September 2011

Group Gifting @ The Scrapbooker

Posted by Andrea in Scrapbooking on September 23, 2011
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Group Gifting is a new way to buy larger, more expensive gifts for family, friends and colleagues that would otherwise be out of reach to anyone looking to buy them on their own. Group gifting allows friends and family to contribute to gifts and also eliminates the dilemma of choosing a gift for someone who has everything.

“It’s the thought that counts, but it’s the gift they’ll remember.”

We’ve all struggled over what to get Mum and Dad for their Wedding Anniversary, a friend at work on their retirement, a couple on their wedding day or a daughter on her coming of age. Buying something on our own that is special, personalised, meaningful and within budget is incredibly difficult. Our bespoke scrapbook albums and personalised PhotoArt pieces are the perfect gifts but can be costly for an individual to buy on their own. Group Gifting allows family and friends to come together and contribute to the cost of the album or PhotoArt as a group, each enjoying the benefits of giving a meaningful gift without fronting the entire cost.

Our bespoke scrapbook albums make perfect gifts for anyone retiring. Rather than the usual whip-round for that ubiquitous engraved tankard or clock, why not Group Gift a beautiful scrapbook album or photo book of photographs, accomplishments and memories instead. We created a beautiful digital scrapbook for Sir Al Aynsley Green on his retirement as England’s First Commissioner. It is filled with photographs, testimonials and memories. 11Million, who commissioned the album, were delighted.

Our digital Scrapbook albums offer a modern, clean alternative to the traditional scrapbook album and are perfect for young, dynamic people like Jake Nicholls. He was gifted a digital coffee table scrapbook to commemorate his career as a Motocross rider from the age of 5 through to adulthood. He carries a copy with him at all times but we made sure that his Mom had a copy too!

Our Group Gifting service will, hopefully, be available in our shop in the New Year but in the meantime, please contact me if you are interested in receiving further information.

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Losing my creative mojo

Posted by Andrea in Creative Art on September 13, 2011
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Surprisingly, designing new products can be a particularly arduous task. I spend a considerable amount of my time working on accounts, admin, sales, marketing, website development, blogging and other such activities that have nothing to do with designing or crafting. They are a necessity of self-employment; they are also a demon to my creative mojo … let me explain.

When I eventually find myself with time for ‘play’,  I get very excited. I mark out days in my diary – weeks in advance, put my phone on silent, ban the kids from the studio, shop for new supplies to inspire me, drag all my idea sources and notebooks out of their hiding places, put on a fab new album to listen to and then set about, with much gusto, the task of creating.

It sounds idyllic. I can assure you it isn’t.

Two hours in and the scene is not one of harmonious creativity. A hundred ideas swirling around my head along with product and resource overload just isn’t cutting it. Everything I try just isn’t working; heaps of product and supplies are now strewn all over the studio in various piles – die cuts, glue pots, paintbrushes, stacks of coloured and patterned 12″ x 12″ paper, flowers, rub-ons, metal frames, boxes of buttons and brads – you name it, it’s all out. Half finished projects and my initial ideas are now scraps of crumpled paper on the floor and my note books have huge pen marks through them with the words NO blazoned all over them in red marker.

I have lost my creative mojo.

No artist or creative (or writer for that matter) likes to admit to losing their creative mojo – but it happens. We spend 80% of our time doing uninteresting,  mundane, necessary administration and that seriously messes with our creative thought process. We just can’t dive straight in and produce wonderful, fresh pieces of art straight away. It takes time and thought, then more time and even more thought. This can go on for days, even weeks.

I have, however, been here enough times to recognise the pattern and have, to some extent, accepted this part of the process. My solution? Cake (or wine, dependent on the time of day) and a few hours spent casually glancing through the carnage that now surrounds me whilst listening to the aforesaid album at my leisure.

Then the ideas come.

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The Scrapbooker goes global!

Posted by Andrea in Scrapbooking on September 5, 2011
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The advantages of working the way I do means my business knows no geographical boundaries. Working from my studio using all the IT, social networking and communication tools at my disposal means I can produce work for clients around the globe as quickly and as efficiently as though they were living 2 miles away.

When I received a call from Penny Raphaely about producing 2 traditionally crafted bespoke scrapbooks for her husband, Tony, for his 70th birthday, I assumed it would be pretty straight forward. To create the scrapbook would be, but the communication and organisation required to bring it altogether was something else; 4 sons and their families spread over 4 continents, family, friends and business associates spread all over the world and themselves with homes in 3 cities on 3 continents and constantly on the move, this was going to take a little more than a few emails. There were over a 100 separate contributions, each represented by a different page and a unique relevant design. There was also the small matter of shipping 2 very large and very heavy albums to Sydney, Australia where they would be gifted at Tony’s 70th birthday party.

I was incredibly excited!

With Penny’s permission I took over communicating with all 100 of the contributors, and, under a shroud of absolute secrecy, emails, letters, digital photos, scanned photos, original 90-year-old vintage photographs, poems, stories, drawings, paintings, calligraphy, prayers and personal memories came flooding in. The response overwhelmed me. I took a lot of time out to look at and read each and everyone carefully and was completely bowled over by what people had to say about Tony. If these words could make me emotional, and they did, imagine the effect they would have on Tony.

Several months later, albums designed and completed and carefully packed off to Australia, I sat and waited to hear how they had been received. I was not disappointed:

“This is Nikki Raphaely emailing you from Australia.
 
I would like to say WELL DONE on the most amazing scrapbooks. They are so creative, so beautifully put together and what ideas you had for each and every page. They are truly remarkable and it was so wonderful to see Tony’s joy and elation at receiving them and then reading all the letters and the kind things people said to him.
Thank you and well done!”
 

and then, to my joy, an email from Tony himself …

“Dear Andrea,
I am sure you can imagine how blown away I was last week when Penny gave me your two albums. Apart from the contents of the letters, your artwork is breathtaking and so well compliments the wonderful sentiments expressed by my relations and friends. Everyone I have shown your albums to has marveled at what you have done. I know you were paid for your work but just want you to know how appreciative I am of the masterpieces you created.
Best wishes
Tony Raphaely”
 

I was incredibly thrilled and delighted that Tony loved the albums, it made all the hard work worthwhile!

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Storybook Wedding album – testimonial

Posted by Andrea in Photography on September 5, 2011
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As part of my photographic business I sometimes get asked to design wedding albums using photographs provided by another photographer. I was recently asked to do just this for a client in Brookline, Massachusetts. After a few days editing and cleaning up the photos, designing the layout, printing and placing the prints into a gorgeous Mario Acerboni album, I packed it off Express Delivery to America and breathed a sigh of relief when it finally arrived 7 days later (proving that shipping to the States can sometimes be problematic).

   

You can imagine how delighted I was to receive this pretty little card a few days later thanking me for the album. It’s a simple but thoughtful gesture that reminds me how important my work is to my clients and how lucky I am to do the job I do!

Read the testimonial 

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