where in the world is mel hains...

helloo everyone! 

its been a loooong long time so let me bare all.  

it has been one crazy year.  dont you feel like that too?  it kinda seems like everyone is in the same boat, 2011 was a hard challenging year.  personally, i am glad 2011 is winding down.  i am keen to start 2012 anew with new challenges and please... a new fresh beginning. 

for those of you who dont know me too well, here goes.  

hi!  my name is mel.  i am a digi scrap designer .... uuuhmm.. well.. thats not entirely true is it?  since i started digiscrapping and designing, i have had a full time job as well.  soo, i was(hint!) a part time digiscrapper and designer.  all the other designers out there will know that to be a designer is not for the faint hearted.  the pace in scrapland is absolutely crazy.  i am sure there are a lot of designers already busy designing their Valentine's kits or even Easter kits.  yes.  that is how far ahead we have to plan, to get our stuff out just at the right time and to give our creative teams time to come up with their wonderful works of art. 

over 2011, i have closed my personal store, joined the fabulous my memories and hoped for the best.  needless to say, hoping will not get you there.  no way.  if you are just hoping for the best in scrapland as a designer, you will soon be closing up shop, frustrated and wondering, what went wrong. 

never mind scrapland, cause like we all know, we still do have personal lives and children and husbands and  etc. etc. etc...   damien and i also have MAD photography to worry about, which brings me to my other passion, photography.  we have had a really challenging year with MAD too.  damien and i had to learn to appreciate each others passions, to understand each others weak points and to work together as a team.  it is NOT easy working with your partner.  not for us anyways.  damien and i are both passionate people.  sometimes there is a bit less passion and a bit more bickering.  sometimes a LOT more bickering.  sometimes, well, lets just say, we can still be professional whilst secretly wanting to kill each other.  i realised in october this year, after much tears that you will always have a half baked business if you only give it half of your time. 

basically, my life this year felt like i was constantly putting out fires, constantly trying to catch up, feeling guilty until i finally realised.. SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GIVE. 

in the current economic climate all over the world, me, quitting my corporate, well paying job, seemed like suicide.  especially if you were taught all your life to play it safe, make sure you have a new job before you quit your old one and plan everything to the last possible detail.  never mind telling people you are now going to pursue your dream, and not just any dream, an airy fairy dream of taking pictures, making pretty kits to scrap them digitally and to then design them all up in an album.  NEVER!!! are you crazy??  is it financially viable??  will you make enough money to survive?  or the worst response, ooooh... and the blank stare that follows.   in the beginning i tried to justify myself, but i soon realised that i cant do it and even more so, i dont need to justify myself to anyone.  it is hard though, i am not gonna lie. 

i had many discussions with my mom, my friends and damien.  i looked for answers everywhere.   

so i did it. 

life is grand isnt it.. if you are walking around looking for answers, you will surely find them.  on the last day of october, i handed in my resignation and left my secure cushy corporate job on the last day of november for the life of a photographer / digital scrapbook designer / album designer.  this is what i always wanted to do.   i have always said that i needed a chance to do it, to give it my all and to do what i really wanted to do.   i have resigned myself to going back to the corporate life if this does not work out (which may seem premature or negative, but i am a realist too) but this is an itch that needs to be scratched.  

so here i am, shall we try it again?

hi!  my name is mel and i am a FULL TIME  digiscrap designer / photographer/ album designer!  i am busy designing up a storm, you will definitely see me around more often.  

my store at my memories is filling up nicely, you will even find all my christmas items on sale.   i am also teaching myself how to use the my memories software, it is pretty awesome!  i will post a lot of my updates on facebook, read my page here.  

thanks for reading.  its good to be back. 

much love,