House of White Birches Offers New Book for Women Woodworkers
The book is a spin-off from the new publication, Woodworking for Women Magazine, launched by parent company Dynamic Resource Group earlier this year. Touted as "Just for Women," Creative Ideas for Yards & Gardens promises to turn "favorite outdoor spaces into secret havens of your woodworking style." Visually, women at work and finished woodworking projects share the spotlight equally, exemplified by the photographs showing through the polybag. On the address panel a smiling woman is shown leaning against a ladder, partially obscured by a headline reading "Take Charge of the Hottest New Hobby for Women..." The reverse is adorned with a picture of an ornate gardening workbench, one example of a woodworking project. Creative Ideas for Yards & Gardens is free for 21 days, and a 24-piece toolkit is given as a premium upon ordering. Should the recipient decide to keep the title, the price is set at $20.97, payable in three installments of $6.99 plus an unspecified shipping charge. In addition, House of White Birches promises to offer future books in the Woodworking for Women series to buyers upon availability, no more than twice per year. Tibetan Aid Project Seeks to Preserve Tibet's Rich Heritage
"Of all the gifts that can be given, the greatest and most enduring is the gift of knowledge," reads a photo caption found inside a recent mailing tracked from the Tibetan Aid Project. 
The 30-year-old organization, based in Berkeley, CA, helps to ensure that Tibet's culture and spiritual heritage are preserved by producing and distributing traditional Tibetan texts, providing assistance to monastic centers and promoting awareness of Tibetan civilization worldwide. The spare 6" x 9" package includes only the standalone insert card and reply form (there is no separate ask letter). The back of the photo, however, describes the mission of the Tibetan Aid Project, and highlights its three primary programs: funding the publication of over 300,000 traditional Sutras (fundamental to all schools of Buddhism), sponsoring prayer ceremonies, and helping individual Tibetans meet special educational and medical challenges. The combination reply form/return envelope includes an ask ladder of $54/$108/$216/$540/$1,080/other and donors are given the option to specify that their support goes exclusively towards one of the three aforementioned programs.
Just My Size Has Makeover
A recent catalog from Just My Size, which sells hosiery, lingerie and apparel for full-figured women, sported the abbreviated name JMS, a streamlined new logo and the reassuring exclamation, "New look! Same great prices!" 
Like adding more contemporary styles and new fashions for the season, most changes to the Fall 2004 edition are subtle. For example, the actual range of sizes sold, 14W to 40W, used to appear on every cover under the trademarked tagline "Fits Who You Are," but now both the sizes and the slogan are absent. While no new tagline is apparent, a new theme is expressed by the "fit-style-selection guarantee" on the inside front cover. Still, much in the catalog is familiar. At 88 pages, it is roughly the same size it's been for the past few years, in which most issues ranged in length from 84 to 92 pages. Its 9-3/4" x 7-1/2" dimensions are also typical. Roughly 30% of the catalog, all at the beginning, is dedicated to intimate apparel, including the $12.99 Playtex bra sale advertised on the cover. The remaining pages offer a wide range of clothing, including sleepwear, casual attire, loungewear, workout clothes, career wear, leather jackets, denim and "fabulous new fashions" like the "must-have boucle jacket" ($79.99, or two for $74.99 each). Opposite a sizing chart in the center, a guide to four body types (hourglass, triangle, inverted triangle and oval) further advises on what styles will complement shoppers' figures. Suggested merchandise is provided with exact page numbers.
The direct mail promotions appearing in Mail Stream are tracked and analyzed by ParadyszMatera, a media brokerage services company, through its MarketRelevance(tm) Promotion Library. Click here to visit their site: ParadyszMatera.com.
