The New Site

Welcome to the unveiled 2009 edition of AfriDigiDiva Designs.
Over the next few months, it is my hope to bring to you new and innovative designs that I've learned from my mentors over the past months. The one lesson that has been pounded in my head is that this is for me and I am trying to please myself and my customers. Other designers are rarely so open or free with advice. Again I feel blessed.

Tonight, I'll be doing alot of designing, packaging. Tomorrow, it will be more of the same!


PEACE!
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Still Undecided!

I'm still becoming accustomed to different formats and I'm not sure what I'm going to settle on for which blog or even if I'm going to have more than one blog. This is just one of those long processes that I have yet to think through.

Thank you all for bearing with me while I go through this transition phase. In the meantime, I'm going back to work, to see if I can find something that reflects a little more of me.


Keep the faith!
Happy New Year!


PEACE
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Merry Christmas (or Not)

Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible,low stress, nonaddictive, gender neutral, winter solstice holiday,practiced within the most joyous traditions of the religiouspersuasion of your choice, and with respect for the religiouspersuasions of others or their choice not to practice a religion atall; a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medicallyuncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year2004, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of othercultures whose contributions to our society have helped make Americagreat, without regard to the race, creed, color, religious, or sexualpreferences of the wishes.
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It impliesno promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes forher/himself or others.


PEACE!
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UPDATE ONE

I have been designing like you wouldn't believe. So much so that I have hardly had time to do much else. I've been working on new schemes, new themes, preparing for the new year.
I'm also fighting depression because my birthday is coming up. I'm still not quite sure I feel about being so close to 50.

I've also recognized that I can't just use this particular blog for design ideas. Designing, as the new year starts, will become more and more of my life. I'll try to post more personal issues --my recipes, my hopes, dreams and all that fun stuff that helps you get to know me better.

Amanda Rockwell has a wonderful class at at ScrapArtist . She has some really great tutorials and the price to join considering all that is available is very affordable.

I'm fortunate that Amanda, Cindy Ritter, and Stacey Crossley have taken me under their wings. I feel like I'm being mentored by the best, most original, most creative confident designers there are in this industry. What I love about all of them is that this is really a business for them, not a hobby, not something to do to kill time. They are setting great examples and for me they have raised the stakes. I think I'm up to the challenge.

PEACE!
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Design Classes Anyone?

I have been receiving mentoring from some of the best designers in the digiscrapping business. For the sake not having any controversy, I'm not going to name them here, but they all know who they are.
For weeks now, they have been cramming my brain with color theory, design ideas, marketing plans. I am slowly shaping a business. I am becoming a business. I am enjoying the transformation.

So within the next few weeks, look for not necessarily a "better" me, but certainly a "different" me. I'll give you updates as I move along. PEACE! ADD

A Class Act

There is a designer whose email tonight nearly brought me to tears. Let me go back.
I know I'm not even close to the best designer out there. I try really hard to produce a quality product, but even so, sometimes, it just doesn't cut the grade that others would like to see.

In this industry, we spend too much time being unnecessarily nice. We need to accept and face the fact that sometimes the truth hurts. And that sometimes it is necessary that we be the bearer of that truth.

I had applied several times to a store that I really liked, a store that I aspired to --my Neiman's if you will. The owner never responded to my queries. So fast forward a a year and I find myself added to her friends list on a mutual group, uninitiated by me. Well of course, it begged the question from me of how she could add me as a friend, but not respond to an inquiry about a position at her store. I thought it was a mistake and that as soon as she realized it was me she would remove me and that would be the end of it. Instead, I received this:

"I apologize for not responding to your letters. Sometimes it's very difficult to tell someone you are not interested in their work. I have visited your store several times and even your blog (which i believe i left you a message there, perhaps you never got it). I did wish i could offer you a spot at*********but your style just does not fit. While you seem perfectly suited for the stores you are at in order to get into some of the other stores you would need to push your designs and packaging in a new direction. I'm not sure if you are willing to do that. In this industry i find we all have our own style of working. So depending on your goals you kind of have to decide how much you are willing to change. Or if in fact you even want to.
If you'd like some suggestions i'd be more than willing to help you out."


How cool is that! How classy is that? All this time, I thought she was being a stuck up, arrogant... well you get the idea. She was sparing MY feelings. You know, I've been hurt by so many people intentionally, that it never occured to me that someone would actually try to spare me pain. I am blown away. I want to thank her. I want to apologize. I want to give her my phone number, pick her brain, find out everything, sit at the side of the mistress and learn.

This wonderful designer woman is a class act. This is rare that she would not only try to spare my feelings (most of the designers don't even think I have feelings), but she offered to help me become better at what I want to do.

Thank you to you, Miss Anonymous Designer. You know who you are!




PEACE!
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Out of my Mind? Well Yeah

I thought that I was going to be cutting back on everything, concentrate more on my family, find more time --much more time-- to concentrate on me. I put away fabric and patterns, stopped reading trade manuals and magazines. Literally, I was going to start being a casual observer of life. But those who know me, know well that I am anything but a casual observer of anything, particularly life so that idea lasted long enough for me to get my harddrive repaired.

Now I'm in two new stores (5 total), 6 if you include my own personal place. I know, I know it's not what I should have done, but I'm so incredibly pleased with my acquisitions. I love my new stores. I'm so excited I could just spit!

I know those of you that see me around DST will notice the changes in my siggy (if anyone has been paying attention) so once I have my stores up and running with products, I'll be ready to announce.

Would you all pray for me please that I'm not spreading myself too thin, that I'm not getting in over my head? Right now, I'm just trying to make sure I've got enough new and interesting and good, solid products to please the masses.

I'll be rolling out more stuff for you guys later this week!


PEACE!
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