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So - my evil (fabulous) sister spent the week visiting and turned me and my 11 year old on to card making - now I have to hide the credit cards from myself! Sis gave us tons of cool starter stuff (including a Big Shot!) and introduced me to Splitcoast. So now I have no more free time or spending money! Like I said - evil and fabulous!
I now need to order a pretty good sized Stampin Up order - probably $150 or so - even my tight-fisted daughter said she would "chip in". I need a few inks and coordinating papers, with a few stamp sets and stuff and they really add up. I don't have a demo nearby, and was wondering if anyone has advice on the best way to maximize my bang for the buck. I thought about doing the demo package for this month which I learned about on this forum, but evil fabulous sis actually gave me a lot of the stuff in the package, and I probably would not do it as a business. Sort of did the math, and I might be better off just getting the stuff I need. Is there a way to get hostess benefits without actually hosting, if my order is $150? Free shipping? Anything to stretch a dollar? Any thoughts or tips?
BTW my DD's birthday cards are the hit of the neighborhood - she had to explain brayering (Michelle Zindorf's technique) to the dad at the last sleepover. I'm doomed!
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You should be able to get hostess benefits if you spend $150 yourself, it doesn't HAVE to be a workshop. Now, some demos don't give you the benefits if you don't host but I find that silly! I would think that your sis would give them to you:-) The only way to get free shipping is if that happens to be a personal special your demo is running.
I'm not much help in what to buy as I buy just about everything and $150 is a "small" order for me (telling on myself here, haha) BUT my advice is to just buy what you love. This month's special for signing up with a free big shot is an amazing deal but it sounds like you have most of that stuff already. I guess I'd start with my favorite color inks and a few packages of cardstock in the same colors and a few stamp sets! Maybe a few bigshot dies since you have a BS! Have fun and welcome to the dark side:-)
karjor: if you're thinking about ordering pattern papers (DSP), you may take a look at the coordinating colors in the catalog and order the papers and inkpads to go with the DSP. Or, start with one family of colors that you love and get the assortment inkpads. It's cheaper than buying all of them individually. But if you only like a few colors in each family, then just buy the colors you like.
If you're placing your order online, make sure you go through a demo's website, in order to qualify for the Hostess Rewards.
Lastly, remember the signup special this month allows you to get a free Big Shot OR $100 in free merchandise. Since you already have the BS, you can get $100 of merchandise for free. I think that's super cool. You might want to reconsider signing up, even just to get the stuff in the starter kit at a steep discount, AND another $100 worth of free stuff. Just sayin'.
Paper and inks. Pick either an assortment pack of paper and a few inks to match, or the in color assortment pack. Add a black stamp pad to the collection. Get designer paper only if you love designer paper.
Stamp sets. Choose several that you love and are versatile.
Adhesive. I prefer Mono Multi to the tape runner.
Stamp scrubber.
Paper cutter.
Maybe an embossing folder and some smaller dies. They add up really fast, though!
Some things you can get at Joanns or similar store and use coupons. That would be true for adhesive, scrubber, cutter, some embossing and diecut stuff. That will save you some cash.
I agree, though, that you need to order through a demo's site, find your nearest demo on the SU website to order through, or find a demo here (they sometimes have their SU site in their signature). You might consider just using your sister's demo. If you don't, you will pay higher prices for your stuff.
As for the demo kit. If your sister supplied you with a lot of the stuff that's on the list then I would just place an order. But that kit gives you everything to get going all in one place, and it is a savings. Plus you get 20 percent off your orders when you need more stuff. And you don't have to do it as a business.
My advice would be to pick colors that you love and that coordinate well together. Also, pay attention to what style stamps you want to get. If you are buying ones that are more outlines that you would want/need to color in you may just need black ink and then some markers or other coloring medium. Blender pens are also great if you are getting the ink pads because you can color from the ink pad with them.
Good luck and welcome to the addiction!
Also, check out the buy/sell/trade forums here people see retired stamps there that are still great stamps. And if you aren't going to make it a business who cares if they are retired!
Sadly, there's no free shipping no matter how much you spend but when you spend in the future, remember that the shipping minimum is $6.95. I always make sure my order is more than $69.50 so that I'm not dinged for that.
There's really no downside to signing up as a demo. You can substitute something else (same price) for almost everything in the starter kit; and if you decide to drop, you still have everything.
When you place your first order of $150 or greater within your first 45 days, you receive an extra 10% (30% vs. 20%).
Finally, if you have that many in your neighborhood oohing and aahing over your cards, perhaps you will find yourself being more than a hobbyist.
Good luck with your decision and have a great time with your new things.
You all are such enablers!! I may have to revisit the October deal. My sis is not a demonstrator and lives 7 hours away. So - next question - is the digital suite add on for $50 worth it.
My demo helped me a lot with my first order. We picked my favorite color palet and got the starter paper set in that color. Then we went through the catalog (for a looooong time, 2-3-4 times) and found the styles of cards I liked the most and narrowed down a couple of punches. Then a few choice stamp sets (I already had some stamps from EBay, my new best friend) and then some basic tools and before you know it, I had hit $130...$20 more and I get FREE STUFF!!!! Back to the catalog for one more punch and a piercing tool and I got another set of stamps for free (When it was down to the last $20 I felt like the old days of Wheel of Fortune...I would like the ceramic dalmation for $18 and put the rest on a gift certificate! haha)
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
My advice is to see what you can get at Michaels or JoAnn's with coupons before you commit to a large SU order. Or whatever craft stores are near you. SU has some wonderful stuff - I usually buy lots of their paper - but in my opinion you can get a better deal on ink and white cardstock elsewhere.
You all are such enablers!! I may have to revisit the October deal. My sis is not a demonstrator and lives 7 hours away. So - next question - is the digital suite add on for $50 worth it.
PERSONALLY, unless you're a big digital scrapbook/card person, and budget is not an issue, I would probably NOT do the digital suite add on for now. You will have soooo much fun with the standard starter kit already. There's really nothing like putting rubber to cardstock. I really think the October sign up special is really special. Definitely deserves a second or third look! If you were going to spend $150 anyways, why not do the $175 for the starter kit and get over $440 worth of stuff!!!! And you can SELL the catalogs to your neighbors and friends and recoup some of your starter kit cost!
I don't recommend getting any of the ad ons. Even though they are a good price, you can get them later at your demo discount and then they count towards your quota. Or use hostess dollars. Or, any order over $400 gets one item at half price with the new hostess plan. As a demo, it can be important to spread out the spending and keep on a budget, expecially if you are a hobbiest and not selling to others. If you do sell to a few others, you can pay for your hobby. And any time you want, you can ramp it up to make money.
OOhh, and one more note on what I said about EBay being my new best friend: If you are looking specifically at SU stuff, have your catalog handy! One example: A current SU stamp set of an ornament along with the ornament punch is currently going for $49 plus shipping on Ebay. You can get it for $39 plus shipping from SU. Why people bid more than the brand new retail price is a mystery to me, but they do it all the time. Be smart when Ebaying
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
When I was first starting out, I bought the small ink pads called Stampin Spots. You can get tons of colors fast that way. And I was the kind of stamper who wanted everything NOW!! LOL!
I've been stamping for years and my spots are still going strong. I have some full sized pads, but mostly still using my spot.
Personally, I love that Stampin Up ink and paper match -- that's a big deal to me. So I seldom buy other brands of ink.
My strategy was to get a set of assorted papers in each color family, then see which colors I used. Those got replaced with packages if I decided I'd use them. I also bought ink pads in a few, basic colors I knew I'd use, then added to them one or two at a time. Markers work great for some things, too, and you can decide which colors you love. As for stamps, I looked for versatility and sets with lots of possibilities - nothing too specialized to start with.
__________________ Diana
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Save your drama for your llama.
Markers are a great item, then you have all of the colors at the same time. I often use my markers instead of a full size ink pad even though I have all of those too. Versamark is something else that I think is important as with it's watermark ability you can have a shade darker of every color of card stock you have. I also think the idea of getting a variety pack of each color collection is a good one. My suggestion to you is to find a SU! Demo that can walk you thru it all. Then you will have an instant stampin' buddy too!
__________________ Barbara SU! Demo with a Blog
Procrastinators of the world unite... tomorrow!
Karjor, I really think if you want to go the Stampin' Up route, whether as a customer or a demo, finding a local demo would be so helpful. You'd be able to sit down with someone face to face and even get help learning how to use what you do wind up getting. Especially as a new stamper, it's so helpful to be able to go to workshops or classes to get hands on experience with the tools.
If you're on the SU website, look for the Demo Locator. All you have to do is plug in your zip code and you'll get a list of nearby demos. I don't think you'd regret it.
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Originally Posted by weims
OP - you don't mention where you are. I'm sure that someone on here is somewhere close to you.
But we cannot use these boards to solicit business:-) We can only tell you to look on the demo locator via the SU customer site...but we are all happy to dish out info, advice and generally enable, lol!
Thanks to every one for all the valuable advice. I revisited the spreadsheet, and I am 90% sure I will do the demonstrator thing. I will chat with the two local demos to see if there is good fit for me and my style - great advice there. I'd like to work with a demo who is pretty active so I can learn stuff. While I'm comfortable with video tutorials, there is no substitute for hands on for figuring out if a tool or technique is right for me.
What a marvelous community this is! I can't thank everyone enough!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karjor
Thanks to every one for all the valuable advice. I revisited the spreadsheet, and I am 90% sure I will do the demonstrator thing. I will chat with the two local demos to see if there is good fit for me and my style - great advice there. I'd like to work with a demo who is pretty active so I can learn stuff. While I'm comfortable with video tutorials, there is no substitute for hands on for figuring out if a tool or technique is right for me.
What a marvelous community this is! I can't thank everyone enough!
My demo helped me a lot with my first order. We picked my favorite color palet and got the starter paper set in that color. Then we went through the catalog (for a looooong time, 2-3-4 times) and found the styles of cards I liked the most and narrowed down a couple of punches. Then a few choice stamp sets (I already had some stamps from EBay, my new best friend) and then some basic tools and before you know it, I had hit $130...$20 more and I get FREE STUFF!!!! Back to the catalog for one more punch and a piercing tool and I got another set of stamps for free (When it was down to the last $20 I felt like the old days of Wheel of Fortune...I would like the ceramic dalmation for $18 and put the rest on a gift certificate! haha)
This made me giggle! Can you imagine what some of those people's trips back home were like with so much tack home decor?
I loved the suggestion of going through the catalog (it's online if you can't get a paper copy) and finding the cards that really speak to you and looking for the products from there. 1 good muli occasion sentiment/word stamp set will enable you to make awesome cards with just paper and adhesive. On this site, Search for CAS cards in the gallery. Stands for clean and simple and the gallery is full of beautiful cards that don't use a lot of products....you know, I didn't read this thread all the way to the end since I was distracted by fond memories of wheel of fortune. Sorry if someone already suggest that.
__________________ Rachel Schott
As my best friend says, "Stamping....it's cheaper than therapy" to which I add, "Not by much".
My mom was the proud recipient of my first handmade card. Cost $200.
how to maximize SU order for new convert
