Call for a design team

I'm sure I've said it before but I've accepted (for today, at least) that I am not superwoman & can't do it all by myself! The 'it' that I can't do, is supply all the layouts, class projects, member's only club projects, shop samples and gallery images to keep all our visitors entertained. And much as I'd love to keep all the yummy samples for myself (let's face it, who wouldn't) it's time to admit defeat & ask for some help.



So this is it: Crop 'Til You Drop is going to join the ever expanding number of shops that has a design team! Since we announced it first on the forum yesterday, there has been a flurry of activity, e-mails, personal messages & other related contact. It has caused more excitement than I had expected and instead of looking at it as defeat, I have to say, I'm getting quite excited too LOL.



There has been talk of bribes and thinly veiled attempts to get some inside info - all to no avail. I haven't yet decided how many team members there will be - or what exactly I'm looking for - but I want our visitors to have as wide a variety of inspiration that can be found both in store and on both galleries. So I'll be looking at all the submissions to see who will do that for me. I'm not necessarily looking for seasoned crafters, so I hope beginners will submit too & I'm not interested in age, gender, education, formal training or whether or not our team members have been published. So this call really is open to anyone.



All the details are here and I look forward to seeing all the submissions. I hope that the chosen design team members will make themselves visible - post on the forum, submit to our galleries and generally become part of the CTYD experience.



One of the things a design team will do for me, is take the pressure off. There are a couple of international design teams that I'd like to submit for but I know at the moment I just don't have the time. I've also been thinking about going back to writing for the craft press again - and I know I don't have the time. I'm also registered to do some online classes (to be taught, not to teach them) & I know I won't have the time LOL.



On thursday, for the first time in weeks, I designed a layout from scratch. I hadn't adapted one of my favourite designers' layouts, nor had the use of a sketch, but actually designed a layout from scratch ... It's soooo different to anything I have designed before & that is what I liked about designing in the first place. The opportunity to reinvent one's style each and every time - or to find a style and stick with it for a while until one is bored - the complete freedom to be whatever I want to be!

I read a thread on a forum today asking why people do not post comments on work they see & like. I know from conversations that I have, that this blog is read with interest, although I don't think I have ever had a comment posted. Perhaps if you like the layout (and even if you don't), you'd do me the honour of posting a comment - I'd like to see the feedback - but if you'd rather not, that's OK too.