.jpg)
Posts Tagged ‘Founder’s Circle 2011’
Founder’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!
Subscribe to the comments for this postFounder’s Circle Day 3: Zion National Park to The Little Mermaid
Still here in southern Utah for the Stampin’ Up! Founder’s Circle 2011 Trip! Today was another great day to be outdoors! I’ll have to share more with you when I get my pictures, but for now, here’s a shot of the Narrows in Zion National Park. The Narrows is the deepest and narrowest canyon in the world–there are some deeper, and some narrower, but none deeper AND narrower. We hiked about 2.5 miles up the river and back down again, and yes, we walked through water up to chest deep with our backpacks held over our head. More on that when I have some fun pictures to show!
After our Narrows trip, we headed back for a wonderful dinner at our hotel and then grabbed our buckets of candy and popcorn from last night’s Pillow Gift. We boarded buses for Tuacahn, which is a gorgeous outdoor amphitheater here in St. George (photo courtesy Tuacahn). Stampin’ Up! took us to see Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and the show was wonderful! There were puppets, incredible costumes and of course all the fun songs from the Disney movie.
Hard to believe it was nearly midnight when we returned to our hotel again… to find ANOTHER fun Pillow Gift waiting for us! I absolutely love tonight’s gift… it features the Beau Chateau Designer Fabric (see it online). Isn’t it a cute apron? I can’t wait to wear mine!
Whew, okay, more tomorrow, but for now I need to catch up on a few hours of sleep!
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!
Founder’s Circle Day 1: From Red Rock to Tea Parties
What a whirlwind of a day! This morning at 7 am I was picked up at our hotel in St. George, Utah along with 3 friends for a rock climbing/rappelling/canyoneering/zip line/hiking Day Trip, west of St. George. 8.5 hours later, we made it back to the hotel, so it was a full day of adventuring! And after that, we were welcomed by Stampin’ Up!’s fabulous Events Staff, with the hotel and our gathering place all decked out in fabulous Tea Party theme.
We had a fabulous Opening Dinner and Shelli Gardner welcomed us. We each received a special tea cup as a place holder at the tables — how sweet! The name tags were done with My Digital Studio and cut out by HAND for all 122 of us. And that was just a place card for dinner! Wow–Selma Galloway is Wonder Woman! Actually, everyone on the Events Staff works so hard to make this an incredible event.
Our doors each have a special name placard, and when we came back to our rooms after dinner, our first Pillow Gift was waiting… a Big Shot Storage Box filled with stamping supplies! I can’t show you the stamp set we received, but it fits our Founder’s Circle theme perfectly. Watch for some projects that I make with it — because yes, we do stamp and have Make N Take projects at Founder’s, too!
Here are a few pictures from our day:
St. George or Bust: Founder’s Circle 2011
As this blog entry posts, I’ll be in a plane somewhere over Kansas. Well, at least hopefully! I guess you never know with airline schedules these days. But I’m excited to head to beautiful St. George, Utah for several days of relaxing, visiting with demonstrator friends and being spoiled at Stampin’ Up!’s Founder’s Circle Retreat.
Each year Stampin’ Up! invites the top 100 from the Demonstrator of the Year Award on this special trip. We take over an entire hotel and get prepared for many many surprises. (check out some past years) Of course we have surprises for each other, including a Card Swap. For the Swap, we each make 122 of a single card front, and trade them with everyone else. When it’s all done, we go home with 122 new ideas!
Here’s my Swap for this year:
The Punch Art Angel was created using the Pennant Parade stamp set and a variety of punches:
- Pennant Builder Punch (body) — see it online
- Butterfly Punch (wings) — see it online
- Cupcake Builder Punch (hair) — see it online
- 3/4″ Circle Punch (face) — see it online
So keep an eye out for the next few days for my posts from St. George about our Founder’s Circle 2011 adventures!
Happy Stamping!
To Order Stampin’ Up! Products On-Line 24/7, CLICK HERE!
