Ahh... a HOF-er I am not...
So... CK has officially launched it's search for next years HOF winners. In true CK fashion they have set their entry criteria (i'm sure with a snicker right from the desk of LB herself). Once again, a list of requirements that would make your teeth recede have been circulated around the net but this time the air seems to be a bit different.
Are they looking for the next marketable scrapper to pimp to the general public?
Is it worth it?
Why do they want to see our craft spaces?
Should I spend the time and energy to enter?
Well, I can tell you from my perspective, this is just another contest geared towards increasing the drama that exists in our little scrap universe. The very fact that they are looking for the "best of the best" tells me that I'm not too far off the mark with my assumption. Hall of Fame, hmm... just makes you wonder...
Are they looking for the next marketable scrapper to pimp to the general public?
Do people in hell want ice water? Can I knock things off of tables if I swing my hips around a corner too fast? Of course they are! The are looking for someone to come along and set new trends that hopefully we will fall hook line and sinker for! That way we attach ourselves to CK's arse with the same fervor that barnacles attach themselves to the bottoms of wayward ships.
It's already been stated (by HOF-er's themselves) that it's honor and prestige for a quick minute and then you are a has been. That is unless you make it in good with the powers that be.
Whatever happen to Faye Morrow Bell? I saw her book on Ebay for $5 a while ago. Face it, some HOF winners are strapped on to LB's coat tails and taken for the ride of their lives while others are allowed to fade into the background with the occassional mention here and there and frequent publication when CK has projects that require their services. That in and of itself makes me wonder if the HOF-ers who's names become household names aren't the ones that were the shoe ins before they even entered. Maybe all of those ghost HOF-ers were CK's way of covering their tracks..."see we do select some unknowns".
I don't want to be marketed. I don't want to feel that I have to scrap to a certain standard. I don't want to "preserve" the image of CK by embarking on my journey as a product they created. I want to scrap. Plain and simple. If I'm not good enough for them, well, they don't really matter now do they?
Is it worth it?
A wise man (or woman) once said that you get out of life what you put into it. So I guess that if you give up all you have you will get a little bit of CK back. You'll never get all that you give though. 10 layouts, 6 of them geared specifically towards meeting their new fangled marketing interview. 10 layouts that may or maynot be on a subject that would be conducive to your scrapping spirit. The first layout assignment calls for an ORIGINAL and INNOVATIVE idea to be used in your layout. Question is, how much more originality and innovation do you think is actually left? That assignment alone could take weeks of contemplation and exectution, simply because you have to figure out something that is not only cool, funky and hip, but it also has to be an orginal. Sorry guys, this keg is tapped... and as far as original ideas... I'm pretty much fresh out of them.
Why do they need to see our craft spaces?
There is a lot of hub bub going on about this one. Its one of the 3 layouts options that you can choose from, some of the other option sare so daunting that showing off you creative hidy hole is a real reality. The add states that they want to see how your creative flair has spilled over into you scrap space. Well, what if I keep my flair contained and use it on my layouts? Yeah, I could spend tons on pretty things to put my scrap stash in and fancy work spaces to create my layouts...but I don't. I can't afford the snazzy IKEA furniture and I don't have a lot of wall space to put up the obligatory CREATE INSPIRE DREAM plaques. I'm lucky the darned room has wallpaper. So does this assignment serve to further determine if the submitter is cabable of projecting the sophisticated scrap persona? I'm sure that they'd rather have their HOF's in lovely state of the art rooms equipped with all of the storage devices and works spaces that their mag sponsors provide. I'm almost equally sure that they don't want to see my 100 bolts of fabric and the kitty condo that sits in the middle of my floor. My scraproom doesn't tie in well with my layouts. My scraproom doesn't tell you what type of scrapper I am. No, my scraproom tells you that I have too much stuff and not enough nooks and crannys to put them in. It tells you that I'm a no nonsense, everything at arms reach and at the ready scrapper. It tells you that I am about saving all of my scrap budget for scrapbooking. Do I think that my $20 auction win desk/hutch, battered drafting table and $15 auction win rolling file cabinets will be what they are looking for? Only if they are looking for someone to set the next bohemian minimalist trend. Only if they are looking for someone who doesn't believe that you have to look stylish while you create.
Should I spend the time and energy to enter?
The call has just went out. The deadline is February 10th. Good Googly Moogly that's a long time... and you can bet your pickled petunias it's there for a reason! Yeah, 4 of the layouts that you can submit are what you would consider your personal bests that give an idea of what you are as a scrapper on her own turf, but the other 6 are engineered for their interview process.
They want you to complete a layout and to pore over it and to ball it up and toss it away just to start over again. They want you blood, sweat, tears, frustrations, and uncertainty. They want to rake a fine tooth comb through the entire scrap universe and dig out all of the brave talent there is. The want to allow for some to make a name for themselves and to prove their prowess at getting magazines to grovel for their submissions. I don't need 4.5 months to complete 6 layouts. I don't need 4.5 months to many things at all (except to complete Jenn's circle journal, but I think that makes us even). All I know is that it's a lot of work and after pouring yourself into your layouts for that period of time, there is no way that you can avoid the inevitibly crushing blow when they aren't picked up. I don't need that (and my Mojo has been watching me with increased interest to make sure that I remember that I don't need that). As much as I would love to have my work admired by the masses and to reap the benefits of prestige, that prestige carries to large of a price tag.
Don't get me wrong. I am only say that the HOF competition is not for me. If any of my near and dears decides to go for it, I will don the skirt and grab the pom poms with reckless certainty! I want to cheer my friends and acquaintences on and I want them to break the impenetrable CK barrier if they can! I'd love to have one of my friends be a HOF, but not for the reasons that many would think. I think that many of them belong there anyway and if they were to pick up a HOF, well, all I could say is "it's about damned time", because I knew they were worthy of it from day one!
Are they looking for the next marketable scrapper to pimp to the general public?
Is it worth it?
Why do they want to see our craft spaces?
Should I spend the time and energy to enter?
Well, I can tell you from my perspective, this is just another contest geared towards increasing the drama that exists in our little scrap universe. The very fact that they are looking for the "best of the best" tells me that I'm not too far off the mark with my assumption. Hall of Fame, hmm... just makes you wonder...
Are they looking for the next marketable scrapper to pimp to the general public?
Do people in hell want ice water? Can I knock things off of tables if I swing my hips around a corner too fast? Of course they are! The are looking for someone to come along and set new trends that hopefully we will fall hook line and sinker for! That way we attach ourselves to CK's arse with the same fervor that barnacles attach themselves to the bottoms of wayward ships.
It's already been stated (by HOF-er's themselves) that it's honor and prestige for a quick minute and then you are a has been. That is unless you make it in good with the powers that be.
Whatever happen to Faye Morrow Bell? I saw her book on Ebay for $5 a while ago. Face it, some HOF winners are strapped on to LB's coat tails and taken for the ride of their lives while others are allowed to fade into the background with the occassional mention here and there and frequent publication when CK has projects that require their services. That in and of itself makes me wonder if the HOF-ers who's names become household names aren't the ones that were the shoe ins before they even entered. Maybe all of those ghost HOF-ers were CK's way of covering their tracks..."see we do select some unknowns".
I don't want to be marketed. I don't want to feel that I have to scrap to a certain standard. I don't want to "preserve" the image of CK by embarking on my journey as a product they created. I want to scrap. Plain and simple. If I'm not good enough for them, well, they don't really matter now do they?
Is it worth it?
A wise man (or woman) once said that you get out of life what you put into it. So I guess that if you give up all you have you will get a little bit of CK back. You'll never get all that you give though. 10 layouts, 6 of them geared specifically towards meeting their new fangled marketing interview. 10 layouts that may or maynot be on a subject that would be conducive to your scrapping spirit. The first layout assignment calls for an ORIGINAL and INNOVATIVE idea to be used in your layout. Question is, how much more originality and innovation do you think is actually left? That assignment alone could take weeks of contemplation and exectution, simply because you have to figure out something that is not only cool, funky and hip, but it also has to be an orginal. Sorry guys, this keg is tapped... and as far as original ideas... I'm pretty much fresh out of them.
Why do they need to see our craft spaces?
There is a lot of hub bub going on about this one. Its one of the 3 layouts options that you can choose from, some of the other option sare so daunting that showing off you creative hidy hole is a real reality. The add states that they want to see how your creative flair has spilled over into you scrap space. Well, what if I keep my flair contained and use it on my layouts? Yeah, I could spend tons on pretty things to put my scrap stash in and fancy work spaces to create my layouts...but I don't. I can't afford the snazzy IKEA furniture and I don't have a lot of wall space to put up the obligatory CREATE INSPIRE DREAM plaques. I'm lucky the darned room has wallpaper. So does this assignment serve to further determine if the submitter is cabable of projecting the sophisticated scrap persona? I'm sure that they'd rather have their HOF's in lovely state of the art rooms equipped with all of the storage devices and works spaces that their mag sponsors provide. I'm almost equally sure that they don't want to see my 100 bolts of fabric and the kitty condo that sits in the middle of my floor. My scraproom doesn't tie in well with my layouts. My scraproom doesn't tell you what type of scrapper I am. No, my scraproom tells you that I have too much stuff and not enough nooks and crannys to put them in. It tells you that I'm a no nonsense, everything at arms reach and at the ready scrapper. It tells you that I am about saving all of my scrap budget for scrapbooking. Do I think that my $20 auction win desk/hutch, battered drafting table and $15 auction win rolling file cabinets will be what they are looking for? Only if they are looking for someone to set the next bohemian minimalist trend. Only if they are looking for someone who doesn't believe that you have to look stylish while you create.
Should I spend the time and energy to enter?
The call has just went out. The deadline is February 10th. Good Googly Moogly that's a long time... and you can bet your pickled petunias it's there for a reason! Yeah, 4 of the layouts that you can submit are what you would consider your personal bests that give an idea of what you are as a scrapper on her own turf, but the other 6 are engineered for their interview process.
They want you to complete a layout and to pore over it and to ball it up and toss it away just to start over again. They want you blood, sweat, tears, frustrations, and uncertainty. They want to rake a fine tooth comb through the entire scrap universe and dig out all of the brave talent there is. The want to allow for some to make a name for themselves and to prove their prowess at getting magazines to grovel for their submissions. I don't need 4.5 months to complete 6 layouts. I don't need 4.5 months to many things at all (except to complete Jenn's circle journal, but I think that makes us even). All I know is that it's a lot of work and after pouring yourself into your layouts for that period of time, there is no way that you can avoid the inevitibly crushing blow when they aren't picked up. I don't need that (and my Mojo has been watching me with increased interest to make sure that I remember that I don't need that). As much as I would love to have my work admired by the masses and to reap the benefits of prestige, that prestige carries to large of a price tag.
Don't get me wrong. I am only say that the HOF competition is not for me. If any of my near and dears decides to go for it, I will don the skirt and grab the pom poms with reckless certainty! I want to cheer my friends and acquaintences on and I want them to break the impenetrable CK barrier if they can! I'd love to have one of my friends be a HOF, but not for the reasons that many would think. I think that many of them belong there anyway and if they were to pick up a HOF, well, all I could say is "it's about damned time", because I knew they were worthy of it from day one!
posted by Essentially Jae' at Friday, September 22, 2006
3 Comments:
I hear ya especially on the Craft Space...what's up with that?? There is surely some class divide already. If you can't afford to have an immaculate scraproom {which looks so clean that you wonder if scrapping is actually taking place in there}, the size of poorer folks whole appartment - then you are not deemed worthy a HOF'er.
I don't give a rats arse about HOF - I would never be willing to sell my sould just for having a title that means squat all
Agree with everything you've said Jae - wish a few more people would wake up and smell the roses.
This is a fantastic hobby but it should be seen and treated as such - in my view the people like LB and magazines like CK would do well to remember that.
agreed here to as well. The whole scrapspace thing is crap. Think I would win when I take a picture of my 3 totes balancing on my camper table?? Yeah...I dont' think so either.
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