Scrapbooking

Our bespoke, custom made scrapbooks are unique personalised gifts that bring joy to the recipient year after year – they are the storybooks of our lives – a visual reminder of life, the people in it and the memories we share. They can be hand crafted or digitally designed – or even turned into photo books. They’re also perfect for Group Gifting.

Scrapbooking services PRICE LIST.

For other information, follow the links or check out the posts below to see what I’ve been up to in the Scrapbooking world.

New bespoke scrapbook services

Posted by Andrea on February 25, 2013
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I am constantly surprised by how products emerge, develop and take on an identity of their own – all driven by my lovely clients. Each one seems to take a product I currently offer and tailor it to their individual needs and so create different bi-products (if that is the correct term!) and I absolutely love this!

In the Autumn of last year I was approached by a wonderful young man who wanted to use a handmade scrapbook album as a ‘tool’ to propose to his childhood sweetheart – the last page being a photo of a ring box. This request was met with much ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ in the shop as we told clients and family and friends – what an utterly romantic idea … it simply warmed our hearts.

marriage proposal page- marry me scrapbook package

 

I was delighted to be asked to work on this, it was a new area for me to get involved in but made perfect sense. The client was over the moon when he received the album:

Testimonial at The Scrapbooker

Thinking no more of it, Christmas came and went and life for us here at the shop went on.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, another 2 enquiries for exactly the same thing came in. I was baffled – I hadn’t posted anything about the album I had crafted in December at all and there was no reference to it anywhere on the website – in fact I was really conscious about keeping it well under wraps until after Christmas so as not to give ANYTHING away.

I am currently midway through the new orders but it got me thinking today that there are a few romantic men out there looking for original and unique ways to propose to their loved ones and I should consider developing this into a package. In fact, seeing as we are DEEP into a recession and pennies are rather tight for everyone, developing a few packages across different categories and price brackets is probably a good idea too.

So, a morning’s work later, here they are – the first packages. The ‘Marry Me!‘ is pretty self explanatory, then there’s the ‘Birthday/Anniversary package‘ (I have crafted quite a few of these for clients but never though to develop them further – what have I been doing?!!) and the ‘Design Your Own‘ – for those who want to decorate but not build.

New Scrapbooker Service packages

All, in my mind, represent excellent choice and value across the range, and I’m already thinking about other packages to include.

If you are interested in any of these packages, see them in my shop or contact me for further details.

Handcrafted scrapbook albums go down a storm

Posted by Andrea on August 23, 2012
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You can’t imagine the thrill I get when an enquiry comes in, especially for a handcrafted scrapbook album. Thoughts of immersing myself in a large project of this kind, designing each page individually to suit the contribution and photographs and using my newly acquired stash of decorative papers, pretty embellishments, papers and trimmings excites me no end.

Back in March of this year, I received an enquiry from a lovely lady in Switzerland who wanted to gift an album to her amazing Mum in the US on her 70th birthday. In June, the contributions started to come in and work began on the designs – over 45 of them! I was in my element ….

I had received some beautiful cards, letters, memories and memorabilia – all of which aided the design process – the recipient was also a very keen, accomplished gardener and baker so the use of flowers, floral papers and baking related embellishments all added up to a collection of very delicate, pretty pages. It was a joy to craft.

After a couple of weeks, the pages were completed, carefully placed into the albums, packaged up and packed off to America.  A week later, I received these lovely emails:

“I wanted to let you know the scrapbooks arrived today. They are INCREDIBLE. You truly have a talent. The detail and creativity are so evident. I can’t wait for Nancy and James to see the books and most importantly to give them to our Mom this weekend for her birthday. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job!”
 
“My brother Mike just sent a few snapshots of the albums that you created for our mom – Wow! The pages are incredibly creative and absolutely beautiful. Our mom will be thrilled!”
 
 

and a lovely testimonial from my client in Switzerland.

I was thrilled!

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Scrapbooks, Memory Albums or This is Your Life books?

Posted by Andrea on October 18, 2011
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Realising that you’ve come up with an original idea for a special birthday or family celebration is a huge relief; a collection of photos and stories provided by friends and family is a truly worthwhile gift. Your joy, however, is short lived as you realise you now have to find someone to create it for you.

You know what you want, you’ve overheard others talk about them and you may have even seen some evidence of them in craft shops, online sites,  supermarkets and home decoration superstores but you have no idea what they are called, so how can you even begin to Google your way through the options?  I know it’s hard. Every now and again I check to see what words my visitors have been keying into Google to try to find me. Today, for example, visitors have found me with ‘custom made scrapbooks‘, ‘this is your life scrapbook’, ‘anniversary scrapbook pages’ and ‘memory albums’. A real mixture but all very relevant and all meaning exactly the same thing.

As my business is global I have to be aware of the fact that scrapbooks are also known by different names in different countries. Eg. In America they are commonly known as scrapbooks and memory albums, in the UK they are known as This is Your Life books and scrapbooks and in Australia they are known as scrapbooks and memory books. Phew – what a mind-field!

The biggest trick though is trying to inform people that we are actually here and that yes, we actually do create scrapbooks, memory albums, This is Your Life books or whatever else you choose to call them (along with loads of other goodies) as a full time business. It’s what we do, it’s what we love to do.

Now if we could just have one universal word for it please, that would be awesome. Thank you!

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Clean and purge

Posted by Andrea on October 17, 2011
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Every now and again in a desperate bid to keep control of my ever-expanding studio,  I go through all my supplies and make difficult decisions about what to keep and what to sell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of years ago I bought a stack, and I mean a stack, of chipboard scrapbook albums, albums in a tin and chipboard accents from Basic Grey, Maya Road and Mystical Memories and had them shipped over from the States. They were just gorgeous, perfect for the craft courses I was running at the time!

After the classes stopped I put the chipboard scrapbook albums and accents aside thinking I’d use them again. Sadly they are now collecting dust and after much deliberation have hence forth been assigned to my Ebay/Scrapbooker Shop.

So, if you need (notice the use of ‘need’ not ‘want’) some rather gorgeous chipboard albums or accents, hope on over to the SHOP and grab yourself a bargain … and please, be quick, before I change my mind!

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Group Gifting @ The Scrapbooker

Posted by Andrea 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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The Scrapbooker goes global!

Posted by Andrea 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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Digital goodies have moved ….

Posted by Andrea on August 30, 2011
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As The Scrapbooker has evolved over the last few years, so have my interests (and my skills!) I spent many a night designing digital scrapbooking papers, brushes and elements and trying to make a mark in this vast industry. There are some pretty awful digital products out there and some pretty amazing ones too (neither group, in my opinion, I belong in) but honestly, I much preferred to buy what I needed rather than spend a lot of time designing it.

It was always my intention when I moved my Scrapbooker site to discontinue a lot of my products, but a couple of orders last week involving the buyers purchasing pretty much everything in my shop, made me reconsider.

With this in mind I have decided to move all of my digital scrapbooking stock across to my little known Etsy shop SixtySix. So, if you’re in the market for reasonably priced digital scrapbooking products (including Commercial Use) hop over to SixtySix and have a mooch.

Can I just take this opportunity to thank all of you who have bought from me in the past. Every order, no matter how small, put a smile on my face and made a big difference.

Hot link to my Digi Boutique just in case you missed it!

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Kuler- simply rock and roll!

Posted by Andrea on March 31, 2011
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There are a few things that rock my design world on a regular basis: paper – preferably patterned, textured and heavyweight, seriously talented paper artists like Jen Stark and Yulia Brodskaya, letterpress projects, retro wallpaper designs (you should see my studio and my dining room!), typography and of course, Kuler.

For those of you not in the know, Kuler is an internet application from Adobe Systems that lets people try out, create and save various color schemes. If you’re creating websites, digital scrapbooking supplies, interior designs, fabric patterns, or any other visual, you can experiment with color variations and browse the thousands of wonderfully named themes from the Kuler community; names such as Tears of a Clownfish, Enchanted Getaway and Bubble Coconut. Not only do they sound wonderful, they are a veritable feast for the eyes – how can this not make you smile?!

It is an invaluable resource for me and can spark my imagination in an instant. If I’m having trouble building a scheme around an old photo, I simply select colours from my photo, make a note of the RGB, CMYK or Hex number, go to Kuler, key in the codes or numbers and it builds schemes for me or suggests pre-designed schemes from the community. If I’m struggling to design a digital scrapbooking paperpack, I can jump to Kuler, select a scheme from the community and build my product around those colours.

My Banyan Tree paper pack for digital scrapbookers is designed around a colour scheme I fell in love with whilst browsing the community on Kuler. It remains one of my favorite colour schemes -  not only forming the basis of my paperpack but also the colour scheme in my bathroom…

Seriously rock ‘n’ roll!

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Jake Nicholls – Motocross Superstar!

Posted by Andrea on January 19, 2011
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It was a real honor to be asked by Jake Nicholls’s mum, Julie, to design a bespoke digital scrapbook album heralding Jake’s career and rise to fame in the Motorcross world. It also gave me the opportunity to design something unique and against the grain for scrapbooking – grungy, edgy and FULL of photos and newspaper cuttings; no single photo layouts here, I can tell you! The result (a glossy coffee table book) was pretty special and I often flick through the copy with great pride. I’ve posted the front cover but figured you guys would probably want to see the whole book too, so here it is – enjoy!

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New projects and arrivals

Posted by Andrea on February 17, 2010
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Another busy few weeks has come and gone; the days just seem to get shorter and shorter and the list of things to do seems to get longer and longer but I’m treading water and starting to see the benefits of all the hard work.

New project work came in last week from 11 Million – a lovely commemorative book for Sir Al Aynsley-Green on his retirement from the Children’s Commissioner post. (Our congratulations to Dr Maggie Atkinson who succeeds him in March of this year.) I felt really honored to be asked to design it and was truly delighted with the result – can’t wait to see it in print.

We’ve sold a few photographic prints through the Cherry Tree – all to the same lady who, upon receiving the last print would call up and order another – so lovely when that happens! Dad has also been working flat-out on photographs from his last trip to the Indian Ocean and we are previewing a couple of these absolutely gorgeous prints here today … Skies over Indian ocean – available to buy from Etsy and Tony Shill Photography in March 2010.

I’ve also sold a copy of my Banyan Tree Digital Mini Kit to a scrap-for-hire lady in the US this evening. As the guys at Tesco are fond of saying – every little helps, so many thanks to Amy – you know who you are and good luck with the new business…..

If this is the trend for the year, then the smile I am wearing at the moment is here to stay – happy, happy days!

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