Stampin' & Scrappin' with Donna

SPAM FILTERS ... ARGGGGG!

Sure, spam filters serve a purpose, but too much of a good thing can get you into trouble!

If you were the person who emailed me today (Thurs Aug 20) at approx 12:30 pm with the subject line "Party" ... I'm sorry but I caught only a glimpse of your message in my spam folder before it was purged (which apparently means gone forever, not to be retrieved!)  Could you please email me again?

cheers
Donna

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

Hello Stampers!

Some of you are aware of my efforts to "Go Green" in my stampin' space .. I've stopped buying cases of bottled water & have invested in a water cooler for all of my class & club participants to use. I'm also encouraging everyone to lug-a-mug (or at least a water bottle) to my classes and team meetings - just be careful what type of plastic your bottle is made of (check the recycling triangle stamped on the bottom - No. 7 is the worst for leaching chemicals into your water!)

I'm also very pleased that some customers are returning their Stampin' Up! bags and extra promotional materials that they no longer need so that I can reuse or recycle them. The more items that we can keep out of the landfill sites, the better it is for all of us. When I get set up downstairs in my new stampin' studio I will have a basket to collect these items with a little incentive program to encourage everyone to come on board ... so stay tuned!

In the meantime, in honour of April 22 being Earth Day, I thought I'd share a fun& crafty YouTube video showing you how to make something useful out of all those plastic bags that we get from the stores. While it's NOT actually a stamping-related project, you could definitely add some pizazz to it with your rubber stamps and some StaZon inks <grin>

And if Going Green is a goal of yours too, I invite you to check out the following blog:
We Can Do It by the Sierra Club - there's tons of useful information here on ways to make a difference at home and in the community!

Enjoy!
Donna

If you've spent any time at all reading through stamping blogs (at least the GOOD ones), no doubt you've come across the name Andrea Walford. Andrea is a very talented stamper who loves to share her creativity with others and insists that even the "non-creative" people of the world can make simple, beautiful cards, scrapbook pages and gifts through rubber stamping.

Andrea is also, I am honoured to say, a member of my Stampin' UP! demonstrator team. Her support, encouragement and generosity knows no limits.

So you can imagine how upset I was to discover that such a kind & good-hearted person like Andrea has been taken advantage of by some unscrupulous, moral-lacking fiend on E-Bay! Simply put, someone purchased a "Class Planner for Demonstrators" from Andrea (a series of detailed workshop project tutorials that she designs & sells to other demonstrators) and then turned around and tried to sell it on E-Bay along with the Stampin' Up! supplies needed to create the projects! This is a definite no-no on SO many levels - it violates Andrea's copyright, it breaks Stampin' Up!'s rules (no current product may be sold on E-Bay), and it's against E-Bay's policies too! When you get right down to it, it's out and out THEFT!

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against E-Bay; it's the demonstrators who use it to beat the system to make a fast buck that get my dander up. AND the customers who will buy anything anywhere as long as it's cheaper, without looking at the bigger picture and the ramifications of their actions.

OK, I'm done venting... but please read Andrea's blog post about this - she has thoughtfully explained the intricacies of this on-going dilemma that honest, hard-working demonstrators are faced with every day. It's hard enough to make a go of this business, providing quality one-on-one customer service, teaching others how to use our products, and coming up with creative ideas to share ... without  a few of our fellow demonstrators taking the easy road and cheating their way to success!

Hang in there, Andrea, and fight the good fight!