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Welcome to the Stamping and Scrapping Reflections Newsletter! |
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| Select Artwork for Fast Click Access to Articles Featured | May 1, 2008 | |
 A personal note from your Captain...
Welcome aboard the May issue of SSR! As you can tell we are on the East coast of Africa visiting some of the most beautiful and poorest areas of the world. Kenya is a beautiful country, well educated and rich in resources. Somalia is next door to Kenya and is an incredibly poor country rife with conflict and devastating hunger. There are hundreds of thousands orphans due to war and sickness. I am a news a-holic and read several internet news sites including the BBC and The Evening Telegraph. The news coming from these countries is very sad and I know that we only hear what the newsmedia wants us to hear so it's very one sided but I wonder if these countries will ever see peace? Will any of us? It seems we are all trying to make sense out of what belongs to whom. One day I would like to see the good and the bad myself. I have many friends who live in Africa. I grew up in a church that believed in sending people to other countries to teach or work and help one person at a time. I've had penpals all my growing up in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at the time) and South Africa (Zulu and Johannesburg) and very soon some friends are headed to Uganda. A dear friend of SSR is also in South Africa, Annette Moss (Nettie)grew up in the same city in England that I did and now she lives in South Africa and I live in the USA. It's a small world and we are all part of what makes it such a wonderful place to be...what I'm trying to say is that wherever YOU are makes it a very special place to be. I hope and pray that if you live or work in a place that is at war that you are safe.  My prayers are with you today, Cap'n Dawn   Our Designer’s Challenge sponsor this month is WorldWin Papers! WorldWin Papers offers a wonderful array of smooth, textured, and doublesided cardstocks, as well as chipboard, vellum, metallic paper, and other speciality papers along with envelopes. Their product is sold exclusively through their network of national and international retailers as well as most recently through The Paper Mill Store (http://thepapermillstore.com/pages.php?pageid=394)!. As well as great products, they also pride themselves on on-time delivery, and top-notch customer service! The gorgeous card to the right was created by Flo Hollingsworth!
Here is the picture from April's contest:
The winning quote is "She got a coveted place in the chorus line by pulling a few strings" Submitted by Debbie Dodd! Congratulations Debbie! ***Please Note: All of us on SSR would like to just take a moment to thank everyone for voting on this caption contest! Debbie was not our first winner, Lea Cioci's caption actually received the winning votes but in the past 2 weeks Lea joined the SSR Design crew and felt it wouldn't be right for her to accept the prize. We did tell Lea that she wasn't on the crew when she submitted her quote so she was still eligible to win but she was adament that it should go to the 2nd place winner. Debbie and Annette Moss (Nettie) both tied but as Debbie submitted her caption first she is our official caption contest winner! We feel that everyone is a winner but the generosity of spirit and the fun of the game truly wins out this month and Debbie and Nettie are getting a fabulous prize to boot! Now, if you'd like to see the May Caption Contest card, you'll have to visit Cindy's Caption Contest page! We can't wait to hear your captions! All entries must be sent to our yahoo group, just click the link below to join and be part of the fun and have a few laughs! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SSReflectionsezine/ Special thanks to Altered Pages for sponsoring the May Caption Contest! We at SSReflections appreciate our sponsors so much! We love you Jackie!  Donalda has been busy organizing such awesome swaps on the Ezine Yahoo! Group. The swap featured right now is from the Bookmark swap from this past April. The bookmark featured to the right was created by Janet Burditt! Congratulations to all the ladies who participated on a job well done! If you'd like to participate in one of Donalda's swaps all you have to do is join the Ezine Yahoo! Group and sign up! We'd love to show your work too! The next swap gallery is going to be very exciting! The Ezine Yahoo! Group has been hopping with just recently with some fabulous conversations and all the talk about the next swap which is...well, I think I may just keep it a secret and you'll have to either join our Yahoo! group or wait until next month...By the way, Donalda's surgery was a success and now is the hard part...the healing process! Thank you all for your prayers.
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As you finish reading this jam packed issue of S.S. Reflections, please make your way to our Making Waves page and visit our advertisers! We have revamped the page to make it more accessible to you and easier for you when you are shopping! Some of our Advertisers have wonderful specials and announcements just for you! We have also changed our COMM policy on the Ezine Yahoo! Group and the Forum Message Board! We are now allowing COMM's from all vendors on the Ezine Yahoo! Group and message board on Mondays! S.S. Reflections: SSR has created a store directory listing for you and if you don't see your favorite store listed, be sure to send them our way! We have two separate directories for easy access to anyone interested which includes an alphabetical store listing and location listing. Please contact Cap'n Dawn at info@ssreflections.com for more information. There is a minimal fee to be included in our directory program of only $100 for one full year! SSR keeps it's costs low as we are committed to supporting the small business! Can you believe that SSR is celebrating it's 5th anniversary in just a few months? We're already planning some great activities for our big celebration! 5 years is a long time on the internet and we've consistently provided the best with an amazing crew of designers. SSR is NOT a non-profit business but we promised to keep our ad rates down so the small business could afford to advertise on a quality magazine. The industry is changing. Manufacturers are creating more and more choices for you to buy and it's harder and harder for the small business to keep up with the demand for the latest products and that effects their advertising budget. SSR is a free magazine for you to enjoy and that isn't going to change. We will continue to offer SSR free of charge to you, our faithful readers, but we will accept donations to help offset the operating expenses. We have not set an amount to donate. You can donate $1 or more that is totally up to you via paypal at info@ssreflections.com. Thank you for your help and consideration as you ponder what you can do to keep SSR as fabulous as it has always been. Everyone's Secretary is the answer for small businesses! Now you have the option to only pay by the hour for needed office assistance. Everyone's Secretary only charges for the work you require. Whether you need two hours a week or two hours a month, you only pay for what you need! This is a confidential and personalized service. Please email Dawn at esecretary@charter.net or call 262-374-1491 for rate information.  Hearts in Touch HIT has started a new "Free Stamps" program. For every full sheet of stamps you order Frances will enclose a CIRCLE DIE CUT. When you get 10 circles, mail them back to Frances with the name of the free sheet of rubber you want. That's it! YOU MUST EMAIL FRANCES at fnaeve@heartsintouch.com TO SIGN UP FOR THIS BRAND NEW PROGRAM! Be sure to join the HIT Yahoo! group HERE! and keep up to date on all the new products coming along very soon and meet a lot of wonderful crafting friends. We also have free, online classes at the HIT website chat room. Anyone is welcome to join.  PaperArtsy: We have a brand new line of stamps called Squiggly Ink. Hand-drawn style scrolls, swirls, but still an eclectic twist to keep that glint in your eye sparkling! Available as red rubber UM or EZ mounted. Check out www.paperartsy.co.uk Click on the 'Squiggly ink' link.  Stamp and Scrap Canada: Stamp and Scrap Canada: Read our latest newsletter online - Stamp and Scrap Canada newsletter See what's new in the shop (items added regularly) www.stampandscrapcanada.com/new.html We've got a HUGE clearance sale going on - 25 to 50% off on lots of items (most are 40% off) - www.stampandscrapcanada.com/sale.html And if you're buying regular priced products here's a couple ecoupon codes you can use. Type the ecoupon code in the text box on the shopping cart page. To get $5 off an order that includes $40 @ regular prices type: ssreflections5 To get $15 off $100 @ regular prices type: ssreflections15  If you would like to see your company spotlighted please contact us at info@ssreflections.com for information! Be sure to check our sponsors websites often for monthly specials! Remember, without the VIP sponsors we wouldn't have S.S. Reflections for you to enjoy!  We need more images on the SSR Interactive Reader's Gallery! So, share your work with us! We want to see all that you are doing at home! The Reader's Gallery is for you to showcase your scanned images, your photos and your digital layouts, stamped cards and altered projects! We want to see everything that you are creating! So, come on board and share what you are most proud of! The beautiful spring card featured to the right was created by Judy Cantrell using Posh Impressions images and shared on the Reader's Gallery mentioned above! We hope that you are inspired by all that was shared this month by both our professional designers and by our faithful readers who participate on the Yahoo! Ezine Group, and the Interactive Reader's Gallery!
As I've watched my daffodils and tuplips bloom and the green hue on the trees as they begin to leaf I have a feeling of renewal. SSR has been undergoing some changes, spring cleaning so to speak and re-organizing our house. The crew are so excited about some things that are happening and to be honest, It's all I can do not to jump up and down with excitement myself! We are going to be celebrating our 5th anniversary with a bang and we're bringing you right along with us! Even my boys are picking up on the excitement with a serious case of spring fever too! I wish they would extend that excitement to cleaning their rooms a bit more often but a Mom can only hope right? I've been collecting plants from our local freecycle group and I can't wait to get outside myself to do a little planting! So, spend some time re-energizine your muse with this fantastic spring edition of SSR! After all, it was created just for you! Thank you once again for bringing SSR into your home. Be sure to print out the pop ups from your favorite designs and use it to create your own idea book. Then, share your interpretation with us on our Communications Deck! One last thing...if you enjoy blogging I have a list of the crew's blog web addresses on my own blog and a list of some of our readers! If you'd like to be included in my list please let me know and send your url to me and I'll be sure to add it! I would love it if you'd participate in one of the polls I have set up every 5 days or so. I do have music on my blog though as it's important to me. Be sure to turn your speakers down if you aren't interested in hearing some of my favorites! You can find my blog by clicking Here! Happy spring, Cap'n Dawn publisher@ssreflections.com Publisher Reflections Publishing Group http://dawntheath.blogspot.com/  |
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