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Stampin' Up! Convention 2011

Day 1: listened to inspirational speakers and saw amazing demonstrations today. Also spent a fun time swapping cards with other demos and spending money in memento mall. I bought a gorgeous tote bag to carry all my craft supplies, the design on the outside is from the Greenhouse Gala DSP. We were also given a very bright shoulder bag, useful size and certainly eye-catching! Perfect for Melbourne weather as it has a waterproof coating! Went out for dinner because it was my birthday at an Italian restaurant called Cervo, and it was very nice. Thanks to all the Paper Angels who made it a special day.

Day 2: had a hilarious morning in the general session with some of the presenters getting their make and takes wrong and turned it into a comedy show! (Don't think Emma will be ironing anything for a while!) Got myself a prize on prize patrol of Nature Walk stamp set and co-ordinating DSP. Legged it in my lunch break to the MCG and Rod Laver Arena for a look and to get Mike some souvenirs. Got motivated in speaker sessions in the afternoon, then stamped all evening with our team making swaps.

Day 3: Had seminars in the morning, then had the last general session in the afternoon, where Emma and Aaron arrived on stage on camels to announce that incentive trip will be in Broome next year! Saw some gorgeous works of (stamping) art, and was inspired and motivated by the speakers again – so enthusiastic about getting back to building my business now. And we got some amazing free stuff, can't tell you what yet, we've been sworn to secrecy, but it's lovely. Last day blues, still the awards night will be fab with a lovely dinner and friends for company...

Awards night: Bit chilly walking back to the convention centre (I'm not going to miss that hike) in our glad rags, but tables looked lovely and the food was delicious. It took ages to serve everyone, and we had to swig our coffees to go into the auditorium for the awards session but good fun none the less. They began with the $20k awards, and I got to walk on stage for the first time (even though I got this award last year we were away in England). Thanks Anna for taking the photo. Then watched everyone else get their deserved awards before news that Ursula, one of our Paper Angels team, won the Heart of Stampin' Up! award! Well done Ursula, you deserved it.

Craft retreat projects

Sharon's

Elisa's

Neda's

Rachelle's

Sylvia's

Craft retreat 2011 part 2

As you can see we had lots of fun on Saturday doing what we all love best - paper crafting! Most of us brought shoe box swaps for others to do, and that was pretty successful. I must admit though that I didn't get an awful lot else done as the swaps were so lovely I had to make them all!

Meegan was happy she got to make loads of cards for all the men in her life,

Sharon was just happy to have completed something, lol!

I don't know if Teresa was about to hit Neda with that Stamping Around Wheel, or if she was just giving it to her...

Neda, Elaine and Elisa all hard at work.



The obligatory group photo, thanks girls for a fab weekend.

Craft retreat 2011

Well we had a fantastic time, and I can't believe it's been a week already since we were away down the coast at Coolangatta for a weekend of paper-crafting. I loaded the XL-7 to the brim with all my stuff, and just had room for Sylvia, who said "never mind, some of this won't be returning so we'll have more space on the return journey". We arrived just after 11am on Friday, missing our turning because we were talking so much, and had to double back through Twin Towns. We re-arranged the tables and had two cups of tea before we were satisfied that everyone had enough space to craft in! Next to arrive was Elaine but not until later in the day, closely followed by Teresa and Sharon. Elisa, Rachelle and Neda got there just before dark, luckily Rachelle knew the way.

We decided to go out for dinner along the main drag in Cooly. We went to the Ruby Thai restaurant, and had a nice meal there. Mine was a bit too spicy and I ended up forgetting what the dish contained because all I could taste was chili. But it was fun to get together with everyone.

I had arranged a couple of competitions for a bit of fun, and so that evening when we got back we had a memory game where you had to look at things on a tray and then remember what they were after they were covered up. Meegan did very well, closely followed by Sylvia and Sharon I think (sorry if my memory isn't that great - I would have failed miserably at that game!) Meegan won a stamp set and the others won scrapping goodies.

Saturday was a glorious day compared to Friday's rainy clouds. Meegan and I got up for some exercise on the beach at 6am, and after a leisurely breakfast we got into some crafting. Most of the girls had made a project kit for others to make, and so there were six projects to choose from (I'll post pictures when Blogger stops mucking me around!)

More to follow...

Olivia's birthday

I had to pull my finger our and get her invitations done as time was ticking, so I came up with this really simple card design - I had seen this type of thing done at convention, but I tweeked it with her photo in the owl's nest, and text added from the computer. I used the 'Woodgrain' and "fox and Friends' stamp sets, with the large scallop circle and large circle punches. The toppers for the party bags were along the same lines, but I used the owl from the Sale-a-Bration set 'Punch Bunch' instead.

spend/host/join

Why not earn some FREE stamp sets this month and through to the end of March by spending $100 on products from the Idea Book and Catalogue (IB&C) or the Summer mini catalogue?

or host your own workshop and also get FREE stamp sets with qualifying sales levels?

or you could join my team and earn a FREE stamp set from the IB&C up to $79.95 from Stampin' Up!. Get 20% off your own purchases and 20% commission from sales you make as a demonstrator, this could fund your craft hobby or build a successful, fun business. You can choose how far to take your love of paper craft.

ADDED VALUE!
Not only will you get to choose your FREE stamp set up to $79.95 from Stampin' Up!, but I will also give you a FREE punch of your choice up to the value of $33.95 when you sign up during Sale-a-Bration!

valentines day card and gift box

This little gift box and card were made at last Tuesday's craft class, and went down a treat! I love the envelope for the card, made using a C6 envelope that is cut and then corrugated to create a pouch. The box is made from Riding Hood Red card stock, and contains a coffee sachet wrapped in ribbon. The sentiment reads, "Love you a Latte" from the Pun Fun stamp set. I decorated the box and envelope/card with "Hello Again" stamp set and "Retro Remix standard wheel. The DSP is some left over from last year, the "Washington Apple" pack. Hope Mike likes it on the 14th!

embossed butterflies

I've been meaning to scrap this photo for the last four years!! It was at Liv's first birthday. That's what I love about scrapbooking, you don't have to be obsessive about it, just wait until the right papers and images come along that match your photo. I love this DSP from Stampin' Up!, its called "Blueberry Crisp" and blends well with Marina Mist card stock. The butterflies are cut from the exclusive Big Shot die "Beautiful Butterflies", and the stamped butterfly image is from the new Sale-a-bration set "Bliss". I stamped the flower image from "RazzleDazzle" in Whisper White, and embossed it with a mixture of white embossing powder and turquoise glitter, which is a bit hard to see but looks really pretty. You can get a FREE sale-a-bration set by spending $100, and if you have a qualifying workshop too you can get extra free sets. Check out the link to my web page to find out more.

Pretty Punched Posie

Here is my gorgeous girl posing with the Punched Posie hostess stamp set! This set is designed to co ordinate with a variety of punches from the Idea Book and Catalogue, and also includes a butterfly stamp (not shown). I used Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist card stock with the matching ink pads to create this simple 8" scrap page. I still have to add a title to the page, but I'm still thinking about that! The centre of the yellow flower is created by stamping in a different colour and punching with the larger flower from the triple flower punch. If you host a workshop and have over $600 in sales, this set can be yours for FREE.