First, let’s meet Amy:
What is your background? Have you always been so creative?
I am a lawyer and tapped into my creative side after taking a break in my career while I was raising my kids. I don’t have a background in design. I think I have always had a good eye for things, but I didn’t realize how creative I was until the last several years.
What made you start Amy Atlas Events?
I’ve always loved planning parties and often entertained for family and friends. After taking some time off while raising my children, I had time to reflect and realized that my real passion was designing parties. I started to plan parties for friends for kid birthday parties, and then the business organically grew.
Where do your best ideas come from? When you are feeling a little “stuck” what helps you get back to being creative?
I am inspired by everything around me. I always get a little stuck in the beginning when I am coming up with a concept. It can be very frustrating, but every designer goes through it. When I have a creative block, I usually try to take a break from what I am doing. I’ll go for a walk/run or listen to music. I find it is better to get away from what I am thinking of instead of forcing it. Often, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and everything will “click”.
What are your top 5 supplies/materials?
Glue dots
X-acto knife, Scissors
My pantone book
Cutting board
Glue Gun
Your favorite shops/online destinations for supplies?
I love Michaels, Kate’s Paperie, and Lee’s Art Shop for supplies. Crate and Barrel (www.crateandbarrel.com) is great for platters and vases.
What is your most favorite thing you have created and why?
I can’t say that there is one favorite thing. I love all of my creations and hope that I can continue to feel that way with everything that I create. My favorite part of the creative process is coming up with exciting and unexpected color palettes and different patterns.
We are seeing a huge DIY trend right now, why do you think that is?
I think there are a few reasons why the DIY trend is so popular right now. First, the economy has pushed people to explore the DIY trend since many still want to entertain but would like to do it without spending too much. Also, DIY instructions used to be complex, but now there are several websites with easy DIY step-by-step tutorials (marthastewart.com, amyatlas.blogspot.com, diynetwork.com, craftbits.com). Last, people are embracing their creativity and taking pride in being crafty. There is something very rewarding about creating something from beginning to end.
The How-To:
• We created glittery star wand centerpieces by rolling dowels in glue and glitter and then attaching the dowels to paper which we cut into star shapes. We then stuck the star wand centerpieces into a box filled with rock candy.
• We wrapped decorative star paper around chocolate bars and attached star paper to cello bags filled with jelly beans. We made custom paper but you can use any kind of paper like gift wrap paper, scrap book paper, etc.
• We created a DIY table runner by taking a piece of fabric and running it along the length of the table. To dress it up, we laid a strip of ribbon in a different color across the runner.
