Episode 38 – The Card Maker Success Summit

Hello … welcome to The Craft Room Podcast. I’m so glad you’re joining me today, because we are talking today about the upcoming Card Maker Success Summit. 

I’ve been attending these summits for the past few years, and even though I’ve been making cards for over 30 years, I still come away from the event having learned something new, and loaded up with inspiration. So imagine my excitement when an invitation to speaker this year landed in my inbox! At the time I was putting finishing touches on the All Occasions box, so when I saw the theme for this summit … Card Maker Success … saying yes was an easy decision. The theme completely aligned with what I was already working on. Now, after months of secret-keeping … I can finally talk about it!

So today we’re going to cover a few things you might find helpful to know about this summit, including …

What even is a card making summit?
What does it cost?
Who is the summit for?
Why I signed on to be a speaker.
When is it happening?
How to get the most out of the Summit experience?
What is an All Access Pass?
And most importantly, what’s in it for you.

I’ll try to be concise, because it’s open for sign-ups now, and there are some important things to share before you go grab your ticket. Let’s start with the basics.

What is the Summit

The Card Maker Success Summit is a virtual card making event hosted by Stamp Me Some Love. This year there are 48 fantastic speakers, all bringing you a unique card making project for a variety of occasions, using loads of interesting techniques.

This is a free event over four days, and the goal is to equip you with inspiration and practical techniques so that you can achieve your card making goals for the year. There is a Facebook group for participants, so you can hang out virtually with other card makers and summit speakers. If you would love to have your cards made early instead of rushing at the last minute, find new uses for existing supplies or discover cool new products that will complement your existing craft stash … this is a great way to do that!

Who is the summit for?

Card makers and paper crafters, at any level. If you are a beginner who is considering getting started or recently started creating handmade cards … and if you’ve been making cards for a couple of years (or even a couple of decades), this event is for you.

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed (or completely paralysed) with the huge list of card projects you want to make and send this year or those goodies you bought but haven’t used yet, then this will be a great event for you.

If you want to spend a few days in the company of other crafters, and if you like free stuff, prizes and giveaways, then I suspect you’re going to have a good time.

I have had a sneak peek at some of the workshops, and they are amazing. I’m still pinching myself that I am in a speaker lineup with the likes of Alyce Keegan, Theresa Calvird, Justine Hovey, Laurel Beard and Tiffany Solorio!

Why am I speaking at this event?

As I mentioned earlier, the theme of this summit aligns with my personal card making goals for 2024. It’s also something I talk about a lot here on the podcast, during FB Lives and in my short videos, and especially inside the All Occasions Card Membership. I am really excited to be part of a large event that is focused on success when working toward your card making goal … whatever that looks like for you.

Having attended Brandi’s summits before, I have experienced first hand this very well organised event. There are some amazing bonuses, great sponsors and incredibly knowledgeable and talented speakers. It’s an honour to be invited to be part of such an event.

And while I already knew how well organised these summits are from an attendee point of view, I have a newfound appreciation for Brandi’s insane level of orgnisation and attention to detail. There is loads of support for me, as a speaker, and it is very ethically run, both of which are important to me. I’m going to get into why that is in a little bit.

First, let’s talk about the Summit schedule

All of the times for the summit are in American EST time (and will switch to EDT on the last day as they enter daylight savings), but I am in Sydney, Australia, and I know that there are people all over the world who listen in to the podcast (shout-out to Spain, Malta, Indonesia, Great Britain & Italy where The Craft Room Podcast has been charting well lately! I appreciate you!) and who will be joining the summit. So, I will link to a time converter (below) that I like to use, and I’ll give Sydney times as well as EST times, just to give you an idea of the time differences.

So to start, there’s a kick off party on Wednesday 6th March at 7pm EST (that’s 11am on Thursday 7th March Sydney time).

There will be a series of pre-recorded videos (roughly 10-12 per day) to watch starting 8am Wednesday 7th March (which is midnight Thursday 8th March in Sydney time), and they will be available for 24 hours only. Then the next days videos will be available, and this will happen for four days, culminating in a wrap up event on 10th March at 6pm EDT (or 9am on 11th March Sydney time). 

There will also be lots of live Q&A videos with a lot of the presenters each day, where you have the opportunity to say hi and ask questions. Those will stay on the Stamp Me Some Love YouTube channel, so you can watch them at your leisure. I CAN tell you that I am the final Q&A video of the event (which will be 8:30am 11th March Sydney time), right before the Wrap Up Party.

I have created a unique schedule for the Aussies, with the scheduled events in each state. Just click the image below and you can download the PDF to find out when videos are available in your time zone.

So, how do YOU get the most out of the summit?

1. First things first, you need to sign up for your free ticket. There is a link in the show notes and over on the blog, so when you’ve finished listening to this episode (assuming you’re listening between release time and the start of the summit), you can click through there to secure that free ticket.
   
2. Before the summit even starts, set aside some time to jot down your card making goals for the year. How many birthday cards will you need? What other types of cards do you want to send? Do you want to build your card stash? What techniques are you interested in? What kind of products do you already have? What styles do you really love? And … Do you want to try something a little out of your comfort zone? Answering these questions can help you make a rough plan, and give you an idea of what you want to achieve throughout the Summit.
   
3. Have a plan! Check your calendar … check the time clock. What time do you have available to watch as many videos as possible within that 24 hour period? If you can’t watch them all, have a think about how you will decide which ones to watch.
   
4. There are going to be a bunch of bonuses throughout the summit. Every speaker has a bonus for all who attend on a free ticket. Snap up the bonuses that you love and think you’ll find useful.
   
5. If you’re already thinking that you want to watch all of the videos, but don’t have time, then you might consider upgrading to the VIP All-Access Pass. One of the advantages of upgrading is that it takes away that 24 hour time clock, giving you ongoing access to those videos … no rushing to watch them all in one day. Not only does it remove that 24 hour restriction, it will grant you immediate access to ALL videos (which is a great way to have some questions locked and loaded for those live Q&A’s with speakers during the summit). There is also a comprehensive digital workbook (over 300 pages) bursting with inspiration, AND you can attend a 2 hour virtual card making Crop over Zoom.
   
   There is also another level of bonus content from speakers including SVG files, exclusive courses, free memberships, fabulous discounts, and more. For example, the bonus I have on offer is a CAS card template AND the digital version of Copic Subscription Box 1. The value of the All Access Pass (if you were going to buy everything separately) is a staggering $1,600 (and that’s US$, people!).

If you feel like the VIP All-Access Pass is something you are interested in, let’s talk about ways you can get the most from your upgrade.

1. I would strongly recommend getting it immediately after you register for the free summit, as that is a very special price, and it’s for a limited time only. There are plenty of opportunities to upgrade, but the earlier you do, the better the price will be, and therefore, the greater the bargain.
   
2. If you do grab the All Access Pass, be sure to make the time to watch all of the presentations.
   
3. Definitely grab all of those bonuses straight away, because they will expire in early April.
   
4. Make yourself a note (including the URL link to the location of Your All Access Pass) and set some reminders on your phone (yes … put the link in there) to remind yourself to watch videos!
   
5. Take lots of notes, including products you already have that you’d like to use and any new products you want to add to your collection.
   
6. Make time to try some of the new techniques you learn.

This is where I want to go back to something I mentioned earlier … the reason why this is not only a great event for attendees, but also for the speakers. And to do this, we need to talk about affiliate links. You know I like to be transparent about this kind of thing, and I know when I learned about it as an attendee, it helped with some summit decision making.

When you click on my link to sign up for your free ticket, a few things happen behind the scenes. Each speaker has a unique link, and when you click mine, it lets the event organisers know that I’m doing my job by helping to market the event. It also links you to me, so if you then go on to upgrade to an All Access Pass, I receive a commission (which doesn’t cost you any extra), and this is part of the ethical way in which this event is run. A lot of the time presenters or speakers are paid in ‘exposure’, but in this instance we actually receive financial compensation for the work we put in to create a fun class for all attendees. I am always excited to be invited to present at any sort of crafting event, but I always underestimate how much work I’ll need to put in to create a project that is fun and educational. I also don’t have loads of affiliate relationships like a lot of the bigger bloggers or YouTubers do … it’s just my own little shop for Australian crafters. So, when I spend days working on a project like this, I don’t usually get paid for that. It’s refreshing (and ethical) for organisers to compensate their speakers for the time they take away from their job, business or family to work on their presentations.

So if you do choose to upgrade to an All Access Pass via my link, you’re not only getting a great bundle at a sweet price, you’re supporting me … and to show my appreciation, I have an EXTRA bonus for you. 

I designed a special card planner sheet that you can use throughout the summit (and beyond). It includes a USA letter size for A2 card planning AND an Australian/European A4 size for A6 card planning! You can use them to plan out cards as you watch the summit videos, or any time you’re cruising around Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram or your favourite card making blogs. There’s plenty of space to make notes, like products and techniques you’re using whilst you are creating a card, which is perfect if you’re on a design team, you sell your handmade cards, or just like to keep a record. You could add a photo of your card to the page (like a card making scrapbook), write down supplies, stories or maybe what you would do differently next time, all helpful if you like recreate your cards. I’ve kept them simple so the page isn’t clogged with limiting boxes … it’s a properly functional worksheet you can draw and write all over!

So … as we start moving out of the most extreme seasons (summer for me, and winter for those in the northern hemisphere), it’s a great time to go for a little treasure hunt through your stash, set some goals, join the fun, and then smash those card making goals out of the park! I can’t wait to share my project with so many amazing new people.

If you have questions about the All Access Pass, please don’t hesitate to send an email or slide into my DMs, and ask away! It’s all very exciting (and sometimes I’m a bundle of nerves), and I hope to see some familiar names on my live Q&A. Until then … happy crafting!

LINKS

The Card Maker Success Summit – get your free ticket here

Stamp Me Some Love live YouTube videos

World Time Buddy (time converter)