Please Welcome Fiona Shultz!

Thank you to those that contacted me about helping out with samples for the Inkurable Stampers 2010 Gothic Arch Challenge! I have chosen one permanent helper who will be creating gorgeous examples to kick each new Gothic Arch challenge theme off, along with a few new guest artists to mix things up a little!

Without further ado, I am very pleased to announce that Fiona Shultz will be my official Gothic Arch Challenge Example Artist!! Fiona has already created some fantastic arches for us that we will reveal on Sunday, so be sure to come back and check them out!

Fiona is a regular here at Inkurable Stampers, as well as being on the ATC design team for The Stamping Queen. She is a wife and mum of 2 lovely children, and lives in the Hunter region of NSW. You can see more of her work on her blog.

I wanted you guys to get to know Fiona a little better, so I asked her a few questions:

1. Have you ever made a Gothic Arch before?

Aaaaa, no! To be totally honest, I’m not sure I understood them when I first saw them – this was the same reaction I had the first time I saw an ATC ;) But now that I’ve tried one, I can see the artistic beauty in creating something that is not square, or rectangular, and it lends itself to a different kind of focus.

2. What will you do with your arches when they're all finished? Will you be making them all the same size, or mixing things up?

I am a ‘neat’ crafter. I like things to be right and ordered – even if I do grunge, it usually has some structural elements to it.... So, that said, my arches will be all the same size, same shape arch, and possibly even a subtle feature that is common to each arch. When I am done (and I have a few to catch up on!) I am thinking I will adhere them back to back and have 12 ‘pages’ which I can then combine into a book – but I’m not sure if it will be a book with hinged rings, or an accordion book folded and stored in its own box.

3. When stamping, do you prefer red rubber stamps, or clear stamps? Why?

I use both, and probably have a close to 50/50 stash of each. I think I prefer red rubber, but I do like the ability to ‘see through’ the clear stamps. I don’t buy stamps based on what they are made of though – I buy based purely on the design of the image.

4. What is your favourite stamp in your collection?

I don’t have a favourite – and I’ve confirmed with family members if there was one stamp that they see repeatedly in my projects (in case I had a favourite and didn’t know it!), but they couldn’t come up with anything either. I have noticed in the last few months a desire to move toward more ‘artsy’ type stamps.

5. How often do you use stamps in your projects?

Since stumbling across Inkurable Stampers last year, I’d have to say close to 100% of my projects include some stamping.

6. What is your favourite stamping / inking technique?

That’s tricky. I love distress inks – don’t know how I crafted before distress inks! I think a technique I often use, and I’m not sure exactly even what it is called – I call it ‘off-stamping’ – where you ink a stamp, stamp it off on to scrap paper, then ‘huff’ on it to put a little moisture back into it then stamp it on your project. I often use this to achieve a lighter shade of a coloured ink than it would appear if I had stamped it directly onto the project.

Thanks for sharing with us Fiona!

Please join me in extending a great big inky welcome to Fiona - I have no doubt she will delight us with her gorgeous Gothic Arches, and I can't wait to show you what she's been creating! :)

~Sarah~