Stamp, Scrap & Create with Chris

Happy Holiday

Happy Easter and Passover to those who are celebrating!

It's beautiful weather today - enjoy!

Chris

Starting Your Own Stampin' Business is SO Easy!!

Right now Stampin' Up! is making it so easy to start your own Stampin' business.  From now until April 30., you can get the starter kit using the THREE EASY PAYMENT OPTION.

Benefits of the Three Easy Payments Option for the Regular Starter Kit Price (April 1-30, 2009)

Step One	Step Two	Step Three	Step Four
Commit to becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration. Sign up for the Three Easy Payments Option, and make the first payment of $66.34 (plus sales tax).	Host your first workshop within one month of your start date. Have a goal to reach $400 in sales.	Use booking statements during your first workshop to schedule two additional workshops for the next month.	Reach $400 in sales at both of your second month workshops.
Benefits	Benefits	Benefits	Benefits
By signing up to be demonstrator now, you:  Take advantage of the limited-time Three Easy Payments Option. Receive $335 of Stampin' Up! merchandise for only $199.	By placing a $400 workshop order within the first month of becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you: Receive an extra 10% instant income in addition to your normal 20%. On a $400 workshop, that is $120! Qualify for a 5% volume rebate, bringing your total earnings up to $140. Recover the money you spent on your original investment. Earn the $66.33 for your second Starter Kit payment. By acting as hostess for your first workshop, you also receive hostess benefits to help build your business, including: Two free hostess stamp sets $45 in Stampin' Up! merchandise	By booking two new workshops: You have one workshop to match the income from last month. You have a second workshop planned to grow your business and your customer base. You earned $140, two hostess sets, and $45 in Stampin' Up! merchandise by hosting just one workshop. Holding two workshops in your second month will add significantly to your income.	With $800 in sales your second month, you will: Receive $160 in instant income. Increase your volume rebate to 7%, earning you an additional $56. Make enough money for your final Starter Kit payment of $66.33, and still have plenty to spare for a bill or to pamper yourself!  In just two months, you have: Completely earned back your original investment and paid for the remaining Starter Kit cost. Earned over $150 in cash plus free stamp sets and merchandise!

Check out all of the great benefits if you do it NOW!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Happy Stamping -

Chris

Right now Stampin' Up! is making it so easy to start your own Stampin' business.  From now until April 30., you can get the starter kit using the THREE EASY PAYMENT OPTION.

Benefits of the Three Easy Payments Option for the Regular Starter Kit Price (April 1-30, 2009)

Step One	Step Two	Step Three	Step Four
Commit to becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration. Sign up for the Three Easy Payments Option, and make the first payment of $66.34 (plus sales tax).	Host your first workshop within one month of your start date. Have a goal to reach $400 in sales.	Use booking statements during your first workshop to schedule two additional workshops for the next month.	Reach $400 in sales at both of your second month workshops.
Benefits	Benefits	Benefits	Benefits
By signing up to be demonstrator now, you:  Take advantage of the limited-time Three Easy Payments Option. Receive $335 of Stampin' Up! merchandise for only $199.	By placing a $400 workshop order within the first month of becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you: Receive an extra 10% instant income in addition to your normal 20%. On a $400 workshop, that is $120! Qualify for a 5% volume rebate, bringing your total earnings up to $140. Recover the money you spent on your original investment. Earn the $66.33 for your second Starter Kit payment. By acting as hostess for your first workshop, you also receive hostess benefits to help build your business, including: Two free hostess stamp sets $45 in Stampin' Up! merchandise	By booking two new workshops: You have one workshop to match the income from last month. You have a second workshop planned to grow your business and your customer base. You earned $140, two hostess sets, and $45 in Stampin' Up! merchandise by hosting just one workshop. Holding two workshops in your second month will add significantly to your income.	With $800 in sales your second month, you will: Receive $160 in instant income. Increase your volume rebate to 7%, earning you an additional $56. Make enough money for your final Starter Kit payment of $66.33, and still have plenty to spare for a bill or to pamper yourself!  In just two months, you have: Completely earned back your original investment and paid for the remaining Starter Kit cost. Earned over $150 in cash plus free stamp sets and merchandise!

Check out all of the great benefits if you do it NOW!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Happy Stamping -

Chris

The History of Greeting Cards

Here's another really neat article I recently read.

Have a great day -

Chris

The History of Greeting Cards
(from the Postcard and Greeting Card Museum - www.emotionscards.com)

Sending greeting cards to friends and family is a tradition that goes back about 200 years. They were mostly sent by the elite and wealthy in the early to mid 1800's. Most of the early greeting cards were hand delivered and many were quite expensive, but they soon gained mass popularity with the introduction of the world's first postage stamp issued in 1840 and a few ambitious printer's and manufacturer's perfecting printing methods, hiring artists and designed both elaborate expensive cards as well as simple affordable ones by the 1850's.

As you visit our galleries you will see that cards of the past were fine pieces of art. Manufacturer's used quality artists and many of the large manufacturer's held "art" competitions to generate interest and to get new ideas for cards. Some of these competitions awarded as much as $1,000.00 to the winner!

The oldest known greeting card in existence is a Valentine made in the 1400's and is in the British Museum. New Year's cards can be dated back to this period as well, but the New Year greeting didn't gain popularity until the late 1700's. The Valentine and Christmas Card were the most popular cards, with Valentine's offering us the most "mechanical", "pop-up" and filigree cards, followed by Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Cards gained their highest popularity in the late 1800's and early 1900's offering us cards with some of the most unusual art. The Victorian age give us the most prolific cards.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, when lovers said or sang their Valentines. Written Valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper Valentines were exchanged in Europe where they were given in place of Valentine gifts. Handmade paper Valentines were especially popular in England. In the mid to early 1800's, Valentines began to be assembled in factories. Early manufactured Valentines were black and white pictures painted by workers in a factory. Esther Howland (see below) known as the Mother of the Valentine made fancy Valentines with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap". She introduced the Paper Lace Valentine in the mid 1800's. By the end of the 1800's, Valentines were being made entirely by machine.

Christmas cards were introduced and popularized by John Calcott Horsley, the artist of what is known as the world's first Christmas Card and Louis Prang, known as the Father of the American Christmas Card.

The rest is History. With the exchange of New Year's, Valentine's, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthday Cards, just to name a few, there is probably no occasion that doesn't have its own greeting card!

__________________

Could Spring Finally Be Here?

Well after the SNOW FLURRIES yesterday, today looks like Spring may finally be here!!

And with Spring comes Easter, and the nieces and nephews love our yard for easter egg hunts, so with Easter comes about 1 Million people coming to my house for dinner on Sunday!

Not exactly a million, but pretty close - 16 adults, and 10 kids!  Besides jelly beans, what am I going to feed these people??

Anyway, I am going to try to write all of my weekend posts today, because between preparing dinner, vaccuming, cleaning, vaccuming (did I mention that they are BOTH shedding now), yelling at my family to help, and vaccuming, I probably won't have much time on the computer this weekend!

Here's a card that I did for a "Big Shot Swap" a couple of months back.  Of course I waited until the last minute to do the swap, and despite the fact that the card looks involved, it was very easy to do!

Stamps: En Francais

Ink:  Gold Encore

Cardstock:  Not Quite Navy, Bella Bleu DSP, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Big Shot, SU! Tulipe die, Horizontal Slot punch, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Pretties Kit, Mini Glue Dots

Have a Great Day -

Chris

Get Connected in April

Why not take some time in April to catch up with family and friends and send them a hand stamped card?

And from now until April 30, Stampin' Up! is offering a free stamp or note kit (see page 208 in the Spring/Summer IB&C for your choices) with qualifing orders!

Customers
Spend $40 on Occasions Mini Catalog products and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free.

Hostesses
Hold a workshop of $150 or more and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free. For every $150 spent at the workshop, the hostess will receive another "Under $10" item.

Want to book a workshop?  Give me a call or email me, and we'll set up a date!

Have a great day,

Chris

The New Occasions Mini is HERE!

...and boy is it BEAUTIFUL!!

I know that I say that a lot about Stampin' Up!'s products and catalogs, but isn't it true?

 

There are so many great sets for the Spring in here, I can't wait to scedule some classes and workshops!!

Check back for an updated Spring Class schedule - I'm working on it now!!

Have a wonderful day,

Chris

Article - 3 Common Scrapbooking Myths - Busted!

Here is a really great article that I found on a Business Stampers Group I am part of.

 

Enjoy,

 

Chris

 

 

by Karen Siegel Fitting

When I tell people about what I do, I often hear things like; "I am not creative at all", "I just don't have the time" , "I would love to be able to scrapbook". If you have the desire to scrapbook, you can make to happen. Read on... three common scrapbooking myths are about to be BUSTED!

Scrapbooking Myth #1: There's no time to scrapbook. Scrapping doesn't require more time than you are willing to give to yourself for other activities (like exercise or the spa), it just requires scheduling. Most retail stores post their scrapbooking times 2 to 3 months in advance.

Independent consultants offer workshops as well and will likely have their schedules prepared 4 to 6 months in advance. My friend, Jackie, only scrapbooks twice a year - at weekend retreat events an independent consultant runs. Jackie knows 6 months in advance when the next retreat will happen and works her family calendar around it. She is able to remain up to date with her photo projects by simply making the most of these two opportunities. In my experience, busy people get things done - because of planning.

Scrapbooking Myth #2: You have to be creative to make a scrapbook style photo album. Putting photos into safe albums is mostly about preserving the memories & stories that the photos represent. Some of my favorite album pages are 'naked'. They lack any stickers or embellishments whatsoever. I love pages like this because they celebrate the memories. Digital scrapbooking and pre-designed layouts make things easier. Just add pictures and your words and you have a beautiful page!

Scrapbooking Myth #3: Scrapbooks are for families with kids. As long as you are taking pictures, kids or no kids, there's plenty to work on! Look at your pictures, aren't they worthy of celebration? It's time to show off your exciting life! Celebrate your everyday, your family and friends. Your story is worth telling and sharing, putting these stories and memories into a safe album is a great way to do this! Now that you know how to bust these myths, it is time to get started. Find a few pictures, find some friends or some help from a store or consultant and celebrate your memories.


To request your free digital scrapbooking software, go to http://karenfitting.wordpress.com/ Karen Siegel Fitting has been helping her clients keep up-to-date with their photos for over 5 years. Since January, 2009 her clients have completed over 10 albums, hundreds of pages, and have maintained sanity in the effort of keeping their photos managed

March Birthdays

Our family has a bunch of birthdays in March, so we are off to my parent's house today for a big italian birthday dinner!!

Our niece Rebecca, my sister Jen, and our daughter Mikaela, all have March birthdays, and we have affectionately dubbed them the "March Girls"!

 

Here is the card I made for my sister:

Stamps: A Little Something

Ink: Craft - Rose Red

Paper:  Cameo Coral, Raspberry Tart DSP

Accessories:  Clear EP, Square Rhinestone Brads, Square Punches

 

Here's the card for Rebecca:

Stamps:  Crazy for Cupcakes

Paper:  Almost Amethyst, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Tea Party DSP

Ink:  Stazon, Amethyst Marker, Pretty in Pink Marker

Accessories:  Big Shot Top Note Die, 2-Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain

The quality of the pictures is not the greatest, but of cours we are running late, and I am rushing to get this post up!!

Have a great Sunday!

Chris

Junior Prom

Yesterday's post was a bit late because it was Prom.  Everything began at about noon when I picked up Morgan and her friend Christine from school.  We went to lunch at Panera, and then they had their hair and make-up done, and then they finally got dressed!

 

Here are the girls all done up!!

 

She looked absolutely beautiful!!  She was like a fairy princess!!  When she got home last night, she said that she got a lot of comlpliments on the dress!!

  

Once everyone was gone, and I finally sat down to relax, it suddenly hit me - my little girl was going to her first prom!

I can remember her playing with my prom dress when she was little!!  And now here she is - looking like a beautiful ballerina!!

Well I'm off to the basment to make some thank you cards for everyone that helped make this day special!!

Chris

Chipboard Essentials Class

  Chipboard is a fun way to add dimension and texture to all of your paper crafting projects.

In this class you'll be making 3 different projects and learn 3 different basic techniques.

When:  Thursday, April 16, 2009

Time:  10am and 7pm

Class Fee:  $25 and includes all precut cardstock, embellishments, and On Board Essentials Chipboard (with more than 150 images!)

Please RSVP no later than Monday, April13 so that I can have your supplies ready

Please remember to bring your adhesive, personal trimmer and snips to class.

Email or call to sign up!!  See you there!