Love Your Mailbox

If I could crochet, I'd make one of these for my mailbox:

"WHY?" you may ask...we'll let me tell you:

Once a month I go to my mailbox and it gives me a beautiful RED BOX like this: 

And inside this box is a magical creative escape!

I've told you about My Paper Pumpkin before, and you may be thinking "But you are always making something crafty...what's so special about this box?" and the answer is: "But I don't have to cut any paper or come up with a new idea...I just open the box and create something that is prepared for me!"

And that's why I want to thank my mailbox. I think it should know how much I love it.

If you want to love YOUR mailbox as much as mine (but don't want to crochet a blanket for it), then you can subscribe to My Paper Pumpkin, too: https://mypaperpumpkin.com?demoid=810

Check out the AWESOME Pinterest board of all things Paper Pumpkin here:  
http://www.pinterest.com/paperpumpkin/

You can now pre-pay for subscriptions too:

 

These can be ordered on my website or at a workshop!

 You will get an email with a code to enter at MyPaperPumpkin.com to redeem for your subscription. 

Subscribe by July 10th to receive the July Paper Pumpkin kit (rumor has it you don't want to miss it!)
Subscribe by July 27th for a FREE GIFT from me to help you organize your Paper Pumpkin stamps!

Persistence Pays Off!

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." ~Henry David Thoreau

After 22 years as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I finally earned my FIRST Incentive Trip: The Getaway to Washington, D.C.!

This is a goal I have set many times and though I have fallen short until now, I don't count any of those attempts as failures because there are so many things I learned as I attempted to achieve it. I'd like to share a few of the things I learned along the way, but am still in the process of perfecting:

1. God first, family next. Work comes after the first two. It's easy to get your priorities skewed when you set a goal for your business. This I know personally. But I have never regretted an instance when I had to set aside my business goals to serve my Heavenly Father and my family first. It is vital to keep an eternal perspective.

2. Every time you attempt a goal, your failures teach you more than your successes. How often do we give up after we try a few times and can't do something? It's tempting to say, "I just can't do it." Did you know it's believed that Thomas Edison tried thousands of times to invent the lightbulb before he succeeded? He's credited as saying, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

3. Try and try again. Yep. It's worth it. 

4. Be grateful to those who help you. There is no way I could have earned this reward alone! My husband was incredibly supportive and continued to believe I could do this even though I've tried 20 times. My children have been so very patient, too (Thanks K, K, B & K!!). And my wonderful customers and hostesses are not simply people I sell to ~ they are my friends and my creative inspiration. Thank you for your loyalty and for supporting my business. I appreciate you so much!

I'm still becoming who God wants me to be, and I think my journey with Stampin' Up! has helped me learn some valuable lessons.