The Stamp Workshop

Copyrights and Your Creations

Have you ever wondered how your creations are protected once they are posted on the internet?

Many of my readers have their own blogs.  A majority of these blogs are creative blogs in which the blog owner posts her (or his) paper craft creations.  Here is a great article on copyrights that I happened upon on CNNmoney.com.  To see the original post and the article in its entirety, click here.

Q: Do I have to patent greeting cards?

A: A patent is for an invention. According to Brent Routman, a Minneapolis attorney for Merchant & Gould, an intellectual property law firm: “Unless your greeting card has a functional or mechanical aspect to it, what you’re looking for is a copyright.”

Of course, if you’re using someone else’s artwork, you’d have to get their permission to include it on your greeting cards, and you are also barred from registering a copyright.

If your cards are entirely self-created, you have the option of registering a copyright. Registration is voluntary: Copyright is automatic under U.S. law, and your work is inherently protected the moment it is created and put in tangible form.

You will want to register, however, if you wish to file a lawsuit alleging a copyright infringement. “In doing so you’re potentially entitled to greater damages - up to triple - if and when you go to court,” Routman says.

For more copyright information, go to the US Copyright Office.

What are the Benefits?

Have you ever wondered what the benefits are of being a Stampin' Up Independent Demonstrator?

Here are the eight top benefits:

8.  Stampin' Success - Every month Demonstrators receive a new issue of Stampin' Success, a magazine filled with some of the best paper crafting artwork new techniques and great business tips.

7.  Demonstrator website - Demonstrators have access on the Stampin' Up! website to fabulous business support.  Everything needed run a successful business is found on the website.

6. Convention - Demonstrators have the chance to attend the Stampin' Up! Annual Convention - think fun and free stamps!

5. Friendships -Demonstrators develop long time friendships with fellow demonstrators, customers and hostesses.!

4. Sneak peeks - Demonstrators get first look at new Stampin' Up! products and get an opportunity to buy it first.

3. Rewards - Demonstrators can earn free product, cash and even a Cruise!

2. Ownership - Demonstrators are business owners.  They decide when they work and how hard.

1. Discounts - Never pay full price again!  Demonstrators get a 30% discount on their first order.  All following orders receive a 20% discount.

Want to know more about being a demonstrator?  Check out the Be a Demonstrator page!

Are you ready to sign up TODAY?  You can now sign up right from your own computer!

Click here to be a Demonstrator with the Stamp Workshop Team!

The link will direct you to the Independent Demonstrator Agreement (IDA).  Read through the agreement and check the "I Agree" box.  In the box, next to where it reads "Enter your Recruiter Authorization Password:" type in StampWorkshop - please note: there is *no* space between the words.

Once you agree to the IDA, you will be ask to supply your basic information.  After you submit this information, you will be given an opportunity to fully customize your starter kit. After selecting your starter kit contents, you're officially a member of the Stamp Workshop Team!  An email containing your new Demonstrator ID number and a temporary password will be sent to your inbox.  It's that easy!

Introducing the Spring Summer 08 Collection!

Have you wondered what the cover of the new Spring Summer 08 Collection looks like?  Well, wonder no more!  The new Spring Summer 08 Collection is here!

To view the new Collection, click here.

Would you like a new catalog of your own?  Catalogs are currently offered at $9.95.  I am offering a special promotion for the new catalog. Purchase a catalog at $9.95 and receive a $10 credit towards a future purchase!  The catalog will be mailed to you at a cost of $4.60 via priority mail, or local customers can make arrangements to pick it up.  Offer good only in the US.

As always, you can find a link to this Collection and any current catalog on the left hand side of this blog.  Just click the cover of the catalog you want to view.

You may notice that the Spring Summer Preview Brochure is still posted.  This brochure lists two great promotions going on right now.

The first promotion is the Valentine Bundle.  This promotion was featured in a previous post.  To see it, click here.

The other promotion is a way to earn any stamp set from the Preview Brochure FREE!  If you host a workshop or catalog party and sales reach $350, you will earn any one stamp set from the Preview Brochure.  Contact me today to set up a local workshop.

If you are a long distance customer, you can still benefit!  A catalog part is the way to go!  Simply show the catalog to friends and family.  They place their orders and you reap the benefits!  Contact me to set up your catalog party, or for more information.

Happy Stampin'!

Clean Stamps are Happy Stamps!

Have you ever wondered how to properly clean your stamps?  Read on for some tips!

Why clean your stamps?

• Properly maintained rubber stamps should last a lifetime
• Ink from one project can bleed onto another project, ruining your artwork.
• Likewise, using a stamp with residual ink can ruin the color of your inkpad.

One of the easiest ways to clean your stamp is "stamping off".  On a scratch piece of paper, continually stamp your image until the image runs clear.  Once the image runs clear, the stamp is clean.

For a deep clean in which ink is removed from all the "nooks and crannies", a stamp cleaning pad and stamp cleaner is best.  A stamp cleaning pad has soft, tiny bristles that can reach all the intricate details of the stamp, brushing out excess ink.  The stamp cleaner helps to loosen the ink to be brushed off by the stamp cleaning pad.

The Stampin' Up version of the cleaning pad is called the Stampin' Scrub (102642 $14.95) and the stamp cleaner is called Stampin' Mist (102394 $3.95).  To clean your stamps, open the Stampin' Scrub and lay on a flat surface.  Spray the Stampin' Mist on one side of the scrub.  Gently rub your stamp, image side down on the side of the scrub with the cleaner.  On the dry side of the scrub, gently rub the stamp to remove the excess cleaner.  Using Stampin' Mist not only cleans the stamp, but conditions the rubber as well.

Some things to avoid when cleaning rubber stamps:

• Avoid soaking wood mounted stamps.  This may cause your rubber to come loose from the foam padding.
• If using cleaner other than Stampin' Mist, avoid cleaners with alcohol, including baby wipes.  Alcohol can contribute to the breakdown of the rubber.
• When cleaning stamps, avoid using a heavy hand.  Vigorously rubbing a stamp can cause it to peel away from the foam or even the wood.

Blog Candy Winner!

You must be wondering who won the blog candy???

Using random.org, entry #10 wins!

Joan B. - She wrote: would love to know how to cut layers exactly right!

I sent you an email Joan!  And a big thank you to all of you who are now on my email list!

Coordinating Colors

Have you ever wondered why there are slight color variances between two packs of cardstock bought at different times?  Stampin' Up! explains why...

Because there is such high demand for our products, Stampin' Up! outsources its card stock and paper to several different paper mills. Once a mill creates card stock in a specific color, the mill tests it with a spectrophotometer, a device that measures the color. The card stock must pass the mill's internal quality control standards developed in conjunction with Stampin' Up!, including a color examination in a light box. Our products are then reviewed carefully by color experts at Stampin' Up! before being approved. Here's a closer look at our product approval process:

When samples arrive at Stampin' Up! for analysis, our quality control team makes its own inspection. Card stock samples are evaluated the same day they are received. Inks are stamped and set aside for 24 hours before evaluating, which allows us to check the color consistency once the dye ink has absorbed into the paper and the pigment ink has dried through evaporation. All color evaluations are conducted in a light box in daylight and cool white florescent conditions; this environment ensures that we test with the same controlled light source as our vendors. Because the type of light (such as incandescent, fluorescent, or daylight) affects color perception, the controlled environment of a light box ensures a consistent background against which to compare colors. We evaluate the color on its lightness, darkness, hue (color), and chroma (amount of gray). It is also compared to the color produced in its previous print run. We also evaluate its coordination with our other products. For example, when we examine card stock, we also compare it to the same color ink pad, ink cartridge, and marker.

Each sample is given a pass or fail rating. A pass rating means that the color may have variance, but it falls within the tolerance level, which is the allowed deviation from the standard. In this case, the vendor begins production. Failing samples-those that do not fall within Stampin' Up!'s narrow tolerance level-are returned to the vendor with suggestions for improvement. When they have made the correction and have prepared a new sample, the approval process begins again.

The nature of color means that you will see a slight color variance between batches. In addition, you may see variation between products, such as card stock, Classic pads, Craft pads, ink refills, cartridges, Stampin' Pastels, and Stampin' Write markers. These products are made by different vendors and with different ingredients, but you can be sure your Stampin' Up! products will always coordinate to help you create the highest quality scrapbook pages and cards. These products have different ingredients and are designed to coordinate, not match.

How It All Began

Have you ever wondered how Stampin' Up! started?  It is a truly fabulous story about making your dreams come true.  To read all about it, check out this article posted directly on the Stampin' Up! website.

Is there something rubber stamp related that you have wondered about?  Ask me and be entered into Stamp Workshop's monthly drawing for a free gift! Michelle@stampworkshop.com