Featured Designer – Pink Reptile Designs
Howdy friends! Did you have a nice relaxing week or has it been jam packed? Can you believe June is coming to an end and it’s time to welcome our next featured designer to the spotlight, Mirjam aka Pink Reptile Designs. Mirjam has such a unique style, her alphas are some of my favorite in all of the digi world, I love the illustrated/artsy look of kits and that white space she adds to her templates.
As you know, this year our theme is ‘Designer’s Choice’ What does that mean? Well, just what it sounds like! This year our wonderful team of designers will be coming up with a heap of fantastic new collections inspired by whatever is exciting or motivating them in the moment. They have total freedom to express themselves however they’d like, and we’re super excited to see where this adventure takes us over the next year. Mirjam’s Soundtrack of My Life kit speaks to me! I need to sit down and scrap with it. I’m sure so many of us that songs that just give us all the feels and we need to document them, this collection is perfect for that! Guess what? You can get it for free, just add $10 worth of goodies to your cart and it will automatically be added to your cart. The offer is good until our new releases go live on July 14th.
She has even created this this totally rocking bundle of add-ons to really amp up Soundtrack of My Life from a nice kit to a epic collection. Be sure you check those out here.
My goodness! I need to find some time to scrapping, I have a list of songs I want to document now! Do you all love learning more about our designers? Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be here, right? It’s time for the interview with our featured designer, Pink Reptile Designs aka Mirjam. Remember, these are all questions straight from the Sweet Shoppe Community. Enjoy!
Tell us about your journey with digital scrapbooking… How did you find out about it? Did you start with paper first? How did you get started designing? Where was your first shop? How and when did you end up at Sweet Shoppe Designs?
Mirjam: I have always been very creative. Even as a child I would make crochet cups and saucers for my dolls [something my grandmother taught me], I drew and I painted, knitted, etcetera.
I started paper scrapping in 2004 whilst trying to come to terms with the death of our first dog Kenzo, and I fell head over heels in love with this hobby because it gave me the opportunity to put all my creative quirks into it.
I’ve put handmade knitted and crocheted items on layouts. I’ve machine stitched, hand stitched and painted on layouts. You name it and I probably did it.
In March 2009 I officially turned digital and although I still have an urge to feel paper or fabric from time to time I have to say I very much enjoy this clutter free variation of scrapping. It brought me a whole new field of techniques to discover and I have learned so much since!
In October 2009 the team from Zig Zag Scrap gave me the opportunity to even further broaden my creative horizon, this time as a designer and I discovered that I love to create kits! Then sadly Zig Zag Scrap closed in October 2012. I learned however that when some doors close new ones open.
Another dream came true when I found myself a new home at the Lilypad and I found myself working side by side with designers that I have admired since my early digiscrapping days in 2009.
Then finally I joined this amazingly kind and talented team of scrappers and designers at Sweet Shoppe Designs when I opened my store here on January 29th of 2022.
How long does it take you to put a collection together from start to finish?
Mirjam: If all goes to plan it takes me 2 to 3 weeks to create a complete collection of elements, papers, alpha, artsy’s, templates and cards. I start with an idea for a theme, next step is to put together a color palette that fits that theme. After that most of the time I start with the papers and then the elements but sometimes I start with the elements so I can use a drawing or a doodle that I have in mind as a pattern for my papers. The alpha to go with the papers and elements is always 3rd and then come the artsy’s and cards. I always finish with the templates.
When it comes to collabs, do you usually work with designers that have styles that you’re comfortable with and you think complement your own designs or do you like to challenge yourself and work with designers that have a completely different style?
Mirjam: Well….actually none of the above. I try to team up with designers that I would love to get to know better as an artist and a person by working with them. So first and foremost it’s the person behind the designs that makes me (want to) collab not their style of designing but I always love and admire their work too.
Do you use your own art in your kits? Show us some of your favorite original illustrations.
Mirjam: I definitely also use my own art in my designs. That goes for crochet stuff and illustrations.
Here’s some examples of illustrations that all started as pencil drawings. I scanned them and digitally tweaked them.
Top to bottom from A Brand New Year, Unscripted and Perfect Pair
And these are a few of my crochet projects that are part of collections. From top to bottom from Butterflies In My Stomach, Be A Nice Human Collab and Without A Doubt Collab
If you draw your own doodles or sketches for designs, what do you use for that? Tablet, pen, paper, scanner? Tell us more about your process and tools.
Mirjam: I usually start with pencil and paper. Then I scan my design and trace it with my pen and tablet to keep the handmade feel I hardly ever use Illustrator to tweak it. Sometimes I use the original drawing and extract it in Photoshop.
The first 2 drawings are from New Job and the kitchen supplies are from Bakers Are Gonna Bake.
If you had an hour to yourself, but were not allowed to use it to scrapbook or design, what would you spend the hour doing?
Mirjam: I’d take that hour to either meditate, crochet, read or bake something like cookies or cake.
My fav baking recipes: oatmeal cookies, zucchini cake and carrot cake. Yum!
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Mirjam: I wanted to be a jet fighter pilot or an archeologist up until I was about 14. As I grew older I got over my need for speed but I am still very interested in archeology and I love reading and philosophizing about ancient and/or lost civilizations.
What song(s) are playing in the soundtrack of your life?
Mirjam: Dream On by Aerosmith, Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks, More Love by Victor Wooten, Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel, Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd, In The End by Linkin Park, On every Street by Dire Straits, This Woman’s Work and Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush plus Enter Sandman by Metallica would be the first ones that come to mind.
Actually I have many many songs that have special meaning to me and that can instantly bring back memories. Music and emotions are very much intertwined in my life.
I couldn’t agree more with that last statement Mirjam! Absolutely! Now, let’s see how the staff used Soundtrack of My Life.
That’s a wrap for this week everyone, you have until our new releases go live on July 14th to get the Soundtrack of My Life kit for free with a $10 purchase. Come back next Friday for a look at the 15 products that Mirjam will have in her featured designer 15 sale. Until then, happy scrapping!
