Aimee Harrison and Cheré Kaye
I’m really glad I waited until AFTER the GIGANTIC $2 sale we were treated to yesterday!! I’d hate for our Spotlight Designers to be outshone by something like that. [Editor’s note: Jan has to limit what she buys these days, since her hard drive is almost full.] Are you ready to get the 411 on our two BFF-designers, Aimee and Cheré? [Editor’s note: These colourful names are hyperlinked to the ladies’ shops, so just click through and take a look!] We had a little chat and here’s the scoop:
J: Hey ladies!! It’s nice to see you both again. I think you’ve noticed our GingerScraps family has grown by leaps and bounds since last we chatted so let’s go back to basics for a second. How long have you been designing?
A: I have been designing since 2009 when I decided I wanted to do my own stuff after having started making digital layouts a month before.
C: I’ve been designing since 2007.
J: Wow! I could ask how you can keep coming up with fresh, new stuff all the time, but let’s save that for another time. But Cheré, maybe you’d share what led you to designing in the first place.
C: I loved scrapbooking first, but then our daughter came home and the mess of regular scrapbooking kind of seemed like too much. So, I started digital scrapbooking, but realized I wanted specific things – so my design career was born.
J: I came to digital scrapping for the same reason! No mess. No waste. Win-win! So, what tools do you use to create your designs?
C: I design in Photoshop CC, but I love my iPad. I use Procreate and Adobe Fresco to draw many of my embellishments and add ons.
A: I use Photoshop and Illustrator. I also draw and use my scanner then extract or draw using Photoshop. An iPad is on my list of things to get so I can get Procreate and create using that.
J: Huh… Adobe’s making a fortune off digital scrapbooking, aren’t they? I’ve never been a fan of Apple products so Procreate isn’t something I’m ever going to learn, unless there’s an Android version. Describe where you do your designing for us, please.
A: I am in our upstairs bedroom – all day long. I have a huge desk in front of four windows that overlook our front yard which is full of plants and trees as we love to garden. It is the most beautiful place for me to work. I have a tower computer that my boyfriend built for me that lights up in cool colors and I play my favorite game, Skyrim, on it as well.
C: My workspace is small. We live in a teeny apartment, so I have a little desk in the corner of the living room. Because it’s tiny, it’s almost always tidy, which speaks to my soul.
J: I’m not familiar with this “tidy”. I move things around just so it looks like I’ve been productive. Aimee, do you have a favourite kit in the GS shop?
A: I would have to say that it’s hard to choose between two I made this past summer. I adored my Rosemary & Thyme Collection and my Oceanography Collection. Both had wonderful colors and made gorgeous layouts.
J: Oh, they’re both fabulous!! [Editor’s note: the collection names are linked to the product in the shop for your browsing pleasure.] Oops, excuse me for a second while I head the Amazon guy off before the dogs know he’s here.
Ahh. Back. No barking, no trying to jump into his pockets… success. Now, where were we? Oh yeah. Let’s talk about dream vacations for a sec. [Editor’s note: Jan needs a vacation but isn’t ready to travel yet, so she’ll travel vicariously with Aimee and Cheré.]
C: My perfect vacation would be with my husband Chris, somewhere warm (but not blazing hot), totally unplugged from social media.
A: This is a hard one. I grew up studying Archaeology and History. So I would LOVE to go somewhere that has a lot of history and archaeology. I would like to visit sites and take so many photos. I also would like to visit a few countries that my family emigrated from to the United States like Hungary, Slovakia, England and Germany. I always wanted to go to my families hometowns.
J: Aimee, that’s my idea of a great vacation. In 2018 I went to Ireland and visited the villages where three branches of my Dad’s family emigrated from to Canada. It only made me want more… Is that what you’d do if you won the lottery?
A: Nope. I would pay off all my school bills, my boyfriends bills, buy us a small farmhouse in the country where we can have a number of animals that we could take care of and love. I would continue to design as I adore doing it. I can’t imagine not designing. Its the best job ever.
C: I’d probably just pay bills and give money away 🙂
J: Bills. Eep. Cheré, would you sing or dance in the shower?
C: I never dance in the shower. I would fall and break my neck. Singing I do all the time, including in the shower.
J: That was a silly question, I know. But I have room to dance in my shower, so I had to ask. Do either of you garden? What do you grow?
C: I have two black thumbs, all the way up to the elbow. I really can kill any living plant. I don’t know how this happened, as my mom could grow ANYTHING!
A: LOL. I do NOT have a green thumb but my boyfriend, Tyler, does. He grows tons of things each year and a few of our favorite things to grow are tomatoes, peppers, chard and herbs of all kinds. Oh and Strawberries! We have tons. It’s absolutely wonderful. I love to spend time with Tyler while he gardens. I sit in my chair reading my Kindle while he works happily away. We love it.
J: I love getting sweaty and dirty in the garden. I’ve planted literally hundreds of perennials in the three yards we’ve owned. It’s a great stress reliever. Aimee, are you a sports fan?
A: My favorite sport is for sure soccer. I love to watch it and if I am to watch sports, that is the one I like to watch. I don’t really play sports, never have. But. I love to watch soccer and football.
J: Soccer. Um. Nope. Gimme baseball and curling, please! What are your favourite colours? Are there colours you really DON’T like?
C: I love blues and teals the most, with the occasional pop of orange or pink. I don’t love to work with red.
A: My favorite color is definitely Aqua or Teal. I love blue green. I have loved it since I was a small girl. I tend to love all color but anything muted or dark is not my thing. I tend to like bright colorful things.
J: How unfortunate for you Cheré to be given February! It’s almost an imperative to do red, isn’t it? Have either of you ever met a celebrity?
C: I met Tony Bennett once in Central Park in New York. That was pretty cool. He was super nice.
J: Did you see the special with him and Lady Gaga? He’s got dementia but the part of his memory that isn’t affected is where his music lives. Aimee, is there one celebrity you’d like to have coffee with?
A: I am one of those people who enjoy being a bit of a fangirl. I’m currently fangirling over Adam Driver, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and Keanu Reeves. But I have to admit, I don’t really care if I meet them. I really just enjoy watching from afar. Fun stuff though.
J: So you like a more cerebral type, eh? I’m more of a country musician groupie. Not that I’m a musician myself. I did learn Hot Cross Buns on the recorder back in the day.
C: I can play piano, guitar, trombone, and I love to sing.
J: Last nosy question. Feel free NOT to answer. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
C: I’d like to be more confident for sure. I take what other people think about me WAY too seriously.
J: That comes with age. I could totally be one of those Red Hat Society ladies without any hesitation. Well, thanks so much for taking the time to let our GS family into your lives a little. Before we go, I want to remind everybody that the girls are also hosting the Daily Download this month in addition to being in the Spotlight. The sneak peek looks so intriguing! And…… drum roll please. Their stores are both 30% off for the WHOLE MONTH!! Check out the Spotlight Challenge for details. Make sure to give them some support!
