LOD 2023 | March 3 | A Whimsical Adventure

A Whimsical Adventure Is Our Daily Crush!!


Welcome to the 2023 edition of Love Our Designers (LOD) This event isn't a traditional CHALLENGE in that there aren't any real rules. It’s a fun event to scrap with products from a favorite designer or try a new (to you) designer. It’s all about having fun and celebrating the uniqueness of all of our Lilypad Designers!


You can find A Whimsical Adventure here:

SHOP - WEBSITE - FACEBOOK - INSTAGRAM - NEWSLETTER

TLP USERNAME: AnjaDD
A Whimsical Adventure offers freebies in her newsletter every month and extras from time to time. So please check it out.

A Whimsical Adventure has a massive sale today only!!!​

How long have you been designing?
I have been working as a scrapbook and printable designer since November 2015 but I have been designing in some way and being creative has always been part of my life.

How would you describe your design style?
That's a difficult question because I fall for different styles. Even though people sometimes tell me that my style is very recognizable, I find that hard to see for myself. I think the best way to describe it, is fusion. I like to mix vintage elements with hand painted elements, realistic elements versus watercolor, and anything in between

Tell us about yourself/family.
Being creative and making beautiful things was always part of my life. When I finished school (administrative and language education) and found my first job at the age of 21, I went to a school of fine arts. There I learnt to work with watercolors and pastels, make etchings and linocuts, and so much more. When I finally enrolled in a graphic design educational program at the age of 37, a whole new world opened up for me. Going digital allowed me to create my own world bringing new life to the forgotten bits and pieces of antique ephemera. I added my own hand-made textures, combining it all into unique digital kits and printables with a little spark of magic and mystery. Sometimes the designs were sweet and romantic, and at other times, dark and gothic.

I live with my husband, daughter, and two rescue cats in a small village called Wanzele, Belgium on a peaceful and quiet cul-de-sac, surrounded by meadows and a forest. Since May 2021, I have been working full time as a designer from my home and I love it!

Tell us about your favorite products.
From the ones that are currently available at The Lilypad:
Stargazer (since I'm fascinated by anything space involved)


A Song Of Kings (since my favorite show so far 'Game Of Thrones' was the inspiration)


Catified (since I'm a huge cat lady; I wonder why I waited so long to make a cat themed collection LOL)


Moon Child https://the-lilypad.com/store/Moon-Child-Collection.html (because of the mystical theme)


Periwinkle Poetry (because I love the colors in this one so much, and also because this collection doesn't really have a very particular theme and still I managed to design it - I usually need specific themes LOL)


The Mystical Forest (because of the fantasy world I created with this one and because I love the woods)



Mystical Night Junk Journal Kit l (because I made this in the midst of a burnout and it has become one of my bestselling products)



Wolf Moon (because this is the very first kit I made for my shop at The Lilypad and even one for the BYOC of January)


I have so many more favorite products, there are a couple that I haven't even gotten in the shop here yet)...

How do you come up with your color palette or theme for your kits?
I always start with a theme. Themes can be inspired by movies or TV series that I've watched and liked, things that I find interesting, even a pattern in a fabric or a color scheme that speaks to me. I also like to explore uncommon themes (e.g., the Wheel Of The Year themed kits that I designed in one year). Then I look for imagery in the subject perusing stock photo sites like Unsplash, Pinterest, and Etsy. After I have a clear vision of the theme and what I want to focus on, I start picking colors. When I design for the BYOC, there is no theme and I usually need some time to let the colors sink in. To get inspiration for a theme, I google the target month for specific dates or themes. For instance, for the March BYOC, I had to think of St. Patrick's Day and so I made a kit around it. It is not a holiday that I celebrate in Belgium, but I like all the green! For the January BYOC, I started thinking of ‘New Year’s’ and ‘new beginnings’, and so on. I googled it and got the theme of the 'Wolf Moon' that I liked so much.

What are your go to snacks or music while designing?
No snacks at all. I just drink coffee in the morning, tea, or water. I do love to listen to music. With my family, I have a subscription on Apple Music and that is one of the best subscriptions I have purchased because it offers a never-ending library of music. After you have liked songs and made playlists for a while, the system gets to know you and offers more music in the same style. Again here, I'd have to say fusion style, LOL, because I love going from ambient music, to classics, new age, indie... mostly softer music though, nothing heavy like rock or pop, not to design. My daughter says that I listen to depressive music, LOL, but I like music that can bring me into a certain mood, sometimes even a mood that coordinates with the things that I'm designing at that moment.

Describe your design space.
I used to design on a small desk in my living room. That was before we moved to the house we have now been living in since 2018. I am now designing in a very special space that used to be the former owner's pigeon loft. That is why my logo has a pigeon in it. The pigeon loft was built above the laundry space and the stairs gave access to it. It was dirty; it was smelly; it didn't have a decent roof; and we stripped it from the top down. We took down the wooden walls that had divided it into smaller spaces for the pigeons to made it into one space of approximately 15 m2, gave it a new roof, renovated the walls, put in two large windows (using the space of the old ones), and added new flooring. Most importantly, we installed air conditioning for the summer that also produces warmth in the winter. This place is always the coolest in the summer because of the air conditioning (I cannot stand the heat). It's a necessity too because the windows are directed to the south and it gets warm as soon as the sun is out, even in the winter. Also, I now have all my stuff with me, everything I need to design, whereas, when I was designing in my living room in our old house, everything was tucked away in cupboards here and there and I could never find anything.

I made this layout with Anja’s super-fun BYOC collection for this month At The End of the Rainbow.


Here are a few more layouts using her wonderful designs.

Now it's your turn...
Scrap a page using (mostly) A Whimsical Adventure Products
Meet the gallery guidelines of 50% TLP product
Post in A Whimsical Adventure gallery and share your page in this thread.

Enjoy your special day with A Whimsical Adventure
and happy scrapping!!
See you back here tomorrow with another great featured designer!​

 

Here is Anja’s Converted Pigeon Loft.

I was so curious about the pigeon loft, Anja took some photos and explained the process of converting such an area into a delightful work space.

The picture below shows where I now have my PC and what it was before. It's difficult to imagine, but where the window was in the pigeon loft (1), is the new window and my desk and PC and everything else.
Picture 2 shows the entrance of the old pigeon loft. We have taken down all the (wooden) walls and the picture next to it show what it is now: a wall with Billy cupboards from Ikea that offers a lot of storage, and the air conditioner against the back wall (that you cannot see on picture 2 because those were pigeon caves).




Picture 3 shows how the pigeon loft was divided into parts and had pigeon cages. Because that is all gone, you can now see the entrance (picture next to it) and one of my cats sitting there. LOL.

The two bottom pictures just show a bit more of my workspace. The picture on the left shows what's behind me: Ikea Kallax cupboards with stuff, my two scanners... The picture on the right shows my workspace with my cat Jabba; he's usually next to me when I work (he's the sweetest) - I have two cats.



My walls aren't finished yet; what you see is Gyprock walls. The plan was to finish them before I moved into the studio, but they didn't get finished and now it's one of those projects that still needs to be done.

 

I’m loving these wonderful pages. THANKS.