Thursday, August 03, 2006

And the countdown begins . . .

as school starting is a mere two weeks away. Two weeks. YIKES. I got an agenda in the mail today for the first staff meeting, as well as important dates to remember, and I felt faint. Truly. You see it is such a mental switch to go from summer vacation to "back to school" mode. It's tough. And it gets tougher every year. (Does that mean I'm old? Well heck yeah!) So I am going to school tomorrow to meet with a new teacher, and visit my classroom. Start to get my "head in the game" if you will. Oh boy. Here we go!

I got my KI entry to the post office. It is now going postal. Not me, the package. And Daniel (one of the wisest people I know) from DesignerZine challenged me to knock off the "no expectations" self-defeating talk and have some confidence. His quote about my hedging as far as my entry was this, "Modesty may be a virtue, but self confidence is not a 'sin'!" Words to live by.

Why is that so tough for me? Maybe because saying that I don't expect anything from the contest will make it seem like it mattered less than it does. You see, it matters. I have loved KI from the beginning of my scrapbooking. The bold colors, the geometric patterns, love it all. Own it all. I could do a hundred albums with all of the KI stuff I own. Yep, heavy user. And this is my dream gig. Oh, don't get me wrong. There are a lot of companies I would love to design for, but KI holds a special place in my heart. It is the line I go to when I need to do a quick, bold layout. Everything just comes together for me. I call it my "KI Therapy."And yep, I'll be crushed if I don't win. Crushed. But my entry is a good one, and I didn't talk myself out of even trying for it. I tried, but I followed through. And I haven't done that in the past. Because it matters. THERE. I said it.

So breaking out of my comfort zone AGAIN, (entering this contest took me way out of my zone,) I did a layout today that was specifically for a call. Usually I just look through my layouts for ones that I have already done to find one that fits a particular call. To me, designing specifically for a call is putting yourself out there for rejection. Weird, but true for me. I guess my theme is "ego-preservation," and I can just hear Dr. Phil asking me, "Kay, how is that working out for you?" Well, Dr. Phil, it's not. All of my self-preservation has kept me standing still in this industry. And if I want to move forward, I need to change some of my ways. So I completed a winter layout for the CK call. It is my goal to get a page pubbed with CK, and if I am to meet that goal, I'd better get off my can and make something happen. And guess what line I used? KI. Of course.

So that's my Thursday. Hope you have a good one. And make sure you say hi if you visit my blog. I love that!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Rooting for you! I can testify of your unbridled passion for KI! Heh. Good luck!

Jami said...

HI!!!
Kay my dear I am so happy that you did it. As Mary said it will be KI loss if you do not win, but I have a feeling that this is it. I really do, because you are the KI queen. If I could vote I would vote for you. Kay for KI.

Betsy V said...

Hey Kay!! Just popping in to say GOOD LUCK!!! Your work is awesome and there is no reason why you won't win the KI contest hands down. :-)

Melanie said...

I hope you win Kay, I just love your LOs... I think I've told you that before! Also I hope you get pub'ed in CK... I subscribe (to the Aussie issue) but I'm always looking out for one of yours!

We've heard about the heatwave over there - yes it's even made the news here in Australia - I don't know what the temp is in Fahrenheit, but they said it is about 37 celsius. We are in the end of winter here atm, and it is around 22 celsius and our summer's here (in my town) get to around 38-40 celsius and that's normal (subtropical, you see) so I can sympathise with you about the humidity... I guess the diff is we're used to it and to be truthful, I prefer it to the cold. I've never even seen snow! Anyway I hope it breaks for you soon - love those stormy nights!

Take care and good luck (oh and I've included a link to your blog from mine as you're a big inspiration for me, hope you don't mind.)

Anonymous said...

Glad you & Dr. P had a good session, Kay! Every now & again, I have a chat with Sigmund F, myself.

There is a vast difference between creating because we enjoy it & working in the 'Industry'. It's one of the toughest hurdles any designer faces. I suspect it may be bit tougher for the scrapbook designer due to the intensely personal nature of the craft.

BTW? How about sending me an e-mail? I'm not sure the Dz mail is working on a regular basis...

Amanda said...

I think this is a much better, healthier perspective for you to have on the whole thing. Good luck and I hope you win!