Welcome to The Creative Eclectic!
Thanks for stopping by…
Let me tell you this is more than a little bit EXCITING that you’re visiting The Creative Eclectic.
My name is Chrissy and here’s a little of my story so you can get to know me better… after all we are going to be spending time together in the future and it’s important to know who you are creating with.
I’ve been told that I simply MUST include my photo or a video here. Let me tell you it was a challenge to find a decent recent photo as I really, Really REALLY DO NOT like having my photo taken – I avoid being in front of the camera. However, here’s a recent video so you can see I’m not just a photo.
Now that hard bit is out of the way, let’s get back to the story…
I live in wonderful sunny Queensland (Australia) less hour’s drive from the fabulous Gold Coast. Our household consists of my fabulous kiwi husband, Steve, my beautiful daughter, Paris, and our rather cute groodle (golden retriever x poodle), Delphi. My family joke that Delphi Dog is the love of my life… let me reassure you that they are equally smitten with her.
Long before The Creative Eclectic was established in 2017, I’ve been sharing my love of creating.
I come from a family who seem to be talented at all types of crafts: my nanna (grandmother) was a gifted dressmaker, knitter, and crochet beautiful lacework, while my other nanna did exquisite embroidery. My mum sews, makes cards, knits, and paints folk art. My elder sisters are talented in many crafts including cross-stitch, embroidered ribbon roses, and card making. Crocheting, knitting, drawing, painting, jewelry making, re-purposing furniture, scrapbooks, card making, and off the page projects… I’ve tried them all (with varying success). I always return to paper, stamps, and ink.
My creative inspiration came in the form of my esteemed but geographically distant colleague Sandra. As my Team Leader, Sandra slowly exposed me to her love of card making. She sent me the most beautiful cards for every special occasion and some cards just because. Her 2007 Christmas card started something big! I spent hours working out how she was able to create a stunning 3D star card using paper products and then tried it myself. In hindsight, I should have just asked her for the instructions! Sandra’s cards are truly lovely works of art – I have kept every single card she’s sent me!
In 2008, another friend, Carol mentioned she wanted to make some Christmas cards but didn’t know where to start. This was an excuse to get the girls together. So I hosted a Stampin’ Up! workshop… I was intrigued! I never realized all of the creative possibilities that stamping offered. I had mistakenly believed that stamping was just for cards. I bought a few products but I was totally overwhelmed by the catalogue and the huge number of products that it contained. I was interested in learning how I could incorporate stamping into my gifts and more importantly scrapbook pages.
Over the next 6 months, I attended classes whenever I could, but my Stampin’ Up! spending was out of control! I wanted it all! I needed to get a discount on products. In July 2009, I signed on the dotted line and I became an Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator. A decision that changed my life. Within 12 months, I was teaching monthly classes at home under the Chrissy’s Creations banner while still juggle full-time workload, family commitments, and trying to live a good healthy life. I loved teaching and sharing my love of Stampin’ Up!
Fast forward to 2016, the opportunity arose to step away from the long, and somewhat stressful, hours of a federal government Human Resources Executive and take some time out to refocus, renovate and travel for fun rather than work. In effect, I took the time to “realign my strategic personal goals“.
During my time out, I discovered that I had no desire to go back to the corporate world… I knew if I did I was heading for burn out and possibly a heart attack, stroke, or worse.
I craved doing something that I loved and that brought joy to others. So as I reflected on my career and options, I explored the relationships that I have developed over rubber stamps, paper, and ink. I was struck by how much depth and richness these relationships bring to my life. Over the years, my creative friends have shared their joys, celebrated triumphs, and comforted each other in sickness and sorrow. They have rallied around in darkest times and been wonderful cheerleaders building each other up. This is what I was missing in the corporate world.
For me, helping someone create a beautiful project for a special occasion is one of the best feelings in the entire world. After all, creating cards, scrapbook pages, and gift items is about more than just stamps, paper, and ink—it’s sharing a part of yourself with the people you love. When you hand-make a gift for someone, you invest your time, energy, and a lot of thought into your personalised creation. That’s pretty special.
I love seeing the astonishment and pride on someone’s face in my class after they’ve finished a project and they say “Wow! I actually made that!”. I feel such happiness when they send me a photo of a project and say “Look what I created! Is it ok?” This is why I love what I do and how The Creative Eclectic was born.
My goal is to help you bring together eclectic creative techniques and materials to turn your paper crafting into an art form. Whatever your interests, whether it be card making, scrapbooking, memory keeping, off the page projects or even making your daily work journal, It’s my aim that the ideas, tips, and techniques you find on my blog will fuel your creative passion and inspire you to make something memorable and heartfelt.
I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know me – If you want to find out more be sure to check out the “All About Me” blog posts where I share interesting fun facts so you can get to know me better.
Thank you for trusting me to be part of your creative journey. I look forward to having fun with you, learning and growing together, and I can’t wait to see what you create.
Happy Creating!
Chrissy
