Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Alyeska

Good morning! I think I could use some caffeine this morning or something because it's slow-going for me! Zzzz

This is a layout I created using one of the templates from the 25 days of December class by Tiffany Tillman. I have learned to really appreciate templates. They come in handy when I haven't a clue in how I want to arrange pictures. I really like the simplicity of this page.



This morning I've been thinking about all of the things I feel like I want to accomplish and want to focus on. I feel overwhelmed. There are so many things I could add to my plate. Just recently I started to seriously look into becoming a digital scrapbook product designer. It's all overwhelming to me, but I know it's something I really want to pursue. There are many times when I want to give up on it, but then I have people in my life like Quent who supports me and encourages me. I am so thankful for him! About a month ago he asked me if I would rather have a printer or Adobe Illustrator for my birthday. His question came as a shock and surprise to me because he usually keeps quiet about such things. And then it took me like 2 minutes to finally answer his question because I didn't know what to answer. I weighed out the two options before me, and it was a really hard decision to make. I've always had plans for hybrid, so the printer would make sense for that, but then I thought about how much I want to get into design. So I told him Illustrator. Well, he still surprised me when we returned from Christmas vacation when he handed me my gift in it's orginal packaging and it was the Adobe Creative Suite. *faint* I'm so spoiled! I love that guy! For my birthday, he gave me a card and inside he wrote that he wanted to purchase my web domain for my design business. I had looked into this before and was quite discouraged because some of the domains I would have picked were already taken. But he did some research and picked out several different options. I seriously almost started crying when I read his card. It's so wonderful to know that someone believes in you and is there to push you when you need pushing.

So I've been gathering notes, sketching things out, and looking into the scrapbook world to see what's popular. There are so many things I could design, but I'm realizing more and more that even in design I have to be true to my style. I want to create what *I* would like to use when creating layouts. There are my "go to" things and then there are products that come in kits that I have never touched and will never touch.

I realize that I need to be patient with myself because I need to build up my skills. It will be awhile before I have kits and an open store. It could be months from now, or even a year. Who knows! But I do know that I need to learn and grow in this area because there's a lot of learning and growing that needs to take place. And I also want to make sure I'm careful. I want to make sure I'm staying true to my style and that I'm still creating and enjoying the whole process. I can see myself easily being swept away with design and forgetting about scrapbooking, and I definitely don't want to do that. So I'm learning about balance, too. And I definitely know that whatever I think I have planned in my mind won't work out anyway, so I better just decide to go with the flow right now. Ha!

My word for 2010 (discipline) sounds so scary to me! I keep on thinking about it and I cringe. That probably means I really need it! Ha!

Oh, and before I sign off, I wanted to let you know about a class I'll be taking. It's called Illustrator 101: Designing for Yourself. It's through Jessica Sprague's site and the instructor is Carina Gardner. I'm really excited about it! What perfect timing!

P.S. Thank you all for your sweet birthday greetings! I had a great birthday! We were with Quent's brother and his wife for a few days in Anchorage before and after Christmas. On my birthday we went shopping, ate at a great Alaskan restaurant called The Moose's Tooth (pizza!! Yum!!) and we saw the movie The Blind Side (it's awesome!!! I highly recommend this!!).
Posted by Picasa

4 comments:

listgirl said...

Hi Christina! I'm signed up for that Illustrator class too! I'll see you there!

Jamie R. said...

Christina, you can do it. Just think how far you've come since you peered into that Jessica Sprague magazine not that long ago. You've got PASSION and that will take you places you never thought you could go. I got the Brushabilities class (JSprague) for Christmas. The self-paced ones are the only ones I can get to and even then it takes me 2 months to complete a one-week course. Ha-ha. Enjoy your Illustrator class.

Kelley Eubanks said...

Hey girl.... you are awesome and can do anything you put your mind to... I can see that all the way in TN! :) Just remember to breathe!! :)

Winter said...

What a sweet husband! Mine is pretty awesome too, he believes in me, when sometimes I don't believe in myself! My husband and I have talked about designing stamps one day, not now, but maybe in the future! You never know! Good luck in your journey! :)