THE CALL
Here is where it all starts… “The Call.” Watch boards like “The Pub” at 2Peas or the Pub Calls Blog or the sites for the specific companies/magazines you like. If a design team call is made public, you will find it in one of these places. I found the following link on 2Peas and, since I am a huge Cosmo Cricket fan, it caught my eye right away…
“According to Julie's scribbles, this is what I think she is looking for in DT members:
1. People who design really well. One or two members for layouts, cards and projects.
2. People who love posting (this one was starred), maintain blogs (this one was underlined) and are connected with the online scrapping community.
3. People who love submitting.
4. People who are easy to work with, low maintenance and happy.
5. People who love Cosmo Cricket and know how to show it.
6. People who are available to focus on Cosmo Cricket (I don't think she expects exclusivity, but just so you're not spread too thin).
If it were me, I would be posting all my Cosmo work to my blog and sending the link to jodi@cosmocricket.com along with a resume. I would do this before June 21.”
THE PLAN
I was so darn excited about the opportunity to audition for the Cosmo Cricket team that I got to work right away! I had to come up with my audition plan and sample projects and I had just over a week to get it all done. Although most calls are very specific in their requirements for sample projects, this one was pretty vague. They listed several “key designer traits,” but really left it up to the individual designers to figure out how to implement their audition. My plan… easy! Give them what they asked for!!!
IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN
Since I have been blogging for about a year and maintaining a blog was high on the Cosmo list, I decided that my blog would get a Cosmo Cricket makeover for the week leading to the audition deadline. Day 1 of the Cosmo takeover was a post entitled, “We Interrupt This Program…” I explained the audition, introduced Cosmo Cricket and I created a slide show of the projects/layouts I had created with Cosmo Cricket products before I knew about the Design Team call. The way I saw it, I could tell them that I loved their products ‘til the cows came home, but showing them that I had been a customer of theirs for years would show my sincerity.
The next four days were filled with newly created projects that I created specifically for this Design Team call. (NOTE: Make the time to create something new and use the company’s product in your submission. Sure, that is not always a requirement, but it will show them you are serious about wanting to work with and design for their company.) The original call noted designers that could create “layouts, cards and projects” so I created two new layouts, a set of cards, and a wall art project. The call also mentioned that designers should “love submitting, love posting and be connected with the online scrapping community.” Again, I figured that actions speak louder than words, so I posted each of my newly created Cosmo projects in three different galleries and included, “Cosmo Cricket” in the title of each layout.
As the week progressed, I posted my new daily projects and was thrilled when a few surprises popped up. I am very easily excited (come on, my blog is called, “Wooooo Hooooo”… what did you expect?) and since Cosmo wanted to see “people who are easy to work with and happy” I figured there was nothing wrong with sharing my excitement! My first new layout called, “Adore,” jumped onto the 2Peas Top 10 list and made it to #2! If that wasn’t good enough, I contacted the uber cool, Jami Petersen, editor of this great magazine, Scrapbooking.com, and pitched the idea for this article. She contacted me almost immediately and I was beside myself excited that she wanted to publish my story and my project samples. The audition was going great and the last thing I had to do was send in my email and resume.
One thing I have found with submitting is the importance of the email you send to the editor or owner. The way you communicate is just as important as the work you submit. I was showing my personality and being myself on my blog, but my email submission to Cosmo Cricket needed to be a bit more professional. Just like a job interview, I presented my scrap resume. I discussed why I wanted to work with their company and the experience I had that I thought would be of benefit to their company. I offered references, the link to my blog and all my contact information. Finally, I thanked them for their time and the opportunity. Although you can’t shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye as you say, “thank you” through an internet interview, you can certainly assure the sentiment is there as you wrap up your written interview.
THE RESULTS
My interview was complete. All there was to do was sit and stalk the boards looking for any news. Waiting patiently is not one of my strong points, so I was very happy to know that we would only have to wait a few days for the posting of the Top 12 candidates. Unfortunately, when that list was posted, my name wasn’t on it… and you know what? I was fine with that! I had put together a week long audition, created new projects, made sure to show Cosmo Cricket that I had all of the qualities in a designer they were looking for and submitted a professional email interview and resume. I was extremely proud of the work I did and thrilled with the excitement my work and blog had received. During that audition week I made several new scrap friends and the traffic through my blog more than tripled. It was a great week! If you would like to check out my step by step Cosmo Cricket audition, stop by my blog at http://tlocher.blogspot.com/. The audition starts with the June 16th post and goes through the June 25th post called, “Good Luck to the Cosmo Cricket Finalists.”
Competition in the scrap world is tough! There are as many incredibly talented scrappers as there are teams and products and styles to showcase. There are also many reasons that a company or magazine will choose you over the next designer to work with. My opinion is this…
• Scrap for You (don’t change your style to fit someone else’s mold)
• Be True to You (be professional, have integrity, and have fun… don’t sacrifice yourself)
• Keep Going for You (there is a lot of rejection at this level… don’t take it personally, keep smiling and keep having fun!)
• Finally, there is only one way to assure you won’t make this team or win that contest… if you don’t try! They can’t choose your hat if you haven’t thrown it into the ring! Now go get some hats and start tossing!!!
Adore
• Buttons: Button Fashions (Cosmo Cricket)
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress in Walnut Stain (Ranger Industries)
• Patterned paper: Gretel, Be Good, and Souvenir lines (Cosmo Cricket)
• Tags: “Adore” (Cosmo Cricket), distressed journaling tag (Rusty Pickle)
• Rhinestones: Darice
• Ribbon
Superhero
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
• Chipboard: Stars (Heidi Swapp)
• Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket
• Pen: black
Cards – “Family”
• Chipboard: Plain Jane (Deluxe Designs)
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress in Walnut Stain (Ranger Industries)
• Patterned paper: Halfway Café line (Cosmo Cricket)
• Tag: “Family” (Cosmo Cricket)
Cards – “You Can Do It”
• Buttons: Rusty Pickle
• Chipboard: frame (Rusty Pickle)
• Patterned Paper: Get Happy line (Cosmo Cricket)
Cards – “You’re Invited”
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress in Walnut Stain (Ranger Industries)
• Patterned paper: Gretel line (Cosmo Cricket)
• Ribbon
• Tag: Cosmo Cricket
Wall Art Project
• Buttons: Gretel Fashion (Cosmo Cricket)
• Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
• Flowers: Cosmo Cricket
• Frames
• Ink: Tim Holtz Distress in Walnut Stain (Ranger Industries)
• Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket
• Transparency sheet
• Twine
Tracey lives in Escondido, California with her husband and three children. Although she has been scrapping for about ten years, she admits that she has only been seriously scrapping since she became a SAHM (stay-at-home mother) almost four years ago. Tracey spends a good portion of her time volunteering at her teenagers’ high school with activities such as team fundraising and being team Mom for several sports/groups, serving on the Athletic Boosters Committee, being the Volunteer Host Family Coordinator for the Australian Exchange Program and Chair of the Grad Nite Committee. Add to that taking care of the family, carpooling and her scrapping and she is one busy mom! Tracey is proud to be a member of the design teams for Rusty Pickle and Ever After Scrapbooks in Carlsbad, CA. You can visit Tracey at her blog called, “Wooooo Hooooo…” http://tlocher.blogspot.com/
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
