Stellar Stamps

Just got asked an excellent set of questions

In response to my recruiting email, I was asked two very good questions. Here's the exchange between me and my customer.

QUESTIONS: A couple of questions about the whole demonstrator thing.  Do purchases we make for ourselves count towards the $300?  Also, I know the merchandise is sold at a 20% discount.  At which price do we get credit for?  For example, a stamp set is $19.95 and the discounted price is $15.96.  Which amount goes toward the $300? 

ANSWERS: Yes, purchases for ourselves count towards the $300. Every purchase is treated the same except for Supply Orders. On a Supply Order, you’ll get cases of catalogs, Stampin’ Techniques booklets, Recruit Brochures, Incentive Stamps to hand out at a workshop, an apron, business forms (which are all downloadable for free as an alternative to buying), etc…. Though there are 3 order forms we use besides that (Customer, Workshop, Demonstrator), they all count the same towards $300 sales requirement. The reason a demonstrator would use a Demonstrator Form for herself rather than a Customer or Workshop form is important because not only does it auto-fill in who the buyer is (the demo) but we only pay tax and shipping on the 80% price unlike customers who, of course, pay on the 100% retail price.

As to how the $300 accumulates, if you or your customer is buying a $19.95 item, $19.95 is what is counted towards your $300.

 

New Designer Papers coordinating chart

When the Spring-Summer Collection 2008 catalog came out just a few weeks ago, there were new Designer Papers in it. Thanks to an inquiry from customer Becky, I was able to find the updated list that shows which SU colors coordinate with each Designer Series paper! I have it on the right column in the "Pages" section so it's always an easy reference for you.

What is Sale-A-Bration??? This is important stuff!

This Friday, February 1 kicks off the biggest, most exciting, most ginomous, humungousest, annual sale event for Stampin' Up! - "Sale-A-Bration"! Also affectionately referred to as "SAB". It's a huge deal and so fun for demonstrators and customer alike. The promotion runs from February 1st through March 17th.

Here's the skinny:

1. For every $50 you spend (before tax and shipping) on anything in the Spring-Summer Collection 2008 catalog OR the Dormant List you may select one (1) item from the Sale-A-Bration mini catalog as your FREE gift! No limit.
2. If your total personal or workshop order reaches a total of $300 (before tax and shipping), you get another SAB item just for funzies!
3. If you sign up as a demonstrator during this promotion, in addition to your fabulously dirt-cheap Starter Kit, you may also choose one stamp set out of the regular catalog at ANY value. Yes, you may choose the $47.95 set, which is what I'd do! (Don't forget that now you can sign up online immediately, no wait, just tell me you are interested and I'll give you the password to fill out the forms on my website). You complete the online form, you pay and you are instantly given access as a demonstrator. Yes, WOW!

Summary: free stuff, free stuff and more free stuff. Where's the catch? There is none!

If you do not have a SAB mini, fear not. You can find it on my website beginning on Friday. It won't be live until then so hold your horses if you want to see it now. Just look for it under some rock in my website. You'll find it eventually ;-)

So, email me today for more details, just to chat or to order: stellarstamps@comcast.net.

Did you notice my new "Pages" section to the right?

I was poking around on other gal's blogs and noticed the "Pages" option. I have it but didn't know what it was! I had all these Word documents created for ages (that I update) and so I just cut and paste my snail-mail forms into those pages. If you have a moment... pop on over there ;-)

Groovy Guava and Blue Bayou color combo - try it!

Today I received a card from my up-up-up-upline (there may be more "ups" but I'm not sure!) whose name is Jill Olsen. She sent it to her top-30 (out of over 6,000 in her downline) for Dec. I love the color combo - don't you? It is so striking! I have this set and the card stock - now to copy this card for my stash!

Do you seal the wood of your stamps before you assemble them? I do!

Nowadays every time I get a new Stampin' Up! set, I take one extra step and seal the wood first. It is so easy and, to me, it is worth it to help repel ink from soaking in. I have not experimented with how well it does its job but I do feel that my stamps are easier to clean with this added layer. All it takes is a brown paper grocery bag, a lid to put it all in and a can of spray sealer.

My favorite sealers are by Krylon. I've tried a bunch. What I like about the one I'm showing in the photo is that it's thick so I only use one coat per side. Also, years ago I tried spraying with newspaper as my protective bottom and the blocks stuck. They still do now and then but only a little and if they do, I simply sand off the paper and spray that spot again.

I have been spraying in my garage yet bringing them in to dry in my laundry room. With the cold weather, I don't think they can dry as well in the garage. I set them out, do some stuff, come back in an hour, flip them over, spray again and when that side is dry, I do the next set. I discourage mixing sets and doing several at a time unless you can separate them so they won't blend together. All it takes is one time not doing that to realize you are not sure which block goes with which set. Guess who did that?

One more thing: if you are ever re-selling your sets, to say that your woods are sealed seems to fetch a little more for them.

Happy spraying! cough, cough, sputter...

3 Workshop Cards

At my January 19 workshop, I created 3 cards that the 4 gals and I made together. They had requested a Valentine card, male birthday and a surprise. Here's what I came up with:

Valentine card using "Happy Heart Day" stamp set, Photo Corners punch, eyelets, 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I used a card on SCS's gallery as inspiration.

A male birthday card using the Polished Stone technique, Ticket Corner punch, Glassy Glaze Enamel, (retired) diamond vintage brads, and the "Noble Deer" set.

Using inspiration from the Faux Silk tutorial and sample on SCS, I created this card using the "Embrace Life" stamp set, Scallop Circle punch, 1 1/4" Circle punch, black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, and Certainly Celery "Prints Designer Series Paper." This was cool. You stamp an image on tissue paper, crinkle it up then adhere it to a piece of white card stock after flattening a little. It has a few wrinkles in it and feels silky. So easy and sorta elegant.

You may not live near me but you might be able to help

Recently, I began volunteering for Sacramento Child Advocates (SCA), a not-for-profit organization that provides legal representation, via attorneys and social workers, to children who have been removed from their homes due to neglect or abuse. Yes, it's a horrible thing to think about but it's very, very real. This is the only such organization in Sacramento County, which boasts a population of approximately 1.4 million, 26% of whom are children under the age of 18. The SCA handles approximately 5,000 cases annually on behalf of these precious children. Sadly, they are busy.

I am reaching out to every single person who ever looks at this blog to ask for a donation for this very worthwhile organization. It's been around for over 16 years but, until recently, it did not have a full-time employee spearheading fund-raising efforts. Now there is an Advancement/Development Director who is making up for lost time in laying the structure for years to come. I am trying to help by spreading the word.

How much is too little to give? There is no figure too small and the beauty of this is by simply clicking on their website then clicking on the very obvious red  "Donate Now" button, you can make a donation faster than you can pay for an eBay purchase. I tested it by making a donation using their link to Pay Pal. I think it took me a total of under 2 minutes. But in that 2 minutes, I did "something" to help these kids in need. Do you have two minutes?

Besides Pay Pal, you can opt to pay via Groundspring (you will have the option to choose one or the other to donate). Groundspring offers a monthly donation option where your donations can occur automatically. So easy! You could set up $x to be deducted once per month? I could see someone giving up one Starbucks latte per month and donating that to SCA. Anything is appreciated, really!

Some people just do not have the time to volunteer or attend fund-raising events. The plain truth is that making a donation is easy and if that's the most any of us can do, it sure beats doing nothing!

Click here to help a child via Sacramento Child Advocates

Bless you!

To honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Though we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. via a national holiday on January 21 his actual birth date is January 15. With all the caucuses and political debates and news coverage going on right now, I've been remembering how much has changed since the early 1960s yet, sadly, how much is still the same. With Matt attending a southern university he has seen some things that this Los Angeles bred young man has never witnessed firsthand. Nothing bad but just different. It inspires our family to talk about where we've been historically and where we hope to go. As a history major, Matt is always great to talk to and to listen to on all topics historical. I just had a hankering to blog today in support of all the great things that Dr. King did. Here are a very few of some of the amazing things he said:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. 

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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 

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Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into compelling power. 

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A man who won't die for something is not fit to live. 

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There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it. 

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If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. 

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I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. 

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Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.

One more card to share

This card came in after my last blog and I just loved it! It is from a dear, dear friend in South Dakota. I loved the colors! You know how digital photos may not always do colors true justice... well, this is even more striking in person.

Sharing the 18 hand-made Christmas cards that I received

This past Christmas, I received 18 gorgeous, creative and lovingly crafted hand-made cards from friends, customers and some of my Stampin' Up! downline. I consider each one to be a work of heart and a gift in and of itself.

I created an album entitled "Christmas Cards 2007". Take a peek! (It's to the left in alphabetical order).