Scrap Your Trip Free Shipping w/$49 Order Ends Tomorrow

3 comments July 31st, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Adds 257 Items + Free Shipping w/$49 Order

I love Facebook!  There…I said it!   I am not one of those people who is first in line for the "next new thing".  I’m more of the "wait around and see if it lasts" kind of gal.   I set up a Facebook page awhile ago, but I never really did anything with it.  I heard people talk about it, especially my "mom" friends, but I didn’t really see what the big deal was about.   Then last Monday, I was talking with a customer and she said "You don’t have a Scrap Your Trip Fan Page?  You really should have one."  So, by that afternoon I had the page ready to go and started "FB"-ing during the week.   So after my first week on Facebook, here’s what I can say.  I love Facebook!  I totally get it now!  I feel connected to my Facebook friends in ways I couldn’t have before.   I learned my niece, a high school runner, ran 9 miles one day.  I learned my cousin must have a new boyfriend, because she changed her status from "single".  I learned one of my employees is a huge Michael Jackson and Brittany Spears fan.  I learned that a longtime customer has a Dad who’s really sick and she has become his full-time caregiver.  I learned my friend in Jacksonville has started composting in her backyard.  I learned that Marah Johnson lost her luggage on the way to Orlando for CHA.  I even found the group of my high school alumni and saw a picture of one of my first boyfriends (he hasn’t aged as well as me!)   I always say that life is in the details and Facebook keeps people up-to-date with the little details.  It’s always better to have a long chat with someone over a cup of tea or coffee to find out what they are up to, but since the time to do that keeps getting fewer and farther between, this helps fill in the gaps.   I have also been posting all the CHA details to the Scrap Your Trip Fan Page.  It’s the "almost-as-if-you-were-there" update.  I felt like I was posting a booth-by-booth update yesterday!  I took lots of pictures of new releases and posted them when we got back from the show last night.  I’ll be doing the same today.   So, if you’d like to share the details of life, become my friend on Facebook.  Click here for me personally:  http://www.facebook.com/julie.swatek and here http://www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip to become a Scrap Your Trip Fan and keep up to date with all the great new products being debuted at the tradeshow.   We have 257 new items this week in lots of themes!  Collections include:  "Retrospection" by Momenta, "U Bug Me!" by Bo Bunny, "Airy Fairy" by Kaisercraft, and the new Signature Series by Reminisce, with categories including:  Adoption, Baking, Baptism, Baseball, Basketball, Bath Time, Brothers, Competition, Confirmation, Dance, Fishing, Football, Horses, Hunting, Paintball, Performance, Preschool, Prom, Sisters, Travel, Tropical and Twins!  Whew!  We also have some new Disney character stickers from EK Success and two new albums from Pioneer Scrapbook Albums: Family and Friends.   There are five layouts for these collections in our Shop By Layout section.  Click here to see:  Shop by Layout. 
  The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week: SYT Die Cuts: Beach, Baby, Cruise, Ancestry, Firefighter, Kids, Family, General Travel, Journaling Borders, Tags, Lake, Jamaica, Caribbean, Europe, St. Lucia, Scotland, Germany, Tahiti, Navy, Vietnam, World War II, Farming, Scrapbooking, Boy Scouts, Nature, Tennis, Rugby, Swimming, Basketball, Theme Park, Water Park, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Arizona, South Carolina and SYT Paper:  Beach, Birthday, Cruise, Taxi, Castle, Germany, Navy, Summer, Kids, Arizona, Tennis, Music, New York, Washington DC, General Travel and Faith.   We have two custom papers – Wavy Design and Brick Wall 12 x 12 Paper and four custom die cuts:  Cruise Emblem, Vertical Custom Laser Die Cut (thanks for the suggestion on the blog!) and Custom Baby Boy and Baby Girl Laser Die Cuts.   Click here to see all the new items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/7292009.html.
We’ve also got 257 items on sale this week at 25% off.  Click here to see all the sale items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.   We’ve lowered our Free Shipping minimum this week from $59 to $49.  Just put $49 worth of stuff in your cart, enter coupon code FREESHIP49 and the shipping is on us!  This coupon code is good until 11:59 pm Eastern, Friday, July 31.  (Cannot be used on previous orders.  Only one coupon code can be applied per order.)
  And remember, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always make it custom just for you!  Click here to see all our custom options:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/custom.html.    See you on Facebook!
As always, thanks for your business.    Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

8 comments July 29th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Christmas in July 15% Off S*A*L*E Ends Tonite

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary (lucky number 13) and I got the BEST gift from my wonderful husband last night!  (See picture below)  I had seen them at the mall this past weekend and thought they were the COOLEST, but a little impractical to buy myself.  How many times a week can you wear these anyway?  So, I passed.    But, last night, I opened up a big box to see inside…RED COWBOY BOOTS!!  I was jumping up and down with joy!  I’m so happy with my new boots and really happy that he surprised me.  I was also really impressed that he paid enough attention to me talking about them that he was able to find them at the mall.      Isn’t the best gift something you would never buy yourself?  I think so!   It’s new feature week at Scrap Your Trip!  Monday we announced the debut  our new image enlargements and today we debut…drum roll please…NEW AND IMPROVED SEARCH!   It’s so awesome!  You can search by Category, Product Type and Supplier.  You can see the results in a list or a grid.  You can sort by relevance or price and you can define how many results you see on a page.  Click here to start searching: http://search.scrapyourtrip.com/   Maybe you can use it to search for all the Christmas items you can get during our 15% off site wide Christmas in July sale.  We added a bunch of EK Christmas stickers this week at http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/christmas-in-july.html, but the discount is good on any products you choose.   There is no minimum purchase, just enter coupon code JOLLYJULY at checkout and your 15% discount will be applied to your entire order.  The coupon code expires at 11:59pm Eastern tonight and cannot be combined with any other coupon code.   Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (in July)!   Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

9 comments July 24th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Christmas in July 15% Off S*A*L*E

"For years I’ve noticed that the universe speaks to us in whispers. If we ignore the whispers, we get pebbles of warning.  If we still don’t pay attention, we get bricks of problems, and if we’re really hardheaded, eventually the entire brick wall comes crashing down. This is a pattern I’ve seen repeated so often in every area of life that I know for sure when you don’t pay attention to the pebbles, it’s just a matter of time before the bricks show up." Oprah Winfrey, "O" Magazine, December 2008.

How do you hear the whisper?  I mean, we all hear it, but how do we LISTEN to it?

A dear friend of mine has been going through something this week and I want to share it in the hopes that it will help someone listen to the whisper. 

She hadn’t been feeling well since school let out.  Stomach problems…bloated feeling…belly starting to grow…numbness in her legs.  When her brother, a doctor in another state, finally convinced her to go to the doctor, they admitted her to the hospital directly from her doctor’s appointment.  She just had surgery to remove a 7-8 pound tumor from her abdomen and she starts chemo as soon as she has recovered.  Please keep her and her husband and daughter in your thoughts.

So why do we ignore the whisper?  We know it’s there.  Especially us women.  It’s called women’s intuition for a reason.  Isn’t that intuition the whisper? 

Sometimes I think it’s because we don’t believe in ourselves.  We may be the only one who feels that way, and if everyone else has a different opinion, then we can’t possibly be right in the face of all the other people who think something else.

But mostly I think its fear.  Fear that we may be right.  And maybe if you ignore it long enough, it will go away.  But doesn’t that usually end up as a brick upside the head to get your attention?

The above quote was from Oprah’s "What I Know For Sure" column in her magazine.  Here’s what I know for sure:  The fear is always much worse than reality.  "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance" according to FDR in his first inaugural address. 

I love the second part of this quote.  "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror…"  Boy have I felt that at times in my life!  Somehow, most of my fears end up with me as a bag lady, homeless and unable to provide for my children. 

So what do you do?  For me, I try to stay present and in the moment.  It’s something I’ve really been working on over the past few years.  Because in this moment right now, I am fine.  And whatever comes up…in the moment that it happens…I will have the strength to get through it and I will still be fine. 

So, my dear friend, live in the moment…moment by moment…and don’t let the "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror" paralyze your needed efforts to advance through whatever is coming next. 

On a much lighter note, I have good news and bad news about my new "get healthy" quest.  I have already gone down a size!  My daughter, Lauren and I were at the mall over the weekend and I have gone from a medium shirt to a small and size 8 jeans to a 6!  The bad news is that my trainer, Matt, is moving to England in three weeks.   He is young and in love and following a girl. Happy for him, sad for me.  So, the search for a new trainer begins.

It’s Christmas in July time!  We have lots of new Christmas embellishments and stickers from EK Success and you can get them at 15% off this week.  In fact, you can get 15% off your entire order, because we having a Christmas in July sale!  Just enter coupon code JOLLYJULY at checkout for a 15% discount with no minimum purchase.  (Coupon code expires, Friday, July 24 at 11:59 pm ET.  Coupon can not be used on previous orders.  Only one coupon code can be used per order.)
Click here to see the new Christmas in July items:  http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/christmas-in-july.html.

We’re really excited because the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) tradeshow is next week!  It’s also in Orlando, which makes it even better.  Lots of the scrapbook manufacturers will be there, showing off all their new designs for the rest of the year.  We’ve gotten some sneak peeks and as usual, they do not disappoint! 

What would you like us to keep an eye out for?  Companies, colors, specific items or themes…you name it and we will try to find it.  Please leave us your wish list on the blog.

We’re going to do something different this year and that is to share the excitement of CHA with you as we see it!  We will be posting to Facebook and Twitter as we go, so follow us and friend us to keep up! 

Click here to be a Scrap Your Trip fan on Facebook:  Scrap Your Trip Fan Page on Facebook
Click here to follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/julieswatek   I’m still kind of new at this, so forgive me if I do it wrong And remember, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always make it custom just for you!  Click here to see all our custom options:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/custom.html. 

As always, thanks for your business. 

Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

32 comments July 22nd, 2009

Scrap Your Trip $5 Grab Bag Ends Tonight

Happy Monday!  It’s gray, dreary and rainy here in "sunny" Orlando, Florida.  However, it beats 90+ degrees, so I’ll take it.   We have a surprise for you on the website and I wanted to let you know right away!  You know how you look at a page on the website… and then you have to click on the item to open it up…and then you click to enlarge it.  All that clicking can get tiresome!   Well, it gets better, starting today!    We have a new image enlargement feature.  Just hover your mouse over a product…give it a second…and a really big image will pop-up on the page, just like below:  
    How cool is that?!?  If you have any comments or feedback on it, please let us know on the blog.   Only 12 hours left for grab bags!  Just add item GRABBAG to your cart along with at least $59 of additional supplies.  Enter coupon code GRABBAG at checkout and the price will be reduced to $5!  (Limit of 5 grab bags per order.  Only one coupon code per order, please.)
  As always, thanks for your business.    Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

10 comments July 20th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Adds 254 Items + 254 S*A*L*E Items

*****Sorry for the delay in the "Wednesday" e-mail!  Our e-mail company’s servers weren’t working yesterday.*****
  Do you have any idea what you are really capable of?  I mean REALLY capable of?   As many of you know, I started at the gym at the YMCA about a month ago.  You got two free training sessions when you joined, to teach you how to use the equipment.  So I worked with one of the Wellness Directors, and he showed me how to use the FitLinxx circuit equipment.  Since I am so motivated to get my body into a healthier place, I was really pushing myself. At least I thought I was…   Then last week I started with my personal trainer, Matt.  He’s this 25 year old from Alabama that calls me "ma’am".  I am going with he calls me that because he’s a "southern boy", not because of my age.      Firstly, I meet him at the gym at 5:30.  That means I have to get up at 4:45.  4:45 comes REALLY early in the morning!  One of the good things about this is that it has broken me of my "hitting the snooze alarm five times" habit.    When we started last Monday at 5:30, by 5:45, I thought I was going to die.  Or throw up.  Or both.  Matt kept getting me cold, wet towels to put around my neck and having me sit under the fan.  "Give me two weeks" he said.  "Two weeks from now you are going to laugh at how hard this was for you today!"  If you say so.   By 2:00 that day, I could barely get out of my chair.  At one point I was trying to get up and muttering under my breath and Laurie and Orita, our wonderful Customer Care Representatives, heard me and were laughing at my struggle to get out of my chair.   But yesterday morning, I bench pressed a 30 pound weight bar 45 times.  That’s 1,350 pounds!    In just this short time, here is what I have learned.  I am capable of SO MUCH MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WAS!    See, I thought I was giving it my all when I was working by myself.  But with Matt, my arms are shaking…my muscles are burning…I think to myself "I can’t do this"…and he says "Okay, give me five more."  And I do.   So this has really got me thinking.    How many other areas of my life do I think I’m giving it all I’ve got?  How many other areas am I also capable of so much more?  Are there other areas of my life that I am limiting myself by my thinking?  "I can’t do this", but I really could?  Are there other areas that I give up before I reach my potential?    How do you figure that out?  How do you have a "personal trainer" for your life, to push you into being the person you are capable of being?  Better yet, how do you do that for yourself?  It is possible?    If anyone has any ideas or stories to tell, please post them on the blog! 

We have 254 brand new items for you to go ga-ga over this week, including the "Star Wars" collection from Creative Imaginations, "Happy Fourth" from Best Creations, "Sweet Treats" from Doodlebug, "National Parks" from Reminisce, "Island Lagoon" from The Paper Company, "MVP" from We R Memory Keepers, and the cutest animal collection from K& Co, called "Actopus to Zelephant".  All of the above collections have matching Bazzill Packs, except for "Star Wars" and "National Parks".   There are two layouts for these collections in our Shop By Layout section.  Click here to see:  Shop by Layout. 
  The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week:   Beach, Summer, Cruise, Faith, Ancestry, Kids, General Travel, Great Outdoors, Fishing, Asia, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Japan, Middle East, Morocco, Singapore, Switzerland, Cooking, Road Trip, School, Band, Baseball, Drama, Hockey, Mountain Biking, Music, Paddle Sports, Rodeo, Surfing, Watersports, Universal Studios, Alabama, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Utah and of course Scrapbooking!   We have two custom school papers – 3 Line and Pin Stripe and two custom custom die cuts – a Heritage Name Plaque and a Baseball  – make them yours with any name you choose!   Click here to see all the new items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/71509.html.   $35-$40 worth of stuff for $5?  Seriously?  Seriously.    We made up grab bags of all our odds and ends, samples, seconds (might contain a slight flaw), papers with bent corners (not bent enough not to use, but too bent to sell as first quality) and they are yours for just $5!  Each grab bag contains at least15 sheets of paper and 5-7 embellishments.  All sorts of stuff..all sorts of themes!  Just add item GRABBAG to your cart along with at least $59 of additional supplies.  Enter coupon code GRABBAG at checkout and the price will be reduced to $5!  (Limit of 5 grab bags per order.  Only one coupon code per order, please.) 

We currently have 4 active coupon codes, so choose the one that is the best deal for you!      1.  GRABBAG – $30+ value – $35-$40 grab bag for $5      2.  EKAZSALE – 50% off EK Success A-Z products      3.  FREESHIP59 – $11 value – Free Shipping on all orders over $59      4.  GLOBAL – $5 shipping credit on International Orders over $59

Click here to see all the sale items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.  And remember, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always make it custom just for you!  Click here to see all our custom options:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/custom.html. 

As always, thanks for your business. 

Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

7 comments July 16th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip 50% EK Sucess A-Z Sale

Free is good, right? I bet you didn’t know this, but today is Cow Appreciation Day, and Chick-Fil-A is giving away a free entree if you wear your cow hat (I have mine…see picture below).  No cow hat?  Dress  completely like a cow (even a white t-shirt with black cow spots) and you can get free food.  Today and today only, so if you’re in the mood for a chicken sandwich, I’m looking out for ya’!    Not in the mood for a chicken sandwich?  How about 50% off EK Success embellishments?  I’m looking out for ya’ there too!  We have almost 200 embellishments, in every category from A-Z, all at a great deal.  Just enter coupon code EKAZSALE at checkout.  Click here to check out all the items:  http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/ek-sticker-sale.html. (One coupon code per order).   Hope you have a wonderful weekend!   As always, thanks for your business.    Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®   
 

2 comments July 10th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Adds 95 Items + 50% S*A*L*E on A-Z EK Success

"It’s not just paper and stickers!"    This is a phrase that I use all the time about scrapbooking.  Many of the people who work at Scrap Your Trip don’t scrapbook, and when they start working for me, they think scrapbooking is just pictures, paper and stickers.   "Yes." I tell them, "Technically we sell scrapbooking supplies, like papers and stickers.  But those items are going to help someone tell the story of their lives.  Someone is going to put their soul on a piece of paper…our paper…and that paper is going to help them tell their story…it’s going to be part of the story."    We recently received a letter from a customer that really brought this message home for me and I made the entire SYT staff squeeze into my office so that I could share the CD of pictures she sent.  Thank you, Judy R. from Georgia, for sharing your story with us.  I hope you don’t mind me passing it along.   About 6-7 months ago, I received my first letter from Judy.  She shared the story of how several years ago she had created a scrapbook in memory of her first daughter and that she wanted to make one for her remaining daughter’s 30th birthday.    She wanted us to create some custom titles to help her tell the story of her daughter’s life.  "The JR Kid Strikes Again!" and "Add It Up" were common sayings about her daughter as she was growing up…could we make something that would help her with her pages?   Our designer, Jill, got to work and made some samples that we sent to Judy.  "Perfect." she said, and we made the rest of her custom die cuts.  We also made a custom paper to go in the scrapbook.    Unlike a local scrapbook store, we don’t often get to see people’s creations, so I was thrilled to open up the mail and get a letter from Judy with a CD of pictures of some of the pages.             

Dear Julie-   After 200 hours of more I finally complete the scrapbook I was making for our daughter for her 30th birthday.  Your team worked very hard to design some titles for me to use.  I think having the book as a treasury of stories of her life is something not many people have.   Please again thank your staff for the good work they do in helping us preserve memories for future generations.   Sincerely,   Judy

This goes to the very heart of scrapbooking for me.  When people tell me they don’t scrapbook, or they don’t "get" scrapbooking, I ask them, "In a hundred years, don’t you want someone to know you were on the planet?"  I don’t ever want to be a face in a photograph that no one knows who it is.    My mom has a bunch of old photographs and no one is left alive who knows who any of the people are…I never want that to be me.  That means I didn’t leave enough of an impact on the world.    Judy’s daughter will never be that person.  That scrapbook will get passed down from generation to generation and a hundred years from now, a great-granddaughter will know where she got part of her personality from.  Judy, your daughter is one lucky woman…in more ways than one!
Thank you to everyone for helping us support Operation Gratitude.  We will be making a donation of over $1500 – enough to send 136 care packages to soldiers stationed in harm’s way.  It makes my heart happy to think of the smiles we will bring to those 136, even if it’s only for a brief moment.   I told you I would share my "getting fit" journey with you, so this week I want to tell you I weigh the least amount I have weighed since 2006!  I can also tell you that I only thought I had been working out (since I was doing it on my own).  I started with my trainer, Matt, this week and OH MY GOSH, I can barely move!  He said in two weeks I’ll be laughing at how hard it seems now.  I certainly hope he’s right! 
We have 95 new SYT products this week, including items in rememberance of Michael Jackson.  I am a child of the eighties and was in high school during the Thriller era.  I was on the dance squad and we did routines complete with sequined glove, rolled up pants, white socks and black shoes.  I can still do all the moves to "Beat It"   Rest in Peace, Michael and thanks for the joy your music brought into my life.   The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week:   4th of July, Africa, Alaska, Beach, Belgium, Billards, Birthday, Camping, Cheerleading, China, Construction, Cooking, Cycling, Europe, Fishing, Gardening, General Travel, Golf, Graduation, Italy, Karate, Kids, Louisiana, North Carolina, Panama, Romance, Scrapbooking, Summer, Surfing, Texas, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, Wrestling and Zoo.  Everything from A-Z!    We have two custom custom die cuts - adorable Train (for boys) and Flowers (for girls) borders that you can customize with any name that fits!   Click here to see all the new items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/70809.html.   Speaking of A-Z, we have a great A-Z sale this week!  We have over 190 EK Success embellishments, in every category from A-Z, and they are all on sale for 50% off.  There are even 16" letters for the wall for less than $3. Just enter coupon code EKAZSALE at checkout and the 50% discount will be applied.  Click here to see all the sale items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.  And remember, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always make it custom just for you (just like we did for Judy)!  Click here to see all our custom options:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/custom.html.   

As always, thanks for your business. 

  Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

13 comments July 8th, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Operation Gratitude Donation Update

Our office is closed today for the 4th of July holiday weekend, but I’m in here with the painters and the phone guys (The end of our expansion is almost in sight!)   I had planned on getting lots of work done since I’m here by myself, but all I’ve been doing is playing with my new iPhone   I have wanted one forever and finally got it as a "gift for me from me".    When I was in the AT&T store ordering it, my kids went over to check out the iPhone demos.  Within seconds, they had figured out how to play the games.  I guess if I have questions, I can ask my 9-year old!  I think this is the beginning of a shift in our relationship…don’t know if I’m quite ready for that!   Want to help send a goody box (care package) to a soldier stationed away from home?  Scrap Your Trip is donating $1.50 (up from $1.00 last year) of every order placed  from 7/1 to 7/4 to Operation Gratitude. Their "mission is to lift morale, bring a smile to a service member’s face and to express to our Armed Forces the appreciation and support of the American people."  Care packages are filled with letters and donated goodies valued at $100, but still cost money to pack and ship.  So far we’ve raised enough to send packages to over 60 soldiers…but we’d like to bring smiles to lots more faces.    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!  Please be safe!   As always, thanks for your business.    Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

7 comments July 3rd, 2009

Scrap Your Trip Adds 289 Items + 289 S*A*L*E Items

Do you believe one person can change the world?  I do.    I believe that Copernicus changed the world when he insisted that the Sun was at the center of the universe. I believe Rosa Parks changed the world when she refused to give up her seat on the bus.  I believe Bill Gates changed the world when he envisioned a computer on every desktop.    To change the world doesn’t have to be on such a big scale…it can be one person at a time.  I’d like to share with you two people who inspire me and who I believe are a fantastic example of how one person…one idea…can make a huge impact.   The first is a man by the name of Bert Brady.  The video of him being named Person of the Week by ABC News is several years old, but still just as inspiring.  He is retired veteran who established the “Welcome Home a Hero” program at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.  He, and a whole group of his new friends, welcome every soldier coming home.  Please take a minute to watch the video – I think you’ll be glad you did.  Click here to see:  http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/beb.html   Another person that inspires me is Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude.  She wanted to enlist in the military after 9/11, but they told her she was too old.  She then started to volunteer at her local USO.  One day when she was volunteering, a man came to speak to the chaplain, who was unavailable.  He was on his way to get on a plane, back to duty.  He told Carolyn “I don’t think I’ll make it back, but it really doesn’t matter, because no one would care anyway.”  At that moment, she realized how important it was for the soldiers in harm’s way to believe that the people at home care about them.   So, she founded Operation Gratitude, which to date, has mailed out 451,285 care packages to troops overseas.  In the beginning, she got the name of a General and sent him an e-mail asking for the names and addresses of all the soldiers under his command so that Operation Gratitude could send them a care package from home.   He wrote back”  “Ma’am, I don’t think you know who I am or how many soldiers I have under my command.  I currently have a force of 39,000 soldiers.”   She wrote back, “General, I don’t think you know who I am.  Just send me the names and addresses and I will make sure every one of them receives a care package from us at home.”  She did.   Scrap Your Trip has been a supporter of Operation Gratitude for the last few years. ( http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/operationgratitude.html)   Not on the Target or AT&T level, but last year we donated care packages for over 80 soldiers, so I know we made a difference to those 80, and that’s what matters to me.    We’re not doing a special promotion this week…I am going to donate $1.50 per order (up from $1.00 last year) of every order placed between today and July 4^th to Operation Gratitude instead, so that together we can make a difference in the life of one soldier.  One who is sacrificing his/her time, money, family and possibly even life to ensure that I can enjoy and revel in my freedoms this July 4^th.    So, please join me in supporting our troops.  You can even get some great scrapbook supplies as part of the deal! :-)   New BasicGrey anyone?  Among our 289 new items this week, there are two gorgeous new collections, "Lemonade" and "June Bug", along with "Bling It" rhinestones, "Opaline" designer half pearls, BasicGrey Designer Cardstock, and stamps from the Gamma Series.   We also have the "Zoofari" collection from Doodlebug (a new supplier for us), "Great Escape" travel collection from Making Memories, and the "Freedom" patriotic collection from Reminisce.   The SYT designers were working on the following themes this week:   Beach, Wine Tasting, Grandparents, Travel, 4th of July, Africa, Antartica, China, Greece, Israel, Japan, Moving, Construction, Gardening, Cooking, Road Trip, School, Summer, Southwest, Dance, Drama, Skydiving, Games, Music, Skateboarding, Theme Park, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Wedding, Zoo and of course, Scrapbooking!   We have two custom papers – School Stripe and Grunge Title and two custom die cuts - Wine Sign and Theme Park Border.   There are 4 new layouts for this weeks’ collections posted in the Shop By Layout Gallery – click here to see:  http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/shopbylayout.html   Click here to see all the new items:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/70109.html.   We also have 289 items on sale this week, along with our remaining clearance items.  Click here to see all the bargains:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.    And remember, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can always make it custom just for you!  Click here to see all our custom options:  www.scrapyourtrip.com/custom.html.    As always, thanks for your business.    Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’® 

10 comments July 1st, 2009