The Avid Scrapper: {Valentine Bulletin Board}

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

{Valentine Bulletin Board}

I am still in charge of the bulletin board for the woman at church. I didn't get pics up of the adorable Christmas one, but I did remember to take photos last night, after I put the Valentine one up.

I just love My Scrap Chick. They have become one of my all time favorite companies. I love that they are constantly putting out fun new images. If you have SCAL and have checked them out, do! They have a Friday Freebie that you can't beat. I have gotten so many cute images free from them. Okay, so enough advertising... °Ü°

I used their JilliBean Valentine line to cut some of the images for the board. Everyone just loved them! They are stinkin' adorable and hard not to love.

The entire board

This image is entitled "Love is in the Air". She originally does not have an envelope in her hand, but I thought it would be cute and so I cut one using Doodlecharms.

I also added the little flower and gems to her outfit.

My 3 couples needed to be placed on matted frames so that you could see them better. They definitely were going to get lost against that fabric background. I decided on stamps to keep with the love letter theme. I was so happy that I had the gold cardstock. It brings out the flecks of gold in the fabric.

You can see that I used glitter paper for her blouse and one of the hearts. I also added gems.

I think these 2 just may be my favorites. I love their little outfits.

Here is couple number 3. I loved that I had jean paper for their jeans. Looks so authentic.

Using Sentimentals, I cut these sweet little swallows.

Now, to get started on the Spring one. I have most of it cut, it's just a matter of organizing it all.

7 comments:

Stephanie Tobler said...: I love this look! Absolutely stunning. I followed the link that you posted but I don't understand how it works. Is it compatible with my cricut or do I need a specific machine? Thanks; January 19, 2011 at 5:16 PM
The Avid Scrapper said...: Hi Stephanie,

My Scrap Chick is a company that simply creates SVG file images that purchase, download and cut using your Cricut machine and a program called SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot). SCAL is purchased online, you download it right to your computer and then using your computer with your Cricut you can custom cut ANY SVG files and any True Type font. That part I love in that I own more than 600 fonts and can cut any of them with my Cricut.

I purchased my SCAL 2.0 program from http://www.craftedge.com/index.html. It cost $59. It's a wonderful site in that it explains everything about SCAL and answers any and all questions that you might have.

Hope that helps! Check them out and then let me know if there is more I can help with. My email is theavidscrapper@yahoo.com; January 20, 2011 at 4:53 AM
4kids4 said...: Your bulletin board is probably the prettiest I've ever seen! Just so cute and fun! Love those images...and the detail is fantastic!! TFS!

~Sharon C.; January 20, 2011 at 10:49 AM
The Avid Scrapper said...: Thank you, Sharon! Your words warm my heart. It is definitely one of the joys I have of serving the women I go to church with. It's like a huge scrapbook page for me! °Ü°; January 20, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Cindy said...: GREAT bulletin board. I so like her patterns. The ladies at your church are lucky to have you do their decorating. :); March 7, 2011 at 8:29 AM
Kerri Marie said...: This is so cute! I love the images I really have to go get myself that program! Thanks for sharing.; March 20, 2011 at 10:48 PM
The Avid Scrapper said...: Thank you, Cindy! I actually feel lucky that they let me do it. :) It is so fun for me.

Kerri Marie, it's a fun program, you will love it!; March 21, 2011 at 2:30 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°

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

{Valentine Bulletin Board}

7 comments:

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