Just in Time Halloween Cards

I can't believe how Halloween crept up on us. Halloween is not my favorite holiday but this is the only holiday where one can get creative and let our imagination take our card designing out of the box. You can create card designs which are more colorful and cluttered with stuff than the usual cards. So I went at it and came out with these pop-up and folded cards which I want to share with you.

More About Cards for a Better World

I thought you might like to see a close-up of couple of the cards which are included in our Cancer Drive Card Packages. These are my favorite designs because I like the whimsical feel of these bears. They can't help but to bring a smile to my face.

All products are by Memory Box Co.

• Sage and Cotton Candy notecards
• Garden Panda, Cupcake Bear
• Feel Better Soon, You Take the Cake (sentiments)
• Garden Panda's outfit and butterflies are cut from the new Poppy Stamp 6x6 paper

When I am designing cards which has to be replicated by the hundreds by our volunteer card-makers, I have to stay with simplistic designs which do not require a lot of complicated steps. What I found is that I can create beautiful cards by using papers with breath taking colors and stamps which can bring a smile to the viewer's face. I have learned to create cards with simple and crisp designs, once the paper combinations and the stamp designs have been chosen, the assembling can be very fast.

Another thing I believe in is giving as much business as possible by ordering my supplies from local companies. I especially like to work with companies such as the Memory Box Co. owned by David and Monica Brethauer. Memory Box's papers are grown in certified tree farms and dyed with soy based ink to produce their note cards and envelopes with colors so beautiful, they will take your breath away.

I spend many late nights and early morning hours pondering away in my craft room to come up with these creations and hours of hard work by me and my volunteers to assemble and package these cards but the end result is a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment. People are delighted with the cards and will purchase them gladly, knowing that the proceeds are going to a good cause. It is not really about the cards themselves but more about the reason and the cause which lies behind this project. This is why I named these cards.... "Cards for a Better World".

Cards for a Better World and October Cancer Drive

October is Cancer Awareness month. I wanted to help an incredible organization to raise some funds during this scarce ecnomic time. The organization is called Team Survivor Northwest and it helps women gain mental and physical health while they are in various levels of treatment and recovery stages.

The way we are raising funds is by selling packets of greeting cards and tags all wrapped up in a cello bag and tied with a pink ribbon. My card volunteers (including few women from the Team Northwest) and I have been working practically day and night to assemble these cards and thanks for their help, we have made 150 card packages which are on sale! Do you know how many individual cards we made? We made over 1,000 cards and tags in total!

These beautiful card packages are being sold at Studio 904 Mercer Island, Studio 904 Pioneer Square and Belle Provence in Mill Creek. Each card package sells for $12. and proceeds will be donated to the Team Northwest when October is over. We'd love to have your support ... you can stop by at any of these locations and purchase your own package of Cards for a Better World package. I am certain that you will delight the recipients when you send them one of these unique handmade cards!

Shop Local!

It has been disturbing to me to see so many of my favorite local small businesses closing their doors in the recent months. We all know that high vacancy rates in our communities invite crime and general deterioration of the area, resulting in dimished community image and lower housing values.

My favorite shopping places where I frequent are scrapbooking and stamping stores. Two of my favorite stores are located in Issaquah. One of the stores, Lasting Impressions closed its door in May, 2009. I went into serious depression after it's closing. I sent an email to Shirley, the store's owner and expressed how much I will miss shopping there. My dog Max and I spent many hours in this store, browing through its numerous isles which were filled with stamps of all kinds. It was a good feeling to have the staff call me by my first name and they even rememberd Max's name! Every time Max and I visited the store, staff would come over and played with Max. One staff member even brought over a Terrier doggie rubber stamp which looked exactly like Max. Of course I bought the stam and even more!

My other favorite store in Issaquah is the Mad Scrapper. The store's owner Deanna has owned this store for seventeen years and she works really hard to keep her shelves stocked with the latest papers and embellishments. There is no doubt she putsin extremely long hours every day to keep the store's door open for the hours which are convenient for her customers.

Being a business owner of Studio 904 hair salons for thirty five years, I know how difficult it is to keep a full inventory during this time of economic downturn. Small businesses operate on an extremely low profit margin, if any at all.

To keep her store lively and exciting, Deanna offers on-going workshops for her customers. Her classes are free as long as we purchase our supply kits from the Mad Scrapper.
One evening I was working madly to make a cute mini-scrapbook in one of Deanna's classes. There were ten women in this class. One of the women did not have a particlar tool which she needed and was about to get up to purchase one from the store. The woman who was sitting next to her whispered, "Don't buy it here. You can get this same tool at Michaels for only half the price when you buy it with one their weekly coupons".

I was so disturbed by what I heard, I couldn't help but to tell everyone what could happen if we all thought this way. All small, local businesses will be gone, leaving us with only the large chains. Can we get this kind of personalized service from anyone other than the small business owners who struggle evey day to stay in business. Why? For the simple reason that they are passionate about what they do. If stores like Mad Scrapper are forced to go out of business, it will be a sad day for all of us who love the specialty stores and the amenities we receive from them.

So my advice to all is... look beyond the price and look at the big picture. Do you like what the store does for its customers? Does the store reach out to the community and contribute to adding vitality to the area? If your answer is yes, you owe it to yourself to patronize the small businesses and do your part in keeping them growing and thriving. In the end, you and the community will be better off ... you will play a part in creating a vibrant and healtheir economic growth in the area where you live.

Happy Scrapping!