Name: Maggie Patterson, owner of  I Love Papercrafts Location: South Mountain, Ontario How did you get started?  Nearly nine years ago I had my son, and I was looking for something to do to fill my time as I was home at night and I was blessed with a championship sleeper. I was coming off a very intense year both personally and professionally and wanted to seize my mat leave as a time to settle in to being a mom and to some new things. As I was wandering the aisles of a big box store and found a scrapbooking kit.  I thought I’d give it a try and within weeks was totally obsessed! Why did you decide to start your own business? A couple years later a friend introduced me to a direct sales company ( Stampin’ Up!) and with some encouragement from a few friends, I started teaching cardmaking to my friends, family and neighbours using their products. I’m entrepreneurial by nature, so it quickly took off and I fell in love with how much fun it was to teach people to create. Five years later, I’m still teaching, but now I’m doing more and more business online as busy crafters look for new ways to learn and stay on top of the trends. What's your favourite part about what you do? My absolute favorite thing is the moment when a new crafter realizes they do have a little bit of craftiness waiting to be unleashed. Something magic happens when they make their first card or scrapbook page and I’ve come to recognize that glimmer in a new crafter’s eyes. What are some of the challenges? My biggest challenge is keeping balance between my family, my business and life in general. As a sole proprietor, I have to do everything under the sun, so I’ve learned to ask for help and find the experts to help me when I need it. What are some of your favourite craft/DIY websites? I find that lately I’m not checking out as many web sites and spending my surfing time on  Pinterest.  It’s the ultimate hangout for crafters! I love that it’s gotten me exploring other projects outside of papercrafting and incorporating bigger DIY/crafting trends into my designs. What was your first craft? My first real craft was probably an art journal in high school and it’s really just an early version of a scrapbook.  I was scrapbooking and preserving memories way back then, before I even knew such a thing existed. What was your favourite project? I think my all-time favorite project is a mini scrapbook made out of envelopes. It’s so simple and packs some WOW factor. It truly is a great project for anytime of year.

Overall words of wisdom? Don’t be afraid to try papercrafts, even if you don’t think you are crafty.   People usually are surprised about how easy it really is, and how satisfying it is to have a finished card or scrapbook page. Plus, it is the perfect craft for busy people as projects can be kept simple or done in stages (like a scrapbook). Some of my favourite creations are simple yet elegant one-layer cards that only take five minutes to make. Check out Maggie's amazing Easter favour box craft. She rocks! Don't miss our next craft! Follow Canadian Living on Twitter and Facebook for the latest blog updates.