Saturday Artisan: Foto Tale Designs

Meet this week Saturday Artisan, Sarah of Foto Tale Designs. Absolutely I adore her shop. She offers practical designs that definitely help you in the organizational department and save you tons of time, something that we really need in our busy days. Read on and find out how she started her business and get inspired!

Tell us a bit about yourself and what art/crafts you make? 

 I am a stay-at-home mother of 2! They keep me very busy. I think that my kids are pretty cute, so I take loads of pictures! I did traditionally scrapbooking for about 15 years. I accumulated thousands of dollars worth of stuff, and it took up my whole office! I started to find that it was harder and harder to spend hours making one page, especially when I could only use it once. So I decided (at the coaxing of my husband, who wanted office space!) to go digital! I have LOVE D it! I love that all the time I put into my designs can be reused again and again! So, after getting into digital scrapbooking and learning Photoshop I found that I love to design and create templates. I know that most people are getting busier and busier every day, so I decided to start selling photo templates to those who don’t have time to create their own. My templates make it so easy (for those with some Photoshop experience) to quickly mask your photos and change your text, and then you have a beautiful, customized display ready to print with the printer of your choosing. You can reuse the templates as often as you want, change the pictures, text, maybe play with the colors a little and you have an endless amount of possibilities- so fun! And most importantly, it’s quick and easy!

Currently, in my etsy shop and on my website I have the following kinds of templates: graduation announcements, baby/birth announcements, photo display templates, wedding save the date cards, thank you cards, guestbook albums, photo albums, mini accordion albums, CD labels, CD cases, image box templates, blogging templates (a MUST have for everyone who blogs!), and many more, with new stuff being added all the time!

What is your favorite item in your shop?

My favorite item would have to be my blogging templates. I use these on almost a daily basis. I also think they are an item that everyone has a need for. We all know how slow blogger is to upload your photos 5 at a time, and then you have to rearrange them. With my templates, you quickly and easily mask your photos in and save the image as a .jpg and then you upload that to your blog. You know have many photos as one photo! Not only does it save time, but it gives a really unique, sophisticated look to your blog. You can even go further, and give the template some bling by adding in a paper background or coloring the borders. Tons of fun options! And again- SOOOO easy and quick! 

What inspires you?

My children, my memories, and my hopes for the future! As I watch my children learn, grow and play, I cherish the moments. I want to remember them at this fun, innocent, sweet stage in life! So I make designs that I hang on my walls and items that I use in my scrapbook; designs and templates that I know will mean the world to me forever! I get a lot of ideas for my color combinations from my past. Such as my wedding color combination, and those of my sister’s and friend’s weddings that I really liked. I also get the theme and feel for that specific design line from my feelings and memories of those special times in my life. I know that everyone has similar experiences and feelings, and I hope that my designs help them get in touch with those memories and that they help them display and tell their stories! 

What is your goal for 2010? And are you on the right track? 

One of my biggest personal goals for 2010 is to get caught up on my scrapbooking! I started off the years almost 1.5 years behind! I have been working away and I am getting closer to being caught up. I am about 5 months behind now. So I still have a lot of work to do, but I am getting there!

As for my shop, my goal for 2010 is to exceed 100 sales. I hope I am on the right track. I am working really hard to offer unique and fun products at a good price. Some days are slower and harder than others to find the time to put in, but I really enjoy designing and seeing my products develop from a blank screen. 

What is your favorite tool that you cannot live without? 

When it comes to Photoshop and designing, my best tool is my husband! He has been a computer programmer/designer for about 10 years and he really knows everything. He is always so patient with me and is always willing to help me and teach me new techniques. He is my go-to guy and mentor in the digital world. I sure love him!