A New Stamping Opportunity:

Hooking Customers with Miniature Special Occasion Albums

by Jen Cramer

Every fisherwoman has her secrets for pulling in a mess of fish, and hooking customers is kind of like fishing. If you use the right bait to tempt them and the right tools to land them, you'll fill your stringer in no time. Here's some new gear to try: miniature special occasion albums.

It's easy to incorporate rubber stamped images into album embellishments and backgrounds. Using a repetitive image throughout the album helps to create a visual theme.

For regular stamping customers, special occasion albums present an almost irresistible opportunity to stamp on inviting blank pages. Stampers can indulge themselves by purchasing rich background and border stamps, for example, then experimenting—using their advanced skills to create works of art they keep for themselves as mementoes or give to others as gifts.

An interior view of the tan tag-shaped album shown above.

In addition to stampers, you can troll for a new breed of stamper with miniature special occasion albums: the scrapbooker who is looking for advanced techniques to make her albums unique. It just might be the perfect way to get these elusive creatures to take the bait, add stamping to their repertoires and give you a broader customer base.

Why Miniature Special Occasion Albums?

Special Occasions to Use as Bait The following special occasions are just a few of the reasons your customers might want to make miniature albums. Awards Back to School Baby's Firsts Bar Mitzvahs Bat Mitzvahs Birthdays Births Christenings Concerts Cookouts & Picnics First Recitals Graduations Holidays New Houses New Jobs Sports Wins Valentine's Day Vacations Weddings

The pages of a full-size scrapbook album are almost too big to deal with for some stampers. We are used to working with smaller paper formats: cards and tags. Therefore, traditional stampers will be more comfortable with album pages that are only 4" x 4" or 6" x 6". Scrapbookers who are just learning to stamp will appreciate needing to fill only a limited space as they learn.

The smaller format of miniature albums lends itself easily to gift-giving. You can fill the pages with photographs and designs to commemorate any occasion (see sidebar). But they also make perfect mementoes to keep on your desk, a living room side table or a nightstand.

Creating the Album Itself

Use a die-cutting machine to create unusual album shapes. The cover of this personal album was made with an AccuCut tag-shaped notecard die.

Miniature albums can be purchased ready-made with covers of chipboard, leather, fabric or vinyl. Bindings range from book-bound to spirals. The pages themselves are usually white, off white or light gray. If you'd like to present an even more tempting option to lure customers in the door, offer them the use of your in-store die-cutting machine; then they can cut covers and pages from absolutely any material they like. Die-cutting machines cut anything scissors can cut, only faster and more perfectly. One of the advantages of offering die-cut albums is that you can create covers and pages from almost any jumbo shape. Cut two arch shapes, for example, from transparent plastic, and choose a rich white-on-white designed paper for the pages. The design on the pages—and your stamping—will show through the transparent covers. Punch holes in the same edge of all pieces, in the same position, then tie them together with ribbon, twist ties or fibers.

To create another type of binding for die-cut albums, fold the paper or other material before cutting. Place the fold just inside one of the blades of the design on the die. When you cut, the folded side won't be cut. It will serve as a folded spine. Thread twine or yarn through the book at its innermost fold and tie on the outside. You also can use this folding technique to create fold-out pages.

Some miniature albums come with optional wraps to complete the package. If you are die cutting, you can cut wraps from gift wrap or patterned paper.

Special Techniques for Special Occasion Albums

This 6" x 6" album made with a four-die album set from AccuCut is the perfect canvas for memories of a favorite pet.

The idea behind a miniature album is to gather a number of items or ideas in one place, where they can be readily accessed. Decorating the pages increases the emotion behind the message of an album. It's a personal heartfelt tribute to any person or happening in your life.

To make miniature special occasion albums extra special, use some of these techniques:

• Cover Stamping. It's tempting to think that stamping should go only on inside pages. But an album's cover is just as ripe for design. Be sure to choose ink that won't smudge or fade on the material you've chosen for the cover.

• An interior view of the "Monroe" album. It uses alphabet stamps to spell out page tabs and ink on the paper edges for a distressed look.

  3-D Items. One of the most powerful ways to remember a special occasion is to save small items and look at them over and over. Items that work in miniature special occasion albums: matchbooks, seals from packages, receipts, tickets, money, buttons, pressed flowers, old driver's licenses, deflated balloons and nametags.
• Pockets. For variety, and to store items not easily adhered to pages, add pockets. They are fun to design with stamps, and they invite readers to pick up and hold mementoes.

• More pages in the "Monroe" album.

  Alphabet Stamps. Personalize miniature album pages by stamping names of people and places, key words and sayings with fancy alphabet stamps.
• Photographs. One of the staples of scrapbook albums is photographs. It's easy to incorporate photos into your miniature album by adhering them to the page, slipping them into pockets or matting them with small stamped paper frames. Just for fun, reduce the size of several photos, laminate them, punch a hole in one corner of each and tie them into a ribbon or yarn binding as book charms.

Casting for the Big Ones

Show your customers that albums can be made to capture ordinary events—like learning to rollerblade!

When you're fishing, once you understand your bait and what kind of stock you're fishing for, the next step is to plan your strategy. You have to figure out where the fish are lying in wait, which lure or live bait will work best, and whether you will fish on the bottom or in the upper reaches of the water. When you're casting for rubber stamping customers, you need to figure out how to get them to take the bait and buy their first miniature special occasion album supplies. Here are a number of possible strategies:

The 4" pages of the rollerblading album were cut out of clear plastic with an AccuCut album die.

• Display. Show a miniature album on display with a sign that says: "Turn the Page: Stamp in Albums!" In the display, include all of the paper, stamps, inks and other materials used, so customers can see just how easy it is to make.
• Class. Schedule miniature album classes around seasonal special occasions—just before or after the holidays, for example, or during the wedding season.

• Another interior view of the clear plastic rollerblading album.

  Hands-On Trial. Keep a blank miniature album at the checkout counter and invite customers to add a design. When they get their hands on the album, they'll see just how satisfying the potential of the page is. Go one step further and allow customers to die cut and decorate their own complete page. After making one page, it would be tough for them not to want more pages and a couple of covers.

Don't Leave It Up to Luck

The effort you put into preparation determines whether you will reel in more customers or keep current customers interested in what you have to offer. Stock up on supplies to make miniature special occasion albums—order kits or dies and a die-cutting machine so you'll have them on hand. Get the word out, then wait for the big ones to hit!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jen Cramer is the director of marketing for AccuCut, provider of commercial die- cutting systems for rubber stamp and scrapbook retailers. She has been rubber stamping for over 12 years, making cards, gift albums and scrapbook pages. You can reach her at 800/288-1670 ext. 303 or jen.cramer@accucut.com; Web: www.accucut.com

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