It’s All About the Treats
Hello stampers! It’s actually Saturday here but I thought I would get an early start to Monday’s blog post. It’s all about the treats is an integral part of my business, so much so in fact that I have a regular hashtag for it. If you follow me on Instagram you will often see #itsallaboutthetreats. Have you ever wondered why?
Why Treats?
Life is too short to not have dessert. It could be because of my Dutch roots, but I do love high quality baked goods. There is no such thing as a “naked cup of coffee”. Growing up at home we ALWAYS had something with our coffee. Most of the time it was home baked. Mom was a stickler about portion control. It’s better to have a little bit of something very good then a lot of something that’s mediocre. I also love to bake and the coffee just tastes better when you have something delicious with it. When you have a treat with your coffee it turns it into a celebration, a bit of an event.
Coffee and a Card
When I finally turned my hobby into a business, this was my first venture into a regularly scheduled class. I was inspired by the lineups at the Tim Horton’s drive through. Tim Horton’s is a coffee and donut franchise that is very popular in Canada. I thought that if people would spend money on a cup of mediocre coffee and a less impressive donut, they might be inclined to spend a similar amount of money on better treats, better coffee and a handmade card.
This class started out as just one card and coffee with a treat for $5. It has since evolved into three cards, coffee and a treat for $15. Active team members get a discount and only pay $12. Coffee and a card is so very much more than a class. It is a tribal gathering! If you could hear the chatter and the laughter as more and more people join in it would warm your heart and make you want to be there. The treats are a big part of this. People simply love to gather around food! It is also true that deeper relationships are forged when you slow down to eat and drink together. Treats are important.
Treats in Holland
If you ever come to Holland and you order coffee or tea you will notice that you get a tiny treat as well. Even if you order dessert to go with your drink, you will still get the tiny treat too. I love it! The downfall is that you will not get free refills for your coffee. Bakeries in Holland are amazing, not just for cookies and pastries but also for fantastic breads.
My latest discovery is an “oliebollenkraam” which is a sort of food truck that sells only traditional Dutch Christmas treats. Gerard owns two amaryllis greenhouses, one at his own place and one at his father’s place. They are about 2 kilometres apart and I often walk from one to the other. Along the way is a garden centre called Intratuin, and they have this food truck. Yesterday I tried the oliebollen (sort of like the Dutchies they used to have at Tim Horton’s but round, and way, way better) and the appelflappen. Here are some photos. They are best when eaten warm with icing sugar accompanied by a black cup of coffee.
Balance
My battle plan is to just walk a lot, both from one greenhouse to the other and also along the beach. The trick is to time it so you are not walking in a downpour! Yes, there is a lot of rain here, no snow. If I get enough exercise then I can indulge in all the treats. Usually I do a lot of Christmas baking but it is hard to get motivated when the quality of the treats available is so good and you just want to try it all! Shortbread and butter tarts will definitely have to be made but after that I’m not sure. Finding the ingredients can also be more challenging than you might expect. I will need cornstarch for my shortbread cookies. Stay tuned!
Keeping Busy
The greenhouse is so busy now that there is no room for a stamping station, besides it is a little too chilly to be working in that all day! I have not yet set up a stamping space here yet, but I thought I would show you what I was busy with. Each box of flowers needs a label telling what variety it is and also the quantity. My skill set was sufficient to tackle that job, and many hands make light work, so it felt good to contribute. This morning at auction about 80,000 stems were sold from Van der Sar Amaryllis!
Saleabration Sneak Peek
Did you know that Stampin’Up! has an artisan design team? Each year a new team is chosen from applicants all over the world. These talented people have made some beautiful things using new saleabration products and I thought you might want to hop along. Just click on this link and from there at the end of each blog post there will be a place to click to go on to the next one. Lots of fun. Here is a card made by Angela Meiritz-Reid from New Zealand.
Cutting Plates
One last thing before I go: cutting plates for the Big Shot are now available again. If you need any I would advise getting them asap because I have no idea how long they will be available. My “contraband” plates were not much cheaper than this (you save the shipping and the tax, but these are definitely much nicer to work with) The order number is 150815 and the cost is $15 a pair. Click here to go to my store if you live in Canada. Keep your old ones to use with the precision plate and save the new ones for framelits and embossing folders and they will last a long time. Please do use the host code if you order, it really helps me out! The current host code is 6KVMESQ6.
Thanks for joining me today. Remember that you can now purchase a beautiful pdf that shows you step by step how to make all my Parisian Blossoms cards from my presentation at #OnStage2019. If you go to this blog post you will see the buy now link. I hope you have a super day! Hugs from Holland.
