The Story Of How I Came To Meet Dawn McVey

Thanks Photographer Bart for the photo!

Since March 2007 I have had Nichole Heady's blog on my favourites list after quickly becoming a fan of her (and her partner's) company, Papertrey Ink. You can tell that Nichole and her designers put their heart and soul into every product they sell. I think this is singularly the thing I love most about this company. Their products are made for papercrafters, by the most talented and dedicated papercrafters around.

I can't remember exactly when I found Dawn McVey's blog, but I do recall adding her to my favourites list thinking "how have I missed this unique talent?". If you've seen Dawn's work you will know she uses colour like no one else and it was this and her signature style that keeps me going back.

When Dawn announced on her blog last October that her and her hubby Bart would be coming to Australia (and in particular the Gold Coast), I was giddy with excitement and as you can see I was first to comment. I was actually so excited I didn't quite know what to say and drafted a couple of comments before hitting publish!

As it turned out Kevin would be travelling home from South Africa the very weekend of Dawn's Gold Coast meet and greet, so I wasn't sure I would be able to make it. After a little push from my family (I'm way too shy), I got ready as quickly as I could, bundled the family in the car and drove to the meeting place. Normally Kevin would drive, but still recovering from his trip it was safer for me to be behind the wheel.

We arrived a little late, having parked up the wrong end of the street and almost running all the way there! I had a fabulous time meeting Dawn, Bart and some fellow Dawn fans and their families. I only have one crafty blogging friend that I know offline, so I really enjoyed the conversation. An overdue change from toddler talk!

As weird as this sounds, it only felt real that I had met Dawn once seeing the photo of us together. I'm so used to seeing her in 2D!

So, as I'm sure I've made quite clear, Dawn is a bit of a papercrafting hero of mine and it was such a pleasure to meet her. There is something super special about the papercrafting/blogging community that keeps everyone so down to earth and in easy reach of their fans. For that I find I'm always grateful.

My very special Sunday was so inspiring that yesterday I made a sort of tribute card:

The stamped background pattern was inspired by Dawn, who is insanely talented at this technique. And the strip of glitter is one of those "why didn't I think of that" techniques that Nichole so often pulls out of her genius hat.