I was extremely blessed to have been chosen by Altenew to participate in a product development meeting called Craft Your Life Experience on Thursday, July 24, 2025. They sent me a product and I was not able to open the product or know what was inside until on screen with the Team. They wanted to get reaction to a customer seeing the product for the first time and then watch them create something with the product.

I will definitely say I was nervous! I had no idea what the product was and then to have to think on my toes quickly without pre planning a design was certainly a challenge. It was a “Murphy’s Law” type situation. Anything that can go wrong, did go wrong. 🤦🏻‍♀️ It started going wrong from the beginning as my CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) had just ended its session and kept prompting me every 10 minutes to replace it. It would make an annoying noise and display on screen. I would have to keep swiping it to get off screen which I’m sure did not make for a great picture to those watching 😩. There were other fumbles along the way like having to stamp the image multiple times and die cut pieces multiple times. My hands of course did not want to cooperate as I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis and had a hard time with some of the smaller pieces.

In the end, I am happy with the final result. I think the layout and card came together beautifully. It may have taken some time to get there but the bottom line is this …. We are human and we make mistakes. Our products are not mass produced, they are handmade. That is what makes them so special. Do not give up. Keep moving forward even if it takes multiple tries to get it right. Don’t get frustrated or upset. Enjoy the process and have fun with it. That’s what you are supposed to get out of it. Joy, happiness, sense of accomplishment and pride in your work.

Thank you to Altenew and the Product Development Team for choosing me for this excellent opportunity. I am beyond grateful.