The Avid Scrapper: Scrapbook Explosion Gift Boxes

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Scrapbook Explosion Gift Boxes

Baby Boy Explosion Box

13 Photo mats, 6 with embellishments

Baby Girl Explosion Box

13 photos mats, 6 with embellishments

Disney Explosion Box

13 photo mats, 6 with embellishments

Pink and Brown explosion box

25 photo mats, 12 embellished

Love explosion box

tops of lid

13 photo mats, 6 with embellishments

A couple of years ago I saw one of these at a family baby shower. I thought it was adorable and very ingenious. Recently, I was thinking of a new project that I could work on and these boxes came to mind. I sat down with a stack of 12X12 card stock, a ruler and pencil and about 3 and 1/2 hours later, I had the pattern drawn up and perfected! So, while the idea certainly is not my original idea, I do pride myself in that I was able to design this particular pattern, which is a huge accomplishment since I am lousy at math! Ü

These boxes can be completely customized for any and all occasions!

Baby Showers
Bridal Showers
Bachlorette Parties
Valentine's Day (just the right size to hold a ring or other jewelry!)
Mother's Day
Father's Day
4th of July
Halloween
Fall / Thanksgiving
Christmas
Weddings
the possibilities are endless!

They are the perfect size (about 4" squared) to display on a desk, end table or shelf. Everyone always is so surprised when you take the lid off and and the pages fall open! Each album holds 25 photos: the pages are double-side mounted.

Can be ordered by writing me @ theavidscrapper@yahoo.com

Box: $32.00

S&H: Calculates by Zip Code

3 comments:

Cricut GIrl said...: I just did my first explosion box and found your website. Yours are absolutely gorgeous. Job WELL DONE! Excellent ideas. Thank you; November 18, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Sarah & Kevin said...: I would like to purchase your laminated pattern - can you let me know what you need? My e-mail is aggie_gal25@yahoo.com - thanks!; September 9, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Just wanted to tell you that your prices are very reasonable for the time it takes to put the photo boxes together. I also make these and have sold quite a few. Sometimes I think $25.00 - $35.00 is just not enough. People do not understand how much time and creative effort goes into these boxes. I've seen some plain Jane boxes selling for $25.00. They don't even compare to the quality I see in your pictures. Good luck to you! We'll never make a million bucks, but to know someone has a piece of "our creation" is priceless. ;); September 28, 2009 at 12:25 PM

A Little About Me

Hello! My name is Carla. I am a wife to a wonderful man and mother to two beautiful daughters and two adorable fur babies. I have always loved taking photos and creating a special place for them to be cherished and shared. In my childhood and teen years, it was my journals that played host to my early scrapbooks. I really started to work on my craft in 1999 and there has been no slowing down since then. Scrapbooking is very therapeutic for me and gives me a chance to express "Carla" in ways I couldn't do otherwise. This blog is where you can see a little of what I create. I hope that you are inspired by all that you see here. I welcome questions and comments, so please feel free to drop me a note on my posts, or you can contact me via email. I ♥ hearing from you! °Ü°

Understanding the Cost of Custom Work:

I get emails for custom work all the time. I would say, that on a weekly basis, I get at least 8-10 emails requesting specific themes. I love hearing from everyone and truthfully, I am honored that there are so many of you who love my designs, style of scrap booking and work so much that you would love to make it apart of their memory albums. The part I find frustrating and sometimes hurtful, is that when I reply to these emails and give pricing, one of three things happens: 1) I never hear back from the person 2) I get an email back arguing price and saying they won't pay it unless I drop the price 3) A sweet apology that they can't do it right now (this would be the rarest of the emails, however, it is the most appreciated!)

I understand that in today's economy, that scrap booking pages and albums are truly a luxury purchase. I also understand that everyone is trying to get the most for their money. Aren't we all?

Here is the side I would like you to try to understand.

I am a crafter by trade. I scrapbook for fun and I scrapbook for a living. I need to be home with my family taking care of them and our home, and this is the working relationship that works best for us and our family's needs. Although I get to be home with them, I still spend 30-40 hours a week designing, planning, cutting, hand-cutting at times, and piecing together pages, albums and projects. Pretty much a full time job. Sometimes, ALL of that time is spent on just one album. Sometimes all of that time is spent on just 4-6 pages.

When it comes to my work, I do not cut corners! I only buy the best papers, metal embellishments, adhesives and so on. I take my work seriously, I go over every detail and I know I am not the only crafter who does this. I am simply just one of many who are in this "crafter's boat", if you will. What is minimum wage these days? I honestly do not know. From what I see and know, is it about $7 per hour. Maybe I should look it up... okay, according to US Dept of Labor, the minimum wage is $6.55 hour. The average person making M.W. makes $262 for a 40 hour work week BEFORE taxes, etc. Wow. that doesn't leave a lot for the bring home amount, does it? The average spread, (2) 12X12 pages together, takes me 8-12 hours to design and put together. {There have been a handful that have taken me closer to 16. I keep track for how long it takes to make each.} So let's say I am in "The Zone" and get one done in just 8 hours and I charge $6.55 per hour. That is $52.40. That doesn't even include the materials cost for that spread, that is just my time. Keep that in mind. I actually charge a set fee of $45 for a custom spread. There is extra time and steps that go into each project, like custom names, dates and details. Now, divide $45 by 8. I am making about $5.63 an hour, and then, not even that much because that doesn't include the cost I have already paid for the materials! That is JUST my time. At the end of each custom spread, I am only making about $2-$3 per hour. (REMEMBER, that is only if it took me just the 8 hours, any longer than that and it brings my hourly wage down even more.) That is not a lot for my time, for my design and hard work when it is spelled out that way. What do you think?

Please keep these things in mind when shopping sites like Etsy.com, Ebay.com and personal websites. We crafters put our all into our craft. Each design, every piece is a part our personality and we take a lot of time to put it all together.

I think that everyone, no matter who you are and what you do, wants to have their work appreciated and they don't want others to make them feel that what they are paid for their time and talent isn't worth it. I think my time and talent is worth what little I ask for it. Remember that when you see hand crafted items, time, talent and effort was put into each project. Think about how much time it would take you to do something like that if you were to personally make it, think of professional crafting as some one's career and think about how truly little, the time making it is actually charged for.

Thank you. °Ü°

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Scrapbook Explosion Gift Boxes

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