Good morning and welcome to another edition of Cards and Creations by Lori McBride. My name is Lori McBride and I’m a Stampin Up Independent Demonstrator from Joshua,TX.
This week on my Facebook Business Page I shared my “Phases of the Annual Catalog and so I thought I’d share those phases on my Blog for a quick reference for future use by all.
Phase One: “The Lookering” This is the first phase where I look over the Catalog from cover to cover sometimes several times over.
*TIP*
It is important to look over the Catalog several times over. There are often a lot of hidden gems in the Annual Catalog that can easily be overlooked if you quickly jump.
Phase Two: “The Stickering” This is the phase of the Annual Catalog that I put Post It Notes on the items in the Catalog for quick reference.
Phase Three: “The Listering” This is the Phase of the Catalog that’s usually the most time consuming because it’s broken down into four lists. The first list is my “Everything List.” This is a list of everything that catches my attention in the Catalog from cover to cover.
*TIP*
I normally make my “Everything List” during “The Lookering Phase” of the Catalog just because it’s easier. This helps you later because it really will help you determine what goes on the next list.
My second list is what I call my “Can’t Live Without It” list. These are the items that catch my attention right away, give me creative ideas to create right away, totally inspiring and are considered my top priority items.
I’m normally on a budget in which I’m pretty good about sticking to. Once I hit my budget amount, my third “Next Time” list is created. These are still all items that I truly love and want to get right away on the next order.
It’s not that I don’t love everything in the Catalog because I do but my fourth “In the Future” list does consist of smaller items that I just need a little bit more time to think about. Maybe it’s because I see it and I love it but I don’t quite have ideas for perhaps they’re smaller items that I can’t quite afford. These are normally items that I claim a lot of the time as Host Rewards or just here and there throughout the year as I’m able to really think about designs – whichever comes first.
Phase Five: “The Ordering” After much anticipation, my lists are complied, the day has arrived and it’s time to place my order. You type those numbers in so fast that you feel like your fingers are on fire! You’ve never happier to add items to your cart and pay someone in your life! At this point, your items are selected and paid for and you’re just waiting. You know that Stampin’ Up is going to process that order and start boxing your items and you may check the status of your order twenty times as this can be the most impatient part of the whole process. It means that the great wait for the UPS truck begins.
Phase Six: “The Delivering” UPS must think we Stampin’ Up people have just lost their ever loving minds! Let me tell ya’ll something – That UPS truck is like the adult ice cream truck. We know that order is going to arrive and I’m pacing the house, outside on my front deck at the crack of dawn waiting and heaven FORBID there’s some sort of delay. Man, that’s a dog swiping an ice cream cone right out the hands of a toddler. We get pouty if we’re expecting an order and seeing the UPS driver drive right past our house or worse, delivering a package across the street or right next door. FINALLY it arrives and that UPS driver doesn’t even make it to the door. He’s suddenly my best friend! We dart halfway down the driveway to retrieve those packages from his hands, ear to ear grins, thank him profusely and hug that package down the driveway, up the stairs and into the house. This is no joke – I have secretly wanted to hug or kiss the UPS guy not because I’m attracted to him but simply because he’s delivered the contents of my package/packages.
Phase Seven: “The Unboxering” The moment that box arrives, all you want to do is run the scissors over the top of that box and dive in! You want to physically see all of the goodies inside the box and of course, show everyone exactly how beautiful all the things are in person. We’re so excited that they’ve arrived!!
Phase Eight: “The Plannering” The planning phase sort of happens throughout the phases from the moment we’re able to view the Catalog but now it’s really time to see if all of our ideas for Creations will work out or if some redesigning is needed with some or all of the ideas we’ve been planning and sketching out.
Phase Nine: “The Workering” We get working right away. We work as hard and as fast as we can using the new products in hope of inspiring and sharing with you.
Phase Ten: “The Sharering” Inspiring and Sharing with you is the absolute highlight of our work whether you’re a career or hobbyist Demonstrator. Whether it’s a Demonstrator who video blogs or traditionally blogs – we want to share what we make with you.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope that you’ve gotten some really good giggles of how I phase the Annual Catalog or any other Stampin’ Up Catalog as the process is the same each Catalog. I hope that you’ll join me again soon for another edition.
Until next time – Happy Stampin’ Everyone!
If you’re located in the United States and would like to place an order with me please visit:
http://www.stampinup.com?demoid=2220757
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Cards & Creations by Lori McBride - Stampin' Up Demonstrator 