Food for Thought . . .

Hi Chicks!

If you follow my stampin' blog, Stamp With Jeni, you know I've been posting alot lately about my "real" job as a nurse case manager for a wellness program, which includes nutrition and how to feed your body.  Today's post there focused on greens - food as well as a pretty green card :-)

You also know one of my favorite creative blogs is Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek's Song of My Heart Stampers  If you've never checked out Lyssa's blog, I STRONGLY suggest you do (go there - RIGHT NOW!!!  Then come back here.  Go on.  I'll wait.).

OK, ya back?  Is Lyssa not the COOLEST??  When I started with Stampin' Up! a little over 2 years ago, Lyssa quickly became one of my heroines in the stamping world.  Not only does she have MAD creative skills, but she is one of the top 100 SU! demos, member of Founder's Circle, and a talented blog writer.  While you were on her stampin' blog, I hope you also noticed a tab there titled "Free Demo Blog".  It's one of my other favorite places to hang out on the internet.  Truly creative people just love to share, and Lyssa always shares so freely and cheerfully.

SO, let's talk about feeding your business or your creative hobby or BOTH, no matter what kind of SU! demo you choose to be.

I'm sitting around today waiting for my new fridge to be delivered, so of course surfing the 'net is a good way to fill time.  Hopped on over to Lyssa's with a cup of tea (isn't it nice to have online friends you can visit 24/7??) and the need to check out some business tips on her Demo Blog.

Interestingly enough, Lyssa has a couple of recent posts there regarding blogging that really hit home for me, since I've been trying to do more of that this month. Since y'all are helping me grow my downline in leaps and bounds, I definitely feel obligated and inspired to be a good Mother Chick and find ways to help YOU grow your business as well.

Blogging is a good thing for your business.  It's fun but can be challenging as well.  Coming up with new post ideas, creating something to blog about, FINDING THE TIME, and being consistent are HARD.  You know this if you follow Stamp With Jeni.  I have not been CONSISTENT.  No wonder I don't have many followers, nor comments on my posts.  As funny or creative as I may think I am, who's gonna keep reading it if my posts are 6 months apart?  BORING.  INCONSISTENT. LOSER!!!

This month, I made a resolution to be more consistent.  I'm busy with work and family, but I've made it my "homework" to blog at least every other day.  I've gone through my photos (I photograph every card I make), pulled out some old ones, created some new ones, and BLOGGED.  My style is a little different now, you may notice.  I'm riffing not just on stampin' and cards, but on life in general.  It works for me - I think I found my blog mojo.  Heck, even one of the GUYS I work with is reading my blog now!  I'm jazzed!!!

To become a business demo, you NEED to be consistent.  You also need to put effort into it.  That means taking out your calendar and blocking out time every day or week to work your business, if that works for you.  Find a way to build your business that WORKS FOR YOU.  But again, if you don't put that time in, don't expect to build anything much.  (I will post again soon about some ideas that work for me to keep up with my quarterly minimums and my title requirements.)

If you're a hobby demo, I encourage you to do the same thing with your stampin' time.  The more you create, the easier it becomes.  If you signed up with SU!, obviously you love stampin', making pretty things, and all our products.  Don't let those pretty things gather dust in your craft room!  Make time for YOU!!  It makes us happy to create, no?

When I started with SU!, I had no intentions of building a downline or obtaining a title.  With barely any effort on my part, I soon realized that this CAN become a business for me.  I will probably never replace my nursing income, but I'm tickled pink that our group is growing and I'm seeing some exciting things happen on my reports.  THANK YOU, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!

So, get out there and if you have a blog, POST.  If you don't have one, think about starting one.  If it's your "thing", great!  If it's not, that's okay too.  We work for a company that supports us whether we're business or hobby.  Isn't that fantastic??

That's it for now, my peeps!

Jeni

Challenge Yourself!

Hi Chicks!
Today's post is inspired by a thread over on Split Coast Stampers (the private "demo" side) from my online friend, Mindy.  Mindy, or "Minders" (as she's known over on SCS) has a great blog and is one of the most creative stampers EVAH!!  She's on a couple of blog design teams as well, one of which is Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Mindy also was a finalist for the Artisan Design Team contest Stampin' Up! held for Convention.  Unfortunately, she didn't win a spot - but her entries were amazing.  So as you can imagine, she's pretty darn talented :)

Anyway, Mindy started a thread using the "I Am . . . " theme from Convention 2012 and invited us to share some of our own "I Am . . ." thoughts.  It's really fun to see what other demos are thinking of doing, or things they want to accomplish for their hobbies or businesses.

SO - here are MY "I Am . . ." statements from the thread:

I AM going to Convention in 2013 come he** or high water.
I AM going to start doing challenges on a regular basis to push myself to be more creative.
I AM going to enter at least one of the SS monthly contests this year (this one is scary for me - I NEVER think my stuff is good enough to enter in Stampin' Success).

With that in mind, I also wanted to explain what "challenges" are, if you don't already know.  Many blogs post design challenges for papercrafters to submit to.  They design a sketch and you are invited to create a project based on the sketch and post it online.  Sometimes it's not a sketch, but a technique or product to use.  Split Coast Stampers also has challenges, both on the demo side and the public side.

Check out these links to find some challenges and play along!

Mojo Monday
Pals Paper Arts (SU! Demo Mary Fish's Blog)
Hand Stamped Sentiments

Challenges are a really great way to stretch yourself and get the creative juices flowing.  I haven't done very many myself, but that's a goal for me this year.  If you're anything like me, you probably DON'T make time to just stamp for fun a priority.  Challenges are an excuse to do that!

Here's a post from my creative blog about a challenge I did on SCS a while back:  SCS Monday Challenge Clean and Simple (June 2011) . . . and here's another:  SCS Ways to Use It (6/23/11) "No White Cardstock".  This next one was a sketch challenge, but I have to say, I really DON'T like this card looking at it a year later:  SCS Card Sketch 6/22/11   I was trying to push myself to use different colors - it really wasn't THAT orange-y - but it's pretty butt-ugly, isn't it??  lol

So, all that being said, I'm off to try and design something for this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  What are you still doing reading my blog???  Go stamp something!!  :)

That's it for now, my peeps!

Jeni

Welcome!

Welcome to my downline support blog!  Here's where I'll be posting FREE business tips to my downline, Cross Country Crafty Chicks.  But fear not!  Even if you're not in my downline, feel free to browse and pick up a tip or two :)  We like to share.

If you're interested in becoming an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd be honored and tickled to have you join my team of "Chicks".  Head on over to my website right now to join the fun!  Feel free to shoot me an email if you have ANY questions at all.

Happy stampin'!

Jeni