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I was wondering how you all display your sample cards at demonstrations. I was at A.C.Moore today and bought some black foam core board. Can anyone give me some ideas on how to use it? I was thinking that maybe I could use velcro on the board and backs of cards to be able to swap them around when I get new ones. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, Melony
I used foam core boards and tacky putty. This is a great way to show cards without having people dig through a box. I got the tacky putty at the drug store in the school/office supply aisle.
thanks Karen. Are you talking about the yellow stuff that you warm in your hands then stick on things. My DD uses it in her room on the walls all the time. The foam core board I got seems to have a paper outer layer on it , I guess that's why I was having a hard time deciding what to use. Thanks again, Melony
I put the in clear bags I bought from clearbags.com and put them in a basket for the customers to dig through. They love to touch things and pass them around. Learned this from watching how my upline did it.
Yes, it is the yellow (or blue or white) stuff you can put on walls too. The foam core I bought is white with a glossy finish, the putty peels off easily without tearing the finish off.
I do the set samplers that SU suggests, though I've never tried the display board. I found that if I just toss them all into a box/basket then it stays with just one person for a long period of time, if you do the set samplers then they can be passed around. Hope that helps.
__________________ Melissa
"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort" - Franklin D. Roosevelt
Melissa I don't want to sound too uninformed but what is a set sampler? I've only been a demonstrator since May and I don't think I have ever heard of that. Melony
Just put your cards ( I do 4-6 from the same set) in the cello bags (1 card per bag) that come in your starter kit and tie them together with a cardstock topper that says the set name on it. On the back I write the item # , price and catalog page #. I know some people put a back on the sampler and stamp all the images in the set, but thats why I just put the page #, if they like the samples, they can look up what else it comes with. You could also put a little piece of paper in the same bag with the card that lists the supplies you used. Hope that helps, If not I can try to figure out my digital camera ( only had it 2 days) and put a picture up for you.
Anyways, I just take a little basket full of the set samplers and they can pull out sets and pass them around.
__________________ Melissa
"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort" - Franklin D. Roosevelt
I do the foam core boards. I love it. My customers can come in to a home and wander around for awhile looking at cards. Two or three can look at them at the same time and oh and ah over them together. I have found that customers like to talk and make comments together about cards.
I feel this way that everyone is not stuck sitting at the table the entire time. When my demonstration is over, then they feel they can get up and stretch and look at cards again.
I have found that to see a whole bunch of cards done with the same stamp set next to each other helps sales.
For putting them on the boards, if you don't mind staples use those. Or you can you photo corners.
Hope this helps.
Sheryl
__________________ Sheryl see my gallery Enter my blog
I do both. I bought a black trifold cardboard display board at Hobby Lobby ($6) and put my cardfronts on there with masking tape and clear envelopes. I also make set sampler. I usually have 8 cardfronts (2 back to back in one bag) in it. I stamp all the stamps from the set on the back of the set sampler so people can see which stamps they will get with this set. I have a label with information about the set on the front.
My customers like both. Usually I have ideas from the mini catalog on the display board and bring set sampler for seasonal sets and the sets I use.
So on the sampler do you make full cards or just the fronts? I am not a demo yet I am waiting until we get into our new home before I sign up. The wonderful man I have the honor of calling husband told me I get to have one of the bedrooms just for my stamping things. So in the mean while I have been doing alot of research on demonstrations and such so I know just a little about it when I do sign up.
TIA
Sandy
__________________ Sandy
If the police arrest a deaf man do they read them their rights?
I put full cards in my sampler, but it would really save cardstock to do just the fronts. I just do it that way so when something retires or if it was just a promo thing like Hope is.. I can just pull them out and mail them off when its done. Keep in mind you can always add them to cards later if you wanted to. Its just a personal pref.
__________________ Melissa
"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort" - Franklin D. Roosevelt
I was going to post a request for ideas for displaying cards at craft fairs, but these ideas sound like they would work - especially since I will have limited table space. Do you use easels with the boards, or some other method to stand them up?
__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we might as well dance.
I also use a white trifold poster board to display my cards. I use little clothes pins that I hot glued to the poster board to secure the cards to the board.
My customers love to browse and take pictures and this enables them to do it easily.
Thanks, Vicki!! I've been waiting for a reason to buy a bunch of those cute little clothes pins. One of my ideas was to string twine across the boards and use clothes pins, but I thought the cards might get too "droopy" that way.
__________________
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we might as well dance.
Your welcome!! I actually got the idea from my upline...thanks Jen!! Originally, I had a line of twine hung across my bay window when I had a stamp camp or workshop to display my cards. Well, that got old and my family was tired of looking at it hanging in the front room! So, I decided to copy my upline's board and it has worked great ever since! I can put it away when not in use and also, change out the cards occasionally.
I use the black foam board.( tri fold) And then I use the blue painters tape. It can stick to paper without damage. ( So if I need to, I can take down my samples and reattach) I love it.
evie-
Thanks to everyone for your great ideas. I'm going to try the painters tape since I already have some of that. The clothes pins are a great idea too but I will need to transport the boards and I'm afraid the pins will get pulled off in transit. My DD always helps me at workshops and since she is only 14 doesn't always take it as easy with things as I myself might, I would never complain because the help is always nice. Again thanks for all the great ideas. Melony
Thanks for all the great ideas. I, too, had no idea what to do. I'm going to use the trifold display board. I found clips that have pins on the back (made for cubicle walls) that I'm hopefully going to use to attach the cards to the board.
Well, thank you all for such great ideas! I'm still waiting for my kit but I'm sure getting ready!
I've read a couple of threads about displays and figured since I finally decided what to do I'd post it here. I've taken bits and pieces of advice from all over to come up with a solution that I THINK will work. (I'll let you know after my first open house. )
I went to JoAnn's armed with about 5 different 40% off coupons. I found a cool looking ready made 3D display (like for school projects) for $10 but it was white and I really wanted black. It had too many shelf areas to try to cover with black so I passed it up.
I found great 13" black (almost like wrought iron) easels and a 2-pack of 18x24" artists canvases, stretched on a frame. I got some spray adhesive and sturdy black felt. I'm going to cover the 2 canvases with the felt using the adhesive, then staple to the back to the frame. I'm going to get those clear envies to protect the samples and use velcro on the back of them to attach to the new display board. This way I can move them around or even replace them easily. I can use one or both depending on how much space I have and they're light and easy to carry or transport.
The easel's were $8 each, the TWO canvases were $11, the adhesive was $6, 3/4 of a yard of 72 in. black felt was less than $4. AND I got 40% on EACH thing!!! I already have velcro & staple gun and I still have to order the clear envies. I think that's pretty good. Now all I have to do is assemble them and make some more samples!!! LOL
My upline and the ones above her all use the black display boards (foam core) - covered in black felt. Then we put the cards in cello bags, taped down in the back and with the gripper part of velcro on the back - that way we can change out the cards easily.
We have also done "baggy swaps" where we make the bags like someone suggested - 5 card fronts in cello bags, all attached together with a topper that has the set's name, item number and price at the top. We did a card at the back with all of the stamps in the set, making it easy on the customers.
My observation so far is that people are generally tactile and want to touch everything - so they go for the cards in the basket that they can hold, look at, flip through, etc. - they look at the boards, but more of a passing glance - unless they are really visual people and take a lot of photos of the cards.
I use the foam core boards with velcro to display my sample cards. I have two boards - one for cards and one for the samples of papers, ribbons, eyelets etc. My customers really like this.
I used to use a display board but now only bring set samplers. I use set samplers mainly for the reason that then I don't have to lug one more thing into the hostess's house. I like to be able to bring everything I need in one trip, and set samplers fit right into my tote. I usually only bring samplers for seasonal things and the sets I'm demo'ing at that workshop. (It keeps them wanting to see what I bring at the next workshop.) Guests really like to see all the things they can do with one set of stamps. I make cardfronts and put two back-to-back in one cello bag.
Since I usually have 5 or so set samplers on the table, guests can pick one up while they're waiting for stamps or adhesive in the THO portion of the workshop. Samplers have worked out well for me and I'll never go back to display board!
Displaying Sample cards at demonstrations?
