Laura L., The ScrabbleGal specializes in teaching how to create unique Scrabble accessories and custom photo jewelry through her line of E-books and step-by-step tutorials.
Tell us about your work. What kind of things do you make?
Tiles with style! 🙂 Anything and everything from jewelry, home accessories, to even Scrabble related projects for your pets! I just recently started a tutorial and E-book series that teaches step-by-step how to make some of my favorite craft projects.
What inspired you to get into crafting with scrabble tiles?
It actually all started back in college. One year, when my roommates and I were shopping for furniture for our apartment, we came across this old beat up Scrabble game at a moving sale for like two bucks. After we got home, we realized that half the letters were missing — but instead of just throwing the whole thing away, I volunteered to “adopt” the remaining orphan tiles. Being the “crafty one” I ended up making them into a set of custom decorated refrigerator magnets — and they were a HUGE hit! It became a game to see who could leave the funniest messages! And friends would try to score the most “points” in our own version of “refrigerator Scrabble” 🙂
From there, I started playing around with other ideas, and started making & selling my own custom Scrabble tile jewelry, picture frames, and eventually branched out to bunch of other Scrabble-themed crafts. My husband likes to call me a “word nerd” but I much prefer the nickname my friends came up with: The Scrabble Gal 🙂
Why do you think scrabble tiles are such a great medium for creative crafting?
I love the process. And the challenge. Creating a new Scrabble tile project is in many ways like coming up with a new word when you’re actually playing the game of Scrabble. You start with a pile of tiles. You pick a few. Then you get stuck with a bunch of Q’s and Z’s and X’s and you think, “What the heck can I make with THAT?” But then you play around with the letters a bit. You take a look at the board. Eventually it starts to come together… And THEN the wheels start turning and you can’t stop the ideas from flying left and right!
That very same creative process takes place when you make your own Scrabble tile creations yourself. Once you learn a few simple techniques, the whole thing becomes super addictive. You start carrying around a pen and paper just to jot down all your ideas.
Describe the process that you went through to create your tutorial/publication?
For each of my tutorials, I break everything down into an 8-step process. I go through step-by-step how to create a finished piece for whatever method or theme that specific tutorial teaches. My husband helped out by photographing each step (my hands tend to get a little busy :-)). I then sent out the tutorials to a bunch of friends and people I know from the crafting community to get their feedback. Anything that was unclear or needed more explanation was incorporated. For my brand new E-book, I have a number of inspiration journals — basically a shelf of sketchbooks where I keep drawings and photos of my past items, and ideas for future projects. In this first volume, I teach you how to create over 70 hand-selected projects and ideas
What advice do you have for others who may want to start a business like yours?
Do what you love and it will show through in your work!
What is your favorite word when playing scrabble?
Ha! I always get asked this question. I don’t think I can narrow it down to one favorite word, but I do dream of being able to play the word MUZJIKS one day (means Russian Peasants). It’s worth 128 points on the first move!
Do you like to play scrabble in your free time?
Yes! I’m definitely a Scrabble nut 🙂 We play with friends all the time. One thing we like to do to mix things up a bit (and make things a bit more challenging) is play “theme” games. We make it a rule that you can only spell words that fit within a certain theme — like say, things related to food.
Where can we see your products for sale?
Right now all of my tutorials and E-books are for sale in my Etsy shop at:http://www.thescrabblegal.etsy.com . I’ve actually JUST launched my brand new E-Book called SCRABBLE IN STYLE: 77 Fun & Fresh Scrabble Tile Projects! The book is 40+ pages and has over 65 instructional
diagrams and photographs. In the first section, I teach you my 13 basic techniques. In the second section, I teach you 13 ways to make Scrabble tile jewelry. These are your building blocks. Then, I go through the 70+ projects & ideas you can make using these techniques. For a limited time, when you purchase my new book through my Etsy shop, I’m including my Original Scrabble Tile Jewelry Tutorial AND Custom Photo Jewelry Tutorial ($34 value) Absolutely FREE! You should check it out today 🙂
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