A Scrapbook Career???

I just had a BAD day at work. I actually came home at lunch and cried for half an hour.

My (new) boss took the website that I have been working on for our department for the last month, changed the design dramatically and then told everyone it was my work! (In our scrapbook world it's like gluing your photos to a layout and then having SOMEONE ELSE add borders, stickers, embellishments and say that it was yours!) In a job that allows for no creativity, this was devasting to me.

I need a new job - no wait - A Career. Something that I look forward to going to everyday. Does that exist? Is it possible??

I am young, bright and energetic (if I do say so myself!) I have a bachelor's degree in business and have worked as a payroll analyst (NOT as glamourous as it sounds-HA!) for 4 years now. I feel as though I am withering away to nothing in my cubicle in front of my pc day after day.

So hence my question - Can I turn my love of scrapping into a career??

You girls always have all the answers - I need your help more than ever!

Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry you had to go throught that! That is terrible!!! I know just how you feel, I worked for four years in customer service, and I was completely miserable sitting in front of that computer for eight hours a day. Right now, I know I need a job, but I really want something where I can be creative and just use my mind.

There are ways to scrap as a career, look at all of out scrappy celebrities. BH, LB, RS, etc.etc. Even our own Charlie and Jill. But it's gonna be hard, and you probably won't make a whole lot of money when you first start out. If you think they are good enough (which I am sure they are) you may want to shop your albums around to different LSS and craft stores in your area to see if they need a teacher. Maybe you could advertise about scrapping for others. There is a Yahoo group dedicated to that, I don't know the exact address, but if you do a search you should be able to find it. You could also try making and selling paper piecings on e-bay. Go do a search on E-Bay for paper piecing and you'll see what I mean. I even saw a few go for over $400, but that is EXTREMELY RARE. Those are just some ideas, but I wouldn't quit your day job, hee hee. Not just yet, anyway!

Sorry to hear about your bad day. There is a lady here in Indianapolis, that does scrapbooks for people. She does wedding albums, baby showers through birth, etc. She makes great money at it too. Just a suggestions...but hope it helps!

I know what you mean about needing a career. I'm back to school this semester four nights a week.

But let's look on the bright side! At least she didn't take the website you designed and say it was HER work!

Good luck in finding a career in scrapbooking. Wouldn't that be nice?

This topic just came up recently, I'm not sure if it was here, or on another board, so I will repeat my response, just in case.

I think that if a creative girl like yourself could hook up with a professional photographer, wedding or event planner, a vet's office, maybe even day care, churches, temples, the like, you could offer your services of scrapping some of life's major events. Imagine being able to create a wedding scrapbook--apart from the formal album, with layouts about the things that made the wedding special--the dress shopping, the cake testing, the silliness of setting things up--events that the pro won't be getting shots of, but are memorable. Or, creating an album of a loved pet, or the graduation and story of pre school days. I think this could be a real niche for someone, but you would have to have generic sample albums to show potential customers, and you might have to start by getting involved in this part time, until you can become established. Heck, I searched the entire southern California area looking for a woman who would dry and arrange my daughter's boguet in a shadow box. I spent over $300.00 for the final product, and considered it money well spent--those mothers of the bride with a credit card in hand are an awesome sight!

Hope this helps,

Nancy

Hi!

I have a suggestion. Why don't you approach your lss and see if they want a website? That's what I'm doing right now. You obviously have web experience. Start an online store for them. I love working on computers and scrapping and this is the perfect job for someone who loves both.

Amy

Wow - I knew came to the right place for help!

I love your ideas! I am definitely going to pursue this - I just have to decide which avenue is best for me.

I received my December issue of CK yesterday in the mail. I was excitedly thumbing through when I slowed down and actually starting reading the ads instead of just the articles. I was shocked to see the number of companies out there dedicated to scrapping! I am going to start checking out their websites to see if there are any career opportunities with some of these companies - IN ADDITION to checking out ebay, scrapping for others and designing a website for my lss!

Be sure to fill us in on your new career move! Not just because I'm nosy, but I love to see people succeed when they put their heart into it If scrapping is your passion, then there's a whole world out there waiting for more new talent.