This weeks spotlight shines on the owner herself of {wst} - deann mcdaniel. i so enjoyed reading deann's answers to my questions, that i thought you all would as well, and i couldn't bring myself to edit them down or take words out of her mouth. so meet deann - and glimpse a bit of her life, her work, her passion and be inspired.
deann in her own words: A little about myself...ok! I am a mother to four boys (hence the name of our parent company - MyFourSons Prod.) Zack (15), Max (13), Wil (9) & Nate (4). It's a crazy life - experiencing puberty and potty training all at the same time! But seriously, I can't imagine it any other way. We have a lot of fun, but most importantly, there is a lot of love. (which helps when you think you are gonna lose your mind - which occurs on a daily basis - lol) Patrick, my partner in all things; marriage, parenting and business, and I have been married for over 15 years and luckily are still laughing at each other every day. (During our exchange of vows, Patrick accidentally (or not) said that he promised to laugh AT me - which he has held true to - lucky me, a man that stand by his vows - lol!) We are raising our family a block away from the home I grew up in, and my parents still live, in sunny Huntington Beach, California. It's fun for my children to trick or treat at the same doors I knocked on as a small goblin years ago.
Q: How did {we are} storytellers come to be? So Laura, what your really asking is..."What's the story behind {we are} storytellers, right? (nice lead in, thank you!) What it's all about for us: Telling your story! It is that very premise that launched the concept for {wst}. Our journey into this industry started a couple of years ago when we acquired Digital Scrapbooking Talk Radio (DSTR), an online podcasting site dedicated to streaming the world of scrapbooking. As we were looking at growth opportunities for that site, the idea of {wst} was conceived. Trust me, in the beginning, it did not look anything like it does today, but it is growing into exactly what we hoped we could create - a positive place on the Internet for inspiration, education and collaboration to help people on their storytelling path.
Q: What do you love most about the site? Hands down, it's the collaborative spirit created by the amazingly talented and kind people that have come together to make {wst} such a special and unique place. I am so lucky to not only have found a career in an area of my personal passion, but to be able to work with such compassionate, intelligent souls, I am very thankful.
Q: Is there a storytelling “style” you identify with? When we were recording our weekly show, Dishin the Digi - Coast 2 Coast, my co-host at the time, Shanah Gordon started seeing a real trend in my scrapbook layout spotlights. She pointed out that overwhelmingly I was picking layouts that told the 'real story.' Not the "Perfect Layouts" - those that have the one perfect photo, one perfectly placed word art (Happy or Love) and 50 layers of perfectly matching ribbons, elements, and brushes. As pretty as those layouts are to look at, especially when you have no idea who the person in the photo is, I always wonder, "what's the story!?!" I was attracted to those layouts that didn't necessarily have the perfect photos, design concepts might not have been implemented very well, but the layout told of the real events of the day. Shanah coined the phrase, "Reality Scrapbooking" and it sums up my storytelling philosophy perfectly!
Q: How do you do it ALL? Well, I don't!! (just ask Patrick, he'll say HE does it all! lol) As I mentioned above, Patrick is my partner in ALL things, so it helps a ton that we are able share our responsibilities. I do have to add, there is NO such thing as 'doing it all" or can you "balance" your life - it's impossible. What is possible is making choices and decisions about how and where you are going to place your resources (time, energy, effort, etc.) Sometimes I make really good choices, other times, after surfing the net for 2 hours rather than doing laundry or outreaching to a colleague on a possible biz. partnership, not so good! What helps is that as I grow older, I know that the time my children are young is fast and fleeting and years I can not get back, so I hold on very tightly. I also have become aware of which balls are glass and which are rubber, and when they are all in the air, I protect the breakables.
Q: What’s your advice to a new scrapper/storyteller? Simple - JUST DO IT! (uh-oh, do I have to send Nike some money for saying that!??!) Seriously, just tell your story. And tell the 'real story." Also, I think it's very important to remember "why you are scrapping" - it should not be for online galleries and hopes of getting 100 comments. It should be to preserve your families memories and give the gift of these memories to your family. Concentrate on that, and you'll be much freer to journal and tell it as it is, if you're not worried about uploading to a public gallery. It gets easier the more you do it. Once you get into the habit of journaling, your layouts will begin to look like something is missing. I've had several scrappers tell me that they can't finish a layout without adding journaling - they curse me, I celebrate!
Q: How do you plan/organize new ideas you have for {wst} ? A lot of talking to my team, looking into new markets to extend our reach, partnering with business leaders throughout the scrapbooking industry, observing trends in retail across the board and treating our business a bit like testing pasta - we throw a lot of ideas out there and see what sticks; like perfectly cooked pasta! Once we decide what roads we want to explore, we all jump in and move forward as a collaborative unit.
Q: How did you become the storytelling evangelist?!? I felt very strongly that the direction scrapbooking was going; away from preserving memories, emphasis less and less on journaling and more focus on photographers and embellishments was very concerning. Luckily, I am not alone and now it's a major message that is being promoting by my friends and colleagues like Stacy Julian, Ali Edwards, Beth Williams and Lynda Angelastro who have much broader reach than myself and many others. I feel the community is really behind this idea of getting back to the basics of telling stories and ensuring important, and everyday moments, are not forgotten.
Now the question as to 'why' storytelling is so important and what I get on my soap box about is the simple fact- "We Forget!" If we do not tell our stories, they will be forgotten and people have to stop fooling themselves of this plain fact. When one of our children do something or say something we think, "oh, that was so adorable I'm never going to forget what he said!" two weeks later, it's gone! Life comes at all of us way too fast, children grow from babies to preschoolers to high school graduates in a blink of an eye. If we don't write things down, we are destined to lose the memory. I have taken photographs of one of my boys doing something, maybe it's just sleeping, but if I do not journal then I will never remember that the reason I took that particular photo was not simply because he looked sweet, it was because he had tested my parenting boundaries all day long and yet at the end of the day, this little boy is sound asleep with the most angelic face and I snap myself back and realize how lucky I am to be his mother. It's those lessons our scrapbooks can provide us, but only if we choose to tell the story. Through the stories, we can relive over and over events that shape our life - what a gift.
Q: What do you think can help scrappers tell their story? Commit to the process, making a choice to tell your story. Then it's about holding yourself accountable and journaling on each page. Remember all along, that if you don't write it down, it really will be gone - trust me - I'm old, I know about the way our memories let us down!
Q: Is there a layout in the {wst} gallery that’s grabbed your attention recently? Well, that's kind of like asking me if I love one of my children more than the others!??! So, with the disclaimer that I am personally drawn to all the layouts that have a significant amount of journaling on them, Peppermint's "Compassion" and Jennifer's "An Autumn Leaf" both really captured my attention and really represented my storytelling philosophy.
A recent layout of deann's:
Q: You are passionate about journaling/storytelling as a part of scrapping, so how do people who don’t naturally “write” start to journal as a part of their art? Again, it's about committing to the process. On our very site, we have Audrey Neal's weekly, Writer's Notebook, found each Thursday on our blog. Audrey is very gifted with the ability to tell a story, and gives lots of great examples that make it easy to begin or improve your journaling skills. Journaling prompts and story starters are great ways to jump start, 'cause we all know that staring at a blank screen can be very intimidating. " Also, there are some very helpful books out there, two Simple Scrapbook Special Issues, Slice of Life Scrapbooking and Scrapbook Shortcuts with quizzes & questions are great resources to either get your started or go-to if you get stuck. Again, practice, practice, practice - find your voice and go for it!
Q: You're a huge presence in the digi-scrapping community, what do you recommend scrappers do with their layouts once they're completed? "Huge presence" well, I don't know about THAT, but I thank you for the compliment! Find as many ways as you can to LIVE WITH YOUR STORIES. Please do not leave them locked up in your hard drive or online galleries. Obviously, the first choice is to print them, create scrapbooks that live on your coffee table - opened! Also, create projects using your layouts - mini albums are all the rage right now. Why? because they allow you to live with your stories in a easy, and let's face it, adorable way. Share with families and friends, along with printing, you can create simple albums using photobucket, flickr and other online storage solutions that allow you to easily share your stories with others electronically. Blog, even if you don't think you have anything to say, or that anyone will read them, it's a great way those close to you can keep up on your everyday going on's and a great place to post your layouts. Turn your layouts into home movies and dvd slideshows. You'll be amazed how quickly your child's favorite DVD will be the one that tells the story all about him!
Inquiring Minds Want to Know:
It’s a Tuesday night in October – what are you having for dinner? What ever I can talk my son Max into fixing! He's quite the "cooker" as my littlest one calls him. Max loves to get into the kitchen and help out and I really appreciate it (plus the rule is, "if ya cook, ya don't have to clean' - which honestly might be more his incentive than his passion for cooking - lol!) Ok, let me think...Tuesday night in October, means we have to have dinner early due to soccer and band practices, lasagna, corn/green beans and garlic bread. Also, Patrick's been on a cookie baking role lately, not great for the waistline, but sure are yummy! so, throw in some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert and call it a night!
You can only watch one movie for the rest of your life – what’s in the DVD player? ummmm...I'm going with Princess Bride. It's a special movie for Patrick and I and means a lot to us and gosh darn it - it's funny! Now, what's in my dvd player right now, would it not be great if I told you, "Oh, McDaniel's 2008 Summer Stories!" but it's not - lol! We use our PS3 as our dvd player, so I'm sure there's some 'game' in there! (that I have no idea how to play!)
If you could have a vacation home anywhere in the world, where would it be? I know there are a lot of wonderful places out there, but I have to tell you that my favorite place I've ever been and dream daily about returning to is Nantucket. I absolutely love everything about that little island off the eastern seaboard. I can picture myself enjoying my days in a wicker rocker on a covered porch looking out onto the vast sea - perfectly quaint!
What’s your favorite accessory item and what color is it? It has to be my Oilily book-bag purse. Anyone that has met me at CHA or seen pictures have seen my "bag" - i love it, it's just hippie enough to fit my style and is stripped with all my favorite colors. And what might be those favorite colors...the colors of my home, {wst} and dstr - lol!
now if you're like me - you're ready to go buy an oilily bag and scrap lots of journal-filled pages! thanks for reminding us what it's all about, deann.
{storyteller} laura
I've been married to my husband Andy for 8 years. We have a bunch of
kids including Ethan(5), Noah(3), and Alex and Elizabeth (9 month old
twins). I'm a nurse but quit my job to be at home full time. Our life
is busy, crazy, loud, and very happy! 
