Hello there, I’m Jaine Drake (stands up) and I’m a craftaholic. A day doesn’t go by without me doing something crafty. Whether it’s a bit of cutting and sticking or some sketching doesn’t matter, if I’m not doing something I get itchy fingers and have to relieve it with a bit of stash stroking.I’ve been living the expat life in Luxembourg, which is a small country squashed between France, Belgium and Germany, for about twenty years now. It’s a small but utterly beautiful country covered with forest with tonnes of fantastic history. Most people tell me they’ve passed through it on their way somewhere else but really it’s totally worth stopping off. I live here with my husband and three grown up girlies in a small village which I’ve tried to make my little piece of England abroad.
I joined the Craft Stamper team at the end of 2011 and my first publication was in February 2012. It was such a big deal and I proudly showed off my pages at every opportunity. I still get a huge buzz when my contributor's copy comes in the letterbox.
Favourite project #1
I’ve started to feel more confident using my own drawings on projects which I’ll show on my blog and this canvas is one of those projects. It shows not only my own drawing but the texture I love and collage which I also like to do.
This project is blogged {here}
I suppose my stamping story goes right back to the 1990s when we lived then in the Middle East. I didn’t work and to pass the time joined a group of crafty ladies sewing and learning cross stitch. One American lady there brought some cards she’d made using stamps, I was amazed at how simple and beautiful they were, just one layer cards, simple stamping and some colouring in but I fell in love. The materials came from the US and were difficult to get hold of and at that time I was still trying out all sorts of other crafts including quilling but once we arrived back in Europe, I was introduced to it again and this time materials were much easier to find. My obsession had started.
Favourite project #2
Even though Christmas has passed, I still wanted to include the cards here. This was the second Christmas I’d been able to mass make cards using my own designs. I’m lucky enough to not only be on the Design Team with Sarah Hurley but also to have my own stamp range with her, something I’m absolutely thrilled about. The cards were simply stamped and water coloured mainly because when mass making cards it’s better to keep things simple but also water colour painting is a favourite way of adding colour for me.
This project is blogged {here}
Q: Do you have a signature style or favourite technique?
A:Over the years I’ve gone through many different styles from shabby chic and vintage to clean and simple testing them out but I always come back to a handful of colours and lots of texture in my work. Mixed media is my passion and I love the freedom it gives me to really go to town and create without restriction. I love colour, vibrancy and using texture paste most of all.Favourite project #3
In the past I was also on the team of Scrap 365. Mini books have been a firm favourite of mine for many years and a lot of my hand made books have been made with paper bags. This paper bag book was decorated with a background stamp from Sarah Hurley and I’d also hand made my own washi tape.
This project is blogged here
Q: Where do you look for inspiration before you start on a project?
A: I’m a lover of Pinterest and I can easily spend a few hours looking
through pretty pictures. It’s a constantly renewing source of
inspiration from colour combinations to photo staging. I also have a
sketchbook and an inspiration journal where I keep ideas and themes. I
find these great places to go if I’m working on a project.Thank you for reading and I hope you’ll visit me on my blog.
We hope you're enjoying the chance to get to know some of Craft Stamper's contributing designers; thanks for joining us!
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