Ok, I've finally ordered copies of all my cakes and started putting them in a photo album to start my portfolio. Well, another one of my hobbies is scrapbooking, and thought it might look cool to display my pics in a scrapbook style instead of just putting them in an album. However, I don't want all the 'scrapbook stuff' to distract from my cakes, but want to highlight the details in the cake.

So below are a few samples I've done and was wondering what ya'll think? The photos are 5 x 7 and are put in an 8 x 8 album.

Also, should I write anything about the cake or at least give the cakes names? Or just leave the pages as is?

Or just put them in a regular photo album w/no scrapbook stuff?

Scrapbook pages don't usually scan well b/c the pages aren't flat...so excuse the color and distoration of the pages. But hope you can still get an idea of what they look like.

Any opinions would be great!!

Thanks,
Christine

Honestly, as long as the page designs are simple, I don't see any problem with what you'd like to do. The better the presentation, the better your business. I like the wedding cakes with the ribbon a lot!

Debbi

i too scrapbook! and am putting together a portfolio. i love the page with your beautiful cake with the flowers. the one with the bugs, i think the red circles are distacting from the cake, i think it would look better with just red brads at the bottom of picture like you did at the top.
my advice is what my scrapbook friends told me, and thats not to make to much distraction from the cakes.
great job!
melody

I think the scrapbook idea looks great. It adds a bit more flair to it, just as long as it doesn't overwhelm the cake pictures.

A brief description or a "name" for the cake may be a good addition as well.

I think they look great.. the scrapbooking doesn't distract from the cakes at all, if anything I think it makes them stand out more. Very well done.
Liz

this is a good idea...personally i would try to use 'pockets' to include the story of the cakes so it can be hidden away if someone is not interested in the story, but if they want to, they can read about them by pulling out the info. but someone else with experience on the book might know how it is used better than me

I am actually redoing mine with a scrapbook type style. I did one for a girls tea shop and it is basically on one color paper through out the book but I added stickers and things that look nice. I am going to to the same thing with my portofio. Right now they are just in a book but I am going to put them on pink paper and then add a few imbellishments. I am not doing a ton. I am not going to write anything about it but I am going to put the thank you notes with their cakes. I am also making a cover, scrapbook style that resembles my website. HTH

I love the scrapbook idea...but do keep it super simple, like the first one, the "wedding" cake. The only other thing I would add is a name for the cake and leave it at that. If you put more info, like the flavors of the cake(s) and icing, etc. it might give the impression that you'll only do that cake that way. Just a pic with minimum decoration and a name would be very classy! Good luck with it!

I think it is a cute idea! I have never scrapbooked before....it just seems like so much work! And expensive!

I thought of something else...not sure if you would like this, but if you did the same cake design for different people, you could put all the different varieties of that design on one page, to show the different ways a design could be done. I think wedding cakes need their own page, but the caterpillar would look cute (if you created that for more than one customer) if you showed all your different versions. (Am I being confusing?)

I also agree that you should crop out the kitchen stuff and make the design of the page a little more simple on the caterpillar one. The wedding one is perfect!

Great idea!!!
Leslie

I like what you have done Christine! I also agree that the dots are too much. I'm TRYING to do a portfolio but always get side tracked! When I do mine I am only going to give the cake a name & give the sizes of the layers. I have pics but their in a 4X6 photo album. When I'm showing my pics that's usually when the bride/groom will ask questions like: the size & flavor etc. IMHO they like to be talked to more then reading it on a piece of paper.

Your on the ball Christine!!!! Would you like to do my photo's too??? Just joking!! Have fun doing it!!

what I think is they look great and the scrapbooking idea is awesome.... it looks a lot better presented like that then just in a book for sure! Heck you may get offers from people to do their cakes and help them (charging of course) on your expertise on scrapbooking too...I know several people who have hired people to put their pictures in a scrapbook for them because they didnt have the time or the ideas like that! I say go for it..... the scrapbooking cant hurt at all because its great and well to be honest your cakes are pretty devine too and putting them on a regular page would work too..... JUST GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am currently working on 2 books. One with simple scrapbooking showing off my cakes for the customers. One for me, a 5x7 using only the pages facing each other. On the first page is a pic of the cake and on the page facing is all the info, sizes, amount of servings, flavors, fillings, cost to fix and cost to the customer. I think I will also add a space for things that went wrong or things I would do differently.

That's a great idea!

I like the idea of using one standard template, instead of all different ones. That way it would look amazing and it wouldn't be distracting. The first one would be great to use. It's really pretty.

Being a fellow scrapper, I love your scrapbook idea. Maybe instead of the big red dots on your caterpillar cake page, use leaves, twigs or other buggy/jungle things. Give people ideas of how to decorate or what theme to use with your cakes.

I put my pic.s on colored paper and it dresses them up without distracting. I made a small atempt at selling Creative Memories about 7 yrs. ago. and one of my albums was my cake album. I got more cake orders than CM orders. Marilyn

I think that your idea for a scrapbook is really nice. It looks very professional!! I agree that the design shouldn't be too distracting from the cake though. The pic with the cake and the ribbon was very simple and yet very elegant. I liked it a lot. Good luck with it!!


Daniela

I just finished doing this to my cake photos. I organized my album so that all b-day photos are done on the same themed pages and baby cakes all on the same and wedding etc..
It turned out nicely and I don't think the scrapbooking took away from the photos at all. I named all my cakes by who they were for and dated them as to when they were made. That way I can see my improvement.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I will probably redo my caterpillar cake page and get rid of the red dots and crop out the kitchen appliances!! Even though it takes a little more time to do the scrapbook pages.....I'll do the rest of my cakes that way. I haven't made enough cakes yet to seperate them...but one of the great things about scrapbooking is I can remove the pages and put them somewhere else later if I want.


Thanks,
Christine

I started a cake scrapbook back in January. I haven't gotten past the first page yet! I have the book, paper, etc but haven't gotten any of the tools yet!

I like your 1st page also. The dots are a bit much though and detract from the picture.

Debbie

I love your idea! I think that naming each cake is also a good idea. If a customer sees something they like, and call you about it later, it will be a lot easier for them to say "I want the 'Ashley' cake" than "I want the cake that was white with stripes of pink" or "I think it was page 4 or 5?" JMHO

I love the wedding cakes! The ribbon adds a touch of elegance and enhances the cakes without distracting from them. The caterpillar one though... lemme just say that it is SUPER CUTE!!! But you might want to photoshop it or something to take the kitchen out of the background... you'd hate to let something like that ruin the mood of such a wonderful cake.

When I take pictures of cakes, I've started using a background of some kind. One of my sons has a white blanket he carries around. I can use clothespins and fasten it to the handles on my kitchen cabinets and let it drape over the counter. Makes a much better picture to not have the kitchen clutter in the background.

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A friend of mine is doing a scrapbook for me for my pictures! I had them in an album-separated by the type of picture-wedding, childs birthday, etc-she said she liked what I did but she can do something special for them so I said go for it-she won't let me pay her for it because is single and older (than me at least!) and wanted something to do to help with her scrapbooking stuff anyway...so I am going to go the scrapbooking place and get her a gift card so she can restock or get things she hasn't been able to get before. I am anxious to see what she does! I would love to learn how to do it but I don't have the time....I figure if she gets it started I will want to keep it up!!

First let me say I agree with most of the comments here. I love the wedding cake page and the caterpillar is as cute as a bug!

My question is a little off this exact topic but what did you use to put the design on the fondant ribbon around the wedding cake? I have seen this type of thing before but have not seen how to do it.

Thanks,
Cindy

I AM ALSO A SCRAPBOOKER AND I JUST LOVE IT! IF IT IS LOOSE I WILL SCRAPBOOK IT
I THINK KOS HAD A GREAT IDEA.....DO A THEME SURROUNDING FOR YOUR CAKE.....I AM A THEME PERSON (FROM MY DAYS AS A HEAD START TEACHER).
YOUR CAKES ARE BEAUTIFUL AND I WOULD DISPLAY THEM THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE BEFORE TAKING THE PHOTO. I WOULD ALSO NAME THE CAKES AS SOMEONE SUGGESTED....BUT I WOULD PUT NO OTHER DETAILS FOR THE CUSTOMER TO SEE.
GREAT CAKES!
HAPPY SCRAPBOOKING
DEBBIE

I have a quick question I thought of this too, at least an album but I thought to discretely (sp) put in the price on the page so that they aren't asking for every one and besides I remember only charging $25 for my barbie cake and heck that thing should have been $50! And that way I am not scrambling to quote or remember a price which I ALWAYS do, you know how someone says I need a blah blah blah cake how much would that cost? And you are put on the spot and throw out a number and boom you are working for free or dishing out $$ of your own to cover.
What do you guys think?