Back from Convention!!

I'm home!!  It will be good to sleep in my own bed tonight.  I'm not saying the hotel bed was bad - it was actually quite comfy but by being in my bed tonight, I won't have to get up tomorrow at the crack of dawn!!!  Just hope my body understands that and lets me sleep.  Our flight left Salt Lake this a.m. at 7:30.  We had a 2 hour lay-over in Detroit- enough time to grab some lunch and charge our laptops.  Then boarded our flight to Greensboro.  That plane was reallllllly small - 2 seats on one side and 1 on the other.  As we were approaching the Greensboro airport, there were storms in the area so the pilot made a few circles.  The storms were not moving so we headed north and landed in Richmond, VA to refuel.  Then back to Greensboro - luckily that was only about a 30 minute or less trip.  Then we got our bags and drove home and met our hubbies for dinner.  I haven't even unpacked - tomorrow
will be plenty of time to do that!!

Here's a little thumbnail of our convention highlights:

The first general session began Thursday night with an emotional, heartfelt welcome by CEO and cofounder, Shelli Gardner, who was thrilled to kick off Stampin' Up!'s historic 25th anniversary party by welcoming demonstrators from all over the globe--some of whom joined the event via a live streaming broadcast on YouTube.

Shelli began the session by sharing how Stampin' Up! started--with her sister, Vonna--and the incredible way it went from a small start-up based in Shelli's living room to a multimillion dollar business spanning the globe. As Shelli said, "It all began with a genuine desire to meet our needs and offer the same opportunity for others . . . whether those needs were social, financial, creative . . . [or the need for] recognition."

From the very beginning, Stampin' Up! was founded to make a difference--and it has--including their philanthropic Make a Difference program. Over the years, Stampin' Up! has raised money and donated to many worthwhile causes worldwide. Shelli was especially happy to announce during this session that Stampin' Up! is now a global sponsor of Ronald McDonald House Charities. (Ronald McDonald himself made an appearance, to the delight of all!)  Marianne and I have decided to look into doing something with Charlotte's Ronald McDonald House.

Shelli also spent a few moments distinguishing between making a difference and being the difference. Shelli explained: "Making a Difference looks back at our history--the things we've done and the legacy we've created as a Stampin' Up! family. Be the Difference, on the other hand, embodies where we are right now and where we are going. Moving forward, how are we as a group and each of us individually going to be the difference?" Over the next few days, Shelli said that we would explore the possibilities together--how we can make--and be--the difference in peoples' lives.

Pam Morgan, vice president of demonstrator and employee development, followed Shelli with a fun stamping presentation. She gave tips on gorgeous cards demonstrators could make using the free stamp sets they received at convention.  We got Gorgeous Grunge, Tag It, and Hello Lovely and at the end of the session, they gave us all another set, Tags for You from the Holiday Catalog.

After the session, we participated in an Opening Social which included a Guinness World Records challenge--with the goal to send as many cards from a single location as possible. We also had the opportunity to put together special birthday kits for children who are patients at Primary Children's Medical Center.

During the Opening Social, we enjoyed Learning Labs, including a Social Media Lab, a Recruiting Lab, a Booking Lab, and a Paper Pumpkin Lab.  Finally, the karaoke stage was a big hit--where demonstrators showed off their musical talent (not us though!!)
What a fabulous first day of convention! 

Day 2 kicked off early Friday morning with thousands of demonstrators thronging the Salt Palace Convention Center for one of the biggest events Stampin' Up! has ever held--celebrating its twenty-fifth year anniversary in fabulous style!   It was almost a stampede when they opened the doors and 5,800 people rushed in to find a seat!!

This year Stampin' Up! also welcomed demonstrators from all parts of the globe--some of whom joined us on their way to Grand Vacation 2013 in Park City, Utah.

The Friday morning general session began with Sara Douglass reminiscing about the first convention she ever attended in 1993, when she was twelve years old. Growing up as she did--with Stampin' Up! being such a big part of her life--Stampin' Up! conventions just seemed "like a family reunion--a very LARGE family reunion," said Sara. "Who else can say they have 50,000 family members spread around the world?"

Stampin' Start achievers were honored in the Friday AM session, as were annual personal sales award achievers, recruiting and leadership achievers, and Getaway and Grand Vacation earners.

Shelli Gardner followed Sara with a stamping presentation featuring 25 projects (for 25 years)! She introduced two new products and demonstrated exciting, innovative ways to use these fun new products.  (Details coming soon!!)

Shannon West also introduced two new products - one of them being the new Undefined Stamp Carving Kit and she showed us her fun stamps--which she carved herself using the new kit!  (Again, more details later.)

The General Session ended around 11 a.m. and we had time for lunch, make and takes, mini classes, new product demos, etc.  It was such fun!  Marianne and I took over 500 pictures!  So we had to make a run back to our hotel and charge our phones/cameras for about an hour before heading back for Awards Night.  Due to changes in recognition, Friday evening's Awards Night was short and sweet but just as fabulous.  This year's Awards Night achievers were also presented with gorgeous Hawaiian leis--and little did they know--those flowers were a hint of good things to come! Scott Nielsen announced that for North American and South Pacific markets, Grand Vacation 2015 will be held in Oahu, Hawaii.
Awards Night was followed by a truly exciting 25-Year Celebration which included aerial ballet, photo ops, live music, interactive activities, and delicious refreshments.

Day Two of Convention 2013 could not have been more exciting. 

Here is one of the cards I took for swaps with Sketched Birthdays.  I was in need of a new birthday stamp set and really like this one.  I used all the new In Colors on the card.  But this set has so many possibilities!!



 OK - I am falling asleep at the keyboard!  This gal is going to bed!!  Night!

Almost home

Marianne and I are at the Detroit Airport almost home. the internet connection at our hotel was not good so I was not able to blog while I was away.  We had a great time at convention and have lots of good stories and cards to share with you.   Hopefully I'll have time tonight when I get home 2 get on the computer if not you'll hear from me tomorrow

We are in Salt Lake City!!

We are in Salt Lake City!  We got to our hotel room about 1 a.m (3 a.m. EST though!) and in the bed by 1:30.  But we were both so keyed up, it took a while to fall asleep and of course, my body woke up at 6:30 since it thought it was 8:30!!  Hitting the bed pretty soon tonight for our full day tomorrow.  But thought I'd share a few pictures from our day.  We went to the Mormon Tabernacle today.  All I can say is WOW!  Words can't describe how beautiful that place is.  Of course, we could not go into the Temple but were able to go inside the other buildings.  We listened to an organ recital in the tabernacle that was just wonderful. 

We won't be doing any pub hopping here though.  We arrived to dinner about an hour early (didn't realize there had been a last minute change in our reservations) so decided to find someplace to have a drink.  We ended up at the Macaroni Grill's bar.  The bartender brought us a menu.  We told her no, we just wanted a glass of wine.  Well .... it is a Utah LAW that you have to order food in order for them to serve you alcohol!!  She recommended a $3 small bowl of olives!!  Marianne told her she didn't like olives but that was ok - I would eat them.  The bartender said to her - you will have an olive, won't you (or else she wouldn't get her beer!!)  So funny!

At Grreensboro airport trying to get organized!!

Mormon Temple

NC Demo swapping group



 And to give you a good laugh -----



Marianne found her some glasses!!

Lollipop Swaps

This is one of my favorite cards at the shoebox swap at Allison's a few weeks ago. I ended up CASEing it and making several to take to convention for swaps.  Just punch 1" circles from Polka Dot DSP and arrange in a circle.  Glue together and add a circle in the center with a pearl.  I colored the white pearls in various colors.  I bought the lollipop sticks at a big box craft store and tied a piece of ribbon around it.  Easy Peasy!!

I am all packed.  Got all my swaps done.  My suitcase is UNDER 50 lbs!!  And I am waiting for Marianne!  We have a 6:30 flight from Greensboro (about 1 1/2 hours from here) to Atlanta.  Then we have a 2 hour layover in Atlanta before boarding a plane to Salt Lake City.  We arrive in SLC at midnight .... 2:00 AM our time (EST).  Marianne will have been up almost 24 hours by that time.  I'm sure by the time we retrieve our luggage, find our shuttle and get to the hotel and checked in, she will be a zombie!  She's not used to late hours so I am going to have to work on her this week.  Luckily Wednesday is a "do nothing" day for us.  We are going to take in the sights of Salt Lake before meeting our NC demos for dinner.  I will do my best on blogging this week but my laptop was not cooperating with me last night so we'll see!

Ice Cream??

I'm making progress with my swaps for convention!  Finished up a few more this morning before heading over to the Soup Kitchen to do a little volunteer work.  Marianne and I met up later for dinner.  I don't think we've seen each other in about a month!  It was funny.  I stopped off at Belk's to browse while waiting for her to get off work and get her hair cut.  She called me right after I got to Belk's and asked me where I was.  When I told her, she said, "no way - where are you?"  Turns out she was in Belk's too - right across the aisle from me.  The sales girl got a big kick out of it - she could hear both sides of our conversation!  After she got her hair cut, we went to Chili's for dinner - one of favorite places.  

This is one of the cards I have made for a convention swap.  I saw a card similar to this somewhere on the internet and made my own version of it.  Doesn't it look like a yummy ice cream cone?  It was so easy to make - I used my scallop circle punch for the three "flavors" and cut the come free-hand and embossed it.   Then I used the ticket punch to punch out a few tags.

MDS Challenges

 

 This is my card for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.  #50 - can you believe it??!!

 I tried to post it last night but my laptop just wouldn't cooperate.  Our lights kept flickering and we could hear thunder in the distance so I just gave up and called it a night.  Someone must have gotten a storm but we never did.  And (I don't want to say this too loud!) but the sun is shining today.  We are supposed to meet a group for dinner on the lake late this afternoon - weather permitting.  So, back to the card .... of course, I used My Digital Studio.  A couple of tricks with this card - the three brads in the center.  They actually had different colored little hearts on them and not in my color combo.  SO, I inserted a circle punch and shrunk it down to fit on top of the brads; color filled them with the DSP and voila! three custom brads to match!  The two little flags are from a bow that I cropped and just used the two ends.  The butterfly is one of my favorites.  It is from the Flores Suaves stamp set - which was offered in the Spanish catalog several years ago but now I can get it digital which makes it great.  It is an open stamp meaning if it were an actual stamp, you would have to use markers, etc. to color in the butterfly wings.  I used the Freeform (add brush) technique; colored in the butterfly in Soft Sky and Pistachio Pudding and when I was finished, brought the stamped image butterfly to the top.  The script behind the butterfly (in white) is also from the same stamp set.

While I'm talking about MDS, I have entered a SU color combo contest.  I would love your comments on my pictures on Stampin' Up's site.  You can check them out and leave your comments HERE.  Just click on my two layouts and comment.  Stampin' Up says "it doesn't hurt your chances of winning by having a lot of comments!"  Thanks!

Birthday Chalk Talk

I just love the stamp set, Chalk Talk!  Here is a card I made for a friend's birthday last month.

Aren't those colors great - Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana and Strawberry Slush!  How about that polka dotted background?  A good way to use up your scrap rubber bits!  The big circle is from the circle that is punched out from one of the Chalk Talk stamps!  And the small polka dots are from a pencil eraser!  I made the flower using the clay and flower mold and decided to keep it white instead of coloring it.  Ummm - maybe I'll whip up a few of these for convention swaps.

Quick post tonight - I have to get to bed.  Early wake up tomorrow to go to the Soup Kitchen.  I have to be there at 8:30 am which is my normal time to wake up!!

Backyard Basics Swaps

As you probably know, Stampin' Up is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year.  Each month they are featuring a "best of" stamp set.  We' ve had flowers, hearts, and now Shelli's favorites.  Who better to pick a “Best of” stamp set than the person who helped start Stampin’ Up! out of her garage 25 years ago? Shelli Gardner, our CEO and co- founder picked her favorite stamp images from the past 25 years and helped combine them into a single set just for you. 

Best of Shelli Clear-mount Stamp Set #133488 $14.95

Even better, this set includes a never-before-seen flourish image, and the flower image coordinates perfectly with the 3/4” Circle Punch.

Shelli has some samples on her blog of projects she created with this Best Of Set.  Check them out HERE and HERE.

I got a few more swaps done today.  I think I have about 60 now not counting the 40 for the "January" organized swap and the 15 cards for the NC Demo dinner and swap.  So I'll be coming home with a bunch of new ideas! 

This one is my favorite though!  I think this is called the stained glass technique.  Whatever ... I love it!  I think we will be doing this at club this month too.  I stamped the butterfly from Backyard Basics in white on vellum paper and embossed it.  After cutting the butterflies out with the matching framelits, I used my markers to color the back of the embossed butterflies.  I did a few of these cards using one of the flowers from Secret Garden too but I like the butterflies the best.

My Convention Swap

I think we may be building an ark here soon if this rain doesn't let up!  It has rained the whole week.   But that has given me a good shot at staying inside and working on my swaps for convention (which is next week!!)  We went to the movies on Thursday, the 4th and saw The Heat.  I really liked it and got a few good laughs in but I'm a big Sandra Bullock fan.  I heard some people complain about the language (the "F" word was used a lot.)  But it didn't really bother me.  I don't use that word and don't like to hear others use it, but I'm not a prude about it either.  I think we may go see White House Down this afternoon in between the rain drops.

Here is the card I finally chose for my organized swap at convention.  I had to make 40 of them and they had to be something for the month of January.  My hopes of doing a snowman card was dashed when Stampin' Up did not include any of them in the big catalog.  So I borrowed Zoo Review from my downline and made this card.  It turned out pretty cute.

 

The sentiment is from Chalk Talk (pg 12) - probably my favorite set in the catalog!  It's hard to see but I put a bit of Dazzling Diamonds right under the bear's paws.

Well, back to the drawing board - I have more swaps to make that I will be sharing with you soon.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope your day is a good one - stay safe!  I also hope that your fireworks viewing is better than ours was.  The YMCA in Mooresville puts on a fireworks display every year.  This year they chose to do it on July 3.  Not sure why but .... they didn't ask me.  The weather has been pretty bad here all week - raining every day and Wednesday was no different.  It rained off and on all day.  We were going to enjoy watching the fireworks from my mom's church.  They were also planning on having an ice cream social.  But with the rain, they canceled the social.  The rain let up a little bit about 8 so we drove to Mooresville at 9 to watch the fireworks with Mom and Angela.  They were supposed to start at 9:30 but .... they started them early!  So we got to see about 10 minutes of the fireworks!  Oh well, better luck next year!

A template from MDS - easy peasy!!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION UNDER  GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH  LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!


For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be.
Please  support all of the troops defending our Country.

And God Bless our Military who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.

We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, and to them we should be eternally grateful.

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform;
so young, so tall, so proud.
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
he'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil;
how many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE !

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant 'Amen.'
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
of the mothers and the wives,
of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.