June Crate Paper Guest Designer :: Amber Engelh{art}

For as long as I can remember, I've had this urge, this drive to make beautiful things. And making something beautiful for someone special has always been what inspires me most. Throughout my adult years, I've carried with me this whisper of a dream to become a "real" artist. I dreamed of making art a part of my everyday life. With the support of some of the most amazing friends and family, I'm now doing just that. This past fall, I opened my mixed-media folk art shop on Etsy, launching my business and my dream as amber engelh{art}!

I've been a scrapper for 13 years and when I came across Crate paper over four years ago, it was love at first sight. There are very few CP collections that I don't own. And, oh, the awe-inspiring Maggie Holmes! She's been a scrap-idol of mine for many years. In my eyes, CP + Maggie Holmes = design perfection! I could hardly wait to pair Maggie's collection with my folk designs. Here's what I made:

Just Dreaming

When I first look through the pages of a new collection, I find myself mentally sorting the patterns into categories, such as "this would make a great vase, background, flowers", etc. I knew this floral pattern, Elizabeth Kate, that I used in "Just Dreaming" would make a perfect vase. Maggie's line is vintage, dreamy and romantic; I was hoping to reflect that in this piece. I think the pink rosebuds (Captured and Aperture) are the just-right flowers to do just that!

Loved

The script paper, Remember This, made adorable eggs for this bird's nest ("Instafriends"). I used the loved sticker as the title of this piece, because a protective mama-bird guarding her young conveys that sentiment so perfectly. This color palette of pink, teal and gray is one of my favorites right now.

Lucky

Once again, the Remember This patterned paper inspired this piece, called "Lucky". I started with the script paper as my background and once I had decided on a teal vase (Wonderful), I just knew it should be filled with yellow flowers (Happy Day). Maggie's die-cuts are pure eye-candy and the large butterfly made a perfect centerpiece for the vase. I added mother-of-pearl buttons to compliment the vintage appeal.

Peacock

I used the summer-inspired Pier collection for this piece. The colors are vintage-soft and the patterns are playful; I just knew I wanted to include as many of them as possible. So, I took The Pier collection from poolside to peacock, using: Merry Go Round, Cotton Candy, Poolside, Popcorn and Carousel. Folk art is imperfect in design, but often symmetrical. The repetition of colors is what makes peacocks and other folk designs so eye-catching. This was probably my favorite piece to make; the peacock has so much personality!

I've been giddy for two months now, looking forward to being this month's guest designer, and truly honored to be the first mixed media artist to be featured by Crate Paper. I've made two more canvases that I'd love to share with you on my blog, the memory collector. So, come on over, let's visit for a while!