Interviews with Artists and Crafters

VintageImageCraft is honored to bring you exclusive interviews with artists, crafters and authors who are recognized for their creative use of vintage images and ephemera.

When we created VintageImageCraft, we wanted to inspire you to find new and interesting ways to use vintage images, clip art, and antique ephemera in your crafting and scrapbooking. We set about creating unique crafts and projects, not much thinking about where our own inspiration was coming from. Looking back, it should have been obvious to us: we've spent countless hours in bookstores bent over new craft books, analyzing the photos. After surfing the Internet for only a few minutes, one of us will usually call out, "Come take a look at this great craft!" If we like a crafter's blog, we have to plow through months of archives to see and read everything.

From these, we get our ideas and our goals - and sometimes a little healthy, motivational envy.

In other words, we are inspired by the artistic work of others. We get energy from seeing someone do something really well. We are especially inspired when we can hear directly from artists and crafters about their influences and challenges, so we can better appreciate their creativity. Even more - the good advice, insider tips and surprising insights from a true professional are often worth their weight in gold. We think you'll find the same.

Intimate interviews

This month, we want to share our conversation with Mary Benagh O'Neil, artist, rubber stamp designer, and founder of Hot Potatoes Rubber Stamps. And a great inspiration!

 

Mary Benagh O'Neil raised potato printing to an artform before launching her sizzling business, Hot Potatoes Rubber Stamps. Mary reveals much about her early inspirations, and about her dedication to sustainable and enduring crafting. Read her complete interview here.

Michael Strong is one of today's leading rubber stamp designers and teachers. How did this unrepentant grade-school doodler rise to the top of his field? It was a long and winding road, in many ways. Read his complete interview here.

 

Barbara Trombley founded Art Institute Glitter in 1983, and was soon crowned the "Glitter Queen" for her mastery of the art of glittering. Her book, Glitter Artistry, is the artisan's bible for this delicate yet bold medium. Read her complete interview here.

 

Jessica Helfand is a Yale professor of graphic design, and a student of scrapbooks, humanity's autobiographical artifacts, so artfully analyzed in her book, Scrapbooks: An American History. Read her complete interview here.

 

Jo Packham built her 30-year publishing career by nurturing the artistic careers of others. In the process, she discovered a life's mission - to bring together a global community of women artists. Read her complete interview here.

 

Melynda Van Zee is a teacher, painter, and scrapbook artist - and she brought them all together in her unique book, Painted Scrapbook Pages. For Melynda, it is all about passion. Read her complete interview here.

 

Carol Duvall is known as the "Queen of Crafting" for a reason. She has been teaching and nurturing the joy of "making things" on TV and in person for 58 years so far - and she has a lot to say about the experience! Read her complete interview here.

 

Marie Browning may be one of the most prolific and creative authors of craft books, but she is undoubtedly one of the most generous as well. You can feel her enthusiasm as she talks about the value of handmade gifts.Read her complete interview here.

 

Anna Corba enchants the senses with her vintage-look creations. Learn about her books, including Vintage Paper Crafts and Making Memory Boxes, and some of her secrets for making "brand-new old things." Read her complete interview here.

 

Nancy Ward may know more about glues and adhesives than your average chemist, but at heart she is a teacher. Her books on stamping, fabric painting, and "sticky stuff" have opened creative doors for so many. Read her complete interview here.

 

Sandra Evertson talks about her influences and accomplishments in art, writing, and rubber stamp and scrapbook design, as well as her excitement over the new magazine, Where Women Create. Read her complete interview here.

 

Debba Haupert, author of The New Book of Image Transfer, reveals the secrets to her many careers - an artistic lineage and many, many girlfriends. Read her complete interview here.

 

With inspiration, we develop a vision of what we want to accomplish, new ideas about how we can do it, and a passion to get it done. We hope that these interviews with artists and authors bring a little inspiration into your work and your life.

Make a suggestion...

Would you like to read an interview with one of your favorite artists, designers or crafters who uses vintage images? Write us a note, and tell us who you like and why, and hopefully how to find her or him (email, blog, company, or general geographic location). We'll do our best!!