Convention Day 1

-This is Tonic-Sol-Fa , they were the acapella group that sang tonight at the end of the Award Ceremony. they are based out of St. Cloud and I think that is soo cool! We bought a CD and got it signed. And as you can see, we got to talk to them and get our pictures taken with them. 3 women to the . During their session of entertainment, they started picking on one of Shelli's son-in-laws. He was a good sport about it. Then they picked on him again. Then they practically dared him to lead a congo line around the room, and he did it! Much to their surprise, and they even went up on the stage.

Ok, Day 1 of Convention is over, Woo-hoo! Met lots of people, swapped lots of cards, am totally exhausted! This is Shelli Gardner, our fearless leader and the co-founder of the Stampin' Up! company. She gave the opening address and was very sweet! I hope I get a chance to get a picture with her tomorrow :)

And this is Brent Steele with GIANT Hershey's bar. He said chocolate is his inspiration, lol! He gave a fantastic preview of the new My Digital w cool Studio that will be for sale sometime this fall. It is sooo cool! You all are going to love it! Lots of click and drag, stamp images that you can "stamp" in any of the Stampin Up colors, even the retired In-Colors! How cool is that? There are also embellishments, punches and designer series papers to use on this digital photo editing/scrapbooking/card making/paper crafting software. It is all really easy to use and they will continue to have updates on stamp sets, embellishments, and designer series paper. You will be amazed at all the stuff you can do and all the things I left out!

This is one of several young ladies from the Los Angeles dance school. They were all sooo flexible and gracious and energetic! I was a joy to watch.

And check out this super cute hat I saw someone wearing. It you know who made this, please let me know so I can give them the credit they deserve!

This is my new little friend. She is a brand new demo and she really wants to meet all of you and share the projects that she plays a very special part in :) This was a surprise item in the Momento Mall and we were only allowed to buy one today. She is a promo item for us to promote the new Build-A-Bear Workshop products that we will start selling on September 1. She is wearing a Stampin Up apron and it even says Stampin Up on the bottom of her foot. Isn't she adorable?!
Between convention activities and the Award Ceremony, we went to a little local market that sells over 100 different kinds of chocolate, and wonderful gourmet cheeses. We will be going back there before we leave so we can bring some of that wonderful stuff home.
Now it is after 12:45 am and I am literally falling asleep as I type this, so I need to go to bed to be ready for more fun tomorrow!

This is my Thanksgiving cardfront swap. I really had a tough time just the right way to finish this one! I ended up using Crystal effects again to make Faux buttons with some DSP from Cast-A-Spell. Love the Razzleberry ribbon with the Elegant Eggplant from the Orchard Ribbon Originals. I hope everyone likes it!

• Stamps: Bright Blessings JW, Razzle Dazzle
• Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
• Ink: Old Olive Craft, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
• Other: 1/2" and 1" circle, large oval, and small oval punches, Rich Razzleberry and Elegant Eggplant ribbon, glue dots, Crystal Effects, sponges, Matchbox die with Big Shot for the label, paper piercer with mat pack, white gel pen, 1/16" punch

Convention Registration Day

This is Momento Mall. It looks like no one is shopping right? Let's just say I'm hanging with the right people ;) This was at 8:25 and I already had all of my goodies ready to check out. I'll post picks of those later. I didn't have time to take pics today and now I have no daylight! It has been a very busy day. I got my Convention bag shortly after 9am, rushed back to the hotel, had breakfast with Jamie, mounting my stamps while I ate cuz I needed them for Make & Take Helper training at 2pm. Then we were 30 miles away in Riverton at the Stampin Up headquarters to do our tour shortly before 11am.

Here is the distribution center. Awe inspiring how they have this set up. They keep track of their goal of items to ship for the day and how many they actually get out the door, and yesterday their goal was 73,000. They packaged and shipped 88,000! Woo-hoo! I think they deserve a shout out!


This is part of the wall of flags representing the diversity of the staff working in the distribution center. Pretty cool, huh. I think it's great!
Then you walk out the distribution center doors into their lunchroom.
And this is it! This is the Atrium and it is inside, cool, relaxing, and sooo inviting. Ahhh... it would be really hard to go back to work wouldn't it! This has to be an amazing place to work.

This is in the Legacy Room. The new Adornment stencil and I was told that Shelli actually just put it up on Tuesday! Just gorgeous! And I just got this stencil myself. Hmmmm... what will I do with it?
After we finished the tour, we headed back to SLC and relaxed in the room for about 45 minutes before I had to head back to the convention center to do my Make & Take Helper traininng from 2-6pm. I thought "There is no way we need 4 hours to train for this" Boy was I wrong! There were 8 projects and I had to really hustle to get the stamping and punching and just some of the assembly done. I finished them up this evening after we went here:
Totally Amazing food! This place was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. It definitely was worth it. And do you see all those people milling around outside? They are all waiting to be seated in this "Dive". Very crowded, but the staff were all cheerful, fast, and attentive. And the food WAS killer! I had the special that night- a seafood fajita with shrimp, scallops, and chicken with tons of sauteed sweet red and green peppers with onions, guacamole, & pico de gallo. It was delish! I want to eat here again before we leave because there was so much stuff on the menu that I can't get at home that I really want to try!

This is the fried ice cream we had for desert. Yummy! That is all I can say. It was soooooo good!
Tomorrow is the first actual day of Convention and I am up WAY too late! I need to get to bed so I can get up at 6am to get ready, eat, and run to convention by 8am. I'll try to get more photos for you all then!

Mini Album Swap

Here is the mini album that I made for a swap. It's very bright, isn't it?! I had a lot of fun putting this all together. I used some new DSP and ribbon, and started making my way thru my stash of rhinestone brads. Now that I have made myself start using them instead of hoarding them, I'm lovin' them even more!

I also used the Faux Suede technique to make the paper flowers. Basically I roughed up the paper, crumpled it, then peeled the 2 layers of paper apart. Then I ran them thru the Big Shot with the Blossom Party die. I love how they turned out. I will never buy Primas again!

You can't really tell in this picture, but I also put Crystal Effects over the "Hey, friend" so it's raised and shiny. Of course, I colored all the letters first!

Now on to the supplies I used.

• Stamps: Friends Rock, Crazy Cool
• Paper: Summer Sun, Barely Banana, Pixie Pink, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, ONly Orange, Kaleidescope DSP
• Ink: Soft Suede, In- Color markers
• Other: rhinestones, Top Note and Blossom Party dies with Big Shot, distressing tool, rhinestone brad, In-Color polka dot ribbon, Crop-A-Dile, book rings, cardboard from food boxes for the covers, sponges

Inside front cover

Page one

Page two

Page three




Page four

Page five

Page six

Page seven

Page eight

Inside back cover

Outside back cover

Hope you liked it!

Off to Convention!!!!

Ok, I am almost completely packed- just need to add the stuff I need to use in the am. Then we fly out at 7:00am! We are so excited to go somewhere by ourselves (my hubby and I) and play without the kids! We have never done this before and I think it will be quite an addicting experience. There are just so many things for me to be excited about on this trip. Lots of firsts:
First trip out of state since we married
First time leaving the kids for more than 48 hours
First flight in an airplane for my hubby
First time cave exploring
First time white water rafting
First convention for Stampin Up!!!!!
First time being a Make & Take helper!!!!!!

Ok, we all know I am excited! I will try to keep you all updated with the fun, all that I am allowed to share anyway. I could really just squeal right now, I am so excited! How many times have I said excited now? Alot I am sure. Ok, I better get to prepping for the trip so I can go to bed. I will have no problem sleeping tho, cuz I got off work at 8:00 am and only took a 3 hour nap. I am actually really tired right now. Maybe that's why I am so chatty!

Til next time, when I will be in SALT LAKE CITY!!!!

Stamp Club Tonight!

This is the scrapbook page we will make tonight, very bright and cheery!

• Stamps: Best Wishes and More

And the card we will do. If I think of something else awesome to do, we will have a 3rd project. Sorry this is such a short entry, but I just got home from work and am sooo tired I could fall over! Hope to see all my ladies at club tonight!

• Stamps: Medallion BG, Very Thankful
  

Final Deal of the Week

You are going "love" the sweet deal this week! The Heart to Heart punch is just $10.99 from July 27-31! If you would like to purchase this punch, you can contact me, or click on the picture to go to my demo website to order it yourself.