First Wholesale Order

Last week I told you about two of my big orders I've had lately (coasters and girl scout albums). I also recently had my first true wholesale order!!! I sold 20 Sorority Albums to a gift shop in Indiana.

I sent a sample album (shown above) and we made a few changes making the patterned paper and ribbons lighter and leaving off the stickers in the final albums. The gift shop owner decided since each girl has different taste, that leaving the stickers out would work better. Below is one of the final albums.

I would love to do more wholesale orders and this order made me realize that I need to get all my prices down on paper and have everything ready for the next big order :)

Tricky Letters and Symbols

As you know, I love to make Custom Name Albums. Each one is unique and special to the buyer :) But every now and then, they create challenges. But I am happy to say that I haven't had to turn down a customer's request yet! I always look for new ways to make my albums and make my customers happy :)

Two of my recent albums both had tricky characters to them! This first album is a Sorority Album and the middle letter (Xi) is made up of three separate pieces. How do I cut around that??? Well, I didn't. I cut the patterned paper and laid it on the chipboard page to create the letter. I cut out the three pieces separately and it worked out great!

I've done many Birthday Albums, but never had a request for an apostrophe. I wasn't quite sure if it should be a separate page or attached to another letter. I chose to add it to the end of the "H" and I love how it turned out. I used a contrasting patterned paper and it worked great!

Do you ever run into challenges with your crafting? Do you like challenges?

I'm ready for my next big challenge :)

Have it YOUR Way!

One of the things I love most about my Custom Name Albums is that they can be personalized in SO many ways! From the spelling of the name to the colors used and even adding a shape in place of a letter. You name it...I can make it happen :)

This particular Sorority Album was made using the girl's favorite colors, not her traditional sorority colors! This got me to thinking that this is probably a hard thing to come by. Most sorority items can be personalized with a name, but the colors always remain the same. It makes me happy to be able to offer one more unique feature with my albums :)

Latest Sorority Albums

Sorority Albums have become some of my favorite Custom Albums to make lately. The symbols are fun to cut out and it's fun creating the embellishments and patterned papers to match :)

Here are my two most recent Sorority Albums:

Phi Mu

Chi Omega

Friday Features-Pink and Aqua

I may have just found my new favorite color combo...Pink and Aqua! I recently made a Sorority Album in these colors and fell in love!!! I have always liked these colors, but never used them together in an album like this...check it out!

So in honor of my new found color love, I went searching on Etsy to see what goodies I could find. There were so many awesome choices! Here are my top picks.

SPARKLY PINK FLOWER Necklace with AQUA CRYSTALS

by readornment

Aqua Pink Fabric Felt Butterfly Appliques

by thebeadingprincess

Aqua. Fuschia. Silver-Plated Bobby Pins

by jennifermagnesi

Maggie Necklace or Bracelet - Bright Pink Resin Beads on Aqua Ribbon

by TinyStorm

Trends in Custom Orders

I've been noticing a few trends lately in my Custom Album orders: Sororities, Babies and Weddings. All of my latest orders have involved these themes.

I have had a huge jump in orders for Sorority Albums! I think there must be something special going on right now with sororities that girls are ordering them for their Big and Little Sisters :) Here are a couple I finished over the weekend:

I love it when customers get creative with what they want for their albums :) For this baby album, the parents are big Cubs fans...and apparently baby Calvin will be too :)

I'm currently working on a couple of wedding albums that I'll have to show you next week. One includes the wedding date and the other is a cool guest book. Can't wait to show them off!!!

Sorority Time

With college back in full swing and Rush underway for sororities, this is a great time to buy your big sister or little sister a great gift :) I've sold a couple of these Sorority Albums lately and think the timing has to do a lot with it! Who wouldn't want to get their sister a great gift!!! Here's my latest Sorority Album:

These are available in both letters and symbols!

New Sorority Albums

I just finished another Custom Sorority Album! These are so much fun :)

Before I start on a Sorority Album...I have to do my research. I scour the web looking for info on the specific sorority I am working on and find their colors, flower, motto, crest, mascot, etc. I find out as much about the particular sorority so I can decorate the album using all these things. It makes the album so special! I also create all the papers used on the albums. I use their mascots and symbols to create a mosaic effect. Just one more thing to make them unique :)

For this album, I used the sorority's symbols. I hand cut each album, so I am able to offer options to my customers. They can choose from symbols, letters, or nicknames for the albums. The symbols are my personal favorites. They take a little more work with the cutting, but I think they look great :)

Here you can see that I printed the motto on labels and layered it over a tag with the sorority's mascot on it (the crescent moon). And on the facing page I used a circle tag with the sorority's symbols on it. Here are a couple of other Sorority Albums I've done so you can see a little variety. I always add extra pages to albums that only have 2 or 3 letters so the album is still full. I want my customers to feel they are getting a great deal! On the Delta Zeta album you can see I used their flower (the pink rose) and their crest as some of the embellishments. What do you think? Do you love them as much as I do!!!

5 Custom Albums Left Before Christmas!!!

I have been really busy lately getting all of my Custom Albums ready for Christmas delivery! In looking at my current orders, it looks as though I will have time to make 5 more albums before Christmas arrives :) Get 'em while they're hot!!! These Custom Sorority Name Albums would make a great gift for a fellow sister :)

Have a baby celebrating his or her first Christmas? These Custom Baby Name Albums are the perfect way to always remember the special event!

And as always, these Custom Name Albums make a great gift any time of the year :)

Looking for that perfect gift...check out a Custom Word Album today...and hurry before it's too late :)

Custom Sorority Albums-New In Store

I have added another style of my Custom Name/Word Albums to my Etsy shop. This time they are Sorority Albums. I have had a few requests for these so I thought I would add them for sale.

Here is a sample album I did for Alpha Delta Pi.

I used their colors, motto, flower, and symbol to make this album extra special :)

For this one I used letters, but I can also do Greek symbols.

I have been told that Sisters like to give little gifts to each other from time to time and I thought these would just be perfect. They're small in size, but large in thought :) What more could you want in the perfect gift!

Do you have an idea for my next series of Custom Name/Word Albums? Let me know, I'm trying to add lots of variety for these albums :)