by Jackie Bultje | Oct 28, 2019 | business opportunity, Christmas, embossing, loneliness |
Hello stampers and happy Monday to you! I ran out of time on Friday so you never got to find out why I call myself the “pampered” stamper. Rumour has it that I like to be pampered and that is why. While that may be true from time to time, that is not the real reason I am The Pampered Stamper.
My First Love
My first love is making food. Yes I am that rare creature who likes to bake and cook. I read cookbooks for fun! Before I became a demonstrator I was a scrapbooker and my very favourite place to go was to someone’s home in Mississauga. Together with my sister-in-law Yvonne we would drive more than two hours one way down the 401 to go and scrapbook for a day. Crazy right? Do you know why we thought it worthwhile to drive that far for a day of scrapbooking? It was the food!!! This lady was my inspiration. I realized that paper crafting was much more fun if there was food involved. It really does change everything.
Pampered
Everyone loves to be pampered. It means those extra little things that make you feel special. That is what I like to do for my customers. Sharing my love of stamping AND sharing my love of food. It all starts with a great cup of coffee or tea. Being Dutch, there is no such thing as a “naked” cup of coffee. In the Netherlands when you order a cup of coffee anywhere you will always get a little something with it. So lovely. At The Pampered Stamper you will always get something with your coffee or tea too and usually it will be homemade.
Not only do you feel pampered when you get treats, there is also a different vibe when food is shared. Everyone slows down a little bit. People congregate. They talk more and get to know each other. In short, friendships and relationships are built around a simple cup of coffee.
Beyond Pampered
That is the name of my team! It was my team member Liz Fields who came up with this name and I am ever grateful. She declared that with all that I do for my team they are “beyond pampered”. A generous thought that I am not sure is true. As a leader I feel that I am never really doing enough for me team. I would love to have the time to do more. What I do do however is create an atmosphere of family, of community a “sisterhood of the traveling stamps”! Whenever there is a Stampin’Up! event I try to rent a cool Airbnb or HomeAway place so that we can have a very special time together.
We have monthly gatherings where we create, share and inspire around food. The result is a lot of fun with great memories and relationships being made. I try to do a Facebook live video for my long distance team members.
Loneliness
It is now common knowledge that loneliness is a huge problem for people in all age brackets. This may have to do with social media and our age of technology that hinders people from having real relationships. Let me tell you that joining a stamping group whether just for fun or for the business opportunity will definitely fix the problem of loneliness! The beauty of this stamping business is that it also lets you make a difference in people’s lives by sending cards to dispel the loneliness. I love being in the “happy” business! As you know, there is always room for you on my team or in my classes. Please reach out. You are loved!
A Card
We can’t have a blog post without a card, so I wanted to share this swap card with you that I received from Janice Thompson. She uses a very fun technique, stamping on embossing folders. If you have never done it, check out my blog post here. It make take more than one attempt before you are totally pleased, but stick with it and you will love the outcome!
Here is a closeup. Do you see the snowflake sequins from the Still Scenes Snow Globe suite?
Thanks
Thank you so much for stopping by, it truly warms my heart. We are all connected and together we make a difference in so many lives. I hope you have a wonderful day and please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
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by Jackie Bultje | Oct 25, 2019 | business opportunity, Paper Pumpkin, scrapbooking |
Hello stampers. I thought you might be interested in hearing my story, about how The Pampered Stamper came to be! Sometimes lives can be changed by someone’s story and eyes are opened to new possibilities!
A Scrapbooker at Heart
When I was growing up I thought it would be amazing to write a book. I have loved reading ever since I first learned how and I just love words. Scrapbooking was therefore a great fit for me and I was an avid journaller. It really is all about the story! I started scrapbooking when Rachel was a baby. By this time Stefanie was 11 and Katrina was 9. The reason I tell you that is because I only made scrapbooks for the three youngest. The two oldest already had baby books with lots of photos and stories and I encouraged them to start their own scrapbooks, which they did!
How does Stampin’Up! fit into this picture? In three ways.
- At my first workshop I realized right away that I was the type of person who would want it ALL! So I got nothing as this would be way too expensive seeing that I had five kids in a private Christian school. I didn’t even get a catalog. I was outraged that they were charging $7 for it.
- I also saw great possibilities. Stamps can be used over and over and would be a lot cheaper than using stickers in my scrapbook pages. I started buying stamps that could be used for both card making and scrapbooking. I loved the coordination of the ink, cardstock and patterned paper.
- Hosting workshops was the best way to get my supplies in a more economical way. I would host one workshop in the fall so I could get Christmas stamps and one in the winter to take advantage of sale-a-bration. I would invite a lot of people so I could maximize the amount of free stuff. I loved my scrapbook pages, they were so beautifully coordinated and making Christmas cards with the family was also a fantastic bonus.
My First Scrapbook Pages
The Switch from Customer to Demonstrator
The big question is, why did I switch from being a great customer to being a demonstrator? Oddly no one asked me to join their team. Either they didn’t want to be an upline or they didn’t want to to lose their best customer. I say “they” because over a number of years I had different demonstrators. That is why I always offer the opportunity to all my customers. They deserve the discount and the opportunity to do so very much more if they want to.
My biggest motivation for becoming a demonstrator is that I wanted to share what I love and I wanted to teach people how to make beautiful things. Stampin’Up! opened a whole new world of creativity for me. The last time I had felt truly creative was when I learned to paint in kindergarten. After that I developed an inferiority complex when it came to art. My only artistic outlet that I felt totally competent in as a youngster was colouring. I love colouring and that also fits in well with Stampin’Up!.
The Most Amazing Surprises with Stampin’Up!
What I did not expect with the purchase of my starter kit is the success that would become of this business adventure. I did want to make some money at this, but my goals were not big. To have my own supplies for free was the first goal. After three years of slow but steady growth I decided that if other people could go on this fantastic incentive trip then I was going to give it a shot too. Well!!! My first incentive trip was a dream and the beginning of an amazing adventure. A whole new world opened up to me.
- I met inspiring people from all over the world.
- Stampin’Up! rolled out the red carpet and treated me like a rock star.
- I received training that helped me become an even better business person.
- I was able to travel to places I might not have gone to. Every year I was able to take one of my family members on an unforgettable trip. The Caribbean several times, Alaska twice, Greece, the Mediterranean including Italy, Spain, and France. Thailand. Washington DC, Hilton Head Island not to mention all the Leadership Convention places. My favourite one was San Antonio.
- A once in a lifetime opportunity to attend Founder’s Circle in St. George Utah. What a posh weekend where each one of was treated like a movie star with our own personal hotel room. No one to share with! I got to meet all the “big names” in the Stampin’Up! world and I was pinching myself that other people were now seeing me as a “big name” too. Of course we are all just normal people but it is so very nice to be recognized for your hard work and achievements.
The reason I share this is that I really, really want you to know what can happen with the small investment of the starter kit. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Your enjoyable hobby can now be called your job! How wonderful is that? You can make it into whatever you want and regardless of the level of your commitment you have the opportunity to meet so many great people at Stampin’Up! events. My Beyond Pampered team has become a wonderful community of friends that support each other throughout the challenges and joys of life.
Making A Difference
What I almost forgot to tell you is that I now have the privilege of using my business to make a real difference in the lives of people in my city. I have partnered with Chatham-Kent Hospice to make cards for the one year anniversary of the loved ones death. I was already volunteering there and at my annual “performance review” my regular job came up in conversation and I was presented with this opportunity. What a joy to do something so meaningful. Of course there have been many other ways to make a difference. One year our team did a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald house and I have done many more fundraisers throughout the year.
A Card
I still love what I do and often find myself making just one more card at ten o’clock at night. Just because I want to. This happened last night so I am going to share it with you to thank you for dropping by and reading my story.
I used a piece of the beautiful Feels Like Frost paper, the dies from Merry Christmas and from Detailed Deer. The card measures 5 1/4 by 6 1/2. I used the stitched rectangle framelits to cut a window in the card front just a bit smaller than the birch tree element.
I am late for a birthday lunch so I am going to say goodbye now! Thanks for joining me today and have a super day.
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