Guest Designer | Nina Christensen

We're thrilled to have the lovely and talented, Nina Christensen, as one of our guest designers this month, and excited to get to know her better today! Be sure to follow Nina here at Studio Calico to keep up with her and see more of her beautiful work.

Hi, I'm Nina, and I'm a graphic designer living in a small windy town by the sea in Denmark. I share a home right by the harbor with my boyfriend, our two amazing kids – Ada, 6, and Anders, 2 – and a ton of craft supplies. 

I'm an equal opportunity crafter, but paper – oh paper – has always been with me. Some of my first and fondest memories are of playing with office supplies from my father's home office. Making little books, address stamping all the things and typing gibberish on the typewriter. Growing up I'd always be the weird teenager taking evening art classes with a bunch of sweet, retired ladies instead of taking soccer lessons like everyone else.

However, it wasn't until 2010 when I was 25 and had my daughter that I discovered the world of actual paper crafting. For the first time in my life I felt the desire to keep and display ephemera and document our lives. Finding the scrapbooking community on the internet was like falling down a rabbit hole in the best way. I immediately started a blog and began exploring everything memory-keeping. I quickly narrowed in on what suited my taste, started a subscription to Studio Calico and the rest is – as they say – history.

These days I'm very into planners, art journaling, Project Life and regular ol' 12" x 12" scrapbooking – it's my first love and nothing beats that giant, beautiful format and all the possibilities it holds. 

When I'm paper crafting I like to work fast and use my favorite tried-and-true techniques. I use color and texture to create a mood, always keeping the story and the photo as the main focus. Soft watercoloring, ink splatters, imperfect stamping, tiny embellishments and small scraps of paper make for great texture and they add that quick, effortless detail I'm always looking for. 

What inspires me most is honestly seeing the work of other makers and artists in all different disciplines. Writing, fine arts, art journaling, music, sculpting... It all fills me up with ideas and puts a fire in me to keep doing my thing. I'm also greatly affected by my surroundings and find a lot of inspiration in my hometown. We have beaches, the harbor, a castle and all sorts of medieval architecture around us. I probably sounds fancier than it is but really it's all very stripped down, raw and beautiful. Old Scandinavian minimalism, both natural and man-made.

One thing I have learned about myself is that I am definitely a process crafter. I love the making and I'm less concerned with the actual memory-keeping – which is kind of hilarious since that's what got me into paper crafting in the first place. 

Another thing I've learned is that I actually can be a patient crafter if I want to. About a year and a half ago I was inspired by my sister-in-law to take up knitting again which I've tried to do multiple times and failed horribly at. It basically made me want to punch holes in the wall, but not this time. Maybe I've matured to be more patient, maybe I never really gave it a fair shot, I'm not sure. All I know is that I'm quite obsessed with it and now I knit every day. It's like yoga for the mind, a kind of meditation really, and I thoroughly enjoy creating something that is of practical use when I'm done.

I loved working with the Studio Calico March kits—here's a look at my projects!

Week 8: The Details: For me planning is really about getting a good overview of your week and not so much about the decorating. However, I know that if I make my planner beautiful I'm likely to use it more. In my bullet journal a little embellishing goes a long way and this soft style I got with the March Documenter Kit makes me so happy.

Got it from their momma: My favorite thing is scrapping small in a Traveler's Notebook. The small format forces you to be really clear with where you're going and what you chose to put in there. I love the mix of neutrals, flat colorful embellishments and my loopy handwriting in this spread.

Twenty Seventeen // Part 03: I have a tendency to go very white and plain in my Project Life so I really need that kick in the behind I get from the Kits to use colorful journal cards. I mean, who can resist those yummy hand-lettered sentiments?

Twenty Seventeen // Part 04: I'm pretty stoked about how well the Documenter Kit melts together with my own brush script and handwritten journaling.

These Two: That Planner Kit stamp is a dream! Here I used the boxes to create a frame for my title and journaling, and the week days to do some grungy ghost stamping around my layout for added detail. I can see myself using this set in so many ways. The bright red alpha stickers make the whole page come alive. Yay!

See more from Nina:

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Ravelry