I'm going to take a small break from posting finished graphics because today is a special day.

Eight years ago today, April 1, 2002 I joined Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator!

Celebrating 8 Years!

How did I decide to sign up, you wonder?

My cousin-in-law (husband's cousin) Tabitha invited me to a Stampin' Up! workshop at her home in Waukesha Wisconsin in Nov. 2001.

It was not my first workshop. I had gone to a Stampin' Up! workshop back at Christmas 2000 at a co-workers house in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

So when I got an invitation from cousin Tabby to come to her Stampin' Up! workshop, I was like, yay! I was happy because I remembered that the Stampin' Up! workshop I had attended in 2000 was really fun. The demonstrator gave me a catalog, which you see above (I still have it and its very dog-eared from much paging through, lol) Well, I needed something fun to do that weekend. So I accepted Tabby's invitation.

I ordered a bunch of stuff …over $100 worth of stuff. And I fell in love with stamping once again!

And at the end of the workshop… I booked a Workshop with the demonstrator who did Tabby's workshop.

I had my Stampin' Up! workshop at my house in March 2002 in Racine, Wisconsin. It was an Easter workshop. I think the demonstrator was really happy because I invited alot of people and alot of people came! I think my workshop totalled over $800 and I got lots of free stuff.

And then she suggested I sign up and handed me a brochure printout with information about a sign-up promo starting April 1st, 2002. Anyone who signed up in April 2002 got a free wire-bound book with stamp art ideas in it. Back then the book was something that was a catalog item.

So she gave me the demonstrator forms to fill out and I dated them April 1st. And on April 1st, I mailed them!

My upline Jamie is still an SU! demonstrator as well. Jamie lives in Racine also, and she has been a demonstrator since 1995!!! Yeah, she's going on her 15th year as a demo!

I've been a SUDSOL member since 2003… so going on 7 years for that!

And guess what I also started in 2003? The First Ever Stampin' Up! Demonstrator BLOG here!

I was the first Stampin' Up! demonstrator to start a customer blog… 7 years ago…

When I started blogging, there was NO TYPEPAD. Blogger had NO POST EDITOR back then! Everything in blogger *including all posts* had to be written in HTML manually.

I suppose that's one reason I HAD to learn HTML. Without knowing it, I couldn't post!

Also, all sidebar items had to be hand coded. There was only one option for sidebar uploading… The HTML option. If you didn't know HTML, you couldn't add anything to your sidebars. No picture upload, no automated feed widget, no place to upload links in a "form"…

I started blogging before Blogger was owned by Google!!! lol Changes… changes… looking back is fun!

That was it! Here I am… still hooked!

Ready, set, let’s start!

1. How long have you been blogging, mom?

I’ve been blogging since 1996. That was when Blogger was the ONLY blogging service available and it didn’t even have a post editor! Everything back then had to be entered using HTML code. In order to blog, you needed to know HTML. Blogger wasn’t even owned by Google yet! In fact, there was no Google yet! My first blog was a business blog. I blogged about Library Science and Digital Archiving. However, I deleted that blog many years ago and didn’t save the posts.

2. So how did you decide to start a Stampin’ Up! blog in 2003 and become the first stamping blogger on the planet?

Well, at that time I had a weekly stamp class with 7 or 8 ladies attending every Thursday. Since I had already been blogging for work, I already knew the benefits of blogging and I thought… hey, what a great way to let my gals know what we would be doing at the next stamp class! So I started a blog for the purpose of keeping my customers updated. I taught my customers to go to the blog and subscribe so that they could get the blog updates in their emails. I would list upcoming class schedules, projects and then after the class I’d post additional information and pictures of what we did in class. My class members found this to be very useful because they could easily refer back to the blog to see what we made/how things were done if they needed to. I’d also announce all the new SU! specials on the blog for my customers as well! To me it made perfect sense to use the blogging platform for this purpose… and then I realized I was the only one using it for stamping… for over a year, I was the ONLY stamper blogging her stamping business and the ONLY Stampin’ Up! blog in existance.

3. Wow. very cool. And did it work?

Yes! I feel that it kept my customers engaged and excited about stamping and it was a great way to keep them updated on the new specials. I also had an unexpected result from the blog that I hadn’t thought of when I started it. I started getting customers ordering from me from all over the country! They would locate my blog, follow what my class members were doing in class and they’d email me with orders! I even got a few downlines from it!

4. hmmm…interesting. When you design blog banners, what is the most difficult style for you to design in?

I’d have to say "cutsie". I don’t do "cutsie" well at all. Maybe because most of my designing has been for business purposes, I just haven’t been into "cutsie" at all.

5. Do you digi-scrap?

Actually, no. I’ve never digi-scrapped. I’ve only used a digi-scrap kit on a customer banner once – at their request, and with permission of the digi-scrap kit creator. But I’ve never purchased or used any digi-scrap kits. For me, scrapbooking means paper and actual touchable items. That is what is fun… the textures and ribbons, and hardware, and oh… designer papers, and and and STAMPS of course!

6. Do you own any stamps that are non SU!?

Yes! I’ve been on some design teams and I’ve gotten lots of stamps that way. I’m currently not on any stamping design teams. I’ve been asked several times but I am not currently interested. I’m sure I will go back to design team work in the future. I have lots and lots of Christian themed stamps (verses, Cross stamps, etc.), Celtic and British stamps, and cat and kitten stamps – all from various companies. The Christian stamps I use alot, The Celtic stamps are from Scottish Borders Stamping mostly, the British stamps are from a stamp store in London that I’ve been to several times, and the cat stamps were purchased all over because I love cats.

7. Well, I’m certainly happy you like cats because I happen to be one. I do have a question regarding cats by the way… why do you keep bringing into my house all these homeless alley cats and baby kittens? Aren’t I and my 3 other flatmates enough?

Why yes, Gitana. I love you and your 3 flatmates very much. However, as you know, there are many kittens and cats on the streets with no homes. I take in cats and baby kittens through an organization called Kindred Kitties. I am a foster mom and I raise baby kittens until they are old enough and healthy and can be adopted. Remember, you were once a homeless kitty that I fostered and nursed you back to health. You just happen to be the one cat that I adopted myself!

8. So how do you manage to do all the blog work and foster babie kitties and work a job too?

Oh, you may have noticed, Gitana, that I’m around the house a lot more often lately. Perhaps you haven’t noticed since you seem to do nothing else but sleep all day. Anyhow, I no longer have a job outside of the home. At the moment my job is blog and banner design full time as well as doing craft fairs for Stampin’ Up!. Don’t worry. I wasn’t layed off. I quit. Last month. To pursue other interests. So I’m home most of the time now. I feel like a SAHM to a bunch of felines. But hey, whatever works!

9. Oh, so that’s why I’ve been getting more cat treats during the day! I was wondering about that. Well, thanks for the mini interview, mom. We’ll do it again sometime. Perhaps on a different topic.

Its been a real pleasure talking with you Gitana. Yes, let’s do it again sometime. Thanks!

Clients of my print ad design receive "Ready for Printer" versions of their ordered designs. As part of my "day job" I work with printers on a daily basis and I understand their specific needs. This includes any professional Color Adjusting that needs to be done.

 I have training as a Color Adjuster… and I can give you an example of my color adjusting work here:

Before Color Adjusting:

Photo after color adjusting:

Before Color Adjusting:

Photo after color adjusting:

How does my skill benefit Blog Banner customers?

It means that when I receive photos from clients for banners, you can be assured that the photos will be properly Color Adjusted to look their best on the blog as well as in print!!

Photoshop brushes are great, but I use them sparingly because anyone can purchase a brush and plop it onto a banner! When this happens, banners begin to all look alike because the same designs are used over and over again on each banner. If you like having a banner that has the same designs as someone else’s great! However, for those that want their very own look, I offer a different kind of banner service where no 2 banners have the same design elements on them. I do use some brushes, but for the most part I rely on finding unique art!

Since you are paying me for a unique creation, you deserve more than brush work that looks like everyone else’s!

I’m working on a few more creations right now. I’ll post them shortly! Please stop by again!

I’m Michelle Laycock, and I have a "day job" at the United Communications Corporation. The United Communications Corporation is a publisher of several newspapers and owner of several radio stations around the country – mostly in the Midwest area (Wisconsin),  Massachusetts, South Dakota and New York State.

We are also the publisher of a Women’s interest magazine entitled "She". I design advertisements, layout ads on pages, index and archive the company’s publications. In the past, I’ve designed banners and ads for the company website, but have since moved more into the realm of print advertising design and layout.

I have worked in the publishing industry for 13 years, starting in 1995.

(I’m also a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator)

I began consulting bloggers and designing banners about a year and a half ago because I enjoy it! It is fun! Designing banners helps other bloggers look professional in the blogosphere which keeps us all looking good!

My specialty is designing for stamping blogs, but I can design just about anything for anyone, actually.

My philosophy is if you purchase a banner, you can do what you want to with the original .psd file. It is yours. Just let me know you want the layered version and I can send it. Any customer may receive the "layered" .psd version of their banner at no extra cost if they make a request. Layered versions can be edited as desired by the customer. "Blanks" are also available at no extra cost. A "blank" is your banner minus any text.

In addition, I keep a file of all banners I create. Therefore, if something happens to your blog banner (blog goes down, blog deleted by mistake, Image gets corrupted, etc.) Just ask me and I’ll send you your banner back at no extra charge! If you ordered a banner at some point and then later on you’d like to order a matching background, post siggy or button… no problem! I can make them match!

Have a pink-filled happy summer day, today!