Spotlight on Tracey Kuzniak

Ah, it's Wednesday again! I like Wednesdays. It means I am officially on the downhill slope to the weekend.

And I loooooves me a good weekend!

Today's Wonder is like all the others: Basically Brilliant. She's also Hot. (I didn't look this good when I was 23 and at my peak.)

Please shake hands with Tracey Kuzniak:

And here she is being all fit:

And here she is poolside - looking like a Hollywood power broker making multi-million-dollar-deals with the likes of Brad Pitt and Renee Zellwegger.

I feel distinctly frumpy right now.

And now that Tracey's face is probably redder than her hair, (sorry, girl - that's the price you pay for being a Hottie!) we can examine her art.

Which is also Very Hot.

I am trying so hard to select a few favorites, but it's downright impossible. There are so many fabulous choices. Let's start out by saying that she's a Detail Diva - which I am so envious of! I look down at my cards as I'm creating them and feel soooooo not up to the task - I have to really struggle to make my cards interesting because I am gifted in wailing not detailing. But Tracey is not so cursed. Check it out:

I could sit there all day (have sat there all day, in fact) and not come up with something this cool. It's the little details that make the difference. Like the embossing  of the sentiment. And that little bow behind the brown button - such a small thing, but if you imagine the card without it, there would be a real diminishing of the whole. And then there's the mix of patterns - oh, she's good at that! (I myself need to take a Remedial Pattern Placement class.)

Here she's working that embossing again, (very nice detail choice with the simple dots provided by the dry embossing on the scalloped base) and the double-button is just perfection. This card is a good "negative" example of Tracey's skills. "Negative" referring to the choices she didn't make. Those choices are rarely noticed because of their very absence - but it's their absence that lifts the thing above the crowd. As an example, you see there is no bow tied under the button this time - that would have been overkill (as would stitching around any of the paper elements). You also see an absence of patterned paper - which is a good thing because this card is already visually stimulating enough with all those curves. The card is small and the curve-to-area ratio is through the roof, so adding patterned paper to the mix would create a battle for dominance, and your eyes would scream, "Enough, already!"

Tracey knows when to stop. Which is one of the hardest skills to master.

I like this one because, again, she's got a handle on all those little details - picture this card without the button on the bow or the button having just a simple threading rather than seeing the knot and ends. I also love what she did with the stitched background design - that is so cool! There's a very subtle pattern on the butterflies - which is great because a complete lack of pattern would have been a little boring, and a more aggressive pattern would have blown the visual balance of all the elements as a whole. And notice that she didn't highlight any of the angled edges with ink distressing or stitching. Add either in your mind's eye, and you'd see a card with too many interesting elements - a Craft Stew, if you will.  

So what do you think about this lovely? Can you discern what's NOT there and why its absence makes this card fabulous? Can you imagine changing any of the things that ARE present - and why a different choice(s) would diminish this card?

(Just in case any of you didn't know it, I have an education steeped in the arts and taught college for ten years, so I'm big on analysis as a learning tool. And I Yearn to Learn what Tracey knows!)

Would you like to see Tracey's creative space? I was tickled by the following pictures - I know that my attic is a prettied-up slum, but at least I do have a dedicated space. I know that most of us don't have that luxury, so I think it's cool that she's giving us a peek into a less-than-ideal work space. (However, I am filled with lust over her windows - would you look at all that LIGHT?!)

The bad news about Tracey's set-up is that it kind of chops you off at the knees if you're telling yourself you need a dedicated space to be brilliant!

Tracey's talent has earned her some honors and recognition. She's done very well over at the Hero Arts blog in the weekly challenges: Thanks (Fresh Face), Inspired By (WAD) (2nd Place), Go Green (Scrapbook Page), Heartfelt (Scrapbook Page), Diecuts (2nd Place), and Distress (2nd Place). Tracey also won some Hero Arts stamps for her entry in the Caardvarks Winter Wonderland challenge, and she's been published twice in Canadian Scrapbooker magazine for winning inspiration challenges. Last of all, she was a guest designer on the Card Patterns blog (you get to be the next week's designer if you win their weekly challenge).

Oh, and let's not forget that she's a Hero Arts Hostess!

So the girl's gettin' around!

With no further ado, lift your Diet-Cokes to Tracy Kuzniak, the Detail Diva!

Tracey's Wonder-ful Interview

1. Do you pre-sketch a design or do you just leap out of the gate? How long does it usually take you to make a page? A card?

Sometimes I presketch, but mostly not! Takes me a good many hours to make a card, and usually a day or two for a scrapbook page. I watch TV and eat while scrappin', so this probably slows me down? (!!!)

2. How many, on average, pages per week do you make? Cards?

I try to make one scrapbook page - if it fits with the challenge - and 1-3 cards.

 3. How has your process evolved to make you a leaner, meaner crafting machine? (In other words, what are some lessons you've learned or tips you can share that allow you to make better and faster design choices?

I haven’t got there yet… so NO tips to share  LOL!

4. What's your stand-by, FAST dinner solution for those times when you really want to get to your scrap space ASAP (or stay ALAP)?

Ask hubby if he would like to BBQ! I don’t do this “blue job” and don’t plan on learning anytime soon!

Now there's a good answer!

5. If you were stranded on an island that had a billion supplies but NO tools, what ten TOOLS would you HAVE to have? (All the stamps in the world are available, so you don't need to list them as one of your tools. EX: we've got all the embroidery floss in the world, but you're going to have to bring your own needle if you want to use any of it!)

Cuttlebug and embossing folders, Wescott presion scissors, bone folder, Nestability dies, sewing machine, punches, heat gun, piercing tool, pop dots, and Prisma colouring pencils.

6. If you were still on that island, what kind of noise would you want (if any) in the background? List as many as five different favorite musical artists.

I would love to have Sting singing to me in person! LOL!

AH, yes. He would make an excellent addition to the Cabana Boy Cadre. Let's see... we're up to Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman... and didn't we have someone else in there? We need someone from Europe to flesh out our International flavor - no pun intended. Antonio Banderas is from Spain, right? He would do nicely, I think.

7. If you could have anything you wanted, (concerning scrapping or stamping) what would it be?

Of course a scraproom to call just my own, and I really liked the idea of 72 hours to a day to scrap more with less guilt!

8.What about your style/artistry are you least satisfied with?

Still trying to find it... my style, that is! Sometimes I find my scrapbook pages are very busy - I want to put a lot of pictures and embellishments on a page. I want to learn to simplify things.

This is very common among scrapbookers and cardmakers, I think. It's like straight-haired woman wishing they had curly hair and curly-haired women wishing they had straight hair. The crafters who use multiple embellishments fear their work is too busy and yearn to develop a less-is-more style, and the crafters who use less embellishments always worry their creations are too spartan and envy those with a flair for multiple-embellishment placement.  

9. What cameras have you tried, which one is your favorite, and why? (You can shorten this to just the one you're using now if you like.)

I'm currently using my daughter's SONY DSC-W150, but I would love to have a manual digital camera!

I get so nervous when I buy high-tech items, but I've had very good salespersons at adorama.com! This company has a great reputation and very competitive pricing. I definitely recommend this company for any future technology purchases y'all might be considering.

10. What's the word or phrase that comes to your lips when you mess up while creating? ("Unprintable" is definitely an option!)

"Oh, poo!" or "Oh, Shoot!"

Don't you love the word "poo"? For some reason, I find that word hysterically funny...

❧

Run! Run like the wind to see more of Tracey's amazing art on her Flickr photostream!!!

Comments

[kathy racoosin]

Wow TRace is just the best ...not only is she a Fit master, A beautiful lady and the paper queen of layers but, she's an amazing person too! I am always in awe of her cards and I fantasize about CASEing her. I just love her style! Thanks Deborah for a great interview!!!!! Hugs her Hostess SisTa Kathy

[Kelly Booth]

Tracey is AMAZING...i so Love her Work!! thanks Deborah for a wonderful Interview...(and funny too) and congrats Tracey you little Hottie...I think you rock!

[cathy a]

Wow Tracy...I bet you are blushing right now:) Fab interview for a truly amazing creative person.
Deborah...can we add piers brosnan to the cabana boys he's from ireland?

[Lucy Abrams]

Tracey is wonderful - she is sooooooo lovely, and sooooooo talented. Thanks for this super interview. Love you Tracey xxx

[Lin]

Deborah, this was so fun to read!! You did a great job showcasing this talented lady! LOVE that you shared her pictures with us, too! And I saw some of her creations that I either didn't see or have forgotten, so I'm loving all your "illustrations" each week! Keep up the great work!!

And Tracey, loved reading your responses and seeing your work again - you are SO talented! So proud of you!

[Anette H]

Thanks so much for this great interview, I'm a huge fan of Tracey too!!! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

[Tiffany E.]

Tracey is such a brilliant artist! Wonderful interview with her Deborah! Loved all the photos!

[paula]

What a wonderful interview with Trace. I liked seeing all the different photos of Trace & her wonderful creations.

[Virginia L.]

Love that TRacey! I had the good fortune to meet her in person back in April's Scrapfest here in Canada. Let's just say.....she is as hot as she is on the outside and her stamping style is as cool as the uber-cool Canadian breeze! FABULOUS interview! Thank you, Deborah!

[donna mikasa]

Wooo hooo! Another great WW interview, Deborah! I love Tracey's style and her cards and layouts are pure perfection...

[stampersuzz]

Tracey is so talented and love her work. Thanks Deborah for highlighting her art!

[Anne Gaal]

Hi, Deborah! Hi, Tracey! Fabulous interview! Loved all the images and getting to learn more about Tracey. Especially like the Happy Birthday with ferns card and the Blankie Love layout! :-)

[Tomo H.]

Fantastic interview with Tracey! Loved to see all the photos (she is cool! - I agree with you, Deborah, "she looks like a Hollywood power broker...". Her works are so creative!) ,and loved to read the interview!
I remembered so well her brilliant debut on HA challenge. She is one of the amazingly creative artists.
Thanks, Deborah! Thanks, Tracey! :)