Today I'm welcoming the talented Traci Reed, to share a little about her brand new class at Scrapaneers.com.

Traci is a designer with 9 years of experience in the digital and paper scrapbooking world, as well as qualifications in design. I've got to know Traci through the Crafting Your Biz networking group where she's proven time and again both her design skill and her business acumen. Here's Traci...

I've been asked over and over and over again how I do the things I do when I design. After 9 years, I think it's finally time to start spreading the love and letting everyone in on my design secrets. I realized when starting to brainstorm the class, that I'd have to start at the beginning and when I went back and reevaluated what it is that I do, there was so much to learn before you can really design that I wanted to start with the basics. I realized that the best place to start was with the foundation and that's what So You Want To Be A Design Star is all about. That's why in this class, we walk through the process of finding out who you are as a designer, color theory, typography, extraction, etc before we ever design a kit.

To participate, students should have a working knowledge of Photoshop or PSE, meaning they understand the program and have used it before, but they don't need any knowledge of design to take the class.

The real fun part comes in the last 2 weeks where first your peers will critique the mini kit that you’ve been making in the previous 6 weeks, giving you helpful feedback that you can then use to make revisions. In the last week, I’ll be sitting down with each new designer individually via video and will give them CC on their revised kit. I believe that this last week is invaluable because it can feel, at times, like designing is this closely guarded secret that no one is willing to share. I would have jumped at the chance to have a seasoned designer mentor me when I was in the beginning stages of my career, so I’ve set out to do the same with my students!

Traci has a wealth of knowledge, and will be there in class answering questions in the forums and sharing her insider knowledge with all of the students in the class. Apart from 8 weeks of comprehensive training, you can count on little tidbits like this that will make your day (or week!).

Are you a wannabee desinger, or maybe you are keen to take your design skills to the next level, here's the details:

I've already enrolled, and I hope you'll come and join me!

Class begins on the 9th of September, so get yourself over and register today! You do not want to miss this opportunity, as the class won't be running again anytime soon!

I'll see you in class!