Sunday, July 29, 2012

Stampin Up Perfectly Preserved open house

It's always so exciting to look forward to more brand new products from Stampin' UP! I must say that SU has hit the holiday catalog (coming August 1st) out of the ballpark this time! All the variety of products that are amazing, fun, and creative has me wanting it ALL!

Join us for a preview of the "perfectly preserved" stamp set with the matching "cannery set" framelit dies at the open house on Saturday August 4th at 10am at my place. There will be a make n take, special door prizes, and snacks.


I created this card for a simple, easy, yet inviting card perfect to go along with a jar of homemade preserves.


Supplies used:
- perfectly preserved BUNDLE (includes "perfectly preserved" stamp set and "cannery set" framelits; save 15%! (129943 W, 129944 C)
- designer ribbon slides (127834)
- Labels collection framelits (125598)
- 3/8" ruffled ribbon: lucky limeade (122977)
- Orchard harvest DSP (126895)
- very vanilla cardstock

- Fancy fan embossing folder (127751)
- INKS: lucky limeade (126984), more mustard (126964), early espresso (126974),  raspberry ripple (126859)

E-mail me to get details on our upcoming make n take. 
Let me know what you think about my latest creation and comment below!


Saturday, July 28, 2012

SU! Convention 2012 - Day 3

Saturday has approached and the end of the convention is almost over =o(
It was off to a great start with Brian Pilling who spoke at our first session: I am a leader. He gave great tips on how to avoid or be a dysfunctional leader! I was able to take away alot of good things from this session!

This was the only picture I had of Brian. He assisted Shannon West during one of her presentations.
   I am making money was the next session that was hosted by Pam Morgan. She talked to us about how us demonstrators can get more out of the career plan by learning how to take advantage of performance bonuses! I'm definitely going to make it a goal to get some bonuses within the next year!

One last session of make n takes still didn't give me enough time to finish up my projects so whenever I finish them, I will show them to you in a future blog.

After lunch, we had our closing general session filled with happy moments and great memories we all will cherish! FREE stamp sets are always a plus! 

From left to right: Jessica (me), Denise, Marty, Carol, Kelli, Caren, Pat, and Samantha

Shelli Gardner and Sara Douglass announces the grand vacation 2014!

Carrie Cudney presenting the cutest projects!

We all received the Mixed Medley Hostess set from the Holiday catalog coming August 1st!
We all received the Moving Forward stamp set that benefits Ronald McDonald Charities.







 It was a party the whole week of convention and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it! I'm definitely inspired by all the talent around me and am looking forward to what the next year brings! 

I hope you have enjoyed reading about convention as much as I loved talking about it! Thank you for reading ! Blog you next time!!!

Friday, July 27, 2012

SU! Convention 2012 - Day 2

Day 2 starts off with main stage seating for the general session that featured more beautiful projects, information, and awards.

After the general session, we then broke into groups for our make n takes then lunch. Up next, I am doing business "my way" hosted by Bonnie Thurber who is pretty darn funny if you ask me. The main speakers were Tami White and Ronda Wade who were kind enough to speak about how they handle their SU! business "their way".


Bonnie Thurber

Bonnie Thurber





Our next session began with Shannon West, who is definitely a hoot! She hosted "I am having fun" where we discovered how to maximize workshop possibilities and include the #1 ingredient....FUN!


This saying was too funny, I had to take a picture of it!

 We all definitely laughed, danced, and smiled as we went along with Shannon's advice on how to make our workshops FUN!


Last but not least in my busy Convention schedule....Hispanic Night hosted by Sandra Manwill ! For those of you that are not aware of this, Stampin' UP! does sell some stamps en ESPANOL..... Click on the image to see the Celebrando Creatividad catalog.



 We were eager to get started on our make n take at Hispanic Night! a beautiful box perfect for any quinceanera (15 year birthday)!

Make n Take

I won!
 After seeing so many beautiful projects created by several talented demonstrators, they had a drawing and I won a prize! I was so excited to receive my very own heat embossing tool (see picture above)! YAAAY!

The day ended with taking dozens of pictures of beautiful projects created by Teresa Giordano, Natalia Danko, and so many more! 









 I hope you are still enjoying all the exciting news as I'm reporting these past few days! 

Stay tuned once again for the last and final day 3 of the Stampin' UP! Convention 2012!


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

SU! Convention 2012 - Day 1

It's day 1 of Convention and everybody (3,500) is shoulder to shoulder, waiting to get inside the main stage for the opening general session! It was very exciting!


The first thing we see when we arrive to our seats is the beautifully decorated stage with this year's theme: "I AM".
 I was quick to get a picture of me in front of the stage!





As the general session began, we were introduced to the theme song which was so fun to watch and the song was so catchy, I'm still singing it in my head!




An awesome introduction by Shelli and the staff on stage definitely got us all excited and screaming for more!
Amongst the highlights at the opening were Jason Dorsey (a guest speaker) who was hilarious and nothing short of entertaining. He spoke to us about differences in generations (Generation X vs Generation Y) amongst the people in the world.


 Then we were off to lunch at noon for a special first-timer's lunch that included a boxed lunch and free pack of the Storytime DSP nicely wrapped in a grosgrain ribbon! Gotta love those freebies!!!

                                  

After we enjoyed our special lunch, I went for a quick trip to memento mall...........and let me tell you, I can finally understand what makes it all so special! They sell exclusive products for demonstrators that are not sold anywhere else and I had to have it ALL (but I didn't have enough money) so I settled for a few things for my customers, downline, and myself! I did get this precious tree card-holder, it was so beautiful even though this picture doesn't do it justice!




I quickly had to rush out of there otherwise I wouldn't make it to my next class (plus I spent all my money)... "I am savvy". We learned from 4 talented demonstrators on how to strategically design to-die-for projects. These beautiful  & talented ladies were Donna Griffith, Meg Wheeler, Dawn Griffith, and Laura Milligan. 


Dawn Griffith
Donna Griffith
Laura Milligan
Meg Wheeler

cute idea for Christmas

Use the same idea for someone who is sick!

My next session "I am reaching out" was hosted by Emily Montoya. She showed us fun ways to include the emerging demographic ( women 25-35 yrs) in Stampin' UP. She had lots a great ideas and advice for us demos!



After this last session we were once again back at the main stage for some fun demos, prizes, and announcements before we went to "Awards Night" later on that evening.

On awards night, many talented ladies were awarded well-earned recognition for their hard work as Stampin' UP demonstrators. Amongst those ladies was, Denise Sullivan, my upline. I couldn't be more proud of her! Congratulations Denise! She did a wonderful job thanking Shelli (CEO) and Stampin' UP for allowing her to be a part of the advisory board this year.

Many got in line to be recognized for their sales: all the way from $20k to over $100k in SU! product sales.  They earned  free stamp sets based on amount of sales.


Awards night ended with an after party which I did not attend because I was already too tired for the day. Day 1 of Convention was soo much fun and couldn't wait for the next day (after I got some rest, of course)!

Stay tuned for day 2 of Convention tomorrow!


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Stampin' UP Convention 2012 - Check In Day

It was my first time in Salt Lake City and at the 24th annual Stampin' UP! Convention. It certainly was exciting, yet overwhelming with all the activities that were occurring! There were about 3500 people there (including men and women and children). Yes, there were some men in attendance and I give them "props" for being brave amongst so many crazy ladies!


Day one started with check-in day. My roomates and I were quick to get our exclusive SU! bag filled with goodies!


that's me!

Left to right: Nisha and Barb



Left to right: Barb, me, Nisha
Our next stop was at the "demonstrator's resource center"......it was like SU's version of Disneyland! There were hundreds of beautiful cards and projects featuring products from our current 2012 catalogs (including the holiday caddy).




Then we were off to get a head start on our make n takes! this was a wonderful idea considering that we were going to be short on time during the make n take sessions.


 While I was so excited to get my make n take on, I had to stop to take some time for a tour of the corporate office located in Riverton. This was my ONLY chance and I'm so glad I took it!


They call this room the "Legacy Museum".  It was filled with Stampin' UP! legacies all the way from their humble beginnings to beautiful displays created by their concept artists. 


 The distribution center (shown below) is humongous! The very helpful staff informed us about how they get your order to your door so quickly and accurately. All I have to say is ORGANIZATION!!!


 This is the atrium (below), where all gather for breaks and lunch. It's nothing short of beautiful! 



I am skipping alot of goodies but my tour ends at the famous Stampin' UP rock. It's definitely one of a kind!

 

As the day came closer to an end, I did my first convention card swap and it was well organized and fun! I got 50 swap cards! And believe me, I didn't even compare to the 800 swap cards that some ladies made at convention! I might shoot for 100 next time, but NOT 800!!!

 I had mentioned to you in my previous post that I was going to show you my full swap card and guess what.....I swapped and never got around to a full picture!!! I'm SO SO SO sorry!!! Better luck next time.


Last but not least! many demos got together for the final event of the night.....a My Digital Studio class hosted by Holly Lindford (who was aMazInG!). This class was so awesome, fun, and informative! All I have to say is..........be on the look-out for MDS2!!! You will not regret it!!!


From left to right: Denise, Caren, Jessica (me), and Samantha

 As I've mentioned before, check in day of our convention was off to a wonderful start and I couldn't wait to see what was next! Stay tuned for day 1 of my convention experience tomorrow! Hope you are enjoying yourself so far!



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Sunday, July 15, 2012

July Club projects

As you had seen in my previous post last week, one of our July club projects was an easy and simple layout that gave  a grand effect! I'm completely in love with those In-Color Dahlias!

Our next project was a simple mini pizza box. I used the template from Mary Fish's video tutorial. I used her idea of using it to store 3x3 cards and that's exactly what we did. For starters, we decorated the outside of the box using the "Language of friendship" stamp set and Floral district DSP.
A little pearl in the center of the flower gave it a beautiful finishing touch!




 The 3x3 cards that we made to store inside included the same stamp set we used to decorate the box. We used the Designer frame embossing folder to create a simple outline to put our bird in then we used the paper piercing pack to create a hole in the middle of each scallop.





 Supplies used for the projects:

o   Cardstocks: whisper white, crumb cake, rich razzleberry, baja breeze, daffodil delight
o   DSP: Floral District
o   Inks: rich razzleberry,
o   Markers: daffodil delight, early espresso, pumpkin pie, old olive
o   Stamp sets: language of friendship
o   Punches: scallop edge border, bird builder, decorative label
o   Big Shot machine with Designer frames embossing folder
o   ¼” stitched grosgrain ribbon – daffodil delight
o   Essentials paper piercing pack

 Thank you again for taking a look at our projects! If you have any questions or comments, I'd be happy to help you out!