It's official – I've finally joined the social networking world and Stamping Made Easy is now on Facebook and Twitter!

Are you already on Facebook? I would love it if you would become a fan of Stamping Made Easy. Not on Facebook yet? No problem, use that same link and you can join for free.

And you can find me on Twitter here.

Why should you follow me on these new networking sites? Because you will be receiving exclusive content – different from this blog and different from each other! How cool is that?

Not familiar with all of this social networking hype? What is social networking you ask? Check out this site here for more information on why these sites are so popular and why you want to get in on the fun.  And I hope to see you soon on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

I read an article recently in our monthly newsletter – Stampin' Success and I was fascinated with some of the information they presented on the history of greeting cards. I wanted to share some of that information with you, so did you know…

• The oldest known greeting card in existence is housed in the British Museum – it is a Valentine made in the 1400s!
• By 1822, handmade Christmas cards were hitting the postal service so hard that the Superintendent of Mails in Washington DC complained that he had to hire sixteen addition mailmen, and then he actually petitioned Congress to limit the exchange of cards by post.
• The first published Christmas card we know of was produced in England in 1843 by John Calcott Horsley. Sir Henry Cole asked Mr. Horsley to paint a holiday card he could send to his friends (all 1,000 of them!). Horsley created a triptych (a 3-panel card) with different scenes in the 3 panels and the greeting read, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You". Of the original 1,000 that were printed, 12 are known to exist today in private collections.
• Originally, Americans imported their Christmas cards from England, but in 1875, Louis Prang opened a lithographical shop and published the first US Christmas cards. By 1881, Prang was producing over 5 million Christmas cards per year.
• Today, the greeting card industry sells over 7 billion cards a year.
• Over 90% of US households purchase at least one greeting card per year and the average purchases 35 greeting cards per year.

Happy (greeting card) stamping!
- Kari  

I have been trying to find a design for my website, basically since I started it, that I felt was a good representation of my style and tastes (and something that I wouldn't feel the need to change every other month). 

I've been teaching myself how to use Photoshop Elements, and finally came up with a new design that I really like.  Stamping Made Easy has had a makeover and I'd love your thoughts on the new look.  Is it easy to read, easy to navigate, do you like the look, or do you hate it?

If you get these updates via email, would you please take a moment to visit my website and let me know what you think (comments or emails are welcome).

Now back to our regularly scheduled stamping time!

Don't forget to leave me a comment on this post for a chance to win a free stamp set!  Won't you take a moment to help me make this website more useful for you?

Thanks!
 

Online ordering is finally here!  I have been waiting on pins and needles to tell you all about this awesome new feature. I don't know about you, but I love online ordering! Most of my holiday shopping, (and birthday, and anniversary, hmm, almost everything but grocery shopping) is done online. LOL! I love the convenience and ease of being able to shop when I want without needing to leave my home.  And everything is delivered right to my door. 

So, whether you wake up in the middle of the night with a plan for the perfect project (or perhaps you never went to bed?), or you have to make some cards but don't have time for a workshop, or you want to shop for the perfect gift for the crafty person in your life, it's no problem! Now you can order Stampin' Up!'s award-winning products from me day or night from the comfort of your own home. Best of all, you can still receive hostess rewards (i.e. exclusive hostess level stamp sets and FREE product!) with all qualifying orders.

And it gets even better – want to learn more about my Frequent Stamper Club? When you place your online orders through me you'll be enrolled in my Frequent Stamper Club and you will receive 1 Frequent Stamper Point for every $25 (before shipping & taxes) you purchase online through my Stampin' Up! demonstrator website.  That means if you get a couple of friends together and put in an order for $150, you will receive 6 Frequent Stamper Points! Once you've accumulated 20 points you can choose a FREE stamp set of any value from the Stampin' Up! catalog.  Yes, you read that correctly - you will receive one stamp set of your choice, of any value! When you place your first order, you will receive a special hand-stamped card from me, along with your Frequent Stamper Card, so you can track your points earned.  

You can place your online orders from anywhere within the United States and have it shipped right to your door!  Here's how to get started:

1. Visit my demonstrator website at www.kari.stampinup.net.
2. Click on SHOP NOW in the top right corner.
3. Click on customer login to set up your own personal shopping account (be sure to save your password in a safe place).
4. Have fun shopping!

The first 10 people to place an online order of $50 or more will receive a special package of hand-stamped cards, from me!

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to email me. 

Happy 24/7 Stamping!

I updated my banner to reflect the beautiful snow we've been getting - in fact the background image is a picture I took while on a walk by the river outside our house.

Please let me know what you think.

Happy Winter! 
Kari

Hi everyone!  I've been playing around with a new banner today - this is my first attempt so I know it needs some work, but overall I'm rather pleased with myself.

I do think it's a bit too tall, so I'll work on fixing that in the future.  But I like the fall theme it has, and go figure, just in time for autumn.  Hee hee.

I would like to play around with different themes for the different seasons - maybe even different holidays.  So please take a moment and give me your feedback on my new banner.  Any and all feedback is welcome (like I said, I know it needs some work).

Thanks for looking!

P.S. Here is an awesome little matchbook style project from one of my very talented downline stampers, Cindy.  I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do!

I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!  I love, love, love the new Fall/Winter Collection!  So much so, that I ordered over $400 just by myself (wow!  I probably shouldn't have written that out).  My order finally arrived and I've been ooh'ing and ah'ing over all of the wonderful goodies!  And can you believe that with an order that large that I still didn't get everything I wanted - like the new Pretties Kit (that is so awesome!).

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the new papers:

First is the textured Earth Elements cardstock (I don't know if the picture does this justice - the paper is awesome IRL and I cannot wait to scrap with it!).  Definitely click on the picture to bring it up larger (hopefully you'll be able to see some of the texture then).

This is the Outlaw double-sided Designer Series paper.  I love the colors in this paper!  Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Creamy Caramel - etc.  You can see more of the colors by looking at pages 4-5 in the new Fall/Winter Collection book.  It shows a whole style called boho west.  Fun!

The last one I'll share today are the Flower for You DS paper:

This one makes me smile, because when I ordered it, I did it mainly to share with you all the different styles that Stampin' Up! offers, but I wasn't sure it was really for me given the samples in the book.  However this was a very pleasant surprise, because I love all of the designs in this set!  I'm working on a class structured around both this paper and the Outlaw paper above, so stay tuned.

Also, before I forget, I've been updating my Retired Stamps/Accessories page, so take a look.  Some items have already been sold and/or spoken for, but I've also started to add some additional items that weren't there before (like I said, this will be a work in progress due to the sheer quantity of items I have retired!).  I'm also working on adding links to Splitcoast Stampers so you can view what each of the stamps looks like.  So take a look and be ready to shop during my Annual Retirement Sale (Aug 17-18)!

Wow - I'm pretty quiet on the blog front so I was pleasantly surprised to be tagged today by Julie!

I'm supposed to post 7 random things about myself and then tag 7 other bloggers.  So here it goes:

1) I make most of my own clothes (with an almost 36" inseam, it's hard to find pants long enough!)
2) I like to grow organic vegetables
3) I'm a bag addict!
4) Even though I'm addicted to bags, I hate to carry a purse (weird, huh?)
5) I hate tearing cardstock (that's why we have scissors - ha ha!)
6) I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters and I'm right in the middle
7) My husband got me addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yep, it's all his fault - I'm not taking responsibility!)

I'm tagging the following people:
Julie Buhler - Paper Pleasing Ideas
Susanna Boyd - The Barefoot Stamper
Dawn Griffith - Dawns Stamping Thoughts
Cambria Turnbow
Gwen Mangelson - Paper Expressions
Twila - The Stamping Spot

I know some people only view my updates via email subscription, so you may not have seen the poll I have posted on my website right now.  I'd love your feedback on the types of projects you prefer to stamp - this gives me information into which types of classes you would be most interested in.

So please take a moment to head over to my website - www.StampingMadeEasy.com - and vote.  You can find the poll on the right hand side of my blog.

And I'm always open to feedback - if there is a particular type of class you'd like to see offered, please let me know.  I'm working on my fall schedule now.