Crafter in the Spotlight Meeta Balotia

Hello arty crafty folks! I am back with the story of another passionate crafter Meeta Bhalotia from Kochi, in this week’s ‘Crafter in the Spotlight’.

Born and raised in Kanpur, Meeta is a full-time homemaker and a zealous crafter who is now settled in Kochi. Meeta has been inclined towards Arts & Crafts since childhood and loves experimenting with newer techniques. She likes Quilling, Mixed Media, Scrapbooking and has recently fallen in love in Decoupage. Besides crafting, she enjoys travelling and photography too.

Read further to find out what are Meeta’s favorite craft forms, about her crafting style, her favorite Itsy Bitsy’s offerings and catch sight of a step-by-step project of a Mixed Media Canvas. Don’t forget to shower some love and best wishes on her in the comment section.

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

Meeta Bhalotia: Hello Artsy Craftsy friends, I am Meeta Bhalotia. I was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and now settled in Kochi. I am a happy-go-lucky home maker who has always had an inclination towards arts and craft. I am a Psychology major from Kanpur. Apart from crafting, I love trying out new dishes to keep the tummy of my family members happy and have recently been bitten by the travel and photography bug.

RC: How did you get into crafting?

MB: As a kid and a young girl, I spent my free time in front of a canvas with a palette full of colors. A few years after my marriage and once my daughter was a big girl, I resumed my passion for art and craft and ventured into multiple craft genres like quilling, mixed media, scrapbooking, felt busy books and now decoupage.

RC: What is your favourite type of craft?

MB: It is difficult to pick and choose as I never stop experimenting. However, I have always been fascinated with decoupage and never gave up till I made my first decoupaged tray. Scrapbooking has also been my all-time favourite.

RC: What are your favourite products at Itsy Bitsy?

MB: I always have a hard time buying anything from Itsy Bitsy as I am spoilt for choice by the wide variety of products. I love picking up Handmade Flowers, Stickers and Chalk Paints.

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

MB: If I had magical powers, I would make sure that all the left-over scrap that is thrown away while making a project, is used to make another beautiful creation so that nothing goes waste.

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

MB: The Itsy Bitsy Heat tool, Flowers and Chalk Paints are my cherished possessions.

RC: How would you describe your style of crafting?

MB: Repeating a design is not something that I usually do. My craft mantra is to make sure each project is unique and customized as per the client’s needs to keep them smiling.

RC: How do you organize your time for crafting?

MB: I usually craft during late afternoons and early evenings; but my mind is always thinking about how the next project should be designed.

RC: Tips for people who want to craft

MB: Keep trying and trying till you succeed and are happy with your creation. It takes a lot of effort to finally get it right, but it will be worth the time because creating something from scratch is always a priceless creation.

RC: Your all -time favourite quote?

MB: “Don’t cage your creativity, let the bird of imagination fly high”

 

Here is the step by step tutorial for a multipurpose stand. Anything can be kept in it like stationary items, cutlery or even remotes.

Supplies Used from the store:

  1. Chalk Paints – Snow white and Muted Teal
  2. Décor Varnish – Gloss
  3. Mixed Media paste – 2 in 1 Gesso and Modelling Paste (White)
  4. One step crackle medium
  5. Decoupage Glue – Matte
  6. Itsy Bisty Heat Gun
  7. Decoupage Napkin – Vintage Rose
  8. Versacraft Fabric Ink Pad – Pale Aqua

Step 1

I took a mdf stand with three partitions and the Vintage Rose Tissue napkin.  I divided the stand in three parts with pencil markings.

**I must say the tissue napkins are so well individually packed that they don’t get any creases.**

Step 2

I masked the stand and applied Little Birdie Muted Teal chalk paint on the unmasked area.

Step 3

Now after drying I applied Little Birdie One step Crackle medium. I heat dried it and applied Little Birdie Snow chalk paint  to show the cracks.

 

Step 4

Now I took the tissue napkin and cut them in several pieces according to the design I want to place.  Always remove the white backing paper from the tissue, be careful.

Step 5

Now I arranged the tissue pieces all around the stand and adhere with Little Birdie Decoupage glue matt.

I adhered several more pieces to give a better design since I felt the stand was looking incomplete.

Step 6

With the help of a stencil and Little Birdie 2 in 1 mixed media paste I gave the stand a little embossed effect. I gave the design randomly on all sides of the stand. After applying the paste on the stencil I removed the stencil and heat set it with Little Birdie Heat tool.

**Itsy Bitsy is making Crafters life so easy by placing the QR code on each product. I got a bit confused so I quickly scanned the QR code and the YouTube link was there to sort out all my confusion.  **

Step 7

I stamped little flourishes here and there to make the design look complete.

Step 8

I painted the inside of the stand with snow chalk paint.

I don’t like wood color showing from inside.

Step 9

I then applied Versa Craft Pale Aqua on the edges and the top.

Step 10

I applied Little Birdie Varnish Gloss all over and dried it.

I gave 2 coats of it to cover all areas.

Final pictures of the completed multipurpose stand

 

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

Many congrats  Meeta  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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