Jessica Frost-Ballas is one of our early craft adopters. She makes the most beautiful cards, and has the sunniest personality o match. Check out her blog for card and paper craft inspirations.
What is your story?
Hi, I’m Jessica! I’m a harpist and pianist by day and a papercrafter by night. I am very lucky to have a career in a creative field, teaching young and old students how to play the harp and piano; however, I’ve always gravitated towards various artistic mediums and papercrafting is my creative escape. I’ve been crafting since I was a child but I was really able to unleash my creative side when we built our first home in 2013 and I was able to have a craft room all of my own! In the past my “craft room” was the dining room table so I didn’t really have the opportunity to spread out and work at my leisure. In 2014 I discovered the online world of crafting outside of Michael’s and I dove in head-first!
What are the things you like to make?
I love to experiment which is actually how I discovered Chibitronics! I love adding sparkle or shimmer to my cards and one day I had the idea to add a light-up feature to a card and went searching around online and found Chibitronics. I primarily make cards and enjoy experimenting with techniques, color palettes, mediums, and embellishments! My favorite cards to make are interactive cards: light-up, slider, shaker, etc!
What is your current project?
I am starting to work on my holiday cards for the year and I’ve got several upcoming collaborations between some of my favorite companies!
How would you describe your creative making process?
Generally I have an idea in mind and it’s just a matter of making it work on paper. I usually do a little bit of sketching and experimenting on scrap paper and then I’ll start trying to make it work in practice. If it works then I move forward with adding colored elements and embellishments.
What inspires your making?
I’m inspired by many things…it could be a photo I see on Pinterest, or the colors of a piece of fabric, the design of a light fixture, or the texture of a blanket. I love that I’m not limited to anything specific when I create and I can allow whatever happened to inspire me to guide that particular creation.
What helpful hints do you have for future makers?
Experiment! Try anything once…and if you have an idea, try it! Some of my ideas have definitely not worked out the way I intended but sometimes an even better idea came out of it!
What is your favorite thing about Chibitronics?
After working through the guidebook I love realizing that I can easily create a circuit! I remember when my first order arrived and I sat there feeling so overwhelmed and wondering if I would ever be able to figure it out. Now I find myself telling other crafters to give them a try…that they’re not as complicated as they fear…and I LOVE hearing back from them that they’re enjoying them as much as I do!
Blog: www.allthesparkle.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/jessicafrostballas
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessicafrostballas