The Avid Scrapper: July 2008

Thursday, July 31, 2008

4th of July Scrapbook Pages

Talk about coming down to the wire... it took me long enough, but here are the class pages for July. When I went searching for the paper, I was looking for an Americana look. Not always an easy task. Sometimes I know exactly what I want, but no one makes the paper!!! Anyways, here are the pages:

The entire spread

Page 1, the title page

One of the 4x6 mats accented with twine and a metal/enamel star charm

A close up of the charm

The title

Journaling spot for dates, times, places and loved ones

4x4 photo mat

Page 2

The other 4x6 photo mat holds a journaling tag for additional info. Also embellished with twine and a charm

The tag pulls right out

A close-up of the charm

Family, fireworks and fun are the best way to celebrate America's birthday!

2 twin 4x4 photo mats

Stars with paper clip and tag that say "USA"

Well, there it is! Did you notice all the hardware? Lots of brads! We only have 5 more spreads until our yearly album is full! YA!

Designed by CJL

Be inspired but DO NOT COPY!

Monday, July 28, 2008

8x8 Scrapbook Album for Baby Madison

A good friend of mine is getting ready to have her first baby, a little girl named Madison. When her sisters had their babies, I made them albums and so it was finally Lauren's turn!

I did this 8x8 album with Madison's name on the front. I used my Cricut to cut the flowers, frames, etc. All of the flowers have gemstones for the centers, which I loved! Here is a look at the album:

Page 1

Pages 2 & 3

Pages 4 & 5

Pages 6 & 7

Pages 8 & 9

Pages 10 & 11

Page 12

Design by CJL

Be Inspired, but DO NOT COPY

This album is a One-Of-A-Kind and cannot be duplicated. Thank you! °Ü°

Engagement Tag Shaped Brag Book

I can't take full credit on this one, this was a joint effort of mine and my daughters!

One of my very good friends is adding a son-in-law to her family this August! She has all daughters and and will finally have a son! Anyways, we have know both families for ages and my daughter is a friend of the bride.

Her bridal shower was a couple of weeks ago and my daughter wanted to make her a brag book to show off their engagement photos in. I cut everything on my Cricut and then Kylie put the pages together and then I put the pages of the book together. It was a lot of fun having a partner and I thought it turned out absolutely adorable! I can't wait to make one for me. °Ü°

The front cover

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Back Cover

The album is 8 inches tall and the photo mats easy hold a 4x4 photo. Of course, all photos slip easily under the embellishments. Holds 12 photos total. Each flower holds a gemstone for a little bling!

This item can be custom ordered with your theme and colors!

Price: $36

Custom Desnign by CJL and KB

Be inspired, but DO NOT COPY

This album is a one-of-a-kind and cannot be duplicated.

Cupcake Birthday Spread Scrapbook Pages

This is a spread I did as a custom order for customer on Etsy.com. Her daughter was having a cupcake themed birthday party and her nickname happens to be Cupcake, as well. The pictures don't show it well, but there is lots of glitter on all of the papers. A really fun layout with a big journaling tag, to boot!

The Entire Spread

The left page

Part of the title

4x6 photo mat

4x4 twin photo mats

The Right Page

4x6 photo mat. Pictures slides easily under ribbon and wording

4x4 photo mat hold journaling tag

Jumbo journaling tag is 5 inches long!

Custom Design by CJL

Be inspired, but DO NOT COPY

This page is a One-of-a-kind and cannot be reproduced.

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°