Archive for August, 2009
It seems like Wednesday’s e-mail about drift struck a chord with lots of you. I wanted to share a quiz with you from the blog that I read that really started me thinking about the whole concept of drift. It’s “The Happiness Project” from Gretchen Rubin and I think she is an awesome writer. Here’s the quiz from her blog:
“One of the problems of drift is that we try to deny we’re drifting. Take this quiz: how many of these statements apply to you, in your current situation? The more checks you make, the greater your risk for being adrift.”
__ I often have the peculiar feeling that I’m living someone else’s life.
__ I often think, “This situation can’t go on,” but then it does go on.
__ I spend a lot of time daydreaming about a completely different life as an escape from what I’m doing now.
__ I find myself getting very angry if someone challenges the values that I think I’m working toward. (E.g., working like crazy as a fifth-year associate at a law firm, and furious if someone argues that money and security aren’t important.)
__ I complain about my situation, but I don’t spend much time trying to figure out ways to make it better. In fact…
__ I fantasize that some catastrophe or upheaval will blow up my situation. I’ll break my leg or get transferred to another city.
__ I find myself having disproportionate reactions. (For example, I have a friend who wasn’t admitting to herself that she wanted to be an actor, and she decided to give it a shot after she started crying when someone started talking about acting.)
__ I feel like other people or processes are moving events forward, and I’m just passively carried along.
__ I find myself doing or getting something because the people around me are doing it or want it.
__ There is something in my life about which I used to be passionate, but now I never allow myself to indulge in it. In fact, it makes me uncomfortable even thinking about it.
__ I’ve justified certain actions on my part by assuring myself, “I might as well,” “It can’t hurt,” “This might be useful,” “This will keep my options
open,” “I can always decide later,” “I can always change my mind,” “Nothing is forever,” “How bad can it be?”
I don’t know about you, but after reading the first couple of questions, I knew I was drifting along. Recognize yourself in any of these questions?
On an entirely different note, I have been trying to figure out the trainer situation, since my trainer Matt moved to England (he’s doing well and happy to see his girl). So, in the meantime, I ordered the Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred
I did it for the first time this morning. It’s only a 20 minute workout but OH MY GOSH did she kick my butt!!! If you are looking for a good workout DVD with weights, I highly recommend it (along with 1,358 of my closest friends on Amazon). And it’s only $12.49! What a bargain 
Our 25% off sale on all Karen Foster stationery ends tonight at 11:59pm Eastern. Just enter coupon code KFAUG2009 at checkout and the discount will be applied at checkout. (Cannot be combined with any other coupon offer) Click here to see all our stationery items: http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/stationery.html
Our SYT Die Cut Clearance sale is still in full swing – lots of great items, but when they are gone, they are gone! Click here to see: http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html
As always, thanks for your business!
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/JulieSwatek
www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
www.twitter.com/JulieSwatek
August 28th, 2009
Drift. It’s something I have been thinking about lately. It keeps popping up in blogs I read, e-mails I get, etc.
The slow drift from awesome to great to good to mediocre. A decision you make by not making a decision at all. Just a slow drift to unintended consequences. You would never consciously go from awesome to mediocre. But somehow, slowly, you can end up in a place you never thought you would be.
Drift can happen in lots of different ways. Maybe it’s in your job or career. Maybe it’s your marriage. Maybe it’s the way you look. Maybe it’s just that you used to make an awesome cup of coffee because you ground it fresh yourself every morning and now you just buy Folgers from the grocery store.
Well, I’m not a coffee drinker, so I’m good there, but I know there has been a lot of drift going on in my life in lots of other areas.
Since I’ve been on this personal fitness quest, I’ll go with the easiest and most obvious – appearance. When I was in Atlanta a few weekends ago, two friends I hadn’t seen in a while made comments to me that made me start thinking about drift in my appearance. I have known both of them for about 5 years. The first comment I got was “You don’t look like a mom anymore.” The second one was “Did you do something different with your hair? You look a LOT different than I remember.”
Back in the day, you’d never leave the house without looking your best. Not only because you might see some cute guy at the store, but because it would never occur to you to leave the house without at least putting some lipstick and mascara on.
Awesome.
Then comes a point where you settle into life a bit.
Great.
Motherhood comes along. When you are a brand-new mom, it’s a built in excuse, since you can barely figure out how to take a shower in any given day. But sooner or later, you’re at the store in a ponytail, sweats and no makeup at all.
Good.
Now you have kids instead of babies. You’re still using the “baby weight” excuse, even though they are not babies anymore. One day, you look at yourself in the mirror and have no idea who is looking back at you.
Mediocre.
Well, it might have been a slow drift for me from awesome to mediocre in my appearance, but I’ve been trying to make it a much faster trip back to awesome. I am proud to say that with all the exercising and eating right that I’ve been doing, I have lost all my baby weight. Hey, it only took 10 years! Only 7 pounds left to my goal weight of 125.
Now I realize that all this might sound shallow. However, that’s not what it’s about. I think the slow drift in my appearance was a reflection of the drift in how I felt about myself on the inside.
But right now, I can look at myself in the mirror and think “Awesome inside…awesome outside!”
I have drifted in lots of other areas of my life as well which I need to start working on, but this is a good start. How about you? Any place in your life where you’ve drifted? Leave us a comment on the blog.
We have 316 new items this week, including "School – Boy" and "School – Girl" and "Flutter Flight" from Adornit by Carolee’s Creations, "Pets" and "A Hint of Pink" by TrimCraft and the "Discover" collection from Stamping Station – 2 papers and a sticker sheet for 51 different countries.
There are two new layouts from these collections in the Shop By Layout section. Click here to see : http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/shopbylayout.html
The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week: Ancestry, Arizona, Beach, Birthday, California, Circus, Color Guard, Driving, Faith, Ferry, Florida, Food, Football, Germany, Girlfriends, Hawaii, Kids, Lake, Music, Outdoors, Pets, Philippines, Rock Climbing, School, Scrapbooking, Southwest, Spa, Summer, Trains, Travel and Zoo.
We have two custom papers – Painted Grunge and Butterfly Stripe and two custom die cuts – School Title and Back-to-School Name.
Click here to see all the new items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/8262009.html.
We’ve also got 316 items on sale this week at 25% off. Click here to see all the sale items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.
Need to stock up on some gorgeous stationery supplies? Use coupon code KFAUG2009 at checkout to get an additional 25% off all Karen Foster stationery items. (One coupon code per order, please. Coupon expires Friday, August 28 at 11:59 pm Eastern)
We’ve been nominated for the Shine A Light small business award from American Express/NBC. I humbly ask for your support to please endorse the Scrap Your Trip team. They deserve it! Please click here: Shine A Light on Scrap Your Trip.
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! http://www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
I’m off to take my kids to their first day of school!
As always, thanks for your business.
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/julieswatek
www.facebook.com/scrapyourtrip
www.twitter.com/julieswatek
August 26th, 2009
My son Logan said the funniest thing yesterday. I put it on Facebook, but I thought it was so funny I wanted to share with everyone.
This is last week before school starts next Wednesday, so they have been spending lots of time with Dad, going here and there. Yesterday, they were headed to the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. I was talking to Logan on the phone while they were in the car, telling him I hope they had lots of fun.
"It’s a museum. It’s not supposed to be amazing!" I just cracked up laughing. The sad part was that they all thought it was very mediocre and not at all amazing. I guess I am going to have to take him to some amazing museums so he knows it’s possible. If anyone has any museums to recommend, please let me know.
When I said the other day we were running out of room for all the new products, I really meant it. We are discontinuing over 2100 Scrap Your Trip exclusive die cuts to free up some space. They are all marked down 25%. There are so many, we had to put them on three different pages. Click here to see:
Page 1, Page 2 and Page 3.
Today is also the last day to get an additional 15% off all the rest of the clearance items (not including the SYT die cuts put on clearance today). Just enter coupon code EXTRA15OFF at checkout and your discount will be applied.
Thank you to everyone who had endorsed Scrap Your Trip so far for the AMX/NBC Shine A Light award. We made it to the front page! (Bottom left-hand corner)
If you didn’t read the e-mail as to what this is about, click here to read it on the blog: Shine A Light Nomination
As always, thanks for your business!
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/JulieSwatek
www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
www.twitter.com/JulieSwatek
August 21st, 2009
I received this e-mail from a customer, “MollyMcPaws”, yesterday that really surprised me.
I saw an ad on the news today about submitting a small business (gives back to community, great customer service, takes American Express, profits less than 10 million) for the Shine A Light program which results in a grant as an award. I was going to do this quietly and let them email you BUT than I saw you had to have permission from the business first to submit the nomination. I can’t think of any business in my neck of the woods but thought immediately of yours. Home grown and thriving with the community and customer service being at the forefront. I am hoping you say Yes…this sort of sounds like asking someone to the prom. I don’t know how I would have managed to make all the scrapbooks and cards if I did not have your resources to choose from.
I told her that I was honored that she would think of Scrap Your Trip and that I would love to go to the prom with her!
Well, within the hour, she had submitted her nomination. I was overwhelmed with the wonderful things she wrote about Scrap Your Trip.
There are three Judging Criteria: Innovation (has devised a new way of working in order to survive tough times), Community (still finds ways to give back to the community, even when staying afloat is a challenge), and Customer Service (continually demonstrates a "customer first" mentality, and during challenging times recognizes that connections are more important than ever).
When I read through these criteria, I thought “this sounds like Scrap Your Trip!” But I spent a long time thinking to myself, “How do I ask people to “Shine A Light” on my company and not sound like I am bragging?”
But here’s the thing: my staff deserves to be recognized. Yes, I am the face of Scrap Your Trip, but there are 24 other people who work really hard each and every day to ensure that Scrap Your Trip is a great company to do business with.
It’s Laurie and Orita, our fantastic customer service team, who answer every call and e-mail with a smile and will spend 30 minutes out in the warehouse looking for someone’s order because they wanted to add just one more thing.
It’s Mey, Antoine and Maria, our customs team, who spend their days making customized papers and die cuts, so that your scrapbooks can be even more personalized.
It’s Tiffany, Sean, Joann and Stephanie, our wonderful designers, who continue to amaze me each and every week with their creative die cut designs.
It’s Nicole, Sommer and Stephen, our products team, who spend each week getting all the new products put on our website, with images so great you feel like you are holding it in your hand. I can’t tell you the number of Tuesday nights Nicole has been here until 10:00 pm or later, making sure everything was ready for the e-mail to go out Wednesday morning.
It’s Lucy and Robb, our receiving team, who receive in a never-ending amount of boxes of scrapbook product every day, counting each item to make sure we got what we paid for.
It’s Karen, Fran, Jessica and Hylena, our cutting room team, who make all the little pieces that make up our die cuts.
It’s Antonia, LaToya, Catherine and Debbie, our warehouse team, who quality checks each order to make sure it’s correct and packaged and shipped with care.
It’s Cindy, our order processor, who looks at each and every order and answers comments before it goes to the warehouse team.
And it’s Lani, my Operations Manager and sidekick, who keeps everything running like clockwork.
So, I humbly ask for your support to please endorse the Scrap Your Trip team. They deserve it! Please click here: Shine A Light on Scrap Your Trip.
(You are going to have to register to endorse us. I know it’s a pain, but I appreciate it!
We have 263 new items this week, including "Water Fun" by Best Creations, "Wine Country" by Stamping Station, "Cowboy", "Cowgirl", "Volleyball" and "Rugby" from Karen Foster, "Greece", "Ireland" and "Japan", "South Seas" and "Elegance" from Creative Imaginations, "Glamour" and "Masculine" from TrimCraft, "Just the Edge" and Heritage printed cardstock from Bazzill and USA and Broadway die cuts from Paper Wizard.
There are several new layouts from these collections in the Shop By Layout section. Click here to see : http://www.scrapyourtrip.com/shopbylayout.html
The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week: Beach, Birthday, California, Cherry Blossoms, Cruise, England, FairyTale, Farm, Golf, Music, Navy, New England, Pets, Police, Pool, Retro, Safari, Scrapbooking, Skateboarding, Soccer, Southwest, Travel and USA.
We have two custom papers – Vertical School and Scattered Monograms and two custom die cuts – Pet Collar and Hibiscus.
Click here to see all the new items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/8192009.html.
We’ve also got 263 items on sale this week at 25% off. Click here to see all the sale items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.
Lots of new stuff we ordered from the CHA Tradeshow is coming in and we need space to put it! Use coupon code EXTRA15OFF at checkout to get an additional 15% off all our clearance items. (One coupon code per order, please. Coupon expires Friday, August 21 at 11:59 pm Eastern)
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! http://www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
As always, thanks for your business.
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/julieswatek
www.facebook.com/scrapyourtrip
www.twitter.com/julieswatek
August 19th, 2009
Boy am I ready to go home! Lani, my Operations Manager, and I have been at internet conferences since last Friday. First Atlanta and then San Jose. We have learned SO much about how to make our website better for you. We’ve been adding features, like the new search and the image enlargement, and we’re committed to continue making shopping at Scrap Your Trip a better experience.
Like all conventions, the food has been horrible. I hate being held hostage in a convention center with icky food. Yesterday’s lunch was so bad I threw it away after one bite and ended up just eating a bag of potato chips and a Coke for lunch! I can’t wait to get home to some real food!
But most of all, I can’t wait to get home to my kids. My 9-year old Lauren has been just fine while I’m gone. She is so focused on her iPod Touch apps that she can’t think about anything else. But my little 6-year Logan is a whole different story. He really misses his Mommy. Every day, he has been counting down how many days until I get home. If I don’t get to hug them soon I am going to burst!!!!!
Don’t forget, today is the last day to get a free adhesive with your order over $59. It’s an Easy Fix Removable Adhesive runner from a brand new company to us, TrimCraft. After you use it, please write a review on our site and let us know what you think!
As always, thanks for your business!
August 14th, 2009
Where oh where has the summer gone?!? This is the kids last week of summer camp. They have had an absolute blast this summer. This is the first year they have done a mix of camps, instead of just going to the same one every week. They have been to tennis camp, Sea World Camp, computer camp, YMCA camp, Theatre camp and are finishing up at the Orlando Science Center camp. For the final week, my daughter Lauren is building Lego structures and my son Logan is learning all about bugs. He is terrified of bugs and I thought this would help. It could have gone either way, but he he said he got in line ten times to touch a centipede, so I’m guessing he is a little less afraid now.
I can’t believe my babies are starting first and fourth grade. I can completely remember being in fourth grade. We had a group called "Karl and the Strawberries" and we sang backup to all the Shaun Cassidy songs. Lauren has reached the age where she just wants to walk around with her iPod headphones in her ears and Logan has somehow reached the age where he looks like a kid now instead of a little boy. Too fast, I’m telling you. Too fast!
Update on my fitness quest: I saw someone last night I hadn’t seen in about 6 weeks and they asked where they rest of me went! I learned something interesting from my trainer Matt before he left. There is a woman who spends an hour walking on the elliptical. She is there every morning that I am. However, I have noticed that she doesn’t look any different than when I started. Matt said, "Here’s the difference. During her time on the elliptical, she probably burns 350 calories. But the minute she steps off, she stops burning calories. You spend an hour lifting weights. You probably burn 350 calories. But you keep burning calories for about another 9 hours afterwords." So for any of you who joined me on my fitness quest, if you are not lifitng some weights, you should try to add them. My body has really transformed over the last 6 weeks. Now if I can just find a new trainer!
We have 302 new items this week, including four collections from a brand new supplier, TrimCraft. They are a UK company that made their debut at the CHA show and we really liked the look of their stuff. The collections are "Fantasy", "Wild Blossoms", "Smirk – Love and Friendship" and "Smirk – Naughty But Nice". We also have the "Tropical Paradise" and "Make-A-Wish" collections from Best Creations, "Soccer", "Travel", "Scrapbooking’" and "Bon Appetit" from Karen Foster and the "Safari" collection from Reminisce. We also have some new travel journals from Reminisce – 6 x 9 1/2 – the perfect size for all your travel memories.
The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week: Ancestry, Army, Baseball, Basketball, Beach, Birthday, Bowling, Bowling, Brazil, Canada, Colorado, Cooking, Cycling, Family, Football, Games, General Travel, Georgia, Grandparents, Great Outdoors, Harry Potter, Ireland, Italy, Kentucky, Kids, Lacrosse, Marines, Massachusetts, Music, North Carolina, Ohio, Retirement, School, Softball, South Dakota, Summer, Sweden, Wedding and Wyoming.
We have three custom papers – Polka Dot Grunge, Baseball Stripe and Baseball Scallop.
Click here to see all the new items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/8122009.html.
We’ve also got 302 items on sale this week at 25% off. Click here to see all the sale items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.
The new UK supplier, TrimCraft has some great prices on tools, etc., so we wanted to test them out. Today through Friday, all orders placed over $59 will include a free Easy Fix Removable Adhesive. All we ask is that you try it and let us know what you think. We’ve added product reviews to the site, so please feel free to let us (and everyone else) know about your favorite products.
Congrats to Nancy Cooper of Ohio! You are the winner of last week’s drawing of brand new Karen Foster products.
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! http://www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
As always, thanks for your business.
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/julieswatek
www.facebook.com/scrapyourtrip
www.twitter.com/julieswatek
August 12th, 2009
Thank you Kathy B from Missouri for making my day!
As an online company, we only have contact with a very small portion of our customers. A few call of you call…a few of your write…now I know some of your faces from Facebook, but it’s nothing like actually getting to meet in person.
Kathy came to Orlando for the Tupperware Jubilee and stopped by the office to pick up her order. She had a great time ooohing and aaahing over all our paper and I was thrilled to be able to show off the warehouse. I really enjoyed meeting you Kathy!
If you are ever near our warehouse in Orlando, we’d love to meet you too! Just call us at 407-351-1501 to set up a time to come in to shop and visit.
Last day to get in on our drawing for three of the brand new Karen Foster releases. All orders placed today over $59 will be entered in the drawing. The winner will be announced next Wednesday.
As always, thanks for your business!
Julie Swatek, President
Scrap Your Trip®
www.ScrapYourTrip.com
‘cuz life is a trip worth scrappin’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/JulieSwatek
www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip
www.twitter.com/JulieSwatek
August 7th, 2009
Life can change in an instant. One minute life is one way and the next minute it’s not. One minute you are looking at a pregnancy stick and the next minute, you are going to have a baby. One minute you are alone and the next minute you meet someone and you’re not. One minute you have two parents and the next minute you don’t.
One minute, you are driving home from a family vacation, probably talking and laughing about what a good time you had. The next minute, a tire blows, you hit the median, your car flips and in that next minute, life is never the same again. One minute you have a husband, the next minute you don’t. One minute your daughter has a father and the next minute she doesn’t.
This is the life of a friend of mine, after a terrible accident driving home from the beach this past weekend. One minute, talking and laughing. Next minute, widowed and a single parent. I was at the funeral yesterday. It was heart wrenching.
So if life can change in an instant…one minute it’s one way and the next minute another, how do you make sure life is what you want it to be?
I don’t mean that "Live Like You Were Dying" stuff, like the Tim McGraw song. Jumping out of planes and climbing mountains and riding bulls. Living each day as if it were your last is living out of a place of fear, as far as I’m concerned. A place of scarcity. Like life only has so much good stuff to offer and you better use it up while you still have the chance.
No, I’m talking more about living life with no regrets. A life that is as good as you can make it. A life that at the end of the day …or the end of the week…or on your birthday, you can say to yourself, "Life is good. Life is authentic. I am happy. I am fulfilled. I wouldn’t change a thing."
That’s the kind of life I want to live. It’s still a work-in-progress. But if I ever find myself in a situation where life is one way one minute and another in the next minute, I want to feel like I was on the right path, since I only get to do this once.
Wow! I know this is pretty intense. But between this and one of my other friends recently being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my life is under pretty serious examination right now.
So, let’s move onto fun scrapbook stuff!
We had a blast at CHA! (Craft & Hobby Association Tradeshow) It’s great to see all my old friends from our industry and to make some new ones. It is always amazing to see the continuing creativity of all these people!
If you haven’t done so already, head over to our Facebook Fan Page to see all the pictures of the sneak peeks of new items. Click here http://www.facebook.com/ScrapYourTrip to view the albums and to become a Scrap Your Trip Fan. Again, if there are any collections you really want to see us carry, please let us know. We have already ordered some and "just off the presses" stuff starts coming in next week.
We have 268 new items this week, including two collections from a new supplier for us, Anna Griffin. The "Alix" collection (summery and beachy) and the "Riley" collection (big top fun). We have put together matching Bazzill packs for each collection. We also have several new sports albums from MBI: Cheerleading, Volleyball, Dance, Gymnastics, Hockey and Martial Arts. We’ve got new felt borders from Queen & Company, and 65 stickers from EK Success in lots of different themes, including more Disney.
The SYT designers were also working on the following themes this week: Alaska, Aruba, Baseball, Beach, Camping, Casino, Cheerleading, Chess, Cooking, Cowboy, Cruise, Dance, Dentist, Drama, Ecuador, Football, Friends, Games, General Travel, Italy, Kids, Kuwait, Michigan, Middle East, Music, Racing, Rodeo, Rugby, School, Scrapbooking, Sea World, Southwest, Space, Sports, Summer, Virginia, and Zoo.
We have three custom papers – School Brackets, School Brackets Journaling and Instant Layout with Journaling and two custom die cuts: a photo frame border and a "Wish You Were Here" 4×6 photo frame.
Click here to see all the new items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/852009.html.
We’ve also got 268 items on sale this week at 25% off. Click here to see all the sale items: www.scrapyourtrip.com/clearance.html.
Want brand new Karen Foster collections in your hands before they are available to the public? All orders 8/5/2009 – 8/7/2009 over $59 are eligible to win a pack of NEW Karen Foster product full of these collections: Travel, Cowboy, Cowgirl and Scrapbooking! We will be announcing the winner next Wednesday.
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’®
http://blog.scrapyourtrip.com
www.facebook.com/julieswatek
www.facebook.com/scrapyourtrip
www.twitter.com/julieswatek
August 5th, 2009
