Design Team Magic

Our Design Team Member for August is veteran Scrapbooker Jowilna Nolte.  She is well known for her stylish layouts, magical mixed media creations and stunning publications.  Over to her!

I have been in the industry for 15 plus years now and have loved the more than interesting journey it has taken me on so far. I started off my career in retail working in a paper shop importing handmade speciality papers from japan, Canada, India and America. We also imported a range of rubber stamps (PSX), along with Ranger Products, and Tsukineko to mention a few. This was all back in 2000. I moved to the wholesale part of the business and got involved in window dressing and opening a second flagship store for the company while the owners were overseas.

I have travelled extensively to America visiting CHA and Frankfurt Germany to their biggest paper trade show “Paperworld” where I gained valuable knowledge regarding the industry. After a whirlwind love affair with the business I headed off into the sunset to fulfil my second dream by working in publishing. I started off as Technical Editor on a scrapbooking magazine and worked on several other craft publications in the company as well. But this was not enough – after a long journey I started my own scrapbooking magazine, which transformed into writing a real book book as opposed to a magazine book, and the rest is history. I am currently a best-selling author in the craft industry with my book “Scrap-Boek” being the fourth best seller in South Africa and currently in second print.

I am a freelance artist doing work for various companies such as Caxton Magazines that includes Rooi Rose and Bona Magazine to mention a few. I travel regularly to various shows teaching and presenting lectures on scrapbooking, card-making and creativity. I have been published several times in American publications such as Taken Ten Magazine, Catch Up Issue – both Somerset Publications. I was also asked to be a guest artist by Taken Ten Magazine for one of their issues in which an entire article was dedicated to my work.

In December 2011, I made my television debut by presenting Christmas Crafts on 3 Talk with Noeleen. After a bit of a sabbatical with my on-line classroom website Scrapcouture, we are busy revamping it with a fresh new approach to bringing creativity and new techniques to people all over the world. Other than that I spend lots of time scrapbooking and making cards and teaching classes weekly in Gauteng as well as throughout South Africa. I am passionate about what I do and I have had many amazing experiences and met so many famous people throughout my creative journey. I am truly blessed with a gift from God!

I’m not really a baby person so when the patterned papers in my pack ended up to be …well babyish I was a bit stumped but ready for the challenge. And if all else fails cut it into a million little bits. So that’s what I did. And then just to stump me even more there was a couple of yellow cardstocks thrown in for good measure and that ended up being my background. In the end I love how it turned out – adding my signature splashes of stamping, sewing and some messy technique stars for good measure. It just goes to show that you can do anything with just about anything if you set your mind to it. I hope you feel inspired by using those odd pieces of patterned papers – and if you like soft pastel colours you will love the papers in the kit.

Below are some close up of some of the elements and features on the page

I created this accent by just stamping with my favourite detail black ink one a strip of some of the patterned paper, cutting it out and adding it as an accent.

In August’s kit you can choose to get some Pink Paislee Resist Chipboard Buttons. I used some Inks to make the buttons match perfectly with the rest of the colour scheme.

This adorable stamp by Graphic 45 can also be added to the August kit. I stamped it with detail black ink on some patterned paper and cut it out to use as a custom embellishment

My stars were created using Perfect Pearls, and later this week I will be back here with a step by step tutorial on how you can create your own custom elements using this simple, but effective technique!