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Archive for the ‘events’ Category:
Y’all Grab Your Boots and Head On Down!
Hello from San Antonio, Texas for the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference! Although we haven’t seen too many pairs of cowboy boots or heard too many Texas accents, we are thoroughly enjoying our visit to San Antonio.
Here are a few highlights of our Registration Day… First picture is of the Make N Take session tables when we first walked in. Yes, we get to stamp projects at Stampin’ Up! events, too!!
And not only that…there were GIFTS waiting for us at the tables! The portfolios match our fun tote bags. Each of these was signed by Shelli Gardner (thanks Shelli!):
The Make N Take projects were fabulous. We all agreed that they looked even more beautiful in person than they did in the photos. There were actually NINE projects included in our Make N Take packets — more than enough to keep us busy stamping for 2.5 hours.
Here are some LovenStampfuls Demonstrators (Mary Ellen, Faye and Betsy) and some of our demonstrator friends pausing for a scrapbook photo moment 
And here are two more of the Make N Take samples.
The projects featured the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper (we got a whole package in our kits!) and the Blossom Builders Designer Printed Kit (see it online), along with the Mixed Bunch stamp set (see it online). There were even some extra samples shared for more ideas. Here’s one of my favs:
After Make n Takes, we picked up some coffee (gotta keep the energy up for all that stamping!) and headed to the Manager’s Reception for some fabulous hors d’oeuvres and Shirley Temples with cute little umbrellas. Here are a few of the Managers from our group: Betsy Crider, Mary Ellen Stites, Dixie Finn & myself.
Leadership is a great chance to meet and talk with many of the Stampin’ Up! corporate staff, since the venue is a little bit more intimate than the huge Stampin’ Up! Convention held during July each year. Here’s Betsy with Rich Jutkins, the president of Stampin’ Up.
After snacks, Stampin’ Up! treated us to a fabulous Chinese acrobat show. Wow, those were some talented artists. There were jugglers, gymnasts, and more. It made my stomach muscles hurt in sympathy to see some of their stunts! They were really impressive though, and we all enjoyed the show.
And of course afterwards, what’s more fun than FREE stamps?! Each of us received a stamp set that will appear in the Summer Mini Catalog (due out in April). Here’s Mary Ellen — doesn’t she look excited to have her set? Thanks Laura!
All in all, a fun, busy, full day! And that was just Registration! We still have two full days of conference to go, so I probably should get at least a little bit of sleep. I’ll look forward to sharing more with you tomorrow!
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Subscribe to the comments for this postFounder’s Circle Day 4: Red Cliffs to Golf Carts
Maybe you won’t be surprised, but our last full day here in St George started off with a hike. Lynsay Mahon and Claire Lawrence and I headed out to the Red Reef Trail in the Red Cliffs Recreation Area to check out this gorgeous trail up a canyon. Actually, we were here in 2009 on a hiking trip that was waylaid, so it was fun to re-visit a wilderness we’d seen.
See how the water runs down the middle of the canyon? We didn’t have to walk in the water like we did in the Narrows yesterday, but we did have to do a little climb around a precipice over the running water. There were steps carved into the sandstone so we could get across in our sneakers.
There were even a few caves along the hike. The red rocks were absolutely beautiful. The weather here has been perfect for being outdoors — not nearly as hot as it can be during this time of year.
After hiking we headed back to do our Make N Take projects using the new stamp set and a WONDERFUL new doily Sizzlit that will both be in the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog (check back on January 5th).
Here are two of our projects:
There was also a new set of desserts… yum! All week Stampin’ Up! has had different special treats for us in the refrigerator case. Yesterday my fav was a lemon bar, and today was these cute tarts. I like tarts because you get more pie crust per filling, and YUM for pie crust
At 4 pm we boarded the Stampin’ Up! buses for our final “mystery” event. Stampin’ Up! is GREAT about surprising us, and this year was no different! The funny thing is that when we pulled up to the Coral Canyon Golf Course, no one suspected that we were there for the golf course! In the past we’ve had all kinds of activities and events at golf courses around St. George, from a movie night to a dinner with a butterfly release.
But this year there were LOTS of golf carts waiting for us, and we even got to DRIVE our own carts! We had 17 teams for a golf scramble, except each hole had a stamping-style game. At one hole we putted to try to hit the Stampin’ Up! product that we wanted to take home (I missed, but the consolation prize was a Card Keeper Box, so no big deal). At another hole we answered Stampin’ Up! trivia questions: What’s the maximum number of items shipped from Stampin’ Up! in a single day, ever?
And several of the holes had marshmallow golf games, like trying to hit a marshmallow down a driving range, or a relay carrying a marshmallow on a golf club head. After the scramble events, we headed back to the club house for a yummy dinner and more great treats! Each of us found our table seat marked with a golf trophy to commemorate our Tea Time “TEE” Time.
Shelli thanked us for coming, and we applauded the Special Events Staff who put this fabulous week together for us.
Back at the hotel, demonstrators congregated in the lobby for awhile, since no one wanted to head up to their room and have Founder’s Circle be that much closer to the end. This week has been too much fun, with so many different adventures and surprises.
Stampin’ Up! had one more surprise in store though… our last night Pillow Gift. Each of us received a key chain with a special custom Tea Cup and filled with our own Stampin’ Up! Simply Adorned Baubles.
What a whirlwind of a week. It has been wonderful to be pampered and spoiled by Stampin’ Up! at the Founder’s Circle Retreat. I feel so fortunate to be included on this event and to have the chance to be around this amazing group of 100 women who love to share stamping as much as I do.
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Founder’s Circle Day 2: Sandstone to Cakes
Another fabulous day in St. George, Utah for the 2011 Founder’s Circle Trip! This morning started out with breakfast with our fellow demonstrators, meeting new friends and catching up with others. After breakfast, my friend Lynsay Mahon and I headed out to the north of St. George for some hiking. We visited Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness, near the little town of Central, Utah. The weather was a bit overcast today, so we had lunch amongst the ponderosa pines by a burbling creek, then headed back south of Veyo, Utah for some Red Rock hiking.
The sandstone formations were breathtaking, and we climbed up to the top to check out these pools. We were told that they formed over many many year as the wind picked up sand particles and then swirled them around, carving out holes nearly 40 feet deep. I didn’t want to stand close to the edges for very long!
This evening we gathered for a Pajama Party business share, complete with pretty teacup notebooks created using My Digital Studio. Just one more fun surprise from Stampin’ Up!. Have I mentioned that we are completely spoiled? After the business share we had our Card Swap (did you see my swaps?).
Finally, we headed back to our rooms (so I can write this to you), and had one more surprise from Stampin’ Up! for the day: a bucket of treats that we’re supposed to bring tomorrow night for our trip to see The Little Mermaid production at the Tuacahn outdoor amphitheater. I can’t wait! They even stamped a special invitation card for us. I love the technique with the punched pieces. Just punch, glue, then run the whole sheet through a Big Shot Embossing Folder, like the Square Lattice Folder used here.
Here’s a selection of my favorite photos from today:
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Convention 2011: Day 2, stamping, stamping and more stamping ideas!
Want to guess how many pictures I took at Convention this year? 300? 500? 1000? Keep going: I took about 1200. And I know demonstrators who took TWICE as many! There were so many ideas shared, and Day 2 of the Stampin’ Up! Convention started out with classes and ideas.
Here’s a great idea using the Milk Carton Die for the Big Shot to make a 6-sided box. Donna Griffith showed this one, created by cutting two Milk Carton pieces and trimming one panel from each.
Here’s another idea, using the corner of the Decorative Label Punch to create an ornate corner for layering.
There were several more stage walks, to celebrate demonstrators for their achievements in sales, recruiting and helping the demonstrators in your group to promote, and I was excited to be honored in each category. Here’s a shot of me walking across the stage with my stamping friend Lynsay Mahon. Stampin’ Up! has been a great way to make some fabulous friends!
We also spend time visiting display boards and touring the displays set up by Stampin’ Up!, highlighting each of the new Product Suites in the new Stampin’ Up! Catalog (debuted July 1st). The detail and creativity astounded us!
The evening wrapped up with a “+Fun” class. The one I selected was the My Digital Studio Hybrid Class. We made a terrific calendar–watch for my Class & “To Go” Kit later this fall. Drop me an email if you’d like the details when they’re ready!
One last chance to hang out until way past bedtime. We gathered in the room of several fellow demonstrators to talk about the Holiday Mini Catalog (yay!) and all the creative ideas we could come up with for the new products!
Convention 2011: Can this really be Day 1?
For sure, how is it possible that this day was packed with so much, and it was only the first day! Okay, here goes my fast photo tour of the Stampin’ Up! Convention, Day 1… (which was yesterday, if you’re losing track of the days like me!)
Here’s the Main Stage display–Stampin Up does a fabulous job of putting their stamp on everything (ha, bad pun intended), including the stage background.
One of the highlights of the morning was a chance to walk across the stage and be recognized for all the demonstrators who shared Stampin Up with a friend this year. Each of these Green Hat Girls had at least one person sign up to be a demonstrator with them. Way to go!! Just think, you could be one of us next year, if you wanted to take advantage of the $99 special before the end of July!
We also saw several fabulous projects created with the supplies from the Christmas Keepsake Box Kit that comes as a bonus with the July Demo Starter Kit special.
Next surprise? New Holiday Mini Catalog! We saw more of the incredible product suites from the upcoming Mini Catalog (customers begin ordering Sept 1, but demonstrators get to preorder Aug 1!). Then we got our very own copy of the new Mini!! See everyone with their heads in the mini? Those are looks of concentration!!
Then at lunch we had a Sneak Peek of one of the products coming up later this fall… (got a guess?) yum!
After lunch we worked on our own Make N Take projects, this stamping thing sure is fun! Hee hee… We didn’t quite finish the beautiful projects, so you’ll have to hold off for pictures of those. But here is a shot of my mom and Theresa working out the details of one of the projects.
The Annual Awards were held in the evening, announcing and honoring the demonstrators who earned the Incentive Trip to Disneyworld next spring. We also learned the locations for next year’s trips. Drumroll please… Hilton Head Island for the Getaway Trip and FIJI for the Grand Vacation!!
Interested?! Let me know if you have any questions about how Stampin Up can send you and a guest to Hilton Head Island or….FIJI! (can you tell I’m still excited about that one?)
Lastly, the Demonstrator of the Year awards were announced. I was thrilled to be recognized this year as the #35 demonstrator out of roughly 45,000 in the US. Very exciting, plus wonderful to be surrounded by my demo family!
Whee… Can’t wait to see all that is in store for us the rest of the week. I just need to figure out how to stay awake for it!
Happy stamping!
Meg
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: VBS Style
Have you passed a church with a giant panda out front this summer? Our church has been overrun with pandas this year too, and I’m the VBS Decorations Lady at our church, so it was my garage that was overrun before all the pandas made it to church!
How does this relate to Stampin’ Up!? Good question! Every year, we demonstrators are also overrun with the brown packing paper that Stampin’ Up! uses in shipping boxes. Fortunately for VBS, that packing paper comes in handy for all kind of decor themes (here are a few over the years).
So do you see it? Can you spot the brown packing paper in our scene here?
This year the brown paper serves as:
- rocks for the waterfalls
- dirt under the bamboo forest backdrop
- rocks along the sides of the streambed
- vines on the waterfall
Further keeping with the Reduce, reuse, recycle, we used empty stove and refrigerator boxes to paint our cardboard backdrops.
So if my posts are a little sporadic this week, I may have been taken over by Pandamania!
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Stampin On Ice: Chilly Waters in Alaska
Did you see my first round of photos from our recent Stampin’ Up! Cruise to Alaska? (see the first post here) The story continues, as we woke up one morning to an ocean dotted with ice cubes…icebergs! Here is the view up the Tracy Arm Fjord, and yes, that’s a GLACIER at the end of the photo!
The icebergs in the water around us ranged from tiny to the size of a city bus–and that’s just the part we could see above the water. The colors of the ice ranged from dirty white to snow white to glowing blue–almost as if the icebergs were lighted from inside. Very cool! Sometimes it almost looked like the ship was floating in a giant Diet Coke with ice.
In Juneau we also got off the ship and headed up closer to an ice field, throwing our share of rocks into the lake.
The next day our stop was in Skagway, Alaksa. We took a great bus tour up the Klondike Highway and through little towns like Carcross. We crossed over into the Yukon Territory (our Canadian friends were excited to have visited another of the Territories). The mountain lakes were absolutely breathtaking, and Tucker enjoyed the chance to tromp in the snow.
Here’s another shot of us throwing rocks in a lake… seems to have been a continuing theme! The water was REALLY cold though–hard to keep your fingers under for more than 10-15 seconds.
We even caught some glimpses of wildlife along the way, like this cute fuzzy black bear by the side of the road. Yes, I realize that he’s probably not as sweet up close and personal as he seems from the safety of the van, but still, you have to admit the cute factor.
The highlight for the kids though, was the visit to the Husky puppies and the dog sled rides. Is this a look of pure joy, or what? “Mom, can I have one? Please??”
No, she can’t have one. But they definitely were cute! We even got to ride on one of the dog sleds, which for the ‘summer’ is a modified golf cart with bench seats. The dogs sure loved running, and the dogs we saw were real athletes, competing in the winter Iditarod Race: over 1000 miles in 9-15 days. Pulling the tourist sleds gives them a chance to stay fit and train during their non-racing months.
The pools were halfway through our dog sled ride, giving the dogs a chance to catch a drink and cool off a bit.
Back in the US, we took the White Pass Railroad back to Skagway. More gorgeous scenery, and a chance to learn more about the gold miners who flocked to Skagway in 1897 and then had to hike the 33 mile Chilkoot Trail to where the gold actually was found. The train ride was much easier than hauling 2000 pounds of gear up 33 miles of trail. Thankfully.
And certainly back on the ship the food was much more plentiful and easy to come by!
We tried our own version of panning for gold, back in the Stampin’ Up! Hospitality Suite:
Each day the kids had the chance to ‘pan for prizes’ in a tub of 30,000 Stampin’ Up! buttons. There were 2 large red buttons, and the kids had to find one to win a prize. Abby and Tucker reminded us each day to head down so they wouldn’t miss their treats! One day the prize was Silly Bands, another day a little sack of ‘gold’ bubblegum, another day a gold-wrapped chocolate coin. Stampin’ Up! did a great job looking out for the kids on this trip!
Don’t worry, I’m not quite finished with the trip… still have to cover our Make N Take projects (think “sneak peek”!) and more.
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
The Many Lives of Brown Packing Paper
For the past several years I’ve been lucky enough to be in charge of decorations for our church’s Vacation Bible School Program. Each year I manage to find a way to turn miles of Stampin’ Up! brown packing paper into a decor item that fits that year’s theme.
This year our theme is PandaMania, “Where God is wild about you!”. I’m thinking that the brown paper will be perfect for vines and dirt.
Reuse and recycle are great words to live by, so in addition to the paper, each year I’ve also been reusing the main ‘ticket booth’ display piece and repainting it to fit the theme. Here are the last 2 years, plus this year’s booth, with the paint still drying.
Our Asian-inspired ticket booth holds the sign-up papers in the gathering area at church, to help get the kids excited about the upcoming VBS theme. Here are the vines, too. All I did was cut the width of the brown packing paper in half, then twist and tie a few knots. Green latex paint turns them into jungle vines.
Speaking of VBS, if you live in the Champaign-Urbana area (central Illinois), you’re welcome to send your kids or come and help us! Drop me an email and I’ll send you the link to sign up.
If you’d like to see our decorations from past VBS years (brown packing paper included), here are the displays from Crocodile Dock and High Seas Adventure.
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Wanted: Cowboy Hats and Boots
Another highlight of Stampin’ Up!’s annual Leadership Conference is the Manager’s Reception. Each year demonstrators with the title of Manager or above are invited to a fabulous party, usually something related to the city where Leadership is held.
This year was no different, and as we waited for the buses to take us to the secret location (that’s right–they don’t tell us ahead of time what we’ll be doing), cowboy hats were handed out to all the demonstrators.
Turns out a few people had guessed ahead–Stampin’ Up! had rented out the Nashville landmark, the Wildhorse Saloon!
We heard some great music, followed by a yummy buffet (mmm, BBQ…) and lots of line dancing. For those who weren’t out on the dance floor, there were also plenty of pool tables.
My friend Tammie Rundle and I played a game of pool with Stampin’ Up! CFO Scott Nielsen. I’m not saying who won…turns out there were some pretty wicked pool players at the Wildhorse Saloon that evening. Okay, truth… “wicked” means really awful in this case! Sorry Scott
When we returned to the Convention Center after all the fun (including fabulous dessert, of course), another surprise was waiting for us.
The Leadership bags were ready to pick up! Each of us got this gorgeous quilted bag with a vintage wallpaper print (just like on the Stampin’ Up! Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder…check it out). The bags were even trimmed with Striped Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon. I have it from a good source that they are patterned after a Vera Bradley bag from this season. So if they’re Stampin’ Up! bags, does that mean they’re CASE’d from Vera?
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
Invitation Inspiration: Leadership 2011
Wow, I nearly wrote 2010 on this post… is it really 2011 already?
In any case, I wanted to start by sharing a fabulous invitation that I received in the mail several weeks before the Stampin’ Up! Leadership Conference last week. Each year, Stampin’ Up! hosts the leaders who have achieved certain titles for a 2-3 day conference focusing on business, working with our demonstrator teams and networking. This invitation was to attend a special breakfast meeting during Leadership.
Isn’t this gorgeous? The Notably Ornate set has a terrific style to it, especially for Vintage type projects. And of course the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder is a perfect pair (see it on the flowers?).
One of the highlights for me at Leadership each year is the breakfast for past Advisory Board members (here’s the breakfast from last year, and also from 2009). In addition to getting a chance to chat with corporate team members (Amy Swartz, VP of Sales & Marketing and Chad Richards, VP of IT at our table), we also had some time to sit down and with friends we only see a few times a year.
Keep an eye out for more Leadership pictures on my blog!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
