The Official Magazine Fundraiser Rant

Consider yourself warned. I am about to make full use of the "it's my blog, I'll scream if I want to" clause.

I detest the annual magazine fundraiser that our school conducts. Wait. Detest may not actually be a strong enough term to adequately describe how much I loathe this concept, but my thesaurus us downstairs, so detest and loathe will have to do.

Grey is 7 and in the second grade. He loves his school. He's a good student and is truly enjoying his educational experience at NCS. This is his third year there. 

On the third day of school this year, the talk of the big magazine fundraiser started. He came home chirping enthusiastically about the prospect of prizes and rewards that could be achieved by selling magazine subscriptions. He was hyped, thanks to the school-wide pep talk that had happened that day. This is my first and second complaint to the existence of the magazine sale and to fundraisers in general--Objection #1--precious school hours are wasted on this endeavor, hours that could be used for far more vital, useful, *educational* things. Objection #2--the hyping of students, especially the younger ones on the *stuff I can win* mentality. Stuff stuff stuff. I need more stuff. Must have stuff.

No. Don't squander the time my child should be using to learn educational concepts.
No. Don't bribe him with stuff. Don't dangle "rewards" in front of him and make me be the bad mom who won't let him "achieve".
Selling magazine subscriptions does not an achievement make.

Objection #3--the competitiveness...the pitting of friends and classmates against each other for the title of "who can bully the most people into buying magazines". Really? Is this the picture of Christ's love we want our youngest children emulating? All for the purpose of magazine sales? Really? I think not. (And for the record, I do believe that competitiveness has it's place...just not here.)

Objection #4--the use of students as fundraisers. My child is not a salesman. I do not want him thinking it's his responsibility to contribute money to his school. I do that. His father does that. It's not his responsibility. He is a child. He will feel financial pressure soon enough in his life and it's our role to prepare him for handling it properly. We will do that, in our own time, without school.

I also don't want him trading on his cuteness. Who can look at a second grader who loves his school and not want to say yes. It's an unfair advantage. :)

Objection #5--The fundraiser primarily supports the magazine company...we're supposed to be impressed that a whopping 40% of the proceeds of this sale actually comes to our school. Really? I'm supposed to ask my friends and family to purchase a product to support my school and then I send more than half their dollars to the company providing the magazines. Wouldn't it be more fiscally responsible to ask them to make a smaller donation and actually *use 100%* of their money to better the school, instead of bettering a magazine subscription company?

Objection #6--Magazines. I don't know about your house, but in my house magazines become clutter. They can be recycled...something we do often, but in an economy that's questionable, is this really the best use of our money?

Objection #7--Ask your grandparents. After all, grandparents are a goldmine, and should never say no to the angelic grands requests for fundraising support. A good grandparent always has an open wallet, right. Um, no. Supporting my child's schooling is not the responsibility of his grandparents...all of whom, I might point out, live in different states. And all of whom have other grandchildren. I sincerely doubt that the grandparents in this family *could* support the many fundraisers that *all* their grandchildren are possibly participating in...not that I would put them in that position.

Objection #8--Parents can easily ask friends and co-workers to support our fundraisers. While this may be true for some, it's not true for us. Most of our friends have children and those children come with their own fundraisers. (It's a vicious cycle.) Participating in their fundraising becomes this big reciprocating money exchange...you buy from mine, I'll buy from yours...yadda yaddah yada. Hate that. Not doing it.

Those who don't have children--well, about this time every year, they get bombarded with requests...at the office, in the neighborhood, etc. Sorry. Not doing that to my friends who don't have children either.

Neither Joal or I have "an office" or traditional "co-workers".

Objection #9--Responsibility. Greyson belong to Joal and I, and the continuing responsibility for his well being falls squarely upon his father and myself. His schooling is part of that responsibility. We pay tuition for the services of this private, Christian school. That's our choice and our responsibility. We take that very seriously, to the point of sacrifice, at times...we don't pawn it off on others.

Objection #10--Citizenship. "Mom, I love my school, I *have* to sell magazines to make it better." His little heart was aching because I had declared that we would not be participating in the big magazine fundraiser and he was striving to reconcile how to be a "good school citizen" without pissing off his mom. This is precisely why children have no business being bombarded with the issues of fundraising. It's stressful for him...his value in the school community should not be based on what he brings into the school in a fundraiser. He should not perceive that he is less than a good school citizen because he doesn't participate in a magazine sale, but even at 6, he felt the pull of divided loyalties. And knowing that made me ill.

Our school nets $50,000 for the Parent-Teacher organization through the magazine fundraiser. Divided out, that's about $57 per student. Why don't we just tack about $57 onto the tuition bill and be done with this hassle? I would gladly pay an extra hundred dollars to *not* have to think about this...to not have my child be stressed or concerned about money...to avoid having his love for his school called into question...to eliminate the expectation that I enjoy nagging, bullying, harassing my friends, family and co-workers.

Alternatively, give parents the option of mass, non-participation. Make the "write a check" option OK in the community. I require no rewards, beyond the tax deduction. No magazines required. No selling, bullying, coercion, or manipulation required. No hassle. And Grey doesn't even have to know.

For what it's worth, we wrote a check. Made the donation. Covered his "responsibility".
The school gets to use 100% of the donated dollars. Grey was given the "reward" candy, the dollar store glasses, the privilege of wearing jeans for a week and invited to the reward picnic in a few days at a local park. I'm still not sure how I feel about that...

Ahhh, yes, I do feel better now. :)

Coming tomorrow...the Popcorn Rant.

Painting Project--Fireplace

This, my friends, is the most dreadful fireplace and if completely removing it from my living room was an option, I would do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I have to live with it...so I'm on a mission to make it over.

We don't use the fireplace. Never have. No plans to in the future. It's completely "for looks". Afterall, you can't have a 1970's American Ranch-style home without a fireplace. 

There's some damage to the guts that Joal knows all about but I can't explain...no desire. It's capped on the roof -- that's all I know. The brick is matte white-ish gray-ish dull and boring. The mantlepiece is painted with a faux finish that I detest. That will definately be the first thing I tackle.

Note: that 1995 called and wants it's brassy gold fireplace door cover back. :) I seriously hate brassy gold. That has to go ASAP! Did I mention that the entire piece is not properly sized to the opening so it's balancing rather precariously...

We've gotten into the habit of making the mantle an annoying catch-all place for things like keys and everyday junk. I hate that. I want a pretty, well-decorated mantle. That's what mantles are for, afterall, right? The painting--a Julian original--needs to move to some other location. I'm attached to the stocky black candle pillars. They can stay. I'm considering an oversized mirror with a black frame, to continue the theme of black frames I have going through other parts of the house. The star is out...

I took the first steps this weekend. The mantle has been painted black.

I think the next step is to paint the brick. White.

After that, I'll have to make sure that the inside is completely sealed against the loss of warm air for the winter. When that's done, I can remove the brass beast and fill the inside area with something...still deciding exactly what. Maybe some Mason jars with candles. :)

As a last touch, I'm considering a quilt folded across the hearth. Maybe. I think it would add a little bit of warmth and softness to the hardscape. The irony of that is not lost on me. :)

Ideas. Opinions?

Happy Tuesday!

The Glorious Uses of Canning Jars

Canning Jars
Mason Jars
Pickle Jars
Ball Jars
Tea Jars

Whatever you want to call them, I love them. Nothing says "down home" like sweet iced tea in a Mason jar. Nothing says "old fashioned" like a vintage button collection in a Mason jar. Nothing says "yum" like homemade pickles canned in a glass jar. Nothing makes you suck in the sides of your mouth like a dill pickle the size of Rhode Island stored in the succulent brine in a Pickle Jar at a high school football game. Nothing says "dad's workshop" like a jar full of random screws and nails. Nothing says "rainy day fund" like a Mason jar of pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters. Nothing says "I hope you feel better" like a big jar of homemade chicken soup. Nothing says summer like two boys giving some fireflies a new home in a Mason jar with holes in the top.

Photo borrowed from Cara Corey.com

Drop some sand into a glass jar and add a small candle for the perfect inexpensive row of glowing sidewalk lights.

I can't explain the attraction but glass jars of all sorts speak to me. Small glass pint jars house my button collection, sorted by color, of course.

So, with this in mind, you can imagine the sheer delight I felt when I stumbled upon this piece of jar genius.

Etsy... Jar Sconce

Happy Sunday!

Precious Scraps

Two Saturdays ago, I took a little road trip over to Precious Scraps in the booming metropolis of Dover, Tennessee. Dover, population about 2000, and home to one very nice scrapbook store. For those of you who might not know, the greater Nashville area, especially the west side of town, is severely lacking in scrapbook stores...we have exactly zero, much to my dismay, so, whenever I want a scrapbook store "fix", I have to travel.

Dover is approximately 80 miles from Nashville and not located near an interstate...so to get there took almost 2 hours of backroads country driving. Fortunately, it was a beautiful Saturday morning and while the drive was a bit tedious, it was also enjoyable, in a turn-up-the-radio-and-sing kindof way.

Precious Scraps is a fine scrapbooking and paper arts store. It's housed in a metal building, set upon a hill, off to the side of Highway 79. It opened in February 2009 and is owned by Beverly Nash.

Of course, the first thing I look for in a scrapbooking establishment is great art on the walls, and Precious Scraps certainly did not disappoint in this area. There's an abundance of art hanging around...great layouts, cards, mini-books and other paper projects just waiting to inspire shoppers. It's clear that this store strives to be more than just a scrapbooking store--they are into all sorts of papercrafting...stamping, cardmaking, die cutting, board-books, jewelry-making, altering and embellishing.

PS offers a neat selection of inks and paints of all kinds, including Copic markers. It's the first thing you see upon entering. Turn left and there's an sweet selection of ribbons and cords sold by the yard. The store offers up an array of papers and items from companies such as Bo Bunny, Jenni Bowlin Studios, PaperLoft, Jillibean Soup, Basic Grey and Tim Holtz. There's a large emphasis on Memory Box stamps, which I hadn't seen before, as well as a cool selection of Studio G stamps (that retail for a dollar).

I tend to judge the seriousness of a scrapbooking store on it's selection of 2 product basics--albums and Bazzill cardstock. PS offers up a nice selection of albums on the back wall, in varying sizes and styles. They also stock the famous We R Memory Keepers sub-divided page protectors which I *adore*. (I purchased 2 packs--one of which I'd never seen before.) Unfortunately, PS sells Prism cardstock--and only a very small selection of it--instead of Bazzill. Hmmm. No Bazzill...how can that be?

PS offers the newest Quickutz release and lots of embossing folders. I *love* how they showed an actual sample of embossed paper in front of each style of embossing folder. This is probably the best display method I've ever seen...it's so neat to be able to touch a sample of what each folder makes...very thoughtful and well executed, with a pretty ribbon hanger. :)

Precious Scraps offers a customer loyalty card and the class schedule looked quite impressive. If it didn't take two solid hours to get there, I would definately try out some of the class offerings. Unfortunately, that's just too far for me.

It was my *lucky day* for a visit...it was the day of Precious Scrap's Scrapbooking Yard Sale. I picked up a few super deals at the Yard Sale, including a pink leather QK binder for $5 and an assortment pack of items, because it contained vintage Lil' Davis ribbons, and a pack of those American Crafts Metal letters, all for $2. (Ribbon gets me every time.) :)

Check the store BLOG for details on when the store is open. (They are closed on Mondays.) Precious Scraps is a great scrapbooking store--well-stocked and friendly--and if it were just a little closer, I would go there often.

Also, to see more store photos, check out the end of this BLOG entry.

Happy Thursday!

Enlarging Stamp Images

Stamping...I've loved the idea of stamping for a really long time but haven't always been an active stamper, per se. Funny how that works. Stamping certainly goes hand in hand with scrapbooking.

I'm working the rust and cobwebs out from the blogging joints...so if I seem a little lost, you know why. I'm out of practice. The creative side of me is languishing. Sadly.

I purchased this curling wave stamp from A Muse Artstamps last summer and have been looking at it on my desk ever since. It's such a lovely element...it deserves to be used and loved, don't ya think?

I paired it with a HamptonArts Dollar Stamp from Michaels...and did some experimental coloring with the world's most over-priced markers--Copics.

Above is what I ended up with. I'm a firm believer in the rule of threes in design, so I wanted to incorporate the image of the waves on this page more than once...but it seemed a little small. So I stamped it on plain paper and made an enlargement of the image onto white Bazzill using the copier (aka the most overlooked scrapbooking tool around) :)

Enlarged to 200 percent of the original image. Cut out and colored. Happy happy happy.

Here's the stamp next to the enlarged image.

Looking forward to baby-stepping my way into playing with some other images that are worthy of enlarging.

Perfection Achieved

So in my duel roles as the resident wedding-know-it-all in my family and the sister of the groom-to-be, I've been reading wedding blogs like a mad woman lately. I can't imagine how much more complicated my own wedding would likely have been had I had such unfettered access to fantastic ideas and inspiration as the Internet holds these days. Seriously, Joal got off lucky on that account, as he married me when I was young and had a far less developed sense of style and wedding decorum. :)

I've been reading and collecting photos, proposing ideas, comparing colors and combinations of colors, kicking around menu ideas, ripping up magazines to create the inspiration binder that will carry me through this wedding, shopping for ribbons and glasses, designing invitations and dreaming of tulle and ivy. I was born to assemble wedding experiences.

So, when this simple photo (below) loaded up on my screen today, it quite literally took my breath away. The beauty, the simplicity, the bold color and the contrast, the sweetness of the extraordinary found in just a handful of little non-traditional flowers.

{Borrowed from the "Every Last Detail" blog...}

For all the work, for all the research, for all the study to make every detail exquisite...sometimes it's the most simple little thing that really hits the mark.

So now you know...Happy Monday, and if you happen to be in the throes of wedding planning, may the perfect idea light upon your shoulder like a butterfly in the springtime.

--Sarah

LITTLE BOY DREAMS

I'm on a kraft paper background kick...this year. Kraft paper for me is like white for many people...it's just so easy. Kraft and white...love it.

The boy is my sister's child...and he's adorable. The clouds and stars are from a Martha Stewart Bubble Quote sticker pack purchased at twopeas...the letters are very old vintage rub ons from Reminisce that I picked up at the scrapbook outlet store in Atlanta last year. White letters are just so cool.

This is one of those occasional layouts that I didn't think too much about and did not journal...sometimes the photo says all there is to say. :) 

Happy Thursday.

--Sarah

STUCK

 

This is the storage shed/fort that graces my backyard. It came with the house and was a major selling point for some members of our family. :) Since the last time we (and by we, I mean Joal and some of his buddies) painted it, Uncle Daniel built and installed the new (dependable) ladder. As you might imagine, going up the ladder and hanging out in the fort, is not something I do very often, or ever. This is truly boy-land. Moma does not go there. 

Both boys spend considerable amounts of time up there. Things fly off the deck of the fort with some regularity...as homeschoolers, we refer to that as "studying the effects of gravity". :) In the summer, people have been known to hang a water hose from the deck of the fort and call it an outdoor shower. The fort is a very popular attraction. My boys get along pretty good as far as brothers go, but there's never any more peace to be had than when they are swinging side-by-side on the fort's swings--one tall, one short, of course.

Lest you think I'm raising angels (snort), there have been a few altercations that were fort-related and a few crimes committed in the fort, for which a hefty dose of mom-law was promptly administered. We will not speak of the child who thought it would be funny to um, perform a certain bodily function off the deck of the fort, sprinkling the earth below, while exposing himself to our unsuspecting and supremely tolerant neighbor...we will not speak of the child who hid in the fort and did not respond when called, for the most frightening 20 minutes of my life...no, we will let those things remain quiet.

The fort...it's the stuff boy adventures are made of.

So, a few weeks ago, Joal was in the Carolinas on the third week of a five-week travel cycle. I was appropriately spent, as I often am when he's on the road, especially near the end of the week. It was a glorious day, weather-wise, so I sent to guys outside for a few minutes of peace inside, before it was time to start the homework/bath/dinner transitions.

All was good for 15 or 20 minutes. Just as I sat down at the computer, I heard the call.

"Mom!"

I know that tone. It's laced with "I'm sacrificing my man-pride to yell out to you that I need your help and try as I might to get out of this situation without admitting that I need your help, I need your help. Now!!" or more appropriately, as I soon discovered, "I'm stuck."

See that picture at the top of this story? Well, those 2x4 posts across the front of the fort, that make up the railing, can, apparently, accommodate a 14-year-old's head in between them. The problem is not getting the head in between the posts...the problem, as said boy quickly found out, was that his ears made getting his head back out of the railing...wait for it...im-poss-i-ble.

So, what else could he do but use the tone and call out for me?

Moooooooooooom!

I head out the door with a certain fear and healthy dread for whatever I'm about to encounter. That tone and call has summoned me many times, and usually brings me to the scene of someone with a bleeding gash or a smashed up body part. There are usually plenty of band-aids to be administered. I pray quickly that no one will require professional medical help or the use of emergency responders. I start to wonder if I ever replaced the old, worn out bag of peas in the freezer after the last event--all in the space of the few seconds it takes me to get from the library to the back door of our house.

"What's up?" I ask, noticing that he's in a mighty awkward position. "My head is stuck." he says. I can, from the ground, see that his head does indeed look stuck between the posts of the railing.

And then it occurs to me that if I have to help him get his head unstuck, I'm going to have to climb the ladder. Oh crap.

So, as any mother would do, up I go. Gracefully or not, one step at the time. Have I mentioned how much I hate ladders? Heights don't bother me. Ladders...I don't do.

Unless my baby's head is stuck in between the posts of a rail and his ears are seemingly at stake. :)

So, we try a few maneuvers, moving the ears flat, sucking in the cheeks, twisting, turning...to no immediate avail. Oh dear. Did I mention that Joal is in the Carolinas...for another day?

So I send Grey for the hammer. He returns quickly and scampers up the ladder to bring it to me. I bang away at the top of the post for about 30 swings before I concede that this idea really isn't working. And I'm out of breath.

At this point, Julian's getting a little distraught. His face is turning red. He's worried. Oh ye of little faith in your mother.

It occurs to me that, somehow, I'm going to have to cut the post away. I'm the daughter of a serious furniture maker--I can use a saw--a point that I have taken great pride in at certain points in the past. But do we even have a saw that is appropriate for this task? Do we have a saw that can be located quickly?

Down the ladder, I go, into the house to retrieve the key to the shed. Into the shed to (hopefully) find the saw. A handsaw that looks like it may have cut some iron pipe a few years back and then been stored in the dirt for a week or two hangs on the wall. To call it a saw was being generous...a plastic butter knife may have given me more hope.

But, it's what I had, and Julian's voice was getting shaky. He was starting to grasp the seriousness of having his head stuck between the posts of a rail, 14 million feet in the air.

Back up the ladder, saw in hand, I prepared him for the rain of sawdust that is about to start tickling the back of his neck. "Don't cut my head off." he said and I promised not to. It's kinda funny now but at the time, I was getting a little worried about him. Serious physical stress can and has brought on seizure activity...

So I went to work cutting. And I cut. And cut. And cut. It took about 6 minutes to cut through the 2x4 with the butter knife saw. When he was finally free, his eyes were wet but I didn't see fit in mentioning it. The man-pride of the fourteen year old was already being challenged by having to be rescued by his mother. And, I was too busy trying to catch my breath and not fall off the deck of the fort. He hauled himself down the ladder and I followed after. At the foot of the ladder, he said "Thanks for saving me, Mom." I hugged him...something he doesn't participate in but tolerates, just this once.

I head towards the back door and I hear Greyson say "Dude, I thought we were gonna have to call 911 to get you out."

And Julian's response... "Yep, that would'a been so cool." I could hear the smile in his voice.

After hearing of our adventure, when Joal got home and looked over the now-removed post, he paid me the most awesome compliment. "I was impressed with the straightness of that cut you made." he said. It made me laugh. And the next Saturday, I noticed that he had acquired a shiny, new handsaw with full-grown teeth, and he'd hung it in the shed...where it will be easy to locate in the event of another adventure. :) 

So Seldom Pure

My dad says life is seldom pure and I agree. The thought gives me pause and I seek out the memory of the last time I felt one of those moments of rare purity. I can think of two. Nothing recent comes to mind, which bothers me.

Last May, Joal and I took a real vacation, alone, to Bar Harbor, Maine. Four days. No sons in sight. No work in sight. Nothing. Just Joal and Sarah. Two people who have been married almost half their lives, but who actually share precious little time face to face alone. Quiet. I love to travel, with and without the boys. I love to go to new places and experience all those places have to offer. I embraced fully everything about Bar Harbor. We ate crabcakes, lobster rolls, and other seafood delectables. We stayed at a small, privately owned, non-chain hotel right on Main Street in Bar Harbor. We walked the Shore Path. I shopped at Window Panes, Fabricate, and all the other little shops in Bar Harbor. We drove through Acadia National Park. We put our feet in the frigid water at Sand Beach. We ate ice cream from at least twice a day. We dined on blueberry pancakes 3 mornings in a row. We took a voyage out across Frenchman's Bay on board the lovely Margaret Todd.

On the last day of our stay, we made our second trek to Acadia, because we hadn't gotten enough of it the first time around. To say that the views of Acadia are breath-taking is the understatment of the decade. We stood atop Cadillac Mountain, agahst at the yawn of all of creation--the blue Bay with the little islands that dot it, the mountain, the little town of Bar Harbor by the water's edge that I had already come to love, the utterly perfect cloudless sky. I've spent the last year trying to adequatly describe how it felt to stand in the spot that is the first in America to catch the new rays of dawn every morning...how's that for getting a jump on the day? I wanted to inhale it deep. I wanted to capture it on film. I wanted to draw it in and bring it home with me. I felt so small standing on the cleft of such a monumental place and yet, the God of all Creation seemed to be saying "I do this for you. Stop and take it in."

It stopped me.
I am so rarely still.
Life was quiet.
It was a pure moment.

We stayed as long as we could and on the drive down the mountain, I cried. It was a deep ugly cry, without explanation. Tears of declaration and relief. My life has been better since that day. The views have vanished, except what I did manage to put into pixels, but that moment of sheer clarity, of knowing that the God of Creation lives inside me, shifted the axis of my heart. It was wordless and pure, and I something from which I will never recover.

Sophia (again) and Take Ten

This is the facing page (with the journaling) for the previously posted Sophia page. Do you know how long it's been since I completed a two-page spread? Long long time.

Vellum...so very easy to use and so much overlooked these days. :)

And one more card...

In other news, back in October, my friend Leigh Ann and I made a little trek down to EMI Scrapbooking to take a couple of card-making classes with Copic/A Muse Instructor Michelle Clark. We had a great time with Michelle and the girls at EMI. Anyway, last weekend I picked up the newest edition of Stampington's Take Ten magazine...and was thrilled to see that Michelle's work is quite prominantly featured all thru it. How cool is that?!

The premise of Take Ten, which comes out quarterly, is that all the cards inside take less than ten minutes to create. Take Ten is available at Michaels and other craft chains, as well as online from Stampington.

Happy Monday!
--Sarah

Sophia and Let's Scrap

Sophia the Cat came to live with us at Christams. We have never had a pet before but Sophia has quickly become part of our family. She's a beautiful cat--very regal and appropriately stoic. She sleeps alot during the day but at night, she plays. Since I'm a nightowl as well, I get to enjoy her playfulness more than the guys. We roll the ball, toss the socks around and she talks to me. It's pretty cool.

Sophia has given me something new to scrapbook...and I'm pretty sure I've taken more pictures of her in the past three months than of the boys. :)

Here is my first official pet layout...forgive the lack of journaling. There's a facing page in the works and the journaling will be included on it.

Layout was made using the 4-7-2010 sketch from Let's Scrap. Here's the sketch:

I also used the leftovers to create a quick card.

Let's Scrap
Happy Sunday!
--Sarah

Some Scrapbook Pages

Admiring...Quiltage

So, I have recently been admiring the blog of Paper Crafts Magazine girl Kim Kesti, but oddly enough, mostly for the saga of her quilting. She's doing these quilts with circles...which I have found fascinating. Mixing patterns randomly challenges me, but I like the circles...

Kim Kesti's Blog.

Scrapbook 911 in San Antonio

Joal and I spent the first weekend in March together on a trip to San Antonio with many of his colleagues. If you've been around a while, you might remember that we have been on several cruises, courtesy of NWYC and Joal's dilligent work. This year, instead of a cruise, he earned us a spot on the land-lovers trip to San Antonio.

One of the highlights of the trip (for me) was a quick trip to Scrapbook 911, one of San Antonio's many (yes, I'm jealous) local scrapbooking retail establishments. My time for shopping was limited so on the advice of the Peas, I picked this store to be the one I would visit. Peas did not lead me wrong. :) What an excellent place!

I can feel a great scrapbook store within about 10 seconds of stepping in the door...and boy, did I enjoy every minute I spent in this store. It was warm and well-stocked with lots of my favorite scrapbooking brands. The American Crafts Thickers **wall** was to die for as was the fabulous and generous array of ribbons and trims sold by the yard. There were great layouts all over the store and the crop area looked very spacious and comfortable.

The ladies in the store were very friendly and helpful. As usually happens when I travel to stores in other areas, the lady checking me out, asked if I was on the mailing list and the usual conversation ensued. "No, I don't live here."
"Really. Where are you from?"
"Nashville."
"Well, what brought you here?"
"My husband's work...we're here for the weekend."
"Well, we are glad you stopped by."
"Thank you. You have a great store. I'm glad I snuck away." (The big stack of things she's ringing up should be an indicator of how great I think her store is.) :)
"I bet you have great stores in Nashville?"
"No, not really."
"Wow. That's surprising."
"It's crazy. There are no stores in Nashville, except the chains. The closest real scrapbook store is about an hour away."
"Wow."

I have this recurring dream that someday I'm going to have this conversation with someone somewhere and that person is going to say something like "I've been looking for the perfect place to open our next location...maybe Nashville would be perfect. What do you know about the West Side?" I know, it's a pipe dream...but I hold onto it nonetheless. :)

Anyway, I acquired a nice sack of scrapbooking goodness, including the We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper that Kristina Werner is so fond of. It's in one of those crazy, impossible-to-open packages...so I haven't gotten to use it yet...I need to find a big sturdy knife or pair of scissors.

So now you know, if you're in San Antonio, Scrapbook 911 is the place to go.
~~Sarah

Samaritan Ministries

Our family has been members of Samaritan Ministries, a faith-based, medical needs sharing co-operative for almost ten years. We sought out this alternative to traditional medical insurance after the highly-rated, big name medical insurance company we had been insured by for more than three years *illegally* dumped all its client in the state of Tennessee without informing us. The big insurance company acted illegally and as a result, Julian and I became uninsurable.

Samaritan Ministries is a co-operative of like-minded Christians who have banded together and committed to sharing the costs of their medical financial needs. The ministry, which opened its doors in 1994, currently has about 14,000 member families from all across the United States.

Samaritan is not an insurance company and what they provide is *not* traditional medical insurance per se. There are obvious limitations, but we have no problem operating inside those limitations. They are spelled out clearly and no one tries to hide the program limitations.

Samaritan Ministries was profiled in a report on NPR this week, primarily because certain facets of the current healthcare reform legislation may seek to impede our right to choose to participate in a private medical co-op, buying forcing all Americans to purchase traditional medical insurance.

NPR's report did a decent job of summarizing what Samaritan is and what they offer to members, however the subsequent discussion in the comment board exposed to me how scarred many Americans are when it comes to the mistrust of anything that mixes money and religion. Deep are the scars, deep are the wounds that have been inflicted upon those who struggle with their faith when someone in leadership in the Christian community "falls from grace" (which is a misconception, but that's another post) . 

Part of me doesn't understand the notion that it's acceptable to judge an entire segment of the population (the whole of Christendom) on the "big names" of Robertson, Roberts, Bakker, Haggard, etc. Understand it or not, people on the periphery of the evangelical community are indeed judging all of us by the standards (or lack thereof) of our fallen "names". Why are we being judged in the light of the lowest common denominator? 

I have zero connection to those men and they have zero connection to me. It frustrated me that their use of the media has taught the world their names and subsequently has made their failures synonymous with all of Christianity. This is not logical. It makes no sense. It's shallow.

Will we now distrust all married golfers and expect them to be lying, deceitful clods who cheat on their wives because that's who Tiger Woods is?

Will we expect every governor of every state to run off to a small country in South America to find a mistress at taxpayer's expense, now that we know that's what the governor of South Carolina did?

Will we no longer trust a single doctor because one decided to get high and continue to practice?

No. Any responsible person can see that these scenarios are the universal equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It's not the way of the thinker, but of the shallow person.

I am not a believer in the LCD, especially when it comes to my faith. I do not deny that it appears that those men (the big names) failed in their walk on many levels and did so in a very public way. They made bad choices, behaved badly, participated in things that were illegal and immoral and made a mockery of what it is to be a servant of Christ, but their failures should not be reflective of me any more than the failures and sins of Tiger Woods should be reflective of the average golfer at the course by the Harpeth.

Being a believer in Christ is an individual sport.

I recoil at the thought that the general population of the world would assume and presume that all things Christian are now tainted based on the failures of a few former pedestal-dwellers.

I also believe that as long as we, the Christian community, continue to raise up pedestal-dwellers, (or allow them to raise themselves up unchecked) we will continue to be judged on their less-than-elegant dismounts. As long as we continue to allow the names of mere mortal men to be raised over the name of Jesus, we will continue to be the bastion of disappointment and lack of character. When we follow a man instead of the One who saves, we set ourselves up...and by extension, we set up our communal character for direct asassination by those around us.

Men fail.
Men are lured away from what is right and true.
Men disappoint.

Jesus never fails. Never goes away. Jesus never disappoints.

Samaritan Ministries has been a vital part of our lives for a long time. It works systemically (the co-op concept is certainly nothing new) and on a faith-level as well. Where traditional insurance has become unaffordable, greedy and hard-to-understand, Samaritan has remained true, affordable and simple. When a "highly-rated" top-notch insurance company maneuvered to illegally dump a large number of high risk clients in the state of Tennessee, thereby committing legal and moral crimes that went unchecked, Samaritan was there.

Samaritan is not flashy, hard-to-grasp concept. It's a very simple idea. And it works. Well. 

Healthcare and Health insurance are not the responsibilities of our government. These are private matters, best handles by private individuals and private doctors. Government has very little place dictating medical care. In his first inaugural address, President Clinton stated "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America". I agree 100%. When government does not interfere, Americans can generally come up with ways to fix what ails her...in this case, repairing an ailing health care/insurance industry. 

Samaritan, and the concept of the medical co-op, is a viable alternative to traditional medical insurance. It's the stripped-down model that is based on scriptural principles, personal responsibility and helping ones fellow man. 

Galatians 6
1Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

4Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

6Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.


7Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

~~Sarah

Top Note is Top Notch

Stampin Up offers a fabulous dies known as the Top Note.
I am so loving this die!

Part Two

6-Get a Blog and Keep it Updated!
This is absolutely not an optional thing. If you can type an email, you can keep a blog updated. With stores across America dropping out of the retail scene constantly, keeping in touch with your clients regularly is vital. Blogs are so very easy...if your store doesn't have one, you are missing out.

7-Monitor the major scrap sites.
Your on-line presence must include monitoring the major scrapbooking message boards. Participation is optional, but monitoring is a must. It's not uncommon for message board participants to post quaries such as "tell me which stores to visit in __". You can learn alot about the reputation of your store from how other members answer this question.

What Do Scrapbook Store Customers Want, Anyway?

Here and there, from time to time, I visit random scrapbooking supply retailers all over this state and a few other states as well. I love scrapbook stores, especially independant ones. I love the charm and character that I find in most of them. I enjoy browsing--checking out supplies and art and soaking up the creative energy.

Unless there is none...and then I just get sad.

I should first acknowledge that I have never owned a scrapbook store, so any opinions on how a scrapbook store should be managed are strictly "advice from the cheap seats".

That said, I do feel qualified to put my opinions and thoughts out there because I do know a thing or two about scrapbookers, having studied them for many years and having been one for even longer. And because I have shopped in many many many stores...I'm pretty sure I've picked up on the good and the bad...and I wish I could share what I have learned with every store owner. Marketing, especially small business marketing, is my thing.

With that in mind, here's my list of ten things every scrapbook store owner should know:

1. Loose lips sink scrapbook stores.
Like it or not, your clients are not your friends. Oh sure, you can be surface friends and scrapbooking buddies with your clients, but if you are going to preserve your reputation in your scrapbooking community as a professional business owner, you must keep your business details to yourself. If you chatter on about the private details of your business to your clients, that information will be shared with others, perhaps even people you don't want it shared with. If you gossip about one client to another client, you will eventually also be the topic of gossip.

Shut up.

2. Do not speak ill of your competition. Again this habit speaks volumes about your level of professionalism. I don't care if the store across town is owned by the wicked witch of the west with two heads and if she runs her car over your dog... if you open your mouth to speak ill of her around your clients, it will get back to her. There's nothing more childish and unprofessional than "the war between the stores"...and clients always get caught in the crossfire. The solution to this problem is very simple: Do not participate.

Shut up.

3.  Do not lie to your clients.
I should not have to say this, but I am. If you can't be honest with your client, you need professional help. If you forgot to order a certain product, just say so. If you aren't going to restock something that has already sold out, just say so. Go the extra mile to be honest and forthright with your clients. If a client calls you to ask if you carry XYZ paper, you should check to be sure that you actually have that paper in stock before saying "yes". Common sense...that is not so common.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that your clients are not as knowledgeable about this industry as you are. I have seen this happen so many times and it is so disappointing. A few years ago, it happened to me personally and I found it completely rattling. I was visiting a store in another state for the first time. I asked the store owner "do you have any paper by Scenic Route?" Her answer to me was "No. We used to carry their paper, but they closed."

As a loyal, deeply committed user of Scenic Route, I *knew* that this was not accurate information. (Remember, this was a few years ago.)  What was the harm in just saying "no, we don't"?

Just be honest.

4. Be willing to educate your clients.
Practice giving a short (I said short) introduction to scrapbooking lesson so that when a new client enters your store and says those magic words "I've never done this before but I want to start..." you are prepared to give them the basics in understandable terms. When you are talking to someone who's new to the world of scrapbooking, don't use lingo, brand names and abbreviations. A person who's never created a scrapbooking probably isn't going to know what you are talking about when you say "do you use a post-bound or strap hinge album?" Be prepared to show your new clients the difference on the spot. Asking "have you seen a Cuttlebug?" is going to make your new scrapbooker look at you as if you have two heads.

You, the professional scrapbook store owner, should be able to give a short introduction to scrapbooking to anyone who comes into your store. Educating your potential clients is always in your best interest. Always.

5. Remember, scrapbookers are *visual* people by nature.
You  might be able to explain something using only words...but showing it *will* sell it. If a client asks you "what's embossing?", show them. Demonstrate it. When there's a new tool sitting on your shelf, that no one has expressed interest in purchasing, you can bet it's probably because they don;t know what it's for. Educate your clients! Tool features...will sell tools! If you sell Quickutz dies and tools, you should be prepared, willing, even eager to show off the Quickutz die cutting system to anyone who will listen.

Set up a table...call it the tool table (make a sign) and let your clients know that this is the place to learn something new every time they come into your store! Keep the featured tool fresh and the project that demonstrates the uses of the tool simple.

6. Make a sign! For everything.
See #5...scrapbookers are visually-oriented people. Use a basic word processing program to print signs that are informative, easy-to-read and neat. Choose a font that is attractive and **readable** and print your signs on nice paper. Check for spelling errors often.

Number 6-10 coming tomorrow.

Guess What?

I'm blogging.
No excuses...no long drawn out promises never to neglect my blogspot again...let's just jump right in, shall we?

*This* masterpiece is what I found when I downloaded the pictures off my camera today.
Lovely, huh.
Boys.
Oh yes, he took it himself.

In scrapbooking news, I received the most fabulous tidbit of news last Friday evening. Club Scrap has resumed selling their to-die-for 8.5x11 leather albums! Do you hear the angels singing? Well, I do! Club Scrap albums are the best, most wonderful, sturdiest, most delicious 8.5x11 albums on the market...but unfortunately, they were off the market for a very long time. It was rumored that they were gone for good, much to my severe disappointment.

And then, *poof*, they are back.
Who Hoo!!

It's really hard to find a fantastic, sturdy, leather album in the 8.5x11 size. I am thrilled to have this option again and you can bet that I will be stocking up, lest we have another scare. :)

(You can see them here.)

Happy Thursday.
--Sarah

The DING! of Hope!

So, no, I have not completely abandoned the blog, but I confess to severe neglect. No real reason, other than I am suffering thru a bout of "too many gray winter days the do not lend me much upishness" otherwise known as "I'm kinda bored."


Joal travels quite often for work and his preferred airline is Southwest. Fortunately, Southwest *doesn't* go thru Atlanta, and does go to most of the places Joal needs to go, so he racks up some serious mileage with the Southwest team.

My sister lives in Oklahoma City and is about to give birth to her first child. So a few months ago, I started planning when I would make the trip over after the baby's birth, ostensibly to help out, but mostly with the intention of holding that sweet little baby. While deciding whether or not I wanted to fly (as opposed to driving almost 700 miles), I discovered that Southwest offers a special service called *DING!*. By downloading their app, I can be alerted with a special Ding! to any special deals Southwest is running for my particular aiport(s).

For example, today there was a Ding! for a flight from Nashville to Tulsa for $87 for travel after January 5. The deals are excellent money-savers, if you can purchase immediately and can travel in the limited dates given. So far, I haven't managed to capture the right flight for the right dates via the Ding!...but I bow to the genius of Southwest for concept of the Ding! Let me tell you, that little noise brings me straight to the computer every single time it sounds.

Pure marketing genius, it is, because every time my laptops offers up a Ding!, I get hopeful. Will this particular Ding! hold the possibility of *my* ideal flight of Nashville to Oklahoma City for $49 on Dec 30? Even $99 would be a steal. Well, I won't know if I don't check!

Must. click. the. Ding!. note. Now.

So far, it hasn't happened, but I remain hopeful. Isn't it funny how so much hope is so easily wrapped up in such a tiny little *Ding!*. I was thinking about this as we drove across town today. Several families we know are expanding--my sister is weeks from giving birth and one of Joal's friends left yesterday to pick up his new daughter in China. Not to mention that it's almost Christmas--babies are popping up everywhere. Talk about hope wrapped up in a tiny little package--babies bring us so much hopefulness...so much reassurance that there is much to be hopeful for and grateful in.

In this Christmas season, I am hopeful because I remember that the hope of all humanity arrived in a very small package, in a very small town, in a perfectly, normal, small, almost unnoticed way--the child who was God and man, the child who was, in the moment of His humble birth, the Savior of the world. The child who was the ultimate giver of Hope for all mankind.

No Ding! required.