I Love Papercrafts

More Convention - Displays!

Convention displays are always over the top, and this year was no exception. Prepare to be inspired!  Just click on the album below to see all of the breathtaking displays!  Comment below and let me know what your favorite new product suite is!

Convention Displays

 

 

Stamp with Me! Local to eastern Ontario? I'm a short drive from Ottawa, Brockville and Cornwall or anywhere in between....I'd love to stamp with you! Click here for upcoming events.

Shop online 24/7 and have your order sent to your door anywhere in Canada. Receive a free class by email with a purchase of $50 or more.

Stampin Up Convention 2011 - Day Two Recap

Thursday was the first day of our scheduled agenda at Convention. We had a general session first thing and came in the hall with all of the Stampin' Up staff giving us high fives and cheering. So much positive energy in one place...plus the upbeat music really helps at 8:30 in the morning!   Above is a picture of the main stage - isn't it awesome?  The day kicked off with Stampin' Up's CEO and then they revealed the Holiday Mini!  Trust me - you are going to love it!  Customers will be able to order from the new mini on September 1st - book that fall workshop now!  My September is almost full, and October is close behind!

We had a number of classes in the afternoon, and then I had an organized swap which means I have 80 3x3 cards that I'll be displaying in my studio.  Swapping is a big part of convention...and I think I brought over 200 cards this year. Crazy, I know, but well worth it to get so many great ideas back!

Thursday night was Awards Night!  While I knew I was in Founder's Circle - I had no idea where I placed for Demonstrator of the Year (a 1-15 ranking in Canada).  Here's Josee and I in our reserved seating area:

Do we look excited or what?  What's so cool is that six of us from the Inky Divas team made it to Founder's Circle - here's a picture of most of us (Marlayne is missing!):

(Kay, Nancy, Kim Josee & Me!)

Once awards night went into full swing...talk about lot of surprises!  By the end of the night, I'd been up on stage four times and was pretty much in full scale shock!  I placed #3 in Canada for Sales, #3 in Canada for recruiting and was named #2 Demonstrator of the Year (based on sales, recruiting, leadership and other factors).  What an amazing night...and most of all, I cannot tell you how fantastic all of the women I shared the stage with truly are.  I am so thankful and honored to be counted among them - and I really do owe so much to all of my customers, downlines, family and friends for their love and support. Getting to stamp and share something that is so much fun...well, there's nothing quite like it!

It was also very excited to see many of my friends in the US place in the top 100, many of them have been demonstrators for 10 or more years and have shared so much wisdom and insight  with me. They are some of my biggest cheerleaders and I can't wait to see them soon in St. George at Founders Circle.

The night had even more big surprises!  Stampin' Up announced the two incentive trips - the Getaway is to Hilton Head Island...and the Grand Vacation is to Fiji.  Fiji 2013 here I come!!! As my husband said, even better than Hawaii!  I have some work to do to make sure we go on that trip!

And finally, Awards Night ended with another great surprise.  My upline and good friend, Josee was named to Stampin' Up's Advisory Board, which truly is a major honor and she'll do a great job representing our interested to the executive team.

Post-awards night there was a big party with a DJ and refreshments, and then we headed back to the hotel where I got the chance to meet some awesome demonstrators.  Best thing about convention - fellow stampers everywhere and always something to talk about.

I fell into bed late...and could hardly sleep. Nearly a week later, I'm not sure that it is all sinking in...but what a great end to a fantastic Stampin' Up year!  More on the rest of Convention tomorrow...including lots of pictures of the displays!

 

 

Stamp with Me! Local to eastern Ontario? I'm a short drive from Ottawa, Brockville and Cornwall or anywhere in between....I'd love to stamp with you! Click here for upcoming events.

Shop online 24/7 and have your order sent to your door anywhere in Canada. Receive a free class by email with a purchase of $50 or more.

Stampin Up Convention 2011 - Day One Recap

All this week I'll be posting about my big trip to Salt Lake City for Stampin' Up's annual Convention.  Here's a recap of day number one!

I flew in on Tuesday with my stamping buddies Bobbi  and Kathryn and we had a very uneventful trip, which is always good. After finally getting to the hotel, I checked in and then went for dinner with my roomie (and upline) Josee, and we had a chance to get caught up.  Wednesday is when the real action started with the first day of Convention!  Here's Bobbi and Kathryn:

We were up bright and early to go to the Convention Centre which was decorated beautifully based on this year's Convention theme of "Grow" - check out these decorations...and just wait...this is nothing compared to the displays and main stage!

We quickly went to pick up our convention bag, which I am very happy about as I can use it all year long and retire my sad looking demonstrator bag that I use to carry catalogs. Along with the bag we got four free stamp sets, along with an awesome catalog binder that I will not let anyone touch, lol.

  

From there, we went to the Awards and Info Booth. Sounds fun...well, possibly...and thankfully it was this year!  Stampin' Up gives out a lot of awards for sales, leadership and recruiting - stamp sets and pins - that you stop by here to pick up. 

If you attend Convention, this is also where you find out if you are in the "Founders Circle" - the company's highest honor which is an all expenses paid trip to St. George, Utah.  Now, going to the desk, I knew I had a good chance of being one of the 15 or so Canadians that would be going to Founder's Circle - but it's a tricky thing, so there were no guarantees.  Once we got to the booth, my calmness was replaced by a major case of nerves. The info booth staff really draw out the process so that they give you all of your free sets (9 of them for me), pins and then sloooooowy they reach under the desk and pull out the coveted Founder's Circle purse.  It's hard to convey how tense that moment was - let's just say I asked Josee if the bag on the counter was in case I threw up. Lol. TMI I know, but seriously!

Here we are with our bags! I was so excited...this is really big honor to be included and I am so very thankful to all of my customers, downline, friends and especially my family for helping me have such a fantastic year! And isn't that purse cute?  (Yes, I know, I have a problem.) 

After that, we hightailed it to rent a car to go to Park City to go Zip Lining!  Talk about a day of firsts...I've never ziplined before and I am in LOVE!  It was fabulous. We followed up ziplining with a little shopping at the outlets with great success for both Josee & I.  I totally loved Park City and was considering staying in the mountains, but of course, stamping trumped everything!

We then had a team dinner at the Olive Garden - with 30 of us from across Canada.  Then we went to the Convention Opening Night party where I learned so many very cool things from other demonstrators (buttons, punches, paper and more!) that you'll definitely be seeing in upcoming classes. 

And if it wasn't a full enough day, we then went to stamp some cards with the great new stamp set Easy Events at an event organized by my dear, dear friend and mentor on all things Stampin' Up, Ronda Wade.

I've decided that Easy Events is my new favorite stamp set...and believe me, thanks to Stampin' Up I came home from Convention with 15 new ones...and as if that wasn't enough free stuff, I came home to a box with 10 more free ones that I got to pick out of the new book for my sales and recruiting earlier this year!  Isn't being a demonstrator awesome?  I have nearly every new set I could ever want from the catalog and didn't pay a cent. 

If you'd like free stamps too...now is the perfect time to join Stampin' Up. The company just announced a new program for new demonstrators where you can earn free stamps, products and even cash!  Plus, the Starter Kit is on sale until July 31st with a mini version that's only $119 no tax, no shipping. I'd love to have you join my team of Papercraft Princesses and give Stampin' Up a test drive - no committment, no obligation?  Just buy the kit, enjoy your products and see where it takes you. Believe me, I certainly didn't buy my kit to do any of this..so you just never know!  Check out the $250 of what's in the kit here.

I'd love to talk to you about the kit and Stampin' Up, so email me with any question you may have!

 

 

Stamp with Me! Local to eastern Ontario? I'm a short drive from Ottawa, Brockville and Cornwall or anywhere in between....I'd love to stamp with you! Click here for upcoming events.

Shop online 24/7 and have your order sent to your door anywhere in Canada. Receive a free class by email with a purchase of $50 or more.