Get to know Meredith Cardall Designs!

Wow, time flies when your highlighting great designers every week! This is the last week of September and our Feature Designer is Meredith Cardall. You know by now what to do, sit back and grab your beverage of choice (mine is coffee or cider) and let’s get to know her better, shall we?

1. Besides scrapbooking, what is one thing you are passionate about?
I am passionate about my family! I love spending time with my husband and children. We don’t have to be doing anything at all, I just love spending time with them!  In fact, after my husband gets home from work each day, we all go spend about 15 minutes together playing on our bed. My cute husband lays down on the bed and the kids climb all over him. They kick him, walk on his back, wrestle with him, do “flying lessons”, etc.  But we all talk about our days and just enjoy each other for a few minutes.

2. How many hours a week do you spend designing? scrapping? community surfing?
I spend 40+ hours on designing and administrative work. I spend 5-10 hours per week on Facebook, forum & gallery hopping. I only scrap about one page per month these days.

3. How do you balance your time?
Balance? What’s balance?   I try to work when my children and husband are sleeping or busy.  So, when my husband is working on his homework, I design.  When the kids are at school and pre-school, I work.

4. Are you organized?
I really try to be organized. It makes me crazy to be unorganized.  I keep lots of spreadsheets and have a giant binder of ideas and doodles along with a design sheet for each kit I have made. But with our 2 little kids and 3 part-time kids (I watch 3 little kids each week) running around, it’s always a struggle.

5. What is your biggest source of creative inspiration?
My kids are my biggest creative inspiration source.  Sometimes it’s their activities, sometimes it’s their clothing, sometimes it’s just their attitudes!

6. If you were one of your kits, which one would you be?
Probably, I Am…

It’s bright and colorful. And it really has the most emotional significance to me.

The wordart in this kit was the inspiration for the entire kit.  Every woman deserves to feel beautiful, adored, loved, cherished and treasured.

7. Who is your designer idol? Scrap idol?
I have a lot of designer idols.  There are so many talented designers.  I buy pretty much everything that Zoe Pearn and Kristin Aagard design.  Kami Leonard (Ziggle Designs) is absolutely amazing, too!
My scrap idol is Cheryl (aka gonewiththewind).  I have been in awe of her work for years!

8. Do you have “computer” friends? Anyone we know ?
I have been digiscrapping for more than 6 years now, so I have quite a few computer friends. And I have been fortunate to meet a lot of them in person!  Chari from Persnickety Prints is an amazing lady and I <3 her!  JennyMcD and I hang out sometimes, she is just as funny in real life as she is in the forums. *snort*  ScrapShabby and scrapbookchic have both been at my house in the last two months.  I talk to RealRach quite a bit.  JenG Scraps and I are always emailing back and forth.  Candi1973 is someone I talk to quite a bit, too.  I don’t know if you all know them, but if you don’t you should! I don’t really IM or skype with anyone on a regular basis, though.

9. What is your favorite kit? Most popular kit? Newest kit?
My favorite kit is my Road Trip kit.  I love the windmill.

My most popular kit is my What a Hoot kit

As of 09.02, my newest kit is Rainbow Wishes

10. Who is your dream collab partner? What two designers would you love to see collab?
My dream collab partner is Flergs.  Eek! I’ve never admitted that out “loud” before! Laura Banasiak, Deena Rutter, Valorie Wibbens and SuzyQ would be amazing dreams, too!  I would love to see a collab by Laura Banasiak & Lauren Grier, two of my FAVS… amazing! Can you image the doodlie happiness that kit would contain?!

11. Name 5 things that you can touch RIGHT NOW from where you are sitting, no cheating!
My fountain Coke, my calendar, an external hard drive (or 3), my iPhone, my stash of blue Bic Crystal pens- the only kind of pen I use.

12. Name 5 things (NOT people) that you would take with you if you were stranded on a deserted island.
iPhone (it works as a camera, music, entertainment & you can scrap on it), a tent, a case of MREs, Coke Fountain machine and a solar panel to power it all.

13. What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Fountain Coke  (You know, Coke should sponsor me for as much as I talk about them!)

14. Are you a Mac or a PC?
PC

15. Do you snack while you work or surf the net?
Sometimes. I try to keep a big glass of ice cold water on the desk and that tends to keep me from snacking too much.  I love pretzel M&Ms & broken granola bars when I work, though.

16. Do you work best with noise or in silence? TV on or music?
I need background noise to work efficiently! I work best with loud music with a strong beat.  Once in college I got an A on an Accounting test and I give complete credit to the fact that I studied while listening to Rage Against the Machine.  Loud noises that prevent me from scrapping are as follows: “Mom, I need…(fill in the blank here).” kids screaming, fighting or crying, Barney the purple dinosaur, the sounds of my husband playing World of Warcraft with all his online friends, and basketball games.  I try to drown it all out with music.

17. How do you name your kits? Do you have a particular favorite?
Kit naming is the hardest part of my job! I usually use one of my word-art pieces to name the kit.  Jumping Jellybeans is probably my favorite kit name.

18. Night owl or Early bird?
night owl.  Time does not exist before the sun wakes up.  Unless of course I am still up from the night before.

19. What is the last kit YOU bought?
I plead the 5th… lol! The last kit I bought was Eat My Bubbles by Karah Fredericks and Lauren Reid. It came out the same week as my Fish Out of Water kit.  I really love my kit.  But I really love theirs, too.  And I have a LOT of swim lesson photos.  But buy mine, please!

20. Coffee or Tea?
Neither. Cadbury Drinking Chocolate made with vanilla soy milk and hazelnut non-dairy creamer.

This month our theme on the site is Lessons Learned, so we want to get your take…

1. To date, what is the greatest lesson you have learned?
The greatest lesson I have learned is not to judge people. You can’t ever fully comprehend what makes a person do something, no matter how well you know them.

2. What do you do to continue to learn both professionally and personally?
Professionally, I do a lot of tutorials. I look at other kits and try to figure out how designers do something. I am hoping to start taking Graphic Design classes in the winter.  I am also taking some online design classes this fall.
Personally, I am always reading.  Sometimes it’s just a fluff novel about people and relationships.  But I feel like reading books keeps my mind active even if I am not learning anything new.

3. Do any specific kits or layouts come to mind when you think of learning or lessons learned?
I have a really bad memory, so not really.  But I really love the Project Love Me kits by Ziggle Designs (I’m not stalking her, I promise!) and SuzyQ.  I think they have a great premise.

4. If you could share one learning experience with someone, what would that be?
Don’t ever say, “I’d never…” because one day you’ll be put in a similar situation.  And chances are, you’ll be eating your words.  I always said, “My kids will NEVER throw tantrums like THAT kid.”  Oh, my girls are tantrum queens!  Karma will get you!

5. What is the one area you have “learned” this year?
Professionally, I have really stretched myself and have decided to limit the amount of Commercial Use products I use in my kits. I didn’t like the restrictions and keeping track of various terms of use. I really enjoy the freedom and creativity that has opened up to me.
Personally, I have learned that I am capable of more than I thought.  But not as much as I want to be capable of.  I am learning my limits and when to say no. Just because something will bring in income doesn’t make it worthy of my time. And as a stay-at-home mom that’s a hard thing to learn.  I want to do everything I can to bring in money to help support my family. But there is a certain point when taking on anymore “opportunities” becomes too big of a liability for my family and I lose the whole purpose of being a stay-at-home mom.

Found some goodies while browsing Meredith’s store, lookie here!

You can find Meredith Cardall at Ninth and Bloom.  Hop on over to her blog and definitely like her on Facebook or send a tweet to Twitter!

Be sure to check out the Me So Scrappy Fan Page on Facebook for amazing inspiration layouts with Meredith’s  products from the Me So Scrappy Contributors!

Meredith has shared and exclusive coupon to save 50% off her store just for Me So Scrappy fans! Expires 10/15/11.

code: MeSo50Scrappy
Take 50% off your purchase of $5 or more in products by Meredith Cardall at 9th&Bloom
exp: 10/15/2011

If you would like a chance to win a $10 coupon to Meredith’s store, just leave a comment here and we will choose a winner on Friday!