Come say hello to Amy Tan...and a little something extra!

Good morning SCT friends!  Welcome to Day Four of our 6th Birthday Celebration!  If you joined us Monday, we showed a selection of beautiful birthday cards from the SCT team, Tuesday was some fun birthday favours from Aly Dosdall and yesterday was a great sketch challenge from Becky Fleck!  Today we thought we would chat with one of our friends, Amy Tan, and of course offer another great prize!

Now our friend, Amy Tan, does not need much of an introduction.  As a designer by nature, a lover of travel and a great partnership with American Crafts, she is sweet, talented, very funny and adds some great colour to all that she does!  Imagine at CHA when I told her that we have a subscriber who is a huge fan, she immediately signed a "Sketchbook" for her with a lovely little note and asked us to send it to her.  That is Amy Tan.  We were thrilled to catch up with Amy...  

1.       Can you tell us how it all started?  How did Amy Tan become Amy Tangerine?

When I was working as a fashion stylist, I started a little production company and needed a name. At first I tried Tangerine Productions, but then as I did some research, the copyright seemed to be taken. When I started making shirts, Amy Tangerine just seemed like a fun name, especially since I didn't want people thinking the author started a tee shirt line.

2.       What part of your job do you love the most?

I love collaborating with creative people and that every day is different. Seeing people use my products on projects is pretty rad too.

3.       Where do you go for inspiration?

I feel blessed to do a lot of traveling. Going places and experiencing things is probably the most inspiring thing I can think of doing. Although with the internet, blogs and Pinterest can be great sources for finding pieces of inspiration too.

4.       What is your favourite product ever?

Thickers. or maybe washi tape. or maybe tape runners.

5.       How do you start to design a line?  What is the process?

First I start by collecting inspiration pieces. I have a private tumblr that I keep to bookmark different things I like. I also sketch and write things down in a notebook. Then I collaborate with a couple designers at American Crafts and we choose a color palette, narrow inspiration down and usually get a bit artsy. For Sketchbook, we spent several days drawing and painting - it was a super inspiring process.

6.       Since we are celebrating our 6th birthday at the magazine, how would you spend an ideal birthday?

My birthday is at the beginning of October and my boyfriend's at the end. Ideally I'd love to be in an exotic place (last year we went to Kauai to celebrate both birthdays) or at home eating a really good meal. JC's an excellent cook.

7.       What has been your favourite place to visit in the world?

This is so difficult to narrow down. I can't choose just one. I loved Australia for the people, scenery and laid back attitude (and of course the accents!). Barcelona, Spain and Phuket, Thailand also top the list - for the sights and the food! Lake Como was amazing too. See, this is a tough one for me.

8.       Can you share with us a recent piece of artwork you’ve done and tell us a little about it?

I have been working really hard on putting together a workshop for Two Peas in A Bucket called "Collect & Create" that should be launching soon. I will also be teaching some in-person classes in various locations so I have been developing those projects. Hope you'll settle for some sneaks.

Thank you Scrapbook & Cards Today for having me and happy birthday!  Come say hi to me:

on my blog: www.amytangerine.blogspot.com
on twitter: www.twitter.com/amytangerine
on Instagram: amytangerine
on pinterest:  pinterest.com/amytangerine
and on facebook:  www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Tangerine/133463540478

Thanks Amy for sharing a little about your story with us and of course, we have another fabulous giveaway today from American Crafts.  Any guesses?  Well of course it has to be a selection of the Sketchbook collection from Amy Tangerine!

You can see the complete collection HERE on the American Crafts blog!  A great place to visit each day!

If you would like to win this collection, just leave a comment, a hello for Amy, a birthday wish, or just a random funny below by Thursday, April 5th at 6:00 p.m.   Good luck!  All winners will be announced on Friday, April 6th.

Join us tomorrow for Day Five of our 6th birthday celebration.  The SCT team have had some fun being inspired by a reader's gallery pick from our winter issue!  You won't want to miss it!

~  Catherine

Comments

[sandra m.]

This has been a fun b-day week! Thanks for the Amy Tan interview.

[Jingle]

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions, Amy! I LOVE your collections! They are fun, unique, and just all around FABULOUS!

[Marielle]

Hi Amy !!!! I love your new collection,it's so fun and vibrant, my kit club is thinking of using it for our May kit ....fingers crossed !!! Happy 6th Birthday SCT !!! Can't wait to see you at the Crop and Create in Moncton in a few weeks !!!

[emmaeh]

What a great collection! I am a little embarrassed to admit - I do not own any of Amy's papers... but would love to win this collection to be me started! I am certainly going to as for her line to be brought into my LSS!! Happy day!

[diana]

Happy 6th! Thanks for sharing this interview with Amy. ;-)

[Chris R]

Great to get to know Amy better. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Sketchbook collection. The colors are so fun! Thanks for the chance to win it. I am having a blast celebrating your 6th birthday with you.

[Karen]

Hello Amy Tangerine . . . great name! I love the bright colours of this line - thanks for another great give away SCT.

[Nicole N.]

wow!!! what a bright and fun collection!!! love it :) Happy 6th! :)

[Heaney]

I love all these sweet and funky colour collection...

[Charlotte Brochu]

I love this fun collection and getting to know more about you! Thanks for taking the time to answer all the questions!

[Robin B.]

I love the watercolor look of this collection. Happy 6th Birthday!!

[Angela Fehr]

Amy Tan's style is so fresh and colourful! I love seeing it in use.

[scrapper al]

Amy is so inspiring!

[Michelle]

Thanks for all the inspiration, Amy! Happy Birthday, again!!

[Cilla]

Hi Amy, I love your style and your products. Would love to win this collection, it is so happy! Happy 6th Birthday, SCT!

[Karen]

What a fun, bright and cheerful collection! Thanks for helping me to get to know Amy, and of course, for the chance to win! :)

[Janet Zeppa]

Amy is so talented! thanks for the interview.

[Keri Postma]

I love everything about Amy Tangerine especially her name! What a cool name! She is so talented I love her line for American Crafts! Again another day of inspiration thanks to SCT!

[Bonnie]

Hi Amy!! Thanks for the great interview, I love to here about our fav disigners!! What a fun week it has been here at SCT!

[ginny]

Love Amy's new line!

[Kirsten J]

Love bright happy Amy Tan stuff - and happy birthday SCT!

[Toni K]

Such awesome goodies! She is so talented!

[Chris C]

Great article. I like to read about how people get their start!! Someday I hope that will be me!!

[Shannon Miller]

Looks like Amy had fun "doodling her day away" on all those papers and ribbons!! What a great way to spend your time so we can use them on our pages and cards......!
Thanks. I just love them all!

[MaryLouH]

The collection is so bright and cheerful. I could make a lot of fun greeting cards with the collection. Thanks SCT.