I'm on the writing and creative process blog tour

My friend Beth Dryer Kingston invited me to join the "My Writing Process" blog tour! I've adjusted the questions to fit my creative process (as I'm not really a writer) and I've tagged three of my fabulously creative blogger friends - Kathy the Crafty Chica,  Ann Butler and Jenipher Lynn - as the next stops on this fun tour, be sure to check out their blogs next week to learn all about their writing & creative methods!

1) What am I working on? 
I'm currently working on a retro car cupcake box! It was a challenge to design it so that the lid would open to fit a cupcake in in, but after a week of template design, I got it all figured out. I'm currently at the photo editing stage and I should have it ready for my shop next week!

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? 
My OCD comes in handy here giving me a nearly obsessive attention to detail :) I love color, whimsy (and polka dots too!) and through my work I try to convey a little happy escape from the every day world! 

3) Why do I create what I do? 
Ever since I can remember I have loved paper. I have clear memories when I was about 6 or 7 making paper dolls with my friend from down the street - cutting images out of catalogs and drawing new outfits for our dolls.... I also loved the Whitman Punch Out Books - you could make an entire little village just by punching out paper and adding a little tape or glue. It seemed like magic that something flat could become dimensional adorable and fun to play with too! 

Now 33 years later, I design printables for people to download, print and make and it still seems like magic! It is amazing to me that I can design and create something here in Washington DC, it can travel to it's new owner as digital pixels and binary bytes (sometimes as far as Dubai!), they print and cut it out, add a little tape and glue and then suddenly, they've got a cute little retro oven or ice cream truck just waiting to hold their cupcakes!  

4) How does my creation process work? 
I thought I'd share my creation process by sharing with you a specific kit that I made:

1) a customer asked me if I had any cotton candy themed items... which then got my wheels turning. I love cotton candy so I was excited to try out a new design! I thought about it for two days even started a couple designs that just weren't working out, then I sketched out this little drawing late at night before going to bed.
2) the next morning I was anxious to see if my idea would work so I started working on the bag/box template structure, which involves a lot of folding of paper and measuring until i get a shape I like. Once I got the template down, I put one together and sketched out my idea (very roughly!) on the side to see if it would work. 
3) At this stage I am laying out the general color and making the template the correct size. Another rough sketch on top for placement, then there are many, many, (so many!) design revisions before moving on to step 
4) after much gnashing of teeth and fretting over teeny tiny design tweaks the finished design is ready and finished! 

Thanks again to Beth for including me in this blog tour! Kathy the Crafty Chica, Ann Buttler and Jenipher Lynn will be sharing their creative methods in the next week - I hope you will stop by and say hello!