Spring sprang - and then moved on

Spring always seems to be busy around here, but this one was particularly fun, as I enjoyed several opportunities I don't routinely have. Of course, there was the usual annual garden rehab & setup (which takes me weeks), and annual traditions like attending the big 4th of July parade in Coeur d'Alene. But this year, I've also added in regular sunset walks, followed by evening barefoot grounding and focused breathing outside... all of which have certainly helped with the sleep challenges I've struggled with for about 25 years. (Um, does that stuff sound a little too "crunchy" for my age? Yeah, I thought so, too. But it really does help.)

I also enjoyed a weekend trip to Montana, started co-leading a twice-weekly exercise class for seniors ("Sweatin' with the Oldies"), spent gobs of time watching grandkids' sports, and was thrilled by a week-long visit from a longtime, long-distance friend who'd never been to the Inland Northwest before. So of course we had to cram in as much sightseeing as we could while she was here!

Oh! And my orchids decided to bless me with more of them in simultaneous bloom than ever before! (You can't ever have too many flowers, ya know.) I've been growing orchids for a long time now, and I think my oldest will celebrate 30 years with me early next year.

Summer weather this year seemed like it'd *never* get here, but it's definitely shown up recently. So now it's on to attempting to keep the garden plants from wilting if they have to go more than a few hours without water.

More in this issue:

• A brand-new product line featuring Hot Foil! Available beginning TODAY!
• Start a month-to-month Paper Pumpkin subscription and get 25% off August's kit
• A special trick for how you *may* be able to save $$ on those unpopular shipping costs
• Stampin' Up! is offering online specialty classes; have you tried 'em yet?
• New months mean new goodies; make sure you don't miss anything!
• Stampin' Up!'s "join" or "rejoin" process gets a long-overdue update. Finally!

Introducing Stampin' Up!®'s latest product line: "Stampin' Hot Foil System"!

Ever wished you could add just a bit more shine & glam to your papercrafting? Well, now you can... with Stampin' Up!'s brand-new product line.

The basis for this system is an electrical machine that works in conjunction with your Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine to transfer (with heat) shiny foil onto the surface of your smooth cardstock - of an image created by a specialized "hot foil" die.

This video offers a quick visual overview of the concept, but if the amplified weird noise bothers you (like it does me), just turn the sound off. There is no audio necessary.

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So. As you can see, this Hot Foil system is designed to work with Stampin' Up!'s (large) Cut & Emboss Machine. And as soon as I write those words, I know that someone's gonna ask "Will it work with *my* [insert name of some other die-cutting machine here]. And that answer is "we don't know"; it's only been tested for use with the SU Cut & Emboss Machine, and it's one-year warranty covers its use with that specific die-cutting machine. But does that mean it *won't* work with another machine? No, it doesn't necessarily mean that, and once you have your own Stampin' Hot Foil System, you can always experiment and try it out if you're comfortable. But it DOES mean that use with another die-cutting machine will void Stampin' Up!'s one-year warranty, and it's conceivable that it *might* even damage your die-cutting machine. (So in other words, attempt your experiment at your own risk. 😮)
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At the present time, this system is the latest hot-foiling technology on the market. It was developed in partnership with another company, and theirs will hit the market a bit farther down the road. But if you are anxious to get your hands on one asap (and especially if you'd like to use it with Stampin' Up!'s Cut & Emboss Machine and soon-to-be-growing line of coordinating dies, stamp sets, foils, etc., then I encourage you to order yours soon. Initial supplies of the devices are limited, and once sold out, we're told it will likely take an extended period of time to get more manufactured and back into stock.

And in the meantime, keep your eye out for more coordinating products; Stampin' Up! has a bunch more arriving into this brand-new product line!

So, about that S/H fee on your orders...

I am well aware that NO one likes shipping/handling fees on any order they place anywhere, but the truth is it costs money to ship things. From anywhere to anywhere. And companies who have a policy of "free shipping" tend to bury the shipping cost in the item's price. So the ultimate consumer will be paying for the cost of shipping - one way or the other.
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And Stampin' Up! is no different. But because we demonstrators are compensated based on product sales, our S/H fee has to be calculated *outside* of the product price. (I trust it doesn't come as a shock that your demonstrator earns a commission on sales placed through her online store, lol.)

But on the other hand, we demonstrators ALSO pay the same S/H rate as you do - generally a minimum of $7.95 per order, and then 11% of the product total beyond $7.95.

And hey! I clearly see both sides of this uncomfortable topic; I'm not only a consumer who also happens to hate paying S/H fees, but I also realize that the USPS pays my son's salary so he can feed my grandchildren!
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So, given that S/H fees are gonna be part of life for the foreseeable future, what can we do to try to minimize them? I'll offer a couple of options:

1) Have you noticed that Stampin' Up! is offering "Free Shipping" days several times a year, now? Much more frequently than they used to. There's always a qualification factor, of course; generally that an order has to reach at least $75 in product in order to qualify for the free S/H. But $75 is a logical number because an order of that level ALSO qualifies you to purchase that month's "Product of the Month" for only $5! So there's kind of a double benefit there: Save at least $8.25 in S/H fees, and get an exclusive product for just $5. (Theoretical values of such Products of the Month can range from about $13 up to around $20 or more, but that's something Stampin' Up! doesn't traditionally share, since the item will never be sold at its retail value anyway.)

So that's Option 1: Pay attention to Free Shipping Days, keep a running list of things you'd like to have, and take advantage of such "Free Shipping" days when they pop up! More and more Stampin' Up! fans are doing just that these days!

2) But there's another way to save money on S/H... especially if your orders tend to be on the smaller side. And that's to take advantage of a "Paper Dreamers Group Shipping Order". So here's how that works:

• Find at least one other person in your local area who is ready to place a smallish-sized order. Preferably, when combined orders will *total* $75 or more.
• Decide among yourselves to whom all orders will be shipped.
• Contact me and ask me to work some magic behind the scenes and create a "Group Shipping Code" for you.
• I'll do that, and then I'll give that code to your contact person, who will then let everyone know the code in a very timely manner. The code will automatically expire at the end of 3 days.
• Everyone will then go to my website and submit their individual orders as usual, including that Group Shipping Code during the check-out process. That will alert the system to only charge 11% of their own product order for their S/H fee. Additionally, they should get a warning/reminder during check-out that their order will NOT ship directly to them, but rather to the recipient that the group has already selected.
• And then, of course, the recipient of all the orders will notify the others that the order has arrived, and all will decide among themselves how orders will be distributed.

This is a great way to lessen the impact of S/H fees... especially by avoiding each person having to pay the minimum $7.95 individually - even on a smallish order. But... technically, that minimum $7.95 fee still exists, and not all demonstrators will offer this service to their customers because the demonstrator (me, in this case) can end up getting charged $7.95 minimum (or part of that minimum) if the combined orders don't reach $75 in total. So I'd appreciate all to consider that when deciding to participate.

Also, please be aware that neither Stampin' Up!® nor myself can be responsible for any orders not distributed promptly once they've been delivered to the designated recipient. All shipping group participants should cooperate in ensuring orders get distributed promptly.

BTW, consider a "shipping group" a one-time entity. Just because you order with a group once, does not mean you're obliged to participate ever again. These group coupon codes are best reserved for cases where several people each have smallish-sized orders and live fairly close to one another - so all orders can be delivered to one common location. Just have the decided-upon recipient contact me to set up a group shipping code for y'all!

Stampin' Up!® Virtual Classes

Have you noticed that Stampin' Up! is now offering virtual classes? Available for purchase in the online store, they are taught by experienced craft instructors, with close-ups of what they're doing, while they offer tips and tricks that even *I* often have never heard of! Each class is streamed live at a given date & time, but will then be offered in "On Demand" format so you can rewatch if you'd like, or catch the recording if you weren't able to watch it live. Each class is based on a theme, which might feature a specific Suite of products, or various techniques, scrapbooking, gift-giving, etc. A class based on the Pretty Poinsettia bundle will be offered soon (think "Christmas in July"), and a class featuring the new "Stampin' Hot Foil System" will be complimentary through the end of the year with purchase of the new hot foil system. (Or, you can purchase the class independently if you'd like to learn more about the hot foiling system before investing in it.) Most classes are priced around $30, and usually remain available to rewatch ("On Demand") until the featured products are no longer available.

Round-up of what's new and fresh

1. At long last, Stampin' Up! has updated their demonstrator "join" (or "rejoin") process. So going forward, new demonstrators will join for $100. (Yes, the fee, which hasn't changed for well over a decade, has been increased by a whole whopping one-dollar.) After filling out the "official" part, they'll then receive an email with their new demonstrator number, along with a coupon code for $125. Then, they can log into their customer account (which will automatically be a "demonstrator" account by this point), and can go to the online store and purchase whatever they'd like, applying that $125 coupon code towards it. There will be no limit to how much they order, but anything over $125 will be discounted per their demonstrator discount percentage, AND will count towards their personal sales. This will resolve the commonly-heard complaint about "wanting to order more than the $125 permitted at join time, but not being able to do so due to system restrictions". So this new format will be much more "user-friendly", and will even allow the purchase of the new Hot Foiling System this way, which would never have worked under the older join system (due to that $125 product choice limit).
2. As mentioned earlier, we have 2 virtual classes coming up later this month. Check 'em out at the online store!
3. Fresh "Online Exclusives" launched this month. (New products which are developed and released so quickly that they never make it into a paper catalog... and therefore can only be seen "exclusively" in the online store. Fresh items in this category debut early in every odd-numbered month. (Jan, Mar, May, July, etc.) And are generally very popular, so they can sell out pretty quickly. (That was a hint: Choose early if you see something you like!)
4. New "Product of the Month"... an exclusive stamp set featuring (guess what?) FLOWERS, lol! "Begonia Belle". Only $5 with a $75 order, if you like the set. (BTW, last month's POTM sold out early in the month, leaving lots of folks disappointed. So yes, "Choose early!" isn't just hype.)
5. 2 new craft kits have been added to the Kits Collection this month.
6. My Template of the Month (aka "TOM) can be downloaded from my "Free Resources". The link is at my full website (YourPaperDreams.com) OR at my QuickLinks site: YourPaperDreams.net
7. And for the first time ever, I've created *2* July wallpapers for your 16:9 device(s). Your choice of art, but both featuring red, white, and blue. Those are also available from my "Free Resources" collection. (See #6, above.)

Thanks so much for being part of my Paper Dreaming Peeps crew! Y'all are the reason I gather up all these things that tumble out of my brain so I can share 'em with you (usually accompanied by way too many exclamation points and parentheses!!!)

If you'd ever like to see a certain topic addressed (or have a question about something), I'd love to include it in a future edition. Just hit me up with an email reply (or text, call, whatever), and let me know what's on your mind!

PS:

Q: Hey, Lynda! What's with the highlighted date on your monthly wallpaper-calendars?

A: Oh, you mean that date usually near the beginning of the month and backed by a contrasting color? Those dates represent "when most new things launch with Stampin' Up!" that month. So, you can expect to see new kits introduced on that day, new products in either the "Last Chance" or "Online Exclusives" categories, new catalog release, etc. Release dates are usually on Tuesdays, but every so often Stampin' Up! likes to shake things up and picks a different date.

Q: Hey, Lynda! Sometimes when I try to go to YourPaperDreams.net (your QuickLinks page), it tells me it's insecure, or it took too long to reply, or some other random error-type message. Can you fix that?

A: I totally hear ya, and that's super frustrating on all ends! Near as I can tell, the system is lying to ya. How do I know? Well, the error message it returns seems to change randomly (it's not always the same message), my site IS secure, and I've got all the DNS settings for that domain set correctly. That URL actually forwards to another service where I maintain that page, and I think THAT service might be a bit short on bandwidth, which could return some random funky responses. Best advice I can offer at this point is to try again later. Yes, that does sound lame, but that always seems to "fix" it for me, and BELIEVE me, I've spent a gazillion hours trying to figure out if there's anything I can do from my end. And have come up empty-handed. Best results: just wait a bit, maybe restart your device (to give you something to do in the meantime), and try again later. I've always found it to work - eventually! Or if you're super-impatient, go directly to Beacons.ai/YourPaperDreams . That bypasses the forwarding step altogether.

Quicklinks: YourPaperDreams.net (which forwards - apparently when it feels like it - to Beacons.ai/YourPaperDreams)

Full website: YourPaperDreams.com​

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