A little introduction!

Hi

Thanks for surfing by!

I thought it was about time to get this blog rolling so I thought I would start with a little post about me just in case you were wondering who I am and where I came from ... I wonder myself sometimes!

To elaborate on my profile I originally trained as a theatre designer, mainly set design as I loved wielding a hammer and nails and through my time in the crazy business we call show I fell into stage management and had a crazy ride for quite a few years touring the length and breath of these fair isles. I met amazing people and had a great time but I did miss being creative and I did start to miss home more so took a leap of faith and 'retired' back in 2007 to pursue who knew what?

I knew I wanted to create and design again and floundered about in my little room trying to work out what that was ... in the end it found me! Scrapbooking was becoming a big deal then and my mum kept telling me to look at Scrapbook Inspirations (a much missed magazine) and that was it, a light bulb went on and I knew this was something I could play with combining my love of collage, story telling and creating art with a purpose. Now, it has been said that I'm kind of an out the box thinker and maybe my scrap pages went beyond the scrapbook at times but I loved it and was thrilled and proud to be announced a Best of British Scrapboooker in 2008 ..... cue the next chapter in my life!

The award opened many doors in the industry, I was published in the magazines that had inspired me and I got to work on some amazing design teams, designing for companies in the UK and US. I got to teach workshops, taught at some awesome retreats and guest blogged all over the place .... it was another crazy, fun filled ride! As things progressed a new chapter started!

I was asked to demonstrate and guest present on Create and Craft TV UK for Purple Cows (one of the companies I was on the design team for) Me? in front of a camera? the girl that was always back stage wearing black, lurking in the shadows! It terrified me! But, I was swept along with it all. I have to confess to having several melt downs on my husband on the way to that first appearance ... how had I got myself in this position? Then the first show was suddenly happening! I spent the first 10 minutes like a rabbit in headlights, sweaty palms and heart beating so hard I was sure it would be picked up on the mic and then something very strange happened, a little voice in my head made me take a breath and look around ... everyone was so lovely and supportive and as I did look around the studio I realised this is not rocket science or brain surgery, I'm showing people how to cut up paper and all the fear and dread ebbed away and suddenly I found myself enjoying it and the 1st live hour was gone! I then uttered the words I really enjoyed it and shocked myself!! More shows came and went and then the next chapter on my little journey started.

I was asked if I would like to demonstrate for (the then) Digital Scrapbook Artist from Serif .... oh no I thought, I love my paper, glue and scissors too much! Then I was shown the packaging .... now if you're here you're probably a crafter and I think most of us are suckers for some gorgeous packaging! I decided I needed to explore it and snaffled it away home. After my first hour of playing I was well and truly hooked .... the possibilities were endless and it was a revelation when I thought about the hybrid crafting potential, so my Serif journey began. Digital Scrapbook Artist became CraftArtist and eventually it became CraftArtist2 professional (which it is today) I spent over 5 happy years demonstrating it on Create and Craft TV and have met some fabulous and creative people on the way. But I got to a point where I needed to take a break from everything and with a heavy heart I stood down in 2015 and now here we are today!

And yep you have guessed it .... time to start a new chapter which I am super excited about and will share with you very, very soon .... sorry!.... You made it all the way through my meanderings and I still leave you hanging!

So that is me. You might have known me as a scrapbooker, the one that likes to do a lot of paper tearing and inky distressing, or the one that creates crazy 3D scrap projects or maybe the one that cuts heads off peoples photos and creates paper doll bodies for them. You might have known me as the crafter with pink hair, the create and craft guest presenter, the Serif demonstrator or even mjm-thearttart. Maybe you have no clue who I am but I am all those people and more and I look forward to you all being with me for the next chapter of this crazy, wonderful ride I call life!

Thanks for stopping by (and congratulations if you got through my whitterings!)
Until Soon, as ever,
Happy Crafting
MJM x