Sewing machines and scrapbooking you ask? Yes, I say!

I was brainstorming ideas for wedding album pages and I thought of this layout that I did a couple of years ago. It came to mind because several of the wedding photos I plan to use are black and white. I remembered this layout because the photo is black and white and it really popped on the page with the addition of the machine stitching on the black paper. The title of this page is "10 things I love about you." I got the general idea from a scrapbooking magazine and adapted it to the size and shape of my photo.




On the second page of this layout I used the same technique of stitching on a black background, but instead of the structured layout of the previous page, I decided to go a little crazy. I also added some ribbon for a little color.

The stitching technique is super easy with a machine. I have also done some hand stitching, but it's more labor intensive and the stitches are more obvious.

Check Out the New Elements on Scrapbook Fairy's Blog

I recently added some new elements to my blog which I thought might be of interest to readers. In the toolbar you will now find "Scrapbook Fairy's Favorite Blogs" and "Scrapbook Fairy's Favorite Articles.

One of my favorite blogs which I've been following for about a year now is Scrapperlicious. I decided to add a link to this blog because Scrapperlicious' work is so amazing and beautiful that it deserves to be shared. I've actually had a lot of inspiration from the new techniques that Scrapperlicious introduces in her blog. Check out the first image on my Baby Gallery 2. This page was directly inspired by Scrapperlicious. I shamelessly copied her idea to ink the edges of fabric flowers and also to layer many flowers to add depth to the page.

In the section of my favorite articles I posted links to three articles which I believe readers will enjoy. These three articles can also be accessed through my website, www.scrapbookfairy.net, on the Links page. I think the most important article of the three that I posted is "How to Take Care of Your Scrapbook Heirlooms" because many people may not know that their most precious memories can be easily damaged. Read the article for simple, yet important, steps to preserving your photos.

Collaborating with other women business owners

Yesterday I had a great meeting with a friend of mine who also owns her own business. She gave me some great insight into marketing Scrapbook Fairy and also suggested some really good resources like Ladies Who Launch. Talking with her inspired me to work even harder in my business and also to find new ways to network with other women who are running their own businesses.

I encourage you to take a look at my friend's company, After The Wedding Day. She offers a totally new take on the wedding registry that is much more in tune with the diversity of contemporary couples. I really enjoy the concept behind her company and I'm excited to work with her in the future.

Also, if you're interested in networking with Scrapbook Fairy, send me an email any time to info@scrapbookfairy.net!

Happy scrapping!

Ideas?

I've rededicated myself to my business but now I realize that I really don't know how to market myself. I did a couple of newsletter email campaigns to my family and friends, but although I got a little more traffic to my website, it didn't result in any new business. So now I'm searching for ways to make Scrapbook Fairy known. Ideas anyone? I'm not a super HTML genius, so anything I do will have to be pretty simple. If you have any great ideas, send me an email! Please!!!

My New Newsletter

I recently discovered an online service called Mail Chimp that lets you create newsletters from a template and also manages your mailing list. Mail Chimp was obviously created for people like me, that is people who have absolutely no idea how to write HTML code and are not interested in learning. I created and sent my first newsletter yesterday and I hope to do one monthly.

So now that I'm back in the swing of things I'm just making updates to my website and hoping that people visit it. If you're reading my blog, you probably got here via my website, www.scrapbookfairy.net. If you know anyone who is interested in scrapbooking, send them my way!

Ok, I'm back. No really, I'm back

I know that I said I was back in February. Its true, I moved to Washington in February, but then I got immediately busy with learning Arabic and trying to have a social life. So I haven't done very much scrapping recently, but now I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to seeing my niece and nephew next week and I plan on taking tons of pictures to scrap with. Also, I'm back in the scrapbooking business, looking for new ways to promote my site www.scrapbookfairy.net and my services. If you have any ideas, let me know!

And, I'm back!

I finally arrived in Washington, and my stuff arrived shortly thereafter. This has been my most difficult and traumatic move yet. About half of my shipment got wet at the warehouse. Thankfully it wasn't the half that contained my scrapbook supplies. I moved from a three bedroom apartment in Mexico to a one bedroom apartment in Virginia. I'm really sad that I don't have the same amount of space to spread out all my supplies, but I am determined to get creative with my storage and workspace available to me. I would post some pictures, but my house is still a huge mess and I wouldn't want to scare anyone. Hopefully I will be totally organized by the end of this weekend and ready to get back to work.