So I have been tossing around the “R” word a lot lately with regard to my designing. I am just coming off of a six week (or more) stretch where I lost the use of my left arm. Now I am right handed, so there were plenty of ”chin-up” comments for me about how this shouldn’t affect my mouse hand, or designing. However, running a business online without the ability to type was something I had not contemplated. I purchased some dictation software but was unable to get it working properly, and by this time, I can tell that the feeling and mobility is starting to return again. Thank goodness!!!
Still it is through times like this that I tend to do some serious re-evaluation of what is most important to me. I don’t mean to imply that I am done with digital art because that is far from the case. However, I have found that I have less and less time for me, and the telling of my own story and I am really missing that. I don’t actually think I could ever say “I am retiring from designing” as long as I am at all able, however, I am curious to know what doors will open for me if I energetically close one behind me.
I don’t transition very well. It is difficult for me to switch between the kind of creative process that goes into an art journal page, to the kind of process that goes into designing a kit. However, I feel as though things have shifted considerably for me over the years. It used to be that my primary focus was creating a scrapbooking or art journal page, and at at the end of that page I would have created elements and papers that went into the making, which I later turned into a kit. That was long before there were countless digital elements and images to choose from for this purpose. It was a necessity to create the elements that spoke to the theme of the page in the early days. However, as much as it was a necessity, it was also keeping things in perspective for me. I didn’t start all of this 7 years ago to become a digital desginer or a store/site owner. That was the byproduct and the bonus.
The true purpose was the storytelling and the memory keeping. It was a place to pour my heart. It was a place to share my feelings, thoughts and musings. It was a way to express my love, devotion and gratitude for the life that I was given and for those beautiful people I have had the blessing of sharing it with. It was important work for my soul and I believed so much in it that I wanted to help others find the gift of this art as well.
I’ve learned in my life, never to say never, and so I won’t committ to anything permanent, especially if kits do find a way of being born out of the creation of a page. However, I think I am going to try and re-prioritize my creative life again.
I started Tangie’s Art Caravan last year but it rolled on without me when the complications of running a huge website interfered with my weekly page ritual. However, I’ve never done well with schedules any. There is something about regulating my creativity that tends to stifle me. So I think I may just have to find my own way on the journey this time around, but there is definitely a need to journal.
With the season of giving, gratitude and joy upon us, I thought it would be fun to organize a collaborative charity project that demonstrates the simple truth that “Every Little Bit Counts”.
As a lover of all things vintage, I had collected a couple of vintage letterpress print tray drawers a few years back. I mounted one of the drawers on my studio wall and slowly started adding tiny little miniatures, photos and collectibles into all of the various sections. Anything I found that was small enough, usually found a place in one of the compartments. My son Kai loved the project and almost every day he was bringing home some little thing-ma-bob that he had found on his way to or from school. Soon it was filled with a wide variety of beautiful junk.
I thought that it would be fun to do a similar project but using digital images instead of the real deal and invite a bunch of digital designers to participate with me. I supplied the digital version of the print tray drawer and placed a few items in the sections myself to start the project off. Then I sent out an invitation across the digital community for designers to contribute only one element to be placed into a compartment within the drawer. There were no other guidelines, colour pallets or themes. The end result would be a mish-mash assortment of goodies and a surprise and a giggle for all of us. However, more importantly, the collection of assorted elements, as well as a digital print drawer, would be made available to purchase, with 100% of the profits going to the Sick Kid’s Hospital Foundation.
The Every Little Bit Counts project is now complete and I am so pleased with the results. I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of my designer friends who graciously accepted my invitation, each creating and contributing their own precious little bit. The end result is an eclectic collection of assorted elements ranging from quirky to classic and everything in between.
Now I would like to extend my invitation to you, to join us in this cause by contributing your own little bit to purchase the Every Little Bit Counts Collection.
For only $5 you will receive 87 unique digital elements. You will also receive your own digital print drawer converted to a 12 x 12 size, with back removed as a separate layer for easy element placement. Plus, as an added bonus you will also receive a really fun Photoshop action that will automatically insert your choice of elements into the print tray drawer. (Action tested in PSE 5-9, CS3-5)
(*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DRAWER INCLUDED IS NOT EXACTLY AS PICTURED IN THE PREVIEW SAMPLE THAT DISPLAYS THE ELEMENTS. PREVIEW OF ACTUAL DRAWER IS ALSO INCLUDED)
That’s more than your money’s worth! Plus, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that the money you used to purchase the collection will go directly towards helping Sick Children.
This collection will only be available for a limited time. Before the end of December we will remove the collection forever, tally up the totals and make our donation to the foundation. We will post the totals and the receipt for that donation on our Studio Matters blog.
Even the smallest of contributions can go a very long way when we cooperate and work together. Please join us!
Free Exclusive Gift waits for you in the catalogue!
Creative Fusion is a collective expression of unique impressions of our theme choice – About A Mother. Each designer participating has brought her individual style to our common theme and pallete. Since this is an interactive product line, you also get to participate in the co-creation of this collaboration as you pick and choose from the individual mini-packs of Creative Fusion Products.
Studio Girls come from many different places on the planet, and have a wide variety of backgrounds and personal stories. While our styles vary dramatically, we all share a common passion and purpose. We work harmoniously together exploring and expressing ourselves through this craft, while at the same time celebrating our individuality, uniqueness and diversity.
Becky is leaving SBG . I’m sad to see her go but she had a great career opportunity come her way and every one of us at SBG is cheering her on for that. However, while we may be losing our right arm, I highly doubt we will be losing our dear friend. We might have to take drastic measures and toilet paper her house if she dares forget us. Some of you will surely get a kick out of that notion. It wouldn’t be the first time that we would have resorted to such things, or at least suggested it.
On the plus side, Wendy is taking over Customer Service and has adapted to the role with no trouble at all. She’s always been the tech wiz of the site and incredibly helpful to anyone that asks, so this is an easy transition for her. Jenn Vogel is stepping up to manage the crew. She’s been with us for 3 years now, so she already knows how things roll and I know she will make a lot of great changes as well. I’m excited, and looking forward to it all. Change is contageous and the spring has many of us feeling restless and excited for something new.
While we have already RE-designed, we are also RE-working and RE-structuring the site, fine tuning and RE-fining things. We’re RE-evaluating what SBG means to those of us who are dedicated to our digital home, and coming up with ways to RE-energize things. Lots of things in the works, starting with a little something we are calling CREATIVE FUSION. I’m not going to tip my hand much more than that. It’s coming soon enough.
I’ve been feeling kind of down the last few days. Somethings I think I am too much of an idealist. When good intentions for peaceful resolutions, sharing, harmony and kindness, return negative vibrations I can sometimes take these things a little too personally. I’ll stand up for what I believe in, but I am not a fighter. My biggest personal challenge may be that I tend to spend too much energy trying to bring clarity or understanding to people who are hell bent on hanging on to perspectives or conclusions that are confused, hurtful or uhelpful. I need to let things go and let others choose a path of suffering without allowing myself to be dragged into it with them. Instead of finding my own heart hurting when someone chooses to stick to their angry guns, or walk away disappointed or feeling victimized, I need to let them go and find a better place to put my attention.
My 8 year old son Kai writes me love notes. He looks at me adoringly and tells me that I am beautiful, even when I have bed head and morning breath. “You’re just the cutest thing, Mom” he says. The most recent nickname he gives me has been Mrs. Beautiful, which makes me giggle inside. He’s a really good boy, who is sensitive, polite, smart, funny, affection and charming. Sometimes I can hardly believe my good fortune. Then I realize that this is what happens when we pour our love into an open heart.
He’s at that age now where it is cool to develop your own language or write in code. He can probably write backwards ( to view secret message in mirror) as fast as he can write forwards now. He is over the moon for Pokemon and the newest DS Pokemon Game has him intrigued by the “unknown” pokemon. So he has been leaving messages for us around the house in this “unknown code” , which I am not sure is something he got from the game or from his own imagination. This is the message I found on my desk today.
For a woman that is nearly 48 years old, I am pretty net savvy. I’ve been on the internet since the mid 90’s and well before most of my friends or acquaintances. In fact, most of my local friends found my early internet obsession to be a bit crazy and I remember one in particular telling me how I needed to pay more attention to my “real” friends as if the friends I had made online were imaginary. While it is true that many times the personae some put forth on the net was in fact a bit embellished and sometimes completely concocted, it didn’t make them any less real to me. Like any relationship, local or otherwise, they were all important companions and teachers. Yet, despite my early entry into the INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY (that sure dates me) , I still seem to have trouble adapting in many situations.
Take for instance my blog here. I started writing here 5 years ago. It took me a while to comprehend what a blog was. Before blogs most of us just had personal websites. Blogs simply made that more accessible to everyone, without having to learn a lot about html and other web design stuff. So I moved myself out of the personal webpage zone and into my blog. I didn’t really expect or understand the presence of random visitors and I very rarely have written in here for anyone other than myself. Over the years I have seen how other designers use their blog as a marketing tool and I get that it is a smart move. However, I have never felt entirely comfortable about posting my kits and products here. I’ve done it on and off, but nothing with any consistency. So when people contact me and ask me where to find my blog, I am concerned that they may expect me to be following the trend of using this space to post all of my new products. Truth is, that I usually don’t.
I guess I am somewhat conflicted about where to draw the line between my personal self-expression and my business. I understand that the two things are closely intertwined and in some cases that it is good and in other cases it is a little awkward or stifling even. Sure, I could open a business blog as well as personal but I’m only one person and managing as much as I already do online is more than enough right now. Facebook is another thing that took me a while to adapt to. Again, I’ve been on FB longer than many people (besides my kids) that I know. My son’s girlfriend convinced me that it was a fun way to reconnect with people of my past. While I wasn’t sure I was so keen on that idea, there were a few people who had popped into my mind over the years that I had been curious about. However, when I first subscribed I think I was one of the oldest Facebookers online, and the only people on my friends list were my kids and their friends .
It wasn’t long though, l before I was connecting with people who I hadn’t seen, talked to and sometimes even thought about for nearly 30 years. That’s been fun, and kind of weird. The weird part was primarily just from that guy I dated for a few months when I was 18 who is still harbouring a grudge because I broke up with him. Thank goodness for blocking ability. However, I kept getting requests from people whom I did not know. Whenever I got requests like this in IM it was almost always someone you didn’t want to know either, so automatically I declined all requests from people whom I did not recognize or was familiar with. Sorry if you might have been one of those. I guess I just took the word FRIEND a little too literally. Turns out that for about a year I was declining requests from fans and customers from the scrapbooking community. Not a really bright move from a marketing perspective huh? Perfect example of how it took me a while to catch on. Thanks to FB allowing met he ability to organize my friends into groups, I now have quite a few scrappers friended. I haven’t had the time to do the whole Fan thing though. A little too much to juggle at times I think.
I tried subscribing to Twitter a few times before I finally caught on to how it worked and why I might like it. One of the reasons why I like it so much is that it doesn’t demand anything from me. I’ve heard so many people complain about annoying it can be to visit a blog that is not regularly updated. I think then that I must have annoyed most people cause doing anything “regularly” appears to be impossible for me.
The thing with me, whether it is blogging, designing, scrapping, chatting….. is that I’m doing it primarily for me, and sharing what I do just in case it interests or appeals or resonates with someone else, then that’s a bonus! All of these tools are excellent networking tools, even if I don’t use them the way that I may be expected to. I’ve met some super cool people who stumbled in here google searching for something completely unrelated to scrapbooking. I keep coming back here to post updates because 5 years later it is the longest and most detailed account of my personal history that I have actually documented anywhere. Even with many scrap pages and albums, this space seems to hold more content and I feel a personal obligation to keep writing……sometimes rambling on and dancing from point to point, and occasionally dragging a reader along for the ride.
I’ve been watching a little Dr. Oz lately. He’s ok. He’s another quirky dude that seems a little like the misfit of Television Talk Shows, but that’s totally cool by me. His humanness certainly shines through. Every once in a while I will get a tidbit of information (like a cool low cal meal) that is useful. So I watch him.
His philosophy for weight loss includes making sure you have 10,000 steps a day. I’ve been walking on the treadmill every day for a month. Brisk walk is about all I can do, and all I really care to do. Today my new New Balance shoes arrived along with my shiny new pedometer. So first thing I did was pop them on and go down and have my walk. I’m almost caught up on the first season of Glee now. I have the entire season loaded on my laptop which sits on the treadmill’s laptop stand. Glee is a great show to walk to as the music and dancing keeps me pumped. I probably should have saved Lost to watch this way, but it’s a little late for that now.
So today I used the pedometer and what I discovered is that my 40 minute walk amounts to only 1/5 of the amount of steps that Dr. Oz insists of me. So I mention this to Mick and his response is “Don’t worry. You’ll get there. Baby steps.”
What kind of encouragement is that, I ask? I have no interest or intention to walk 5 times a day for 40 minutes and I told him so.
“But pretty soon you can start running.” he says
I don’t think so. I don’t want to build up to running. In fact, I think I may send the pedometer back, either that or I am attaching it to the dog and yelling “squirrel” a hundred times a day.
I’ve had one of his books for a couple of years now. I started to read it and it was very much in keeping with many other books I had on my shelf. I know it is a book that I want to spend some more time with but I had not really come to know the author. A week or so ago I went in search of some of his You Tube videos. I spent an entire night watching them and I have been coming back to them for second views. I have to say I really love this guy. What a weirdly, beautiful, quirky little Buddha he is. I highly recommend BEING HERE with him.
