Dudes Craft, Too: Barry & Jay from Mitosu Crafts

Hello, hello! I am so excited to be bringing you the amazing duo of Barry and Jay from Mitosu Crafts! Not only are they a sweet, incredibly talented couple but a true match made in card making heaven!

I cannot imagine anything better than being able to share a beloved hobby with someone than being able to share that hobby with my significant other.

I will have all their links posted down at the end of this interview. Make sure you check them out! These are two guys you will not want to miss!

What are your names and where are you from? 

We are Barry & Jay from Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK.

What type of crafts or art forms do you do? 

We are stampers, card makers, and paper crafters.

What do you enjoy most about card making?

Card making allows us to be creative with quality Stampin’ Up! products and experimenting with different techniques. We also like to design 3D projects and create fun fancy folds. It has given us opportunities to meet like minded people and share our passion via our local cardmaking class, YouTube channel, and other social media platforms.

How did you get started with it?

We got into card making after visiting our local craft store which had a card making demonstration happening. That was it; we were amazed at how quick and easy it was.

That day we came out of the store with a die cutting machine and have not looked back since. We now do our own demonstrations once a month at that very store!

Have you always been creative?

We had different creative hobbies before card making; crochet for Jay and cross stitch for Barry. Jay has a fine arts degree and Barry was into photography for many years prior to card making.

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 Have you ever experienced any judgement or discrimination based on this outdated stereotype?

There have been a handful of occasions when people haven’t believed that we were card makers. Generally though, everyone has been welcoming and we are just another part of the community.

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

One of our highlights was being chosen as display stampers at a Stampin’ Up! UK event a couple of times. We got to play with new products before their release and display our projects for inspirations to other crafters.

What changes, if any, would you like to see happen in the card making community?

We’d like to see the continued growth of male presence but more importantly than that we’d like to see that everyone is accepted regardless of gender. Every person has their own creativity that can inspire others.

What is the best thing about being a male card maker? What is the most challenging?

We find that we stand out in a crowd and get recognized at craft shows and events. It is a lovely feeling to meet people who we’ve inspired and vice versa. Being in a minority it’s also great to promote and follow other male crafters on social media via the tags #dudescrafttoo and #menofstampinup.

We also take part in a monthly blog hop, The Gentlemen Crafter’s Design Team (#tgcdt), with other male Stampin’ Up! demonstrators.

How would you describe your creative style?

Our style is quite varied from simple stamping to layered and technical. We love experimenting and trying new techniques so hopefully there’s something for everyone.

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

Simple, one layer cards for Jay is a challenge, whilst embellishments and incorporating Designer Series Papers are a definite weak area for Barry. We love them, buy them, but struggle to use them as they’re too pretty for our tastes.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

As visual creators, we get inspired by other crafters, art forms and designs. Another great starting point are challenge blogs like Paper Craft Crew Challenges for card sketches, color combinations, and Pinterest for specific occasions or stamp sets.

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

Just do what you love and don’t worry about what people may think. Enjoy and share your passion.

Barry and Jay, thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us. It is so lovely to see such a talented couple as yourselves creating beautiful cards and even more lovely to have the privilege of having you here on my blog.

If you’d like to see more of Barry and Jay’s work you can find them

• On their website
• On YouTube
• On Facebook
• On Instagram
• On Pinterest

Until next time,

Samantha