The Avid Scrapper: January 2011

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.

{Thank You Cards}

Last week, I realized that time was getting away from me, in that, I hadn't made my Thank You cards for Christmas gifts and goodies that were given to our family . As I was going through all of my paper, I pulled out "The Green Stack" by DCWV. The paper is made from 70% recycled paper. I hadn't used a sheet of it yet and thought, "Yeah! This will work." I also had the chipboard images to go with it, which helped to cut down on Cricut time, so win, win! °Ü°

As you can see, I basically used the same layout for each of the cards. I just switched which side the scalloped frame was on and then made multiples of some of the cards. This helped to keep it simple and quick. I used chipboard on all of them but the owls. Those I cut using the Sentimentals Cricut cart. The owls that came with the stack were adorable, but I didn't think my recipients would know they were owls because they are so different looking.

These were lots of fun to create and I have to tell you that I LOVED the texture of the paper. It's amazing. Feels almost like there is some plastic of something it. It's sturdy and so easy to work with. I highly recommend it to everyone!

{Sweet Birthday Cards}

My oldest daughter was born on my birthday and we always have so much fun sharing the day together. I thought it was funny that this year we made similar cards for each other. :) Great minds think alike!

This is the card I made for her. I cut it on my Cricut using a My Scrap Chick pattern. You can't see it in the photo, but I used Stickles to decorate the little flowers on the icing part to give it some shimmer that would go with the shimmer on the glitter paper I used to cut the heart.

Her is her card for me. What do you know? Cupcakes! °Ü° I just loved it! I love the colors and how cheerful it is. She is so talented! I am so blessed to have such an amazing daughter and to share such a special day with her is something we will have all our lives. My cup runneth over.

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}

{Thank You Cards}

{Sweet Birthday Cards}

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