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Paper-crafting is becoming a hot pastime—and not just in the United States. From sea to sea, scrapbooking, paper piecing, tag art and card-making are growing more and more popular. Astrid Spijkers of the Netherlands uses scrapbooking papers and techniques to create special handmade greetings she calls scrapbookcards or scrapcards. Here she shares some of her card creations and a bit about how she began her creative journey. “I always have been creative from when I was in kindergarten. It started with drawing, of course, but when I was about 12 years old I started paper quilling. I made earrings from it and not long after I did some cards with it. Real card-making started when I was about 20 years old. I worked at a book warehouse and they started selling parchment craft stuff. I was addicted right away. Also, they had lots of books about card-making. I quit my job in 1993 but at that time I came across 3-D art, tea bag folding, etc. The addiction just grew. About six years ago I went to a crafting fair and saw stamps, that was the newest addition to my collection of crafting stuff. Just three years ago the stamping got me excited because of the internet. There I also found scrapbook papers and more at an online store called MPP Creative. Then my crafting addiction was complete.” 
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What do you enjoy about paper-crafting? “I guess the best thing about it is the rest that comes over your mind when creating something. It's the best way for me to fight stress and let my creative spirit run free. Also there are lots of pictures, embellishments, etc. that are fun to use and when the card is finished it seems as if it says “thank you for making me.” And the admiration people give you when you show a card— they give you the feeling that you've created something nice.” Do you see any differences in styles or techniques in paper-crafting in The Netherlands versus paper-crafting in the U.S.? “Lots of differences can be found. Over here we have so much of a variety of crafting stuff, we are overwhelmed. Every three months there's something new on the market. Like 3-D pictures. I've heard that you in the USA only now make 3-D images from large pictures for making wall decorations; here we have small pictures that fit on cards. There's embossing stencils, Oraner-stencils for paper pricking, embroidery on paper, tea bag folding with original envelopes that are around tea bags, alce cutting, etc. used on cards. What I see from the U.S, papers is that they are mostly used in scrapbooks, on boxes (like the Artsy Collage™ books) and a little on cards. I joined the Scrapjazz club on the internet and there are nice ideas in the card section, but when I show my cards they would all like to swap!” How do learn your techniques and ideas? 
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“I learn my techniques from looking at new stuff that's coming on the market—books, cards from others, etc. When I look at something like a stamped card and don't have those stamps, I can always find other stamps to use and make a similar card. I don't really make the same cards as the examples in the books for instance, but they are a good guideline.” What inspires you? “Everything inspires me. Like I said, first I look at my books and get my ideas from them, but mostly when I'm starting to create something I just look at my crafting stuff, depending on what I'm making (3-D, stamping, paper collage) and see what colours, pictures, etc. fit together.” Thank you, Astrid, for sharing with us! If you'd like to view more of Astrid's cards, check out her website. | ||||
