Hello and welcome to this week’s Designer Spotlight! Today I’m featuring the vivacious and talented Olya Schmidt!
Name: Olya Schmidt
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Blog: Olya Schmidt
Instagram: @paintpaperstudio
YouTube: Olya Schmidt
Facbook: Pisces Creativity
Pinterest: @olyaschmidt
Twitter: @piscesolya
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started crafting: Hi there, I’m Olya, watercolour artist by day, scrapbooker by night. I live in the beautiful Vancouver, BC with my husband Karl and our bunny Daisy. I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. It was my favorite way to play and I could entertain myself for hours on end as a child. The first time I heard of “urban” sketching, where people draw and sketch live on location, was in early 2012. I was feeling inspired after seeing gorgeous photos of artists’ sketchbooks around the world and decided to try it out myself. I haven’t stopped sketching since.
Favorite thing to create: Hmm, that’s a tough choice… I’d say between scrapbooks and illustrations, it’ll probably have to be travel sketchbooks because I can combine both urban sketching and memory keeping in one place.
What do you love about this hobby? I love that I get to play with pretty paper, paints, and embellishments while preserving memories and creating keepsakes for the future. I also love this amazing crafty community and all the wonderful and inspiring people I’ve had a pleasure of meeting, both online and in real life.
5 fun facts about yourself:
1. I have a total of 8 pairs of shoes (that includes gumboots and runners) yet a full room of scrapbooking supplies and stationery.
2. My coffee/milk ratio is always 50/50.
3. I cry at 98% of all the movies I go to see. That includes the preview trailers and the movies I’ve seen more than once. I’ve learned to always pack mascara, a bottle of water, and Advil for post-movie recovery.
4. When I was in high school I used to work full time as a deli clerk (grade 11 through college) so I could support myself and my mom. I didn’t mind one bit and would do it again in a heartbeat.
5. I still watch my favourite childhood cartoon show from the early ’90s called “Chip ‘n Dale, the Rescue Rangers” semi-daily and love it (almost) as much as I did when I was little.
Here is the super cute’n’clever project Olya made for her spotlight:
SCRAPBOOK EXPO LOGO by Olya Schmidt
Since many people know me for watercolors and my mad love for bunnies, I decided to combine my two signatures styles and create a little watercolor sketch of the Scrapbook Expo logo, painted by a bunny 🙂
Here are a few more of Olya’s favorite projects to share with you today:
PROJECT LIFE PAGE by Olya Schmidt
The simplicity and color use of the Project Life pages is something that came to me slowly and with time, but once I found my story-telling style and the rhythm, I was forever hooked on this memory-keeping process.
ART JOURNAL by Olya Schmidt
I first heard of and tried art journaling in 2011. Soon I was hooked and within a year I filled a big notebook, busting at the seams. Five years later I’m on my 3rd art journal, enjoying that creative outlet more than ever.
DOWNTOWN DENVER by Olya Schmidt
The sketch I did of downtown Denver is one of my favorites to date. I can still recall the street sounds, warm temperature, and friendly atmosphere of that day. I find that a sketch can bring back so many more memories and details than a quick photograph I took.
ILLUSTRATED PROJECT by Olya Schmidt
At the beginning of this year I set out to document 2016 one illustration a day. 100+ days in, I’m still going strong and loving this project. (instagram.com/illustratedproject)
Thank you so much for joining us today Olya – keep up the amazing work!
