|
AUCTIONS ENDING
SOON!
Catch these auctions before they end
on
January 31, 2008 *AND* remember,
if you
miss out, you can check
TEAR
BEARS by Tonya to see what's
new!
*or*
www.kritterkreations.com
to see a full
line of my handmade products.
LOT 10 HANDMADE CARDS
Guaranteed to bring a smile on a
dreary winter day! These cards are 'all occassion' with 3
suitable for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday! Most are made
from bright DCWV papers with lots of glitter and
happy colors. There are 10 total with an envelope for
mailing......
Don't like MINE? Search SBFC in
your
ebay search window to find more! We
are
having bi-weekly challenges on
Thursdays this year ~ so
there are
bunches of handmade cards ending
in auctions
this week for your
consideration.
MY LITTLE ANGEL
Ok ~ so he
looks suspiciously like my 'normal' little tear bear angels
right? WELL....I'm forever updating my patterns and have
been working of perfecting the art of painting eyes. This
little guyhas green eyes because he is goin into my daughter's book
but I can make him for you in any paper color ~ blue, pink,white or
brown as shown. AND I can customize the eye color for
you. Remember that all of my items are customizable at no
extra charge! I believe that scrapping is a very personal form
of art so I strive to give my customers the freedom
to customize their embellishments and make their pages
unique!
BOY & GIRL TEAR BEAR WAGON DESIGN
Another
twist on my ever popular spring and summertime design of the little
bears in their little red wagons...this one has a boy and a
girl in the wagon together...fun for Valentine's Day,
brother/sister layouts or whatever! Still available in
the 'boy alone in wagon' and 'girl alone in wagon' as
well...just check my store!
ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR SELLERS AND BUYERS
IN THE EBAY COMMUNITY:
Policy changes on Ebay have
sellers in an uproar! If you have not already gotten the email
in your ebay mailbox, expect it soon. Head over to seller
central and find the links to all the news coverage that has
been generated since yesterday's announcements!
It
does seem as if ebay is trying to force out the 'little guy'
with crafy, novelty, unique or collectible items and move
to more of a bulk seller/drop shipper or power seller
environment. They have 'masked' this change as a decrease in
fees but further reading into the new policies show that they are
increasing fees in other areas....especially items under $20 which
is 95% of my business. A Final Value Fee(FVF) on a $20
item used to cost $1.05 but after February 20th will cost
$1.75 to sell if my math is correct. On a $5-$7 item like
the ones I sell, that's quite a bit of a paycut. SO as you can
see, while we, as ebay sellers, will get a break on our listings up
front by saving some cents on gallery listings and insertion fees,
the Final Value Fees will increase quite a bit more than the other
fees decreased...hence, ebay gets more of your favorite sellers'
money! Feel free to check the details out for yourself on
ebay: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/basic/index.html
In
response to the new fee schedule, you will probably see some prices
raising in your favorite ebay sellers' stores....or perhaps you are
a seller and will have to raise your prices to compensate also...I
think many small time sellers will shut down because the money
is just not there anymore after the ebay listing fees, shipping
costs and paypal fees.
Please know that as a
seller and an artist, I will strive to stay competitve with my
prices and will still provide the level of service my customers are
accustomed to. I will however probably promote my website at
www.kritterkreations.com
more heavily and hope that more customers will find me there and buy
from me there. There are also some major changes to the
feedback system that will affect ebay sellers, but I do
not anticipate that aspect of the changes affecting me too much as I
will continue to give the absolute best service I can provide to my
customers. The best part is that when the changes take effect, my
repeat customers will be able to leave feedback that actually shows
an effect on my feedback numbers. MUCH of my business is
repeat customers so I'm looking forward to this particular
change.
Just for fun! This year, I'd like to give my
newsletter subscribers a VOICE! Please vote in this poll and
tell us sellers what you think:
Do you buy Pre-made Scrapbook
pages on Ebay? If so, what price range do you shop?
http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/322812
Look
for future polls *or* suggest a voting poll that you'd like to
see!
WORD OF MOUTH IS THE BEST FORM OF
ADVERTISING! NOW YOU GET REWARDS FOR YOUR
REFERRALS!
I always appreciate hearing how happy my
customers are with my work. So from now on, I will offer
incentives to those customers which refer their friends to my
business! If your referral purchases an item from me from
either WWW.KRITTERKREATIONS.COM
or from TEAR BEARS by Tonya have them mention
YOU to receive a $5 credit good for 30 days from the date of
their purchase! Here's how it will work:
1.You
refer me to your friend who has never purchased from me
before.
2.Your friend buys from me and in their
PAYMENT NOTES or via email AFTER PAYMENT is made they mention your
name & email address.
3. I will email your $5
credit coupon and the date ranges which you may use
it.
>No limit to to the number of referrals as
long as they are *new* customers ~ each new referral generates a
coupon for you good for 30 days!
>You may use your
coupons only within the time period allowed which will be
listed on your email ~ no exceptions.
>When one
or more coupons are used on ebay, you *MUST* request an
invoice and wait for the corrected totals before
paying. I will *NOT *issue a refund after the fact due to
time constraints. No exceptions!
>When one or more
coupons are used on www.kritterkreations.com
the coupon amount will be in the form of a refund after payment is
made and your request is received due to the nature of the check out
system.
I hope you enjoy this issue of the
newsletter! Thanks!
|
Wow! Already February 2008 ~ how time
flies faster every year! I've been working on getting
organized for my weekend scrapbooking retreat...I'm so excited about
this trip that I've been planning since LAST AUGUST! I can
hardly believe it is almost here! The weather here in Houston
has been dreary and wet for the last week or 2 so I've been indoors
working on 'happy' things! Check out my lot of handmade cards
in happy bright springtime colors! I'm also working to update
some of my patterns for a more 'modern' look LOL! I've got
some patterns that I have made the same way for 3 years now and
they all look so *new* after I work on them so watch for those in
upcoming months!
In this issue, I've included a WONDERFUL
how-to article by an SBFC artist. Scrapsareus is not typically
a seller, but she's a great part of our group and has taken the time
to start an entire LESSON on rubber stamping for our group! It
was so much fun, I have gotten her permission to share parts of it
here with my newsletter subscribers. Her lesson "Rubber
Stamping 101" inspired me to try some new things for myself ~
including embossing! I am not able to include the entire
lesson, but I hope you find it fun and inspiring too! And
don't forget to check out the SBFC sellers listed after the
lesson who sell stamping supplies to help you get started on
that next rubber stamping project!
Rubber Stamping
101-
by: Laura S.
Supplies
needed-
A rubber stamp or a few rubber stamps
an ink pad (I
prefer to use black or brown)
a pack of water-based markers
(Crayola is ok)
a scissor
post it notes
cardstock or
paper
scrap paper
baby wipes
any other materials would
be your choice, colored pencils, beads, charms
etc.
RUBBER STAMPING is the simplest way for a 'nonartist'
to create beautiful art. You don't have to be able to draw a
straight line, all the 'drawing' is done with a stamp. The most
simple, easy thing to do with a rubber stamp is to add color to it
and create cards or scrapbook embellishments. Paper is easy to work
with.
To BEGIN---
lay out your stamp(s),
ink pad(s) and markers on a flat, hard surface (ie 'table' or
'tray')
place your scrap paper on the flat
surface.
TO INK YOUR STAMP- hold the stamp firmly and
press it straight down on the inkpad. Try to avoid 'rocking' your
stamp because anywhere ink is on the stamp, ink will print on your
paper.
Lift the stamp and press it straight down on your scrap
paper, being sure to press the entire stamp down (i use my palm like
I was giving CPR to the stamp if it is a really large stamp)
Lift the stamp straight up, and look at the design. Is there any
part missing? you may have not inked the stamp enough, or not
pressed down hard enough on the paper. Is the image blurry? You may
have moved the stamp.
CLEAN your stamps with a baby wipe. I
like the really cheap ones, at the $1 store.
PRACTICE on
your scrap paper untill you feel comfortable with that individual
stamp (they all have personalities of their own LOL)
Always
let a cleaned stamp dry before reusing, and always clean the stamp
between colors and uses.
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS
PRACTICE NEW THINGS ON SCRAP PAPER BEFORE USING THE GOOD
STUFF.
SOME TIPS FOR
PURCHASING:
INKPADS- ok, i am a big cheapo,
and i am also a stickler for quality. The best inkpad I have is a
ColorBox pigment inkpad. It is more than 15 years old and still
juicy and moist. At $6, these are an investment.
I use a lot of
InkIt Up pads, from AC Moore. At $1.19 a piece, I don't feel bad if
they go dry. I use the Dye Based Ink It Ups a lot, but find the
Pigment Ink ones very shabby.
STAMPS- look at
the stamp, is the rubber attached to the wood in a way that mirrors
the design printed on the wood block.
Is the rubber firmly
attached.
Smell the stamp, it should smell a bit like an eraser,
but never 'sour'.
Is the rubber sticky or brittle? That stamp is
a no-no.
A GOOD rubber stamp should be deeply-etched (carved),
smell fresh, be firmly attached to the wood, and mirror the design
on the wood block.
As for cost, there are Bargain Bins in every
craft store, AC Moore has Seasonal Stamps for $1 and $2 each,
depending on the size. Michael's has sets of 4 mini-stamps for $1.
Even stores like Target have time to time featured $3 and under
stamp sets. Buying Lots on eBay is a super way to save
big.
BASIC STAMPS TO HAVE- These are the ones I seem to use most-
Hearts, Stars, A
set of Simple Geometric Shapes
Alphabets
A few sentiments
"Happy Holidays", "Thinking Of You", "Happy Birthday"
Even when
I use seven or eight stamps in a project, the bulk are from the
above list.
LETS DISCUSS USES-
you can make
greeting cards with
pre-folded cards and rubber stamps
Bookmarks and Book Covers
Decorate a gift bag and tissue paper to match...even a gift tag
Simple Scrapbook Uses-
stamp all over 12x12 cardstock,
using different directions each time you stamp an image, to make
background paper for books. Or trim to make Mats, Tags, or Border
Strips
Stamp just around the outside of a page or mat to create
a border
Easily co-ordinate different paper lines by using the
same rubber stamps to unify
layouts
REMEMBER-
store your
stamps away from the sun or any source of heat. Like wise, do not
let them freeze either.
Avoid storing them in plastic, as the
rubber may get funky. I use clean, small Pizza Boxes, and seperate
stamps by theme
store your inkpads lid side down so the ink
stays at the top of the inkpad. You can store the ink pads in a
Casette rack
ready to start a new
project now? have a look at any of these SBFC group sellers
and see what goodies they can offer to help you!
House
mouse stamps available from
KIM'S
SCRAPBOOK HEAVEN by seller 060698
Stamp
lots available from
SARA'S
SCRAPBOOKING GOODIES by seller trash_to_treasures
Basic
Grey clear stamps available from
TRUNK-FULL-OF-TREASURES
by sellerscrapsfromtheheart
Crafty
Secrets vintage clear stamps available from
U
Scrap Its by seller scrappydappy32
|
