Saturday, April 27, 2013

Made the Graphic 45 Design Team - 2013!!

I made Graphic 45's 2013 Design Team!! Pinch me, I am still dreaming!!


The competition from the beginning was fierce. If you browse the Ning site on any given day, you'll see pages upon pages of beautiful work from designers all over the world. Making the top 30 completely floored me - and to have made it to the end, well, there are no words! 

Exactly two years ago, I began my journey papercrafting. If you told me back then that I would be designing for the paper company that immediately caught my heart, I would've laughed! Well, all I can continue saying is THANK YOU to Graphic 45 and to all my beautiful blog friends who have supported and encouraged me. And of course, thank you GOD for leading me to the most amazing passion I could ever pursue!

If you haven't already, you should visit the top 16's blogs and final submission videos. I am STILL going through them all myself - I'm trying to watch them completely uninterrupted, so I can really enjoy and immerse myself in the new team!! These people are ridiculously talented; it's kind of scary, actually. So it's an honor to design alongside such greats. 

I wish all 30, heck, everyone who tried out could also be on the team ... I know what it's like to pour your heart into something and not get where you want to. That was me last year when I tried out. But you know, I didn't let disappointment stop me - and I encourage those of you who auditioned to keep on keeping on; to look for improvements in how you do things (I learned to take better photos, I pushed myself creatively and sought out teaching opportunities); and to simply not give up. If it's your dream, work at it with all your heart and one day it could come true! 

Enough of my Saturday morning diatribe - without further ado, here are the links to the final design team, taken from the Graphic 45 blog: 

1. Alberto Juárez– Spain


FInal Round Submissions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0NFx9h1_zo &

3. Annette Green– USA

4. Arlene Cuevas - USA
Final Round Submissions:
Tutorial Part 1 of 2 (Mixed Media tutorial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUX6d7panGY&feature=youtu.be
Tutorial Part 2 of 2 (Scrapbook Page tutorial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddbUIUAOWjQ&feature=youtu.be

5. Clare Charvill - United Kingdom

6. Denise Hahn - USA
Final Round Submission: http://vimeo.com/63864642

7. Denise Johnson – USA

8. Karen Shady – Australia

9. Maiko Miwa – Japan

10. Maria Cole – USA (that's me!! holy smokes!!)
Final Round Submission: http://vimeo.com/64284925

11. Miranda Edney – USA

12. Nichola Battilana – Canada

13. Olga Struk – Ukraine

14. Rhea Freitag – USA

15. Romy Veul – Netherlands

16. Susan Lui – Singapore

9 comments:

Nichola said...

Congratulations! Can not believe how fabulous all of the finalists were. I'm so happy to be on the team with you and can't wait to get to know you better.

Rhea said...

Congrats to you too! I resonate with all that you said in your post, as I am new to the crafty world too. I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you and the rest of the team. Cheers!

Paula Calvanico said...

Amen Maria :) even though I always feel pinched for lack of a better term, I will keep trying till I make it. In the meantime I will enjoy all your creations. I look forward to this year!

Paula

Sandra said...

So so so happy for you, Maria! Congrats again! Wish you all the best on this DT. I'm sure you're gonna be great and have lots of fun! Hugs, Sandra

LISA said...

Your submissions were, are, simply amazing!! I can not tell you how happy I am for you!! Graphic 45 is one of those companies, who makes the most amazing paper designs,that I have trouble working with...It is just me. BUT, I know that you and the team, are going to inspire me to no end, and I will end up wanting EVERY paper collection they make!!! so congrats my scrappy friend...Most of all, be creative and have fun!!!

Sabrina said...

I was so happy to see that you had made it, Maria! You have such beautiful projects, and I look forward to seeing all that you create over the next year for Graphic 45! hugs

MrsFox said...

All of the submissions are just amazing. It's so fun to gaze at all the inspiring works.
Maria, I can't wait to see what you do with Bohemian Bazaar, what a vibrant palette to work with!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Marie! I must say I am NOT surprised! Your work is incredibly beautiful and you're a great teacher as well!

Karen Shady said...

Congratulations to you also Maria.. Your work is amazing :) I feel the same way as you to have been selected as part of this amazing team, and yes, a little intimidated by the imense talent of the design team (you included) You video was brilliant, very surprised that it was your first... I look forward to working with you, and seeing what amazing work you create xx