore and venture out with your creations without even thinking twice about the budget. My favorite products are decoupage glue, gel medium, chalk paints, and the Color Splash sprays. These mediums are of excellent quality and the results are like products from international brands. Chalk paints have an amazing creamy texture and awesome finish.

RC: If you had magical powers, how would you contribute to the Crafting world?

AS: If I had a magic wand I would help everyone in enhancing their creativity. Every person has a creative side. I would help to bring out this in them and help them nurture it because crafting gives an immense satisfaction and brings out the best in you. This wand would help in providing them with whatever material and help they require. I would want the entire world to be filled with creativity, positivity and happy faces.

RC: Your prized possession in your craft stash from Itsy Bitsy?

AS: All products from Itsy Bitsy are my prized possessions but my favorite so far has been their heat tool. It helps me in finishing my projects in a jiffy and turns my embossed quotes into letters of gold and silver in a fraction of a minute. A must buy I must say!! No more waiting long hours for the projects to dry. It is like a magic wand that helps speed up my creations and makes them ready in no time.

 RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

AS: Well, I don’t follow any particular style of crafting. It is more of a free-flowing kind of thing. I may start with something and then end up making something else. I always make sure that my projects are attractive, colourful, full of life and give me satisfaction at the end.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

AS: Well like they say when you find your true love, you don’t have to find time for it…… I keep working on my projects whenever I feel like, be it at night or early in the morning or in the afternoon. It is more of a de-stressing therapy for me and I enjoy every second of it.

 RC: Tips for people who want to craft.

AS: I would suggest all of them to follow their dreams and passion. Do what you love and soon you will find that this is the world you belong to. There are fellow crafters to help you out, you’ll be surrounded by like-minded people and the best thing is, you will be doing what you love to do…CRAFTING!!

RC: Your all-time favourite quote?

AS: Sometimes there is no time for the sea to calm down; if you must reach your destination, let your voyage start and let the storm be your part!

Here is a Step by Step project by  Anamika Sarkar

I have taken a 8 mm ply wood and used it as my base.

At first I made various textures on the base using Little Birdie’s Mixed Media Paste and cheese cloth.

Next, I placed chipboard shapes and embellishments to see how I would like the layout to be in my final project.

Thereafter, I gave a coat of gesso to all my embellishments and the textured base with mixed media paste. This paste can also be used as gesso….all you have to do is add a hint of water to it and voila….. your mixed media paste works as gesso!!

Next, I coloured the base. Highlighted certain parts using Acrylic colours, and Little Birdie’s Colour Splashes and Tinted Metallic Paints.

I then glue all my embellishments with the help of silicon glue…. This glue from the store is an awesome fixative for all mixed media projects.

My end product looked like the above image…. I loved every second of creating it using Itsy Bitsy’s awesome products. Hope you all enjoyed the process as much as I did while making it!! Thanks Itsy Bitsy for this opportunity and happy crafting everyone.

Here are a couple of  Anamika’s  other awesome creations:

Many congrats  Anamika  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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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