HOBART | As the youngest of 12 siblings, deciding to open her scrapbooking design business on 12/12/12 was an easy choice for graphic artist/designer Diane Arias.
It was a decision based on sentiment and practicality rather than superstition.
“I’ve used ‘youngestoftwelve' as my email address for about 10 years,” Arias said. “And on Oct. 15, when I decided to go ahead and open the business, I knew it would take two months to spread the word, and the date just worked out.”
Opening her home-based studio follows years of Arias being a stay-at-home mom, preceded by a decade teaching and working in marketing, communications, graphic design and event planning.
Arias, who has a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph College in communications and theater arts, taught basic design for two years at her alma mater and for a year at the New York School of Design in Boston.
“I did all that throughout my 20s, then I decided to stay home when I started my family,” she said. “Now that my daughter (Emilie, 10) and my 8-year-old twins (Sidney and Aisha) are in school, I have an opportunity to get back into creative work. I’m able to get back into doing hands on crafts and scrapbooking.”
Making the switch from one type of design work to another is a natural process, Arias said.
“In anything creative you have your basic design principles that apply in any medium whether on the computer, in paint, tablescape or scrapbooking,” she said. “The same principles always apply.”
Arias uses scrapbooking products produced by Close to My Heart Co. including stamps, paper, and inks, and will market its products to her students on commission.
Her investment in Youngest of Twelve has been minimal, about $500 for supplies and preparing space in her home for classes, Arias said. Its money she expects to recoup in just a few months.
Since the opening of the business was announced, she’s had more than a dozen clients sign up for classes and anticipates there will be more by opening day.
“My communication is through Facebook,” Arias said. “Once I made decision to open the studio, I developed a business account on Facebook. I had 58 followers on first day of introducing my upcoming business. For the studio launch, I have 15 clients already.”
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