Roxy Blox Rocks!

I ordered the stamp set Many Happy Returns as soon as the new catalog came out. You can see how the set arrives from Stampin' Up!®, below. It is in a plastic case, with the rubber images, index stickers and wooden blocks. But there are only 3 wooden blocks...to mount 33 images onto! The idea is that you can use a marker to isolate and ink up individual sayings, and keeping the number of wood blocks to 3 keeps the price of the set down.

Being an "I want more" kind of gal, and generally too lazy to get a marker out just to color one line, I set out looking for a set of smaller blocks to mount the individual images onto. I found one place that offered 17 blocks for $12 for double-mounting the images, and I figured that might work. I ordered two sets, (one for me and one for my mom). But, when I got the blocks, an incredible number of them had burn marks, cutting marks (that looked like red paint or crayon), and needed sanding. One of the blocks still had a price sticker stuck on it from the store where the "dowel" had been purchased. And I couldn't tell from the pictures before I purchased them, but the wood was a flat block, with no "comfort" grooves. I was less than pleased.

Then I found Roxy Blox (product pictured below)...blocks made by another demonstrator's husband, in Canada. For only $8 US dollars, I got 33 blocks to individually mount each saying (or decorative line image), and the blocks are just AWESOME. I ordered two sets again, and even though I'd be getting double the amount of wood blocks and adding shipping from Canada, I spent less than I did on the first round of unsatisfactory blocks!

Roxy Blox currently offers individual wood blocks for the following Stampin' Up!® sets:

• Many Happy Returns
• Happiness (background stamp)
• Tres Chic (background stamp)
• Large Alphabet sets (Big Deal, Jumbo Outline, etc.)
• Define Your Life
• All in a Row
• Lots of Thoughts (2008 Sale-A-Bration set)
• A Little Bit of Happiness--Level 1 Hostess Set, 2008 Spring-Summer Collection
• So Many Sayings--Level 1 Hostess Set, 2007 Fall-Winter Collection

You can also choose any other set in the catalog you would like to split out into individual blocks, and to date, Roxy Blox has been able to accommodate ALL such special orders.

Check out the ordering details on this page. I heartily recommend choosing Roxy Blox for all your auxilliary stampin' wood mount needs!

Here, Kitty Kitty...

So I got a nice big box of stamps today...most of them were Workshop orders, but a few new things for me! I've been waiting on them so I could post some samples for my classes, and for the upcoming Occasions Mini catalog, which becomes active on March 1st! I didn't order the stamp set Here, Kitty Kitty but now I'm thinking it would have been very appropriate.

Anyway, the boxes come from Stampin' Up! filled with some nice brown packing paper that I like to keep for repacking my own boxes, and even to stamp on sometimes. But, my kitty cat has other plans for this particular bundle of paper. Oh don't be fooled, he has stamping on the brain, too...he's perched on my bed facing my stamp table so he can keep an eye on me while I put my new stamp sets together.

His name is Sneakers, and he'll be nine years old on July 5th (or is it 6th?), but if you take out a qtip or his toy mouse, he'll play like a kitten. I'm not sure why he's so attracted to the paper, but he does this same thing with brown paper bags, and plastic bags from the store. (I never let him play with the plastic ones when I'm not standing right there, though, because I'm afraid he'll wrap himself up in them and get choked or smothered.) Everyone needs a stampin' kitty--they're awesome :-)

A little Irish Luck!

So I don't have red hair, but I am fair-skinned and freckled! And I'm so grateful to be healthy and not in pain! So much so, in fact, that I wanted to promote a friend's business on my blog today. It is a chiropractic clinic here in Colorado Springs, and if you would like to read what they cured me of, you can do that here.

Right now, if you live in the Colorado Springs area, you may be able to take advantage of 3 FREE MONTHS of chiropractic care at the same clinic I go to. If you are interested, sign up for their Sweepstakes here.

Some Sale-A-Bration Samples

It's been really busy around here, trying to catch up with taking pictures and getting things posted. I just finally got my February Newsletter out, you can take a peek at an archived copy if you scroll down on the right sidebar!

I've made some samples using FREE SALE-A-BRATION SETS that I want to share with you today, because they can all be made using supplies from kits that I have put together for your convenience. The cards are all very easy to make, nothing complicated about them, so any level stamper can complete them! These are progressive cards, made from the combined kits, which are outlined in boxes on this flyer.

The sample below is made from the River Rock/Blue Bayou Birthday Whimsy Kit, the pictures are of the outside, and the inside. Below that you will find a sample made from the Party Time Add-On Kit (there's nothing special inside so I just have a picture of the outside).

The first card below is made from the Always Artichoke Birthday Whimsy Basic Kit. I'm not crazy about it myself because I don't care for green, but I chose this because it's very "manly" looking. It's easy to make cute, girlie cards, and a bit more challenging to come up with something masculine. Next to that is the inside of the card. Then below that you'll find the inside and outside of a sample made from the Bashful Blue Birthday Whimsy Add-On Kit. White dots were made on the first card with a gel pen, and white stars were made in the corners of the second card with a gel pen. The string coming down from the balloons was doodled with a black marker, as was the bow. Though you could ink up the bow on the gift package image with your black marker instead, if you'd like to use it there.

And finally, the sample on the left below is made from the Lots of Thoughts Basic Kit, and the sample on the right below is made from the So Many Scallops Add-On Kit. The only detail on these cards that you might not be able to readily see from the photo is that there was a square punched into the front of each of the cards, which the layered greetings "peek" through. In addition, the little flowers on the horizontal band of the first card were doodled with a marker.

Pretty much all of the Stampin' Supplies used to make the cards have been listed on the specified kits on the flyer, so I won't go into too much detail about those in this post. Some of the colors in the last kits are left open for customization, so I'll share what I used there. I chose Bashful Blue as the first marker for the Basic Kit. I teamed that with Certainly Celery (and chose that as another color marker in the Add-On Kit). All card stock comes from the Soft Subtles color family, with Apricot Appeal used as the coordinating color on the first card. The background set on the Add-On card is Background Basics, the ribbon is Bashful Blue, and the Brads are Certainly Celery (from the Soft Subtles assortment).

This last card below was super quick and easy, but has gotten the most Oooohs and Ahhhhs for some reason, so I wanted to share it. I made it using the contents of the same previous Basic and Add-On Kits, adding Perfect Plum as a marker choice, and choosing White 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon instead of Bashful Blue. (HINT: you can color the white ribbon with markers, to get more variety from one product!) The card stock colors used for this card are Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, and Mellow Moss, which are all also included in the Soft Subtles Assortment. If you have any other questions on specifics, please feel free to contact me.

Spirit of the Law

Because part of my job is mentoring new demonstrators who join my group, I have decided it might be beneficial to interject some business posts on my blog. Today's topic will be the Spirit of the Law.

When you own your own business, you get to make all the decisions. When your business is a Stampin' Up!® Demonstratorship, the first decision you get to make is whether or not to commit to abiding by the Independent Demonstrator Agreement. This is a contract between a Demonstrator, and Stampin' Up!®, which is agreed upon before the establishment of a Demonstratorship. The contract binds every Demonstrator not only to its specific terms, but also to changes, as they occur and are disseminated in company publications. Some of the policies are very clear, while others might be more liberally interpreted. However, behind each policy or Letter of the Law, there is a purpose, or Spirit of the Law.

There are many Stampin' Up!® Demonstrators with blogs and personal web sites on the internet these days. (You can identify company-sponsored Demonstrator web sites, as they all belong to the www.stampinup.net domain--you can view mine here.) On some personal Demonstrator web presences you may find discounts on Starter Kits. I have been asked why I do not offer these discounts, and my answer is that I feel I can best honor the Spirit of the Law by refraining from that business practice. Stampin' Up! has released statements indicating they are not in support of individual demonstrators "discounting" the Starter Kit, though they haven't yet outright prohibited the practice.

The only discounts I present in regards to the Starter Kit, are those offered by the company, such as the 20% Discount offered during the current Sale-A-Bration. I do, from time to time, offer my own personal recruiting incentives, such as bonus gifts (usually one stamp set or specific accessory) for those who join my team of demonstrators during specific periods. This is within the Spirit of the Law, because it is a separate gift which does not entail me essentially "buying" a portion of your Starter Kit.

By following the Spirit of the Law, I work with the company to preserve things such as fair and equal opportunity, a more prosperous compensation, benefit and bonus plan, and a better Demonstrator experience--both for recruits, and the customers they serve. For me, it's all about passion, and I am very passionate about preserving the integrity of the Stampin' Up!® opportunity and experience.

Celebrate with...

SALE-A-BRATION: a Stampin' Up!® Annual Sale Celebration,
February 1st - March 17th, 2008.

DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE

We are well into the swing of the Stampin' Up!® Sale-A-Bration, and there's still time to take advantage of the savings! Here's how. . .

• CUSTOMERS: Receive a FREE Sale-A-Bration set when you spend at least $50.* There’s no limit—for every $50 you spend, you can select a free Sale-A-Bration set!
• HOSTESSES: When you host a workshop of at least $300, you’ll receive a FREE Sale-A-Bration set in addition to the generous hostess benefits! You’ll receive a second Sale-A-Bration set when your net workshop sales reach $600. Get a third set for workshop sales of $900 or more!*
• RECRUITS: Sign up to be a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator during Sale-A-Bration and select any set (value up to $47.95) from the Spring-Summer Collection 2008 FREE!** AND...as an added value, purchase the Starter Kit for only $159 (a 20% savings!).

*net sales; before shipping and handling and tax
**excluding hostess sets

It's super easy to earn FREE STAMP SETS during Sale-A-Bration, but the opportunity will be gone before you know it, so email me today with your order, or to book your FREE Workshop (Colorado Springs area only) to see the products demonstrated.

If you'd like to become a Stampin' Up!® Demonstrator and join my team, you can now do that online! Click here to get to my company sponsored web site, then scroll down the page and again choose the bold words Click here to enroll. You will be asked to accept the terms, and to enter my Recruiter Authorization Password, which is newdemonstrator (that's all one word, no spaces). Once you complete those tasks, the sign up process will begin. You will want to have all of your ordering information handy, as well as direct deposit information, and a credit or debit card for payment. Please be aware that if you are idle for too long at any point in the process, it will timeout for security purposes, and you will have to start over.

I highly recommend you CALL ME at (719) 205-5957 or email me before you sign up, so that I can share some tips on customizing your Starter Kit, or answer any questions you may have about joining my team of demonstrators . . . but this is not a requirement. I would, however, greatly enjoy the opportunity to get to know you better, and find out how I can best support your needs as a new demonstrator.

Wow, it's been a while!

Sorry for the long hiatus, it's been busy around here! I'm trying to get my act together, and get my kids in gear. They're both doing school online at home, and they've been taking the meandering road to their studies...through their favorite manga and gaming sites! On top of that, I started a detox program that has really thrown me for a loop. I'm going to add a few small posts today, then I'll try to get caught up on my weekly card templates in the next few days.

For now, I'll leave you with these two cards from the One of a Kind stamp set. The second one is what I gave my sweetie for Valentine's Day! I'll also share with you a Color Coordination Chart for all the Designer Series Papers (and other similar products) in the current catalog...including a few items which will debut in March! I can't wait to show you those--they're so awesome :-) I'll also include a link to this chart on the sidebar for future reference.

One of a Kind Glitter Card Supplies: One of a Kind stamp set; Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper; Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White card stock; Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad; Boho Blossoms Punch; Word Window Punch; Build-A-Brad; Pop-up Glue Dots; Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads (jewels); Tombow Multi Adhesive; 2-way Glue Pen; Fine Cosmo Glitter.

One of a Kind Valentine's Card Supplies: One of a Kind stamp set; Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper; Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa & Purely Pomegranate cardstock and ink pads; Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Grosgrain; So Swirly Jumbo Wheel; Keytag & 3/16" Corner Punches; Eyelets (Pretty in Pink, Bravo Burgundy).