How To Make A Personalised Mini Album

I've been busy making a mini album for the sister in law of one of my colleagues and thought I'd share some tips on how to make the album feel really special and personal... this one brought tears out so I must have done something right!

If I'm doing a personalised album for someone I don't know, I will try and find out as much about their history and likes as possible and incorporate them into the design and embellishments I use. So if you're thinking of doing one here's some things to get the answers too...

1. Favourite colours
2. Style- do they like modern, vintage, goth etc?
3. Where were they born
4. Where do they live now
5. What's their favourite song
6. Do they have pets
7. What are their hobbies
8. Do they have a nick name and why?
9. Anything funny, cute about them?

Am sure you can add some more too- all of the answers above will give you more of an idea of the person and you can start planning your layout.

The one pictured below is the largest one I have made- it was 9 inches square with 10 inner pages and I had 36 photos to go in there- it took me 2 nights after work and a whole day of the weekend- so a big project!!

I started off with the base colour- the birthday girl's favourite colours were green and orange- so I pulled together all my vintage-y green papers that went really well together and decided to use orange as an accent colour. I then made the inner pages of the album to get ready for the next stage- the photos.

When you get the pics- if they are needed in order of time- make sure the person let's you know what order they should go in... this one started from childhood up to the present day so I didn't want to put a pic in the wrong time line. If it's a wedding or something it's a bit more easier to map out the flow of the day. Some albums can just be random too.

I started by resizing the photos- cropping them if need be as well to get the nicest end result and enhancing them if need be as well. Sometimes I will convert a lot of them to sepia and black and white- but this was going to be a colourful album so I stuck with colour.

I put the images onto a power point presentation- it's easier as I can then print 4-6 images on one sheet of A4 photo paper- and I can play around with the size etc on power point.

I then print the images out in grey scale and on normal paper- cut them out- and start to decide what is going where, see if anything needs to be made smaller or bigger.... this saves your precious ink and photo paper.

Once I've decided the plan I then print the pics on photo paper, cut them out and start to design and build each page.

I also make sure I've found things to make the album personal- whether it's from embellishments I already have or things I find on the internet- e.g. photo of their first school, map of their home town- or I will type up key phrases like words from a song and make trimmings from these too. I use stamps with letters to get their name incorporated throughout as well.

It's these little touches that make people feel really special!

Here's some pics of the 30 birthday album I just made and hope you have fun making yours- this one was hard work but I really enjoyed the end result- and most importantly so did the birthday girl!

 

 

The front- with touches of personality included

Wedding picture with lyrics of their wedding song- nice touch!

Photo mats and trimmings

The back cover with a birthday message and other memories

Hope you enjoyed this post and it's given you some ideas for your next mini album too!

Craft Shops In Dubai

I quite often get asked where I get my materials from as they can be hard to find in Dubai so I thought I'd share the love and let you know where to shop here and also where to order online that delivers here in another post.

Some people say shhhhh don't share, people will copy- but really- we all have our own creative eye and will not end up making the same thing. I have taken inspiration from things I see on the internet but they never end up an exact copy.

I want to help fellow crafters be able to find what they need in Dubai to get their creative juices flowing. So here goes...

Creative Hands Dubai

This is my all time favourite shop dedicated to scrapbooking, card making and all things paper. I go here at least once a month otherwise I get withdrawal symptoms. The staff are great- so helpful and knowledgeable and passionate about what they are selling. They will quite often call me to tell me when they have got new stock in that they know I will like.

They stock my faves- 7 Gypsies, Tattered Angels, Graphic 45, Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart, We R Memory Keepers, Smash Book, Project Life and more.

They also do lessons in their craft space on different techniques for adults and kids. They have great prices and if I go crazy I quite often get a small discount- which I really appreciate. I know they value my custom. It's like the mothership for paper crafters!

My score: 10/10 they can do no wrong!

Here's a link to their website creativehandsdubai.com
You can also find them on Facebook>>

Location: Their shop is in The Green Community and there's a map on their website- note they are not open on Fridays.

Paperlane Dubai

Paperlane, again, is a really amazing shop for paper crafters- as the name would suggest. It's also a really beautiful store- very bright and well laid out and they also have their own craft space for lessons. I do find them a little bit more expensive- but I guess that's because they have to pay Jumeirah rent prices.

They used to do a loyalty card but have now stopped- so unfortunately I'm only going there now if I can't get what I want online or in Creative Hands. That little bit of discount did make a big difference to me and I've bonded more with the staff in Creative Hands too-here I find them that little bit less knowledgeable of the products and the industry.

But, hey, that's just my opinion- it is a really great shop with tons of product to choose from- with great ranges of stamps, inks and tons of paper packs or single sheets to choose from. especially great if you live in the neighbourhood too.

My score: 8/10 lovely shop but bring back the loyalty care

Here's a link to their website mypaperlane.com
You can find them on Facebook too>>

Location: They are based in Town Centre Mall, Jumeirah... the one next to Mercato

Creative Minds Dubai

Creative Minds is a very mixed bag of a shop- it sells craft supplies as well as fancy dress costumes, educational supplies, teacher supplies, toys and party supplies... sounds exciting huh! From the craft side they cover a very wide range of crafts from modelling to painting to silk screen printing and everything in between. As a scrap booker their specific scrapping collection is smaller than the two shops above but that is because they are more specialised.

So for general craft supplies Creative Minds is very strong. I usually go here to my non- scrapping specialist supplies like glue, paint, cardboard, plain paper, canvases, note books etc.

Creative Minds really comes into its own for Hallowe'en too- they have a great selection of costumes and decorations at great prices. I generally find all their prices OK except for the specific scrapbooking stuff- seems to be a little bit higher than the other places I go to.

The staff are fairly knowledgeable but not as strong in product knowledge as others and have a tendency to say no... when they do have what you are looking for... bit of a language barrier sometimes.

My score: 4/10 for specific scrap booking supplies but 8/10 for general craft supplies

Here's a link to their website www.creativemindsdubai.com
Here's their Facebook page too>>

Location: They have 2 stores- one on Umm Sequiem Road- just further down than Mall of the Emirates and one in Jumeirah in the Beach Centre. Their largest store is the Umm Sequiem Road one just fyi.

Creative Middle East

Well this is a new shop and is dedicated to all things decoupage- which I love! I haven't had chance to pop down there yet but wanted to list them as they are super specialised and not many people know about them yet.

They sell the materials you need for decoupage- blanks, glue, varnishes, paints, a wide variety of really lovely papers etc. as well as finished items.

Will update when I've been for a visit!

Here's a link to their website www.creativamiddleeast.com
They are really active on Facebook too>>

Location: You can find them in Times Square on Sheikh Zayed Road

Daiso UAE

Daiso is an odd one for here but it is such a random store that you never know what you are going to find in it. It's the Dubai/ Japanese equivalent of a pound shop. I've found it really good for unusual and low cost embellishments like tiny pegs, small gems, paper umbrellas etc. They get new things in all the time- so if you see it buy it!

It's also a great place to buy things to display your wares on at a craft market and for low cost packaging and gift wrapping. So worth a visit if you're passing- you never know what you might find!

My score: 10/10 for sheer randomness of products! 1/10 for specialisation- just don't go with anything in mind and see what you find!

Here's a link to their website www.daisome.com

Location: you can find them in Lamcy Plaza, Arabian Centre Mirdiff, Oasis Centre, Reef Mall, Al Fahidi Street, Mirdiff City Centre, Al Barsha Mall and Ibn Battuta Mall

Notable Crafty Shopping Mentions 

If you are into fabric crafts like sewing, quilting, knitting and crochet you need to get yourself to Craftland www.mycraftland.com they are in the same mall as Paperlane actually- handy! Daiso sometimes has cheap knitting supplies if you're just messing around.

Small independent book stores- there's tons of book and stationary stores all around Dubai- pop in- you never know what you mind find and they do tend to be cheaper.

Spinneys stationary department in their supermarkets also tend to have some surprises... I can get the artists notepads I use 3 times cheaper in there! I always tend to have a quick nose when I'm there.

Paperchase also has some cute things that can be incorporated into your paper crafting too. You can find them in Mall of the Emirates, Dubai Mall and more locations through out Dubai. Here's a link to all their locations>>

Dragonmart can be a wonderland of bizarre things most of the time! they are really good for jewellery supplies... which I use as embellishments on my scrapbooks. Definitely worth a visit every now and again just to see what you can see- you may have to use your imagination but that's half the fun! Here's a link to their website www.dragonmart.ae

Well I do hope you found that useful and helpful... it's taken me ages to find some of the secret places so I'm happy to save you time and to share! If you know of anymore please add them to the comments below :)

Happy Crafting!

Crafty Update

 So... what have I been doing? I hear you cry... I've been mega busy so sorry for the blogsilence! I'm back now!

I've been busy making so many albums this year- I've now got a physical location to sell my products as well as the markets I attend and my online store... so it's been hectic making sure I have enough stock for all 3! I managed it though.

My wares are in a beautiful gift shop called Artistique Boutique- it's an amazing shop in The Green Community... packed full of local and internationally made gifts... every time I go and drop my stock off I end up spending loads of money. They've got great home decorations at really affordable prices and they're also a bit quirky- you won't see them anywhere else in Dubai. They also do craft and jewellery lessons... perfect!

I'm using the summer here in Dubai to build up my collection for the winter months- it's too hot to do any markets at the moment- so I'm planning ahead. You can read the article I wrote for ExpatWoman.com on how to survive a craft market here>> It's full of tips and ideas making sure you're well prepared for what to expect.

I've been busy stocking up my Little Majlis store as well as doing an interview with them as their featured crafter for August- oooh the fame!

I've also been trying out some new crafts- I went on an amazing book binding course learning the technique of this ancient art, it's really helped my scrapbooking techniques too, I also have been learning how to make painted wooden signs with sayings on. I know they are getting a bit cliched now but I still really like them and was happy to make my first one yesterday... let's see if they sell!

Other than that I've been crafting away- have had a lot of special orders as well which has been great fun!

So bye for now and will be back soon :)

Sorry & Back In The Room!

I'm so sorry I've not blogged recently- I am going to blame spending too much time crafting to type- plus I type and write all day as my day job so sometimes the thought of more creative writing after hours is just too much and I get my glue and inks out instead hahaha!

So I've been doing a few new crafty things- have done a nice fairy range of books and albums as kids seem to really love my work and I know how girls of all ages love fairies- in fact my nieces are begging me not to sell them and let them have them! (I'll make them some for Christmas!)

This is a blank notebook inside for writing and drawing your fairy sightings in!

I made a mini mini album, a mid size and a notebook for the fairy collection- lots of pink ribbon and sparkly gems too- I would have loved one as a young girl!

I've also done some vine wreaths and hearts this weekend- I always used to make wreaths for Christmas- so was nice to do something I've done before but with new skills and equipment! I wanted to keep my vintage style still and also make them a little bit rustic... I really enjoyed making these!

These are vine wreaths and hearts trimmed with ribbons and antiqued newsprint and music sheet butterflies!

This one has a floral wire frame that I wrapped with cardboard and trimmed with twine, ribbon and red wire and added hand made flowers and the beautiful butterflies with a smattering of love hearts thrown in!

I've also launched an online store on Little Majlis- it's a great website for artisans in the UAE and really easy to use... just need some sales now! Great to have an online presence and not totally be reliant on being at craft fairs!

You can visit my shop here www.littlemajlis.com/shop/scrappydoofripperies

 I'm also featured as a favourite crafter on ExpatWoman.com which is v exciting

www.expatwoman.com/dubai/monthly_shopping_deals_crafts_crafters.aspx

I've also been making some brooches... I think jewellery making might be too fiddly for me and I didn't know how the vintage-y feel would translate by using paper for jewellery- been quite surprised by the results and it's something I definitely want to do more of...

They look cute on- they are inked, stamped, painted, glossed and button attached! Took longer to make than you'd think!

So actually have been up to quite a lot... also got a new craft desk so am looking forward to spreading out- wish I could have a whole craft room- but I make do hahahah!

Hope you are all well and will be back soon!

How it all began!

I'm a new to scrapping scrapper! I started in June last year and haven't looked back! It all started when I went to a craft fair in Oman and saw some cute little albums a lady had made. I bought one and as per usual thought "I could do that!" Which has been the start of many a crafty attempt by me... I've tried it all... Painting, sewing, crocheting, knitting, glass painting, paper mâché, making candle sticks from plaster of Paris... And failed at them all!

So I started making an album for my little brother who had just got married, then I did one for my mum with all her grandchildren in...  then before I knew it I'd made 20 albums! Just a few too many for presents and I wanted to make more...

I started to buy more equipment and supplies... Found the wonderful Tim Holtz and Graphic 45 and a fab website called Cuddly Buddly to order things from as well as the craft shops here in Dubai... Creative Hands and Paper Lane... And booked a stall at the ExpatWoman Winter Fair. I was going to sell my wares!

Guess what?

I sold out all my stock of 35 albums... I wasn't totally nuts... There was a market for my hobby so I could carry on with it. Finally I had found something I was actually good at! I don't know who was more shocked... My family, my husband or me! Hahahah!

So since then I've done 5 fairs including the RIPE Market and Arte Souk and some cute school fairs and have also been dong special orders for people too... I am now a "commissioned artist"... Well in my head I am!

I'm going to share my creative journey here with you as we'll as tips, ideas and inspiration and feedback n the various markets in Dubai and anything else that occurs to me!

Exciting times!