About Dayzee Designs - the artist
My name: Dece Gherardini (Dee-s Gair-uh-dee-nee)
How I started Scrapping: I started scrapbooking before I even knew it was scrapbooking - it was more about my obsession with the pop band, Wham! and keeping track of my snail mail pen pals than recording my history through photos. I began scrapbooking in the acid/lignin free world in 1999, at the urging of my sister-in-law, Christi. I thought it would be a great way to preserve the few family photos and the little known genealogy of my grandmother, who had passed away the same year. Since then, I have studied the genealogy of my grandmother by combing through census records, deed books, and countless hours in the genealogy library in Mesa as well as Salt Lake, and through the internet I have connected with "long-lost" cousins, sharing photos, genealogy information, and the joys and sorrows of life.
Hobbies and Interests: Besides
scrapbooking and genealogy, my greatest "hobby" is writing. I've been
writing stories since I was in grade school, and letters to pen pals since I was in junior
high school. Telling the story behind the photos is my main focus in scrapbooking,
for while photos and embellishments are great, there are some things you just cannot
express without the journaling. Besides the who, what, when, and where, I believe it
is important to write the WHY and HOW of the photos. I try to write something about
myself in my journaling, especially when creating layouts about my children. For
instance, I do not have photos when I went Trick-or-Treating as a child, so when I make a
Halloween layout about my children, I try to write a memory of Halloween when I was a
child. I try to look at my pages from my children's (and someday grandchildren's)
perspective, when they're my age now. What will they want to know?
Other things I love/collect: I love science
fiction and fantasy books & films. The Lord of the Rings tops my list , but I
can beat just about anyone at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and I am also a closet
Trekkie. I catch every episode of Law & Order (the original, SVU, and Criminal
Intent), CSI, and all crime docudramas. It is the writer in me, wanting to know the
origins of the characters and the road that lead them to commit the crime. I'm
fascinated! I have a tremendous respect for actors, writers, directors, and all of
the men and women in the film and television industry. Until you have written a
script, acted for the camera, and spent hours under the glaring lights, you cannot fully
appreciate the artistry and hard work.
My guilty pleasures include: Being a Buffalo (It's
no surprise that my Council Seat is as the Buffalo Recorder!), South Park, Reno 911,
Ghirardelli chocolate and bottle after bottle of diet Caffeine free Coke.
Inspirations: Though I do not get to scrap with friends as often as I would like, my favorite people to scrapbook with are my cousin, Eva Flake and my sister-in-law, Christi Starks. They both inspire me to do more, to go further, to take my ideas and push them to the next level. And there's nothing better than chatting about the mundane of every day life while scrapping with people you love, and a midnight run to Perkins when you're too tired to scrap anymore!
Art: Vincent Van Gogh is my favorite artist of all time, though I appreciate art in all forms, from Impressionism to Pop Art, my favorite style is impressionism. My dream is to go back to college and take every art class possible -- not for another degree but for the sheer joy of expression!
The "facts" about me: I am an Arizona native (4 generations), have 2 beautiful daughters, Emilie and Hannah, and a wonderful husband, Tony. I have a B.A. in Psychology from Arizona State Unversity. My favorite color is blue, my favorite flowers (of course) are daisies, my favorite actor is Sean Bean (though William Petersen and Vincent D'Onofrio are right up there too!), and my favorite scrapping subject is (of course) my girls.
If you've read this far, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to email me: mailto:[email protected]