It all started about 6 months ago, when Amber put out a call for a Focus Group. We had a sketch by D2 (DeeDee) to interpret into a project. At first, I was like "Nope, I don't do sketches". But after some encouragement and some thought, I put together a layout and turned it in. And that was the beginning of a wonderful experience. Being part of the Focus Group encouraged me to do things I had not done before, with one of them taking part of a Blog Hop. We were given monthly challenges to do and I enjoyed doing all of them except for one (1) and that was because I was out-of-state for a funeral and didn't have time to shop for supplies. We answered questions from Amber, Jon, and even each other. Some were crafty related and some were not so much.
Anyway, I'm getting off subject here . . . So recently, there was a call out for CropChocolate's new Design Team with the term being July 2012 - December 2012. Once again, I was like "nope, no can do". I mean, have you seen the work of the current Design Team? There would be some pretty big shoes to fill. But after some thought and my asking my favorite question "What's the worse that can happen?", I took a leap of faith and submitted two (2) projects for consideration.
One of the requirements for being on the DT was to have a blog . . . so that pushed me off the ledge and here I am. You have seen a few of my projects posted, but so far they have only been for NSD challanges on CropChocolate. But the DT call was going to be different because my projects would be judged based on criteria determined by the sweet folks of CropChocolate (Jon & McCall) along with a 3rd person who had yet to be decided. And there would only be 10 spots to fill on the DT.
I would like to take a minute or so to say that the current design team has some super, duper :) talented ladies on it. I have been so inspired by them and their projects. So I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to all of them for all of your time, effort and creativity you gave this past year. You have left some pretty big shoes to fill. You can check their work over at The Crop.
Okay, so I had to submit two (2) projects - one (1) that reflects me as a crafter and tell how does it reflect ME; and one (1) that was "out-of-my-box" and why I chose this as my out-of-the-box. For both projects, 50% needed to be CC products. I also had some questions to answer - "Why do you feel you would be a good fit for the CCDT?" and "What inspires me?". My projects and answers have been submitted. But before I tell you who was picked, I'd like to share my projects and how I came about them . . .
My first project - "1 that reflects ME as a crafter . . . tell how it reflects ME"
My first project is a layout titled "Time Flies". When I was thinking of who I am and what made me who I am today, three (3) things came to mind . . . I'm a 2x cancer survivor, a mom & a wife. As I was thinking of those, it dawned on me that it's been 16 years since my 1st cancer diagnosis, 9 years since diagnosed with Leukemia & my stem cell transplant, my daughter would be turning 16 years old at the end of May, and I've known my husband for 20 years . . . oh, my, how "time flies". So I had my title. Since I still had difficulty looking at pictures during my cancer years, I decided to use my daughter as my subject for my layout. Here's what I came up with:
My 2nd Project - "Something that is completely out-of-your-box" and why I chose this project as my Out-of-the-Box project"
My "out-of-the-box" project is along the same line as 1st project . . . "Thru the Years".
A few years ago, I saw at a craft show some wood block w/ sayings along with smaller blocks for pictures. I always wanted to try decoupage (Modge Podge) and wood but was intimidated. So it was filed away in my head as "to try someday". When I had to chose an out-of-the-box project for my DT submission, I immediately thought of that because I was still intimidated by decoupage (Modge Podge) and wood . . . and had yet to try using either of them for a home decor item.
You can say my project progressed from one idea to another. Originally, I started out w/ a 2x4 and a 2x6. I cut them to the sizes I wanted (3.5" squares from the 2x4 - because a 2x4 is actually 1.5"x3.5"; and 5.5" squares from the 2x6 because actual measurements are 1.5"x5.5"; and one piece that was 2x6x20"). But as I went through my pictures, I couldn't choose just 4-6. So I ended up cutting my wood down to 1.5" blocks instead . . . ended up with dozens blocks. :) So I was able to use dozens of pictures throughout the years. One thing I love about this project is how I can arrange them differently to fit my mood or where I 'm going to display them.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my projects as much as I enjoyed doing them. (I'll get tutorials posted next week for both projects.) And as I've said many times to friends and my hubby, even I don't get chosen for CCDT, I learned how to do decoupage thru trial & error and now have a great display of pictures which I can add more blocks to "thru the years". :) Here's my 2nd project:
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| 1st arrangement |
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| Another arrangement . . . |
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| and another arrangement . . . |
Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer . . . I am now part of the most amazing Design Team. I am a CropChocolate Chocolatier!!!!! You can not even imagine how excited I was when I got the news . . . I jumped around doing my "happy dance", clapping my hand while my daughter just looked at me and rolled her eyes. :) I am still in a bit of shock, but so very excited. I am also a little intimidated by the talent I have to follow . . . as I said before, we have some pretty big shoes to fill. And, even though I am a little intimidated, I am looking forward to the challenge. I hope I don't disappoint!
So "Thank You" CropChocolate for selecting me and "Thank You" Amber for being such a great leader and a pleasure to "work" with!!!
Till I'm up in the night. Kathy
PS I'll be posting tutorials for both projects later this week. :)
