(grab your favorite beverage, today is a long one! :) )

 

Ten years.

I can’t even believe I’ve been doin’ this little ol’ business for that long.

The day I started my business, August 4, 2010, I awoke with the biggest shock ever. Lightning struck right by our house. It was the biggest flash-bang I’ve ever experienced! It also fried two televisions and cable boxes.

What a way to start that day! I should have known it was a sign. This path was going to be electric. :)

I had no idea that starting this little business would turn into something so incredible. I’d lost my job a couple months before and had no idea what I would do next. For a few years people would tell me I should start my own business and all I could think was, ‘What would I do? And who would want to buy anything from me?’

But with a little faith and trust and a little pixie dust, I decided to venture down the unknown lane with a few little cut files that you’d buy from my Add To Cart PayPal button in a blog post…and they sold! I think I made $500 my first month. It was then that I thought, ‘Hey, this could work.’

If you don’t remember, there’s some things about 2010 that you should know. First, that was during the recession. Not only was my husband in construction (homes) and not really working, but I lost my job. To say it was a difficult financial time would be an understatement. But I knew when I lost my job that God had other—better—plans for me. In that present moment, it was sucky and sad, but I had faith that there was something out there for me to be able to work at home like I had been doing for several years in the scrapbooking industry.

Second, already-made internet stores were nothing like what they are now. Ohhhh, how I wish they had what Shopify is now back at that time (I think they were just starting out and getting going). I would personally email each kit to my customers. And If any of you remember the This+That monthly calendar kits, those took off like crazy. Most had two (up to) 10M ZIP files and I’d have to email each one individually to handle the email limits. One kit, two emails. If someone ordered six kits? Ya….12 emails. Does anyone remember this? haha

I finally got a little more technically savvy, improving the ‘pseudo store’ experience. But three years after I started my business, I actually had someone build a store for me. It was both good and bad and I won’t bore you with those details. Let’s just say, that creating my own store four years ago with today’s user-friendly technology has made a world of difference in control and peace of mind.

Over the years my simple little shop of cut files turned into a lot of cut files. Then came several classes teaching you all how to use Silhouette Studio…and not just for cutting, but for designing too.

Then came stamps and my love for all things TN. Thank you Miss Marcy Penner for creating your TN weekly printables.

 

 

This is what got me started and hooked on the TN life. I’ve evolved over time, as we all do, but it’s still the only format I document in.

Along with that–and the new stamps–came my utter devotion for travelers notebooks and simple documenting. It brings me great satisfaction to see my weekly spreads come together. I just wish I could get to it more often. haha

I’ve definitely had my ups and downs along the way. I’m not going to talk about the downs…because…you know…frustration and sadness, and who wants to focus on the negative, right? But the ups have been amazing. Not only have I had the most creative team members and guests in the KBS house, but I’ve come to know so many wonderful people all over this world!

What a blessing this path has been. God is always right. ;)

So today begins a month-long celebration of ten (mostly, let’s be real) wonderful years!

Here’s what’s going on.

SALE ON DOWNLOADS + STAMPS, OF COURSE.

Today through Tuesday, August 4–the official KBS birthday–save 30% on downloads ($10+) with coupon HAPPY10 and up to 25% on most stamps. No code needed. Sale doesn’t apply to the newer stamps.

Please be sure to check out the Last Call Stamps–those are what’s 25% off during this sale and it’s their last hurrah. Gotta make space for more somewhere, somehow. :)

 

BEAUTIFUL IDEAS FROM INCREDIBLE ARTISTS!

This is the best part of the whole party…we will be sharing paper crafting ideas here from artists all over the world!

I can’t tell you what a delight it is to have such talented ladies such as these to grace us with their beautiful creations all month long!

 

NEW STAMPS FOR AUGUST.

 

Oh my, are there some lovelies today!

I like big numbers and I cannot lie…but there’s also room in my heart for the smaller ones. ;) We needed small versions of Outnumbered One XL and Two XL and their Outline companions.  And the beauty of (the smaller) Outnumbered One and TWO is that the all come on one 6×8 sheet in this set. These characters are about 1.38″ tall where the XLs are 2″ tall.

There’s also a brand new Greater Yellowstone that covers both Yellowstone and Tetons. I have a tendency to want to make a stamp set when I’m going somewhere. I need to travel more often and to more places. haha

And finally, we have Year Round. Oh boy, do I love this set! Check out a couple of the examples I shared on social media recently in the product description. This is one set that will be a staple for sure.

Also, please be patient as we work through the preorders of all the July Juniper stamps as well as the specialty Juniper Alphabet Jumbo. It is a lot. :)

 

AND THIS WEEK WE HAVE GIVEAWAYS TOO!

It just wouldn’t be right having a month-long celebration without having a giveaway here and there. So be sure to keep an eye out here every day because you never know when one might pop up.

 

Now, after all these years comes a little reflection about direction at KBS.
Here’s a few of changes happening now:

1. SAYING A FOND FAREWELL TO SILHOUETTE CLASSES.

These are discounted all month as they are being retired at the end of August.

I haven’t made a Silhouette class since 2016 and most of the classes use Studio version 3.0–a couple use 2.0. While the information is still amazing and can be done in 4.0, that version does look a little different, so it’s not quite  the same experience as the video.

I’m sad to see these go. They were such a huge part of KBS for a very long time. There was very little instruction out there on using Studio when I first started creating these classes. I’ve had thousands of students over the years and I love that I had a part in helping you get so much more out of Studio. It really is a powerful program!

Classes will still be available to access in a classroom setting…for now. I am considering alternatives to the structure of that for various (necessary) reasons that I won’t bore you with. That being said, those of you who have purchased the classes, you are now able to download videos to your computers.  

Except…after I posted this today I found out it’s still not letting you download even though I changed the settings. Working on that. 

This may be something you’ll want to do now while it’s fresh on your mind here. ;) And perhaps go ahead and make sure all your class content is downloaded. Just giving a possible head’s up on all that.

 

2. NO MORE SALE PREORDERS AFTER SELL OUTS ON RELEASE DAY(S).

This is a toughy, but I feel like this is a direction we need to take here for the smooth running in this little part of the world.

I love taking care of my customers. I love to make sure that you get to take advantage of everything. But this year my customer base has grown significantly and it’s just becoming too much to have all the preorders going on. Chaos ensues and mistakes get made…and that’s not my favorite thing in the world. ;)

We will have an occasional specialty order, like the Juniper Alphabet Jumbo on August 20. But for regular monthly releases I have increased ordering quantities the past couple months and things are still selling out in the first day or two. Therefore, I am increasing quantities even more, starting September, to hopefully accommodate more of you during the initial release.

This will be the last month that I’ll offer a preorder if the stamps happen to sell out during the first two days…when it’s on sale.

 

3. WE WILL NO LONGER BE COMBINING SHIPPING

Again, this is similar to the issue above. I always want to be so accommodating to everyone, but it’s just way too much work to not only do, but to keep things straight. We need a smoother workflow and so, unless it’s a special international shipping situation, orders are orders. :)

 

4. CUSTOMER SERVICE COURTESY OF KASS

As a result of items 2+3 above, my daughter Kass will be taking over Customer Service so I can focus on the creation part.

You may not know, but she’s been the one doing all the shipping for KBS. I don’t know what I would do without her! The amount of shipping that happens, not to mention packaging, is crazy…and it has been out of control this year. Even Jordan, my other daughter, helps with packaging since she’s been living at home. It’s a family affair here at KBS. Some may call it nepotism, but since I’m the boss… ;)

Turning over customer service is reeeaaaallly hard for me. Not only am I control freak (haha), but talking to all of you is how I’ve connected on a more one-on-one basis over all these years. I will still be doing social media, but most of the day-to-day email communications will be handled by her now. You’ll love getting to know her. She’s funnier than I am. ;)

Part of our chaos was because I was handling one end of things and she was handling the other end and we were trying to keep it all straight. There was just so much overlapping. I’m hoping this will create a better workflow for both us and you!

I think that sums up everything.
Thanks for hanging in there with me through all of that. haha

This is going to be such an amazing month of creativity.
You won’t want to miss a day!