Shiloh Stamps Early Christmas Special

Get started on Christmas cards this summer!

So I've gotten inspired by reading The Martha Rules. Since I'm starting a new crafty business, my mom gave me Martha Stewart's rulebook about starting a new business. I admit, I was skeptical, but the lady has sure made some dough with all her cooking/cleaning/crafty tips. Much to my chagrin, the book opens by Martha talking about doing time. She says that while she was locked up, lots of women approached her with business ideas. You see, when people do time, they have lots of time to think and dream about what can happen on the outside. At the minimum-security facility where Martha paid her debt to society, many of the women had aspirations about starting businesses. Martha described one pair of ladies who had drawn up a business plan with lots of specifics and concrete plans. Martha decided that she could help others with entrepreneurial spirits by putting some of her lessons learned into a book.

In the chapter entitled "Teach so you can Learn", she tells how business owners should 'think like a customer'. So I started thinking about what my customers have told me. Many have said that they would like to make birthday cards and they have trouble keeping up with birthdays. So I knew I was on track with planning my birthday calendar workshop I hosted earlier this week. Many others told me they would like to make homemade Christmas cards. Then I thought about what challenges people face in trying to make Christmas and birthday cards. I addressed all of these challenges by designing the Shiloh Stamps Early Christmas Special. For many stampers, the first challenge after choosing the perfect stamp set is getting those darn stamps mounted. This was a pain for me for 3 years until I got the Craft and Rubber Scissors as part of my new demonstrator kit. Now it takes me minutes to mount a stamp set. Another barrier to making cards is not having all the right supplies, so I will pledge to help my stampers inventory their supplies and order the proper quantities. The next challenge is cutting all that cardstock, which can be difficult if you don't have a paper trimmer. Finally, I decided it would be helpful to make each stamper a page of address labels. So here's the Shiloh Stamps early Christmas Special, inspired by The Martha Rules.

Many of you have told me that you would like to start on your Christmas cards early this year, or perhaps make handmade Christmas cards for the first time this year. I would love to help you make that happen. I have designed a special to help you bypass some of the challenges that can keep you from getting your cards done in a timely manner. I will help you by mounting your stamps, cutting your cardstock, and making return address labels if you follow the steps below:

1. I can help you design a card that suits your style and schedule, whether simple or complex, modern or classic, bold or subtle; I would love to help you design your cards. I am hosting a Christmas in August Stamp Camp to help people design their Christmas cards.

2. You take a look at your address book and decide how many home-made cards you would like to send.

3. I will help you inventory what supplies and quantities you will need to complete your cards.

4. You place an order by August 29 that includes:
page numbers refer to the Fall-Winter Collection 2007
a. A stamp set –or- wheel and handle
b. Ink (pp. 165-167, 186)
c. Cardstock (pp. 165-167, 170-179) - colors, neutrals, designer paper included
d. Adhesive(p.185) - includes SNAIL, glue dots, etc.
e. Embellishments (pp.178, 187-191) - ribbon, brads, eyelets, etc.
f. Envelopes (p. 169)

5. When your order arrives, I will
a. Cut and mount your stamps
b. Cut your cardstock into cards
c. Print a page of custom address labels for you

For all those who take advantage of this promotion, I will schedule a special Christmas card assembly session in September. We will meet at my home and work on our cards together, and maybe even listen to Christmas music.

Remember – this offer ends August 29, so contact me soon and we can start designing your Christmas cards together.

alison@shilohstamps.com