On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a business in scrapbooking and photography with my guest Azzari Jarrett.
Azzari is a photographer and designer who is inspired by simple, everyday moments. You can usually find her chasing natural light with one too many (film) cameras. She enjoys a good morning run, a daily cup of coffee, and evenings on the beach. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the North Carolina Coast.
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In this interview, Azzari talks about her upbringing in Lafayette, Louisiana, growing up as an only child with a very creative mother and in a family with lots of cousins. Azzari was an avid journaler since she was in elementary school and now really values being able to look back at her childhood journals, both to see what she was thinking and to realize that scrapbooking and memory keeping have been part of her life for so many years.
Layout by Azzari Jarret.
In college and graduate school, Azzari studied computer science and went on to have a corporate job for about a decade. Azzari and her husband have three daughters and when she became a mother, Azzari discovered photography. With each birth, her interest in photography and in scrapbooking grew and developed. By the time her third child was born, she scaled back her job to part-time and, eventually, after the family moved to the coast, decided to work on her creative business exclusively.
Layout by Azzari Jarret.
We talk about the appeal of Project Life, a scrapbooking system developed by Becky Higgins. We also talk about Azzari’s unique style in which she uses a lot of neutral colors, earth tones, and simple modern design, and clean layouts, combined with her love of film photography which captures her mood and feelings.
Layout by Azzari Jarret.
Azzari has collaborated with many different companies and brands in the scrapbooking industry over the last seven years. Right now, she is working with Ali Edwards as a guest instructor for One Little Word for 2021. Last year, Azzari released her own product line of Black Lives Matter stamps, stickers, and buttons as well as Brown Girl Create journal cards. She created these products out of frustration of not seeing herself represented in the mainstream scrapbooking products available on the market. Her products were wildly successful and Azzari was featured in an article in the New York Times about how Black people have been overlooked in the scrapbooking industry.
Black Lives Matter stamp designed and created by Azzari Jarrett.
Brown Girl Clear Stamp Set designed and created by Azzari Jarrett.
During our conversation, we reference:
And, of course, I ask Azzari to recommend great stuff she’s enjoying right now. Azzari recommends:
- the Project Life 6×8 format books
- Ali Edwards One Little Word
- the Marco Polo app for staying in touch with friends and family
Keep up with Azzari on her blog and on Instagram and be sure to check out her full product line in her online shop.