Changing The Map But Still On A "Journey" ...

Originally, I wondered what to call this blog and with misgivings I added "Journeys" to the title.  I'd been involved in Direct Sales companies before and knew two things -- (1) they are not perfect and (2) they can be limiting and a third thing I knew was that I had joined Fun Stampers journey mostly for the starter kit more than to be a "Coach."  There are upsides to being associated with a company and I tried to convince myself I could and would make a business out of it this time.
I joined Fun Stampers Journey late in January 2016 -- they had such an awesome join promo going on at the time -- a "customizeable" kit (pick the stamps and dies you wanted to receive from a very short list and get the die cutting machine included in the kit for less than the cost of the die cutting machine's full price in the catalog, plus a bunch of other supplies, stamps and a die set.  I tried but not overly hard to find customers.  One friend placed two small orders over the last seven months.  Thank you to her.  By joining in January, I had until the end pf June to meet my first "quarterly minimum" sales requirement but did not, so I was on probation all through July ... well, as you probably have already guessed, I still did not meet the minimum by July 31.  **sigh**  I did place an order on the 2nd and it was almost a week before FSJ deactivated my ordering site -- I thought maybe they had decided to let me slide through.  But I had made a bit of a PITA (Pain In The A**) of myself over the weekend at a Facebook site for FSJ coaches -- that is not supposed ever have a negative word written about the company.  And someone had asked about how to find out which ink and card stock colors matched a particular set of printed papers.  Great question, I replied.  But then went on to complain that we should not need to ask these things -- this is info that coaches and customers want to know and should be in the catalog and on the website.  Lack of descriptive info has been my chief complaint since I first learned about FSJ in the summer of 2014, when they announced they were going to become a direct sales company that September.  This lack in their process of introducing new products does not detract from the fact that FSJ has some really cool and awesome products, stamp images and dies!  If you want to shop at FSJ, your shopping experience will be enhanced by choosing a Coach to shop with before you try to navigate the site -- otherwise you may not see all the products they have to offer -- and I'll suggest you choose Linda Berg (no relation) from Chippewa Falls, WI.  She is a great lady who is interesting and will treat you right as her customer.  :D
There has been a change in the kit since January and I could easily rejoin Fun Stampers Journey and get the new kit.  A month ago, I probably would have thought more about it and made a decision to stick with FSJ. (Since the change in the kit is that it includes the bigger and better "platinum" die cutting machine instead of the "Grand" version which I had received in my kit back in January -- the Grand is no longer available (but I will sell you mine if you want it and are willing to pay the shipping) -- both have an 8 1/2 x 11" base allowing you to cut bigger dies or more of them at a time.  The Grand does not work with any "steel rule" dies (such as the original sizzix dies) but the Platinum does and I asked someone who has the Platinum, and it will cut the AccuCut quilting dies with no problem at all!!  Way cool, huh?  Once again, the kit with this machine costs less than the price of the Platinum machine's catalog price ... good deal except -- I still have uneasiness about some aspects of FSJ and complaints and the "minimums" requirement ... besides, if i stayed with FSJ, I would end up saving my money to get an electronic die cutter like the Cameo or the Brother Scan and Cut instead of the manual crank cutter -- too many of the stamp sets don't have matching dies and many of the stamps sets with matching dies ... well, in my opinion, the items which would be easy to fussy cut have the dies and the smaller, harder to fussy cut stamps do not have dies ... therefore I would "need" an electronic die cutter to really use these sets of stamps the way I want to use them ...)
But there is another company that I only slightly knew much about -- When TAC (The Angel Company rubber stamping company) finally went out of business (I'd already quit about a year before that fully knowing the company was headed to an untimely end), some of the Angels joined a company that at that time seemed to have a very small catalog and had a lot of their demos at the time were certified Copic teachers and at the time, I thought their offerings were too few and the focus on Copics was not for me.  The company has grown and now has a nice collection of stamp sets with coordinating dies, plus tools, colors in their inks and cardstocks and embellishments that are fun and "yummy," and they sell Tombow markers as well as Copic.  Right after I joined FSJ in late January, this other company had an awesone join promo and I seriously considered it.  I stuck with FSJ at the time and did not take advantage of this huge deal and now want to kick myself for not doing it then ... hindsight, huh?  LOL!  Anyhow. I stayed with FSJ as I had just started a facebook page/group to encourage the coaches to put on a monthly blog hop in an attempt to get the FSJ name out there to the public.  Turns out that most of the hopper visitors to each blog are Coaches and not the general public or even customers of any of the participants ... and because I knew I would have a hard time meeting FSJ's quarterly minimum of just $150 unless I really could generate an audience and customers and this other company's minimum was $300.  Too much for me.
Right now, they have an awesome (not as awesome as back in February, though) join promo AND have done away with the minimums completely, instead there is an annual fee to stay active.  How cool is that?  So, I'm not sure when I will be able to jump in there, but it is coming (YAY!) -- I am already dreaming about projects I would like to make using the ribbons and embellishments in the starter kit.  So what company is this?

Yep, check them out at https://www.amusestudio.com/peggycantes.  I emailed Peggy for info about how she likes her business and learned she joined just recently at the annual convention when she learned that there are no minimums.  She is new to the company and I am sure she would appreciate your support for her business!
Each month, AMS rolls out a monthly collection of new stamps and dies and possibly some coordinating embellishments.  A few months ago, they had this set in the monthly collection -- it is now in the stamps (ie part of the regular catalog and won't be discontinued any time soon) and not in "past collections" portion of the site -- so glad I'll be able to get it down the road -- it is so cute!  It is in the "send your love" section of the site under "stamps."

	gnome other
	SSSE032 - set of 13 cling-mount rubber stamps (matching die is #TAD0233)
	$17.99

The August Blog Hop for Fun Stampers Journey has a theme of "Outdoor Fun" --and goes "live" on August 21 (my hubby's birthday) -- I don't know that I actually have any supplies or stamps that meet that theme and since i am no longer a Coach, I am not officially part of the hop -- however, if I think up a decent project to share, I will post one and announce it on FB to come on over.
     In the meantime, I am hard at work prepping some of my own artwork for a coloring book!  It is so awesome!  Unfortunately, it is taking longer than expected since the scans came out a bit gray and i am spending lots of time trying to get the gray out so you can have gorgeous kaleidoscope or postcard designs to color.  To whet you appetite, here are a couple you can download, print and color -- if you do color them, please post your finished items at my facebook page (I'd love to see what you accomplish) -- share it on your FB page too and send people to my facebook page to pick up their own to color too!  THANKS!