Not really. There isn't a fairy godmother or a magic broom.
Caroline works like a crazy person. She agonizes over her products and how
best to serve customers. The good news is that an online scrapbook
merchant lives nearby. The bad news is that I now see how hard it is to
run a top-tier online business.
Caroline began her business 5 years ago when she spotted a void in the
market. "The industry needed good, dependable and trustworthy scrapbook
suppliers," Caroline says. She hasn't changed her mission statement
since. I've seen her pack up merchandise from suppliers and return it when
it hasn't met her standards--even if she has pending orders.
She moved her business to the internet three years ago, but it wasn't a
simple or straightforward transition. Caroline says, "I didn't know anything
about the internet! I'm still trying to learn as I go. It grew a lot
faster than I ever imagined I would. I ran into all the stumbling blocks
of growing a small business-complications with hired help, taxes, time
commitment and inventory control."
The biggest surprise to scrapbookers would probably be her hours.
Page
Designs
- Beach: Wonderful Wire Wording
- Opera Theatre: Champagne Glasses Shaker Box from Jewel Craft
You'll learn more about both pages as you read the next article ...
Design Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Pages
Recently I shared my pages with a friend who is a professional artist and a
photographer with many shows of her work to her fame. Her name is Toby
Shear and I "discovered" her in my Jazzercise class. I was curious to hear
Toby's insights about why some pages "worked" and some didn't. Each
"not-quite-right" page had different problems, but Toby's suggestions were
thought-provoking. For the most part, when my pages didn't work, they
didn't work because they lacked repetition of key elements.
You see, if you cover up the top half, the bottom half, right half or left
half of a page, you should be able to squint your eyes and see repeated
themes-colors, shapes, designs, textures or whatever. On one page (The
Queen Mum's Death
http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2003-09.shtml),
I had draped a journaling box with a loose ribbon on the top, and then put the
ribbon across the sides in a very tailored way on a bottom box. I tore the
paper on the top box, but the bottom box has a very straight edge. The
photos look a little crammed against the journaling boxes. The top
journaling box is airy and open and the bottom is dense. Also, the left
side of the pages was all photos and the right had two boxes of yellow.
I've attached the page so you can see how bad it is. (Now, you gotta give
me credit for being upfront here!) I plan to rework the page and show it
to you next month.
Thinking of what Toby said, I created the two "good" pages for this
month: Beach and Opera Theatre.
On Beach, I tore seahorses out of the original paper on the left and added
them to the cardstock on the right to "marry" the two sides. I also used a
cropped portion of the sand from a beach photo as a stripe above the journaling
block.
On Opera Theatre, I used the taupe color under the photo behind the
champagne glasses. Then I made a strip of the microbeads under the Page
Title using the same microbeads in the champagne glass shaker boxes.
Finally, I put a gold nail head from the page title box on the mat beneath the
photo.
I don't know about you, but often when a page needs something, I start
looking through my copious supplies. From now on, I'm going to go back to
the original page elements and see how I can further incorporate them on the
page.
Trial and error are necessities
of good design...
-Traditional Home Magazine, Oct. 2003
I don't know about you, but I needed to see that in print. I guess
I've always thought that if you knew what you were doing, you'd get your design
right the first time. Going over Toby's work with her, I learned that even
when you are a professional with years of training, you don't always produce
exactly what you want the first time out. So, the next time you have a
page that doesn't seem just right, take heart. You are on your way to
becoming a better designer.
Photo Tip: Save Your Camera from the Elements
Here's a photo tip I learned the hard way: When carrying your camera
to the beach, always slip the camera inside a waterproof ziplock bag after
taking your photos. I had taken the shots I wanted when I left my camera
on top of my beach bag and went for a stroll to yell to my son. (He had
drifted down the beach while surfing.) As I walked back, a cloudburst
drenched the camera. I was lucky only to loose a few photos. Man,
was that a dumb move on my part or what? The camera also survived a lot of
sand being blown into it. A baggie could have helped with that, too.
Journaling Tip: Give Yourself a Break
Give yourself permission to take a break while journaling. If you
need more information, if you want to ask someone else a question, if you need
to look information up-do it! You don't have to finish a page in one
sitting. I often work on several pages at once letting things dry or rest
while I do a bit of "thunkin." I keep my memorabilia in ziplock bags that
are numbered, and I have an index of what's in each bag. I co-ordinate
numbers on the bags with numbers on the cards. So, if I'm looking for the
brochure about the wildlife refuge center in Florida, I look through my index
cards. I find the note on card #16. I go to my baggies and pull out
#16, and there's the brochure I need. Taking the break to get the info
makes for better journaling every time. Remember: you don't want to
wait until you have all the info you need to write. Instead, start writing
and see what you are missing.
From My Little Corner of the
World
Last week was a wild and exciting week for the Slan family with a
smorgasbord of cultural experiences. On Sunday we watched the Rams play
the Giants with another family. On Wednesday night we took Michael and a
schoolmate to hear Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion.
Afterwards, we stayed to have books autographed. On Thursday was Hebrew
lessons. On Friday night we went to the Funny Bone, a local comedy
club. Because we'd decided with other couples to do this on the spur of
the moment, we had no idea we'd be listening to someone from the Howard Stern
show. All I can say about that is, I preferred Garrison Keillor's
humor. On Saturday we saw Cirque du Soleil, which Michael attended
reluctantly and then solemnly pronounced, "Awesome."
One of my friends one said, "My job as a parent is to expose my children to
as much as possible. As they grow, they'll decide what they like, but my
job is to give them the range of experiences to choose from."
Tomorrow we leave for China at 6:30 p.m. Of course, I had a ton
of stuff to do. And, I'm excited. I'm already missing my son and the
dogs and my office and my exercise buddies! Isn't that the way life
is? Even the big joys come with a few sadnesses.
So off I go. If I can, I'll send back photos. If not, you'll
see them next month!
Stuff You Need to Know
Want to share this
information? This e-zine is copyrighted by Joanna Campbell Slan,
2003. You are free to forward it in its entirety to others, but do not
reprint it without permission.
Like the ideas here? You'll
love our books. Click on
www.my-memories.safeshopper.com/153/cat153.htm?916 to see the complete line of our books. Check out the
Father's Day Special while you're there.
Comments? Contact
Joanna at savetales@aol.com. We love to hear what you
think and what you'd like to read more about. We like questions, too, but
give us a while to answer them, okay?
Wanna meet Joanna?
Check our website www.scrapbookstorytelling.com for a schedule of
our upcoming appearances and classes.
Have a product you'd like
for us to try? Send us samples at Scrapbook Storytelling, 7 Ailanthus
Court, Chesterfield, MO, 63005. Phone 636-519-1612.
About the
author...Journaling goddess Joanna Campell Slan is the author of Scrapbook
Storytelling which has sold 40,000 copies in addition to five other books on
scrapbooking, one textbook on storytelling, and two inspirational books.
Contact Joanna at savetales@aol.com.
