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The Chronicles of Nani On Video

I am overcoming my inability to type with my ability to talk (and talk and talk and talk) I'll be posting a video every week on my YouTube channel. I'll be posting those videos here too along with an occasional regular blog in the mix. (As long as my hands are up to doing the extra typing.)

You'll be able to watch the videos here, but I encourage you to stop by my channel at YouTube once I'm up and running to follow me and get my numbers started!


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Contact Nani at
chroniclesofnani@gmail.com

Monday, August 25, 2008

Has Daddy's Little Girl Got It?

I’ve been toying with the thought of trying my luck in the SAS Designer contest. Now, my ego is not telling me that I’m as good as the ladies I work for on their CTs! I was using Darlene’s products when I first stared Digital Scrapbooking and I was in love with Sherrie’s work the first time I saw it and downloaded her “Bountiful Harvest” kit last fall. But I do know that working with their kits and Beckie Wallace’s kits as a guest CT member in June, I’ve learned a lot about designing.

In the spring I tried my hand at digi-scrap designing and it was fun! I’m proud to say that there have been over 500 downloads of “Train, Train” and I’ve enjoyed seeing a few layouts using my kits. It’s very gratifying. It’s also a lot of creative fun. I think my layouts get better and better as I progress in my hobby, again thanks to the wonderful designers I work for, but I also come up with new ideas for my layouts while trying to come up with new design ideas. They work well together!

So now I’m thinking I may just try the SAS designer contest. Darlene was incredibly helpful in answering my questions about what would be expected of me if I do manage to make it all the way and have a store. She was very honest about the balance of what I’d be required to give and what I’d get in return. I think the obligation is something I could handle. I don’t really expect to win, but I wouldn’t enter if I wasn’t going to honestly try and I wanted to be sure I could meet the obligation before I gave it serious consideration.

Even if I enter and don’t win, I’m not in bad company. Sherrie’s first go at designing professionally was in the same contest last year. She went far in the contest but didn’t win. Now she’s an exclusive designer at the shop that was way up there on her list of places she’d like to sell. You learn a lot about deadlines and requirements. The contest also gives you an opportunity to get critiques from other designers, opens your work up to a larger audience and of course, that gives analyst junkie me and opportunity to see what appeals to people and what doesn’t!

All this contest stuff brings me to today’s freebie!

I checked out the first round requirements from last year’s contest. There was a swatch, and a requirement for 6-12 papers and 6-10 embellishments. Recolored items count as one embellishment, same with recolored papers of the same design. The rules for this year tell me that the assignment for each level to the contest is given at 9 am on Thursday and the entry must be posted by 6 PM the following Monday. As part of a hobby I share with a lot of stay at home Moms, I have a bit of a disadvantage there. The career potential isn’t lucrative enough to “quit my day job.” or quit looking for my day job! So the big question for me is “What kind of quality can I produce within that small a window of time??” I worked on “Train, Train” for a couple weeks! Then again, I did “Printemps Classique” in one industrious weekend.

So today was my test run. I made myself a swatch and started working at 3:30 PM. I finished the preview and upload to 4 Shared at 12:30 AM, taking a break for dinner. (David cooked!) A good chunk of the contest is votes from members at Stone Accents Studio. I’ll ask everyone who downloads to leave me a comment here and tell me what you think. Should I give it a try? Do YOU think my work with an exact deadline in mind is worthy of putting in the competition?

And there will still be Digitalegacies freebies here! That’s not going to change! Take a look at some of the designers’ blogs I have links to, the best freebies seem to come from the creative buzz of doing it all the time!

So without more prattle, here is my practice kit, or qualifier. “Daddy’s Little Girl” was inspired by the heritage project I’ve been working on. Lots of pages of Pop and me and some of my brother and his girls. It’s big on the pinks and purples Rina and Tori were identified with when they were babies and the yellow that represents the sunshine little girls bring into a Daddy’s heart!

sorry, this link is expired


Mug Shot will be here Monday evening
Sample layout with “Daddy’s Little Girl,” probably Tuesday at lunch.

7 comments:

Edna B said...

Nani, you did a wonderful job on your kit. I, too, entered before and only made it through two weeks. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by entering.

When I make my kits, I am amazed at the number of people who actually like them and download them. It gives me the incentive to learn and do more.

Good luck. Hugs, Edna B.

Anonymous said...

I say GO FOR IT girl!!! Your kit is absolutely beautiful! I love seeing how many people download my freebies too, but the real wow is when I see someone who has actually done something with it. (Much like your page with my Independance day kit) I'll definately stop by SAS to check out how you're doing. Wishing you all the best! Thanks for stopping by today too.

Anonymous said...

This is gorgeous. I'm going to take some more pics of my daughter with and without her dad. Just so I can use it. I say go for it!

Anonymous said...

thanx

Anonymous said...

High five, go for it. You have nohting to lose as the other ladies have said. Wishing you good luck in entering the contest. I like the way you used yellow in your kit. And I'd love to see more work from you : ) Aloha!!

Anonymous said...

This is such a beautiful kit. It will be perfect for the pictures I just took of my granddaughter and her daddy. I say enter the contest. It will be another learning experience in life. I think you will do great. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Excellent kit, good luck in the contest. Go for it!