This February, Meet Niky Foster, our maker of the month. Niky specializes in DIY and Crafting for Home & Lifestyle, where she creates beautiful projects as well as beautiful moments. Learn about how stepping outside of your comfort zone and a reminder to ‘keep going’ will lead you to special places.
Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your life? Where are you from? Where do you live? How did you get started in DIY and your creative role? What are your hobbies?
My name is Nicole Foster, but I go by Niky Foster online. A few years ago, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and create a YouTube channel under the channel name DIY By Niky Foster, a place where I was able to document and share my home diys and crafting diys. Unbeknownst to me, my channel would grow quickly to over 100,000 subscribers and I would be able to share my love of diy, crafting as well as sharing tips and tricks as a full time creator. Although I love doing home diy projects, crafting with my cricut, making envelope art and putting together puzzles are some of my favorite hobbies.
What does it mean to you to be a creator and maker?
To me, being a creator and maker means being creative, trying different projects and not being afraid of stepping outside of my comfort zone. Even though I have my favorite type of projects to make, I still love challenging myself to try new things all the time.
When did you begin work with DIY craft projects and how did you get involved?
In college, I used to work for a party planning business (it was actually my best friend’s small business) and we used to make DIY projects all the time. We’d do prom set ups, bat mitzvahs, baby showers and more! I lovveeddd seeing an idea sketched out and come to life. This was the very beginning and from there it spiraled! Lol.
Tell us about your style and the process. Do you have an all-time favorite project or creation?
I would describe my craft style or design style along the lines of a clean aesthetic. Sometimes, I do like to play around with bold colors, but I love a clean look that outlives trends. Part of my process is also trying different things that look interesting or fun to make or recreate from inspiration. I don’t have an all-time favorite project yet, but I’m working on it.
What inspires you?
I love trying new craft projects and inspiration always hits when I least expect it! Sometimes I’ll be scrolling through Pinterest and a new project will catch my eye. I love trying new things that I have not tried before or challenging myself to try projects that seem hard at first, but once I’m into it, I can figure it out. The crafting community inspires me all the time and I love that everyone shares their makes and encourages others to do the same.
What are the essentials in your ‘maker toolkit’? What is your favorite medium?
Essentials include quality paper, a ruthless amount of scissors, clear glue, double stick tape, some regular pens and acrylograph paint markers. My favorite medium is probably acrylograph markers because there’s less mess to them than with other paints.
What advice would you give other makers, designers, and creators given your experience?
Keep going. Sometimes we have projects that we’re working on and can lose steam. The words from one of my closest friends – she always tells me to ‘keep going’ and honestly, just hearing that is supportive and inspires me to do just that! So I’d share that same advice with others because usually we have something that we really want to share and in order to do that, we have to keep going. 🙂
Do you have any specific goals for the future or dream projects?
One of my goals is to keep growing my YouTube channel and to keep inspiring my community. One of my dream projects is to have a branded collaboration. I have really good ideas and a background in product development and would love to put that to use again.
What is Your Favorite Colorscope Color at PS?
Hydrangea! I love the color itself as well as the meaning! It resonates with me.
Do you have any favorite PS items that you are loving right now?
I love everything at Paper Source, so it’s hard to choose just 1 thing, but I have to say, the custom address stamp and my stabilo pens!
How do you celebrate the ‘every day’? Just by adding a creative element, even if it’s small, for instance, just coloring a page or discovering a colorful way to write notes helps me to celebrate the everyday.