Diary of a Designer #11

'Tis the Season 🎄

Dear Diary,

It has begun!

Today I walked out of my bedroom to find my 3 youngest girls sitting in eerie silence with a MOUNTAIN of Christmas cards piled in front of them, madly scribbling messages to friends.

Its worth noting that I'm using the term 'friends' VERY loosely here. judging by the 280 or so cards piled on the table (some of which had already fallen on the floor) every person alive, that they actually know the name of, will be the recipient of one of these Christmas cards.

The girls looked up from their epic task as I entered the room wide eyed at the scene before me and all at once started begging me to buy candy canes to put in with their cards. Darling Daughter number 2 stands up and declares

'we just need..... wait.... let me count! one, two, three....'

Coffee. 

All I could think of was that I just needed some coffee to make it through!!

As I listened, from the kitchen, to the counting continue, interrupted only by the occasional instruction to move this or that and then everyone groaning as they had to start again because they had lost count, I realised this marked the beginning of the next 6 weeks of my life.

 The silly season had arrived.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Our whole house will now descend down into an unending spiral of parties, end of year events, award ceremonies, get togethers, family reunions, gift hunting, gift wrapping, gift giving and gift begging.  

There's nothing for it... I just have to take a deep breath, put on my big girl pants and go and face it!

Filled with courage only a double shot skinny cappuccino can deliver, I headed back to Christmas Card Hell Central where I was informed they just needed me to buy 113 candy canes to finish their monumentally important task. 

I looked at the adorable creatures and told them they could have 10 each to give away, that if I caught them eating any I would cancel Christmas ( yes I'm looking at you Daisy) and that if I heard one complaint about it all I would also cancel Easter. 

They got ready for school and left in a cloud of dark brooding silence. Again I was struck by the sheer irony that children still use silence to punish adults!!?! Bring it on I say.

I happily trotted off to my workshop, I had been planning on doing a layout today but now I couldn't shake the feeling that I should really should be making some Christmas cards myself! 

And here's where my deep dark secret emerges... I loath making Christmas cards :( 

So much effort for cards that get admired for maybe 30 days then tossed out ... it's enough to make a grown craft lady cry. 

It might feel more worth it if you could give them out in about August!?

 And its the same theme over and over and over, year after year!!

I turned over the Christmas papers, chipboards and embellishments for an hour then swept them all aside and ran straight back into the arms of my first love .... a good old fashioned layout. 

I'll try cards again tomorrow, but today....

I got busy with this beautifully Australian Open Road collection from Kaisercraft.

I used a black sharpie pen on these chipboard words then a medium nib white gel pen to add the shine lines to each letter.

Dear Diary,

We had to eat dinner outside on the balcony last night as the great Christmas card ordeal of 2017 continues on the dining room table. Now darling daughter #1 has joined them and Darling Son #2!

 I've never been so pleased DS#1 doesn't ever leave his room and has only online friends, I assume he will send his online mates an online card? Actually thinking about it,  I dont know that he and his gaming mates will even know its Christmas? Probs not. 

I often wonder what my virtual reality, aname grandbabies will look like?

I attempted to sit down and make Christmas cards again today, but no ideas came to me at all, after a while I just gave up and decided to look up ideas on Pinterest.

Talk about going down the rabbit hole ... I was looking for 3 hours... 

and this was the only one I found that really tickled my fancy!!

Lets face it ... I'm just not a christmas card person.

So I did this layout instead...

Again using the Open Road Collection from Kaisercraft.

Dear Diary,

The disease is spreading ... today there are Christmas cards all over the dining table, the coffee table, the kitchen bench, and the end of the lounge .... WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? 

Apparently everyone is trying to 'sort' out their friend groups, or drive me crazy by covering every flat surface in the house!?! honestly I'm not sure which one is actually in play at this point?? 

I can promise you I'm getting over it all though. 

One more day and then I set fire to everything! 🔥

I didnt even attempt Christmas Card making today, I went straight into the comforting embrace of a layout. I have accepted that my Christmas cards this year ( just as they were last year) will be made from whatever is left over on the dining room table after the children finally pick all theirs up!

I did manage to calm down while scrapping though. Today I realised that scrapping is like therapy for me. I become calmer and more focused when I'm enjoying myself crafting, I'm able to let go of my anger and all my pyromaniac tendencies... which, lets face it, is only ever a good thing!

Todays Layout was made using the Wandering Ivy collection from Kaisercraft.

Dear Diary,

I'm happy to report that the Christmas cards are for the most part gone - YAY!

The kids sorted them all into bags last night ( Friends from school bag, friends from kids club bag, friends from the neighbourhood bag, friends from church bag etc) and off they went with them all this morning for delivery. There were just a few left on the dining table after that.

 I decided I would finish up early in the workshop today and write some out myself to send out, since there was a snow balls chance in hell that I was ever going to actually make one!

Today I returned to creating with the new Wandering Ivy papers from Kaisercraft.

After that fabulous crafty adventure, I was just the mood for writing messages to friends so I sat down at the dining table and got to it. But as I worked, I realised more people belonged on the Christmas card list, that I carried around in my head, than I first thought. I mean I cant give a card to that couple and NOT give one to those guys, that would look strange!?

I abandoned writing the cards in favour of writing a list of people I need to send cards to. 

And the list grew and grew.

I was madly scribbling names when my husband walked past and said something to me.

I looked up and asked what he had said?

'I'm going to town, do you need anything?'

From the corner of my eyes I glanced at the remaining cards on the table.

'can you please pick me up 53 Christmas cards and 64 candy canes?'

He turned fully to me then with an ironic look of incredulousness on his face and said flatly.

'I'll buy you 10!'

Then he promptly turned and started to walk away adding just as he exited the room

'and I better not catch you eating them!'

Excerpts From The Diary of a Designer #10

Excerpts From The Diary of a Designer #10

HSC Horror Stories…

Dear Diary...

I’m currently hiding in my wardrobe typing this.

Hiding may not seem like the bravest strategy but I promise you it’s the smartest one!

Darling Daughter #1 has just started her HSC exams and I swear to you I have never seen a more irrational, emotional and unstable teenage girl in my life. Are they all like this??

Earlier this morning she explained in depth her extreme frustration at the unjust HSC system that requires english students to memorise a ‘ridiculous’ number of quotes. Half an hour later she was in tears sure she would fail no matter what she did. Then she came home after the exam exclaiming that it wasn’t that bad!!?!

Her mood swings are giving me whiplash.

Now she's out in the lounge room stressing over the next exam tomorrow, so I’m staying safely tucked away in this comfy cupboard!

I did manage to get a few hours of peace in the middle of all that today though. I actually finished a whole scrapbook layout… My absolute favourite thing about Imaginarium designs chipboards is that they do the most beautiful and endearing titles, and this is of my favourites 💚

Well the battery on my laptop is almost done so I’m going to have to sign off for tonight. I can still hear DD#1 out there ranting at anyone in earshot so I might just enjoy the peace and quiet a moment longer here.

Dear Diary...

I noticed a distinct lack of people moving through the house this morning, when I did eventually locate several of the children I found out they too are doing their best to avoid their sister and her crazy moods DD#2,3 &4 all said they would rather not eat breakfast at all than have to listen to DD#1 rant even further about the distinct lack of polylogism in today's schooling environment.

I couldn't agree more. I stayed in the bedroom with DD#2 & 3 and we googled what Polylogism is and played some Plants versus Zombies before they snuck off to school and I snuck out to my workshop.

Everyone deals with stress in different ways …

my way is to tuck myself away with some fabulous papercraft supplies and see what is born 🙂

Today’s adventures yielded another scrapbook layout … this time a double! I rarely do doubles, but I was so inspired by these Heartfelt Creations papers that I just couldnt resist this time.

  

       

Dear Diary,

I can’t take this any more, there was no exam today but there was a torrent of tears as DD#1 asked me if would still love her if she failed to get into law school and ended up working at McDonalds for the rest of her life?

I have no idea where kids find the pressures they put on themselves … I’ve never asked her to be a human rights lawyer …. that was all her idea … I think the job she had at maccas for the last 3 years is awesome …. But somehow it's the worse-case-life-scenario for her now??

I don't think her teachers put that much pressure on her either, all I’ve ever heard them say is ‘just try your best’ … so what's this question about me not loving her anymore if she doesn't get a HSC mark of 99 or above???

I find empathy in light of my daughters first world problems difficult to muster …. I just think ‘you are a crazy person who cannot be reasoned with, please don’t speak to me anymore’

...but you know ….

Instead I hugged her and said ‘oh baby ….sadly If you don’t get into law school you will actually have to change your last name as your father and I will have no choice but to disown you!’

She rolled her eyes and stormed off to her room….I feel like I effectively made my point.

Shes punished me all day with the silent treatment ….. BEST DAY EVER!!

I got all these cards made thanks to said punishment.

It’s difficult for me to regret my sarcastic streak when it yields such pleasing results.

Just saying.

All the chipboards on these cards were simply coloured with ink and then painted over with crystalina kindy glitz.

Dear diary,

Disaster has struck …. While vacuuming in a very bad ( yet extremely persistent)  mood, DD#1 smashed her wrist and injured her writing hand. This resulted in unparalleled drama, the likes of which has never been seen in this house and I hope shall never be seen again! The tears were epic, the panic tantrum second to none, and my ability to help stave off the torrent non existent.

She went off to her Ancient History exam in considerable pain and did the whole 3 hours of writing with a bag of ice on her wrist. She didn't quite finish which is apparently ( if you are to believe anything DD#1 says these days) a fate WORSE than death!!

So half my day and the whole afternoon was spent chasing our family doctor for a medical ‘misadventure’ certificate. Thank heavens we only have one more exam to go!!

Dear Diary

The weekend saw DD#1 wrist heal quite nicely and this morning she headed off to her final exam like snow white going to greet the forest animals for brunch.

She was so happy we were all a little wary.

Apparently maths is her favorite subject so it attracted none of the usual angst we saw so much of last week. We were all relieved, but Son#2 did point out that she's just acting creepy now. I told him not to worry, if she didn't get into law school via the usual methods her father and I had decided to bribe the one furthest away from home to ensure we are never living with her again when she has to sit an exam. He greatly approve of this plan and offered a substantial amount of his savings to contribute towards it.

DD#4 actually turns 8 today and she loves all things ‘Paris’ themed so I used the Imaginarium Eiffel tower to create this cute card for her. She sternly reminded me this morning that she’s 'not a baby anymore' so I should stop making her all those pink glittery cards ( my favourites of course) so it was with some nostalgia I did my best to keep the little girl themes on the inside while I make this slightly more ‘grown up’ version…

This is the last of my 6 babies … turning 8 today!! When you think about it, only it’s 10 more years and she will be sitting the HSC too …. heaven help me…. may the years pass slowly.

Excerpts from the Diary of a Designer Volume # 6

The next exciting instalment from my monthly blurb over on the Imaginarium Designs blog...

There can be only ONE!

Tuesday the 16th of May 2017

Dear Diary...

Well there truly can only be one layout this month...

 and I'm seriously lucky I managed even that!!!

It all started in New Zealand... or Middle Earth as some know it...

[insert flashback music]

This was the picturesque location where I managed to soundly break my tailbone... I would like to lie say that it was while skiing on the slopes above the beautiful Queenstown...

but alas, I'm loath to admit, it was when I slipped off the side of a picnic table, in the middle of a dry river bed while filming an episode of 'The fellowship of the Burger Ring'...

Our family just couldn't help ourselves ... everytime we saw any location in NZ that reminded us of something from the Lord of The Rings or Hobbit movies, we would have to stop and film our own version of it... This of course was AWESOME beyond words. 

and even though it ultimately cost me dearly... it was still

 SO. WORTH. IT.

Nonetheless .... now I can't sit down for more than 3 minutes at a time!

What an unusually cruel form of torture for a scrapbooker ... 

after all sitting at my desk for hours on end is what I doooooo!! 

But I put on my big girl pants and got to work yesterday .... it was an utter miracle when I managed to finish this one page over the course of the last 2 days ... 

bit by bit I pulled it all together using Imaginarium Chipboards, Kaisercraft Keepsake paper collection and many stretching and walking breaks!! 😊

These are the beautiful chipboards I used on this layout...

Is it a coincidence that I chose a photo to scrap of my kids all laying down? 

Methinks not ... it really is on my mind all day every day... 

I think I will try scraping laying down tomorrow, 

I cant help but feel it's an experiment worth running with!

Wednesday the 17th of May 2017

Dear Diary...

Well the laying down scrapping experiment didn't go too well ... here it is:

I think I have effectively dispelled all myths and fantasies that it's possible to scrap while laying down ... so it's back to sitting. 

I simply can't face another layout so I'm sticking with cards for the rest of this week.

Here is my effort at an anniversary card using a beautiful chipboard title...

I got through the day... but oh mercy ... 

sitting still for ANY length of time is akin to the labours of Hercules!! 

I must return to the drawing board and come up with a new plan ... surely others have faced this same dilemma ( albeit there were likely alternate circumstances regarding the cause) ... 

I wonder if there's a support group out there for people like me?

*Not to self: Google whether there is an online support group for people who hurt themselves in stupid ways and can only seek help through the anonymous magic of the interweb.

Thursday the 18th of May  2017

Dear Diary...

A friend suggested this morning that I try using a blow up ring for sitting on my broken tailbone ...

 I figured I had nothing to lose so I gave it a go.

It wasnt going too badly actually until a couple of my kids came into the workshop and saw the blow up ring... they fell on the floor laughing and suggested that now we should film an episode of 

'Fellowship of the Butt-Ring'

I've decided those particular children don't get pocket money anymore!!

It wasn't until a friend dropped by and laughed and said something alarmingly similar to the children that my pride took over and I abandoned the 'butt-ring' all together. 

Nonetheless I did manage to finish one more card ...

Using these beautiful chipborads...

I created a gorgeous mottled look on this butterfly by covering it first with some metallic silver ink and then spraying over it with the same coloured mist I used on the title ( Marker Maniacs - Cinnamon Crunch).

And that is the end of me, diary ... I really can't manage any more sitting this month.

I will go now... find a good laying position on the lounge and wait there for just another 5 weeks or so. I'm thinking TV, Movies and popcorn...

And the Lord of the Rings Trilogy of course ...

 I've had a hankering to watch that for ages now!

Excerpts from the diary of a designer 2

No Pressure ...

Monday 2nd of January 2017

Dear Diary...

Cannot believe how beautiful it is at the beach ... heard from a friend in Casino that it hit 152 degrees Celsius yesterday!! Soooo glad we have taken this camping trip despite the ever present sand in my shoes/eyes/underwear.   Still. Worth. It !

Wandered up the 'high' end of the park this morning to try and get 2 bars of reception on my phone... if I stand just so with my tongue in just the right spot I can actually get my mail to download and look at facebook. The second I connected 10,000 mail messages appeared .... I waded through them and to my pure and utter delight I found out I made it onto the Imaginarium Design team .... YES! I did a fist punch to the air and promptly lost connection. 
. Bugger. 

After climbing a BBQ block I was able to reconnect and get a good look at my fellow designers .... OMGosh .... I'm not joking these girls are pretty much all spectacular designers.

I'm going to be honest here, I was a tad intimidated at the line up .... Alison Bevis, Leonie Neal-Dawson, Sonia Thompson, Tracey Fowler, Adriana Bolzen, Louise Nelson, Sandi Spink, Solange Marques, Chitose Nakamae, Karyn Schultz, Miriam Hagger, Belinda Spencer, Tanya Palamarchuk and for heavens sake .... Sue Smyth!! Thats Right SUE SMYTH!! 

These guys are ALL AMAZING .... a fact that really struck me while I stalkerishly Goggled them ... I'm feeling a bit worried about my ability to keep up with a group this talented! Not to mention there are certain people in this group who I'm pretty sure have some questionable video footage of me .... you know who you are!!  'Intimidated much Kel?' 

was the very question I was asking myself when I suddenly slipped and fell off the BBQ ... on the upside it was really relaxing in the air conditioned ER room at Taree District Hospital and the staff were all really very lovely :)

Friday 6th of January 2017

Dear Diary….

Am home from holidays …. I have determined that I will not let my awe of fellow designers intimidate me … I will just have to get extra clever in order to keep up with their brilliance :) 

The first chipboards I have to use are these brilliant arrows and chevrons …. 

I’ve decide to jump in with a set of cards … with beach holidays still fresh in my mind I chose some of Kaisercraft’s beautiful beachy 'Island Escape'  papers and made this set of 3 step cards… I kept the chipboards raw as they complimented the beachy feel of the papers perfectly as they were … I love it when embellishments can pull projects together with so little effort :)

then I spent the whole afternoon stressing that

 I just hadn’t put in enough effort!! 

‘Right’ I thought to myself …. 

tomorrow I’m going to do a layout where I actually 

DO SOMETHING TRICKY to the chip board! 

I so hope I dream of said tricky thing some time tonight!!?!

Saturday 7th January 2107.

Dear Diary...

Did not sleep a wink last night  and cannot think of anything Tricky!!!????!!!

Sunday 8th January 2017 

Dear Diary...

Slept like a log but was too overtired to remember dreams 

so if I did dream of something tricky it's long gone now!! :(

Monday 9th January 2017

Dear Diary...

OK so this is just silly now!!!!!!!

I feel like I have massive performance anxiety … 

do you think Sue Smyth has performance anxiety? 

Methinks NOT!! 

I bet if she spit on the ground something unbelievably 
creative and beautiful 

would form before it even landed!!

‘OK’ I thought to myself ‘enough of this nonsense … I’m just going to take my chipboard out and see what happens’ so thats what I did… and I was thrilled with the layout that popped out of my suspiciously uncooperative mind.

I ended up covering this ‘Lazy Days’ title, a round flourish frame and a set of double hearts with Colour Blast heavy white gesso, then using a hessian patterned background stamp and blue ink to stamp a pattern over them all. 

The blue ink helped to tie the chipboard into the blue background of the layout and the blue wisteria pearl vine that I layered around the photo.

getting my hands on the products was all I really needed to do I think because quick as a wink I grabbed some more of this beautiful paper range ( Cherry Tree Lane collection from Kaisercraft) and did a second layout … this time using some glimmer mists to colour butterfly chipboards and black ink and a white gel pen to make the ‘Little Cutie’ title pop. 

I used more of the black ink to create splatters in the background and a sharpie to draw black doodling around the outside that tied the whole layout together. 

   

I just adored those butterfly chippies … and the best bit of all was when I sprayed the chipboard thoroughly with the purple glimmer mist it caused the butterflies wings to arch up slightly … once I stuck their centres down they still had the perfect little natural lift to their wings :) 

I thought this was very tricky!! lol

Tuesday the 10th of January 2017

Dear Diary...

In my house now there are 7 children at home on holidays … for this reason I have decide to abandon the house all together . 

It is a sign of my superior reasoning skills that I can assess and accurately understand the situation as it currently stands … if I clean a surface at this present time it will take roughly 7.5 seconds for someone to dump something on that clean surface ... therefore there is no point in cleaning anything again until the 30th of January when they all return to school where they belong!!

I am not lazy …. 

I am the smartest woman alive!!

So I spent yet another full day out in my workshop creating while my beautiful family continued to spread the school holiday carnage.

I think I’m actually on a roll now …. I have all these beautiful ornate chipboard frames that Imaginarium sent me and I know just what to use them for :)

Kiah wants to redecorate her pigsty of a bedroom in a vintage country theme.

I explained to her that you can decorate a wheelie bin any way you like…

 in the end it’s still just a place for garbage!

She insisted that she would be significantly more inspired to clean her room completely if she had some new decorations to hang in there.

I live in hope….

I am the dumbest woman alive!!

So today I decided to make her a banner in the vintage country theme.

These are the chipboards I used ….

I also used a bunch of flowers and leaves from various companies, white paper doilies and a bunch of gorgeous funky fibers. 

This was soooooo fun to make …. Im overjoyed at how it turned out and really felt like I had succeed in channelling my inner Sue Smyth :)

Kiah  loved it and thought I was extremely tricky :)

With the leftovers from this creative forey I managed to squeeze out one more step card as well 

The extra chipboard I added was this beautiful Imaginarium flourish which anchored the card perfectly.

And so I am done!

I have no more tricks up my sleeve.

It's going to be quite a year trying to keep up with this brilliant new DT

I'm sure this shove in a new direction will do me the world of good :) 

No pressure right?

www.kellyanno.com

www.kellyanno.com