Dudes Craft, Too: The Cool Paper Art Interview

Hello, hello! Today I am proud to be bringing you an interview with an awesome, creative, funny guy. I really admire his style and talent. I’ll have his Instagram linked down at the end of this interview.

What is your name and where are you from?

My name is John and I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

What types of crafts do you do?

I do origami and I make cards.

What do you enjoy most about card making?

I think most people agree that the best thing about card making is the look on the recipient’s face. I think another great thing about it is that you can personalize each card to fit the person you’re giving it to. 5% of my enjoyment also comes from the fact that my unit cost per card decreases with each card I hand out. For example that $24 birthday card actually only cost me $23.25 now.

How did you get started with it?

I used to watch a lot of art videos on YouTube and one day I happened upon Jennifer McGuire’s channel. She was clear and easy to understand. Card making seemed like such an intriguing world. I used to buy some fairly expensive cards in the past from Papyrus (four at a time for the discount, duh), so spending a bit on supplies to get started on making my own cards didn’t seem to be an outrageous task. Then I proceeded to Black Friday shop every stamp sale known to man.

After I began making cards I sent one to my mom when she was going through a difficult time. She carried it around in her purse for about three months and showed it to everyone she knew. This compelled me to make even better cards; more colorful ones, then ones that moved, then ones that you could shake, etc.

Have you always been creative?

Yes, here and there with miscellaneous forms of art. I got into origami when I was very young after seeing a book featured on Reading Rainbow. I was also into video games growing up which allowed me to be creative without needing to use physical materials.

Card making is considered by some to be a hobby in which only females participate. Have you ever experienced any judgement or discrimination based on this outdated stereotype?

Fortunately this hasn’t been something I’ve really experienced.

What has been the highlight of your card making journey thus far?

I’ve received a couple of shout outs from celebrity card makers and companies which has been great. I’ve managed to send some cards (on time, even!) to friends and family which has been amazing. In all honesty, though, the highlight of my card making journey has been hanging out with some creative friends and crafting together.

How would you describe your creative style?

I would describe my style as many projects simultaneously moving slowly along towards completion.

What is something that you struggle with in terms of creativity?

I struggle with branching out and seeing different options. I’ve also found that a huge mojo killer of mine is when I need to stop and put things from a previous project away before I get started on a new project.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I get a lot of my inspiration from nature, mythology, color, and The X-Men.

What words of encouragement or advice do you have for crafty guys or anyone else?

Create the things that you want to create. Everyone in the card making community is pretty nice and most of the people outside it are as well. If people act like a jerk about you making cards then f them; that’s just one less card that you need to worry about handing out.

John, thank you for being a part of this. I agree so much with what you said about the need to put things from a prior project away before starting a new one being a mojo killer. I’ve likened it to being in a pool. If I jump into a pool and then have to get out to dry off before I can jump back in I’m not going to want to jump back in at all.

I also really like what you said about dealing with people who are jerks about card making; that’s just one less card you have to send. That’s such a positive way to look at it.

If you’d like to see more of John’s work you can find him

On Instagram

Until next time,

Samantha