Crankbunny made this video explaining why she makes handmade things. Here's the link to a high resolution file: MP4 Link.

This is a really special video so I asked Crankbunny some questions about being an animator.

What kind of software do you use to make your animations?

I use alot of Photoshop and Aftereffects, and sometimes Premiere to put any animation together. I mostly do everything digitally, with the exception any actual drawing. That I do with simple pencil and paper, which then gets imported into the computer.

How did you become an animator?

I didn't really plan to become an animator... well, at one point I did in high school a long time ago when everything was done with film. I had played around with it then, but once I went to off to undergraduate college there were many other artistic distractions like photography, sculpture, metalsmithing, film and design. I somehow ended up doing design work and interactive media for this thing called the 'internet.' It was interesting for the first few years but ultimately really boring for me.

At that point I knew I liked to tell stories with illustrations, drawings, photographs and editing. I started to make small personal little movies for the internet with any free time in my life. Eventually I decided to quit my full time job and concentrate on animating. I even went off to graduate school at one point for animation. I learned by meeting and working with other animators. It was through all these these little steps that I found the focus, approach I needed for my own animation work.

What advice do you have for aspiring animators to get started?

Just start playing. Use your digital camera and start putting things together in the computer. I recommend using free shareware programs like Frame Thief (mac) and Anasazi (pc).

Start off small. Watch animation - ALOT. Many different types of animation too! Dissect them with the pause buttons on your remote. Watch good old films and dissect those also if you wanna learn more about editing and lighting. Show your movies to anyone, see and listen to how people react to them. Fail. Learn patience. Animation is generally really boring tedious work.

If you are interested in traditional cartoon animation - that is great, but animation is not limited to that. A wonderful place to learn and see animation is the NFB (the Canadian National Film Board).The NFB is an amazing institutional heaven of animation - it caters to all people. Film dorks, children, parents, teachers, superheros and regular people. Check with your local museums, colleges, and libraries frequently to see if they have animation screenings also. Ask them to show animation or do workshops.

Thanks Crankbunny! 

If you want to learn some of Crankbunny's amazing skills, you might want to sign up for her upcoming paper puppet making class at the Etsy Labs! You can also visit her animation website and read her Featured Seller interview.