Oh. My. Word.  I just finished the first day of Stampin Up’s Leadership conference and there has been so much great stuff that has been happening that I’m going to have to be super brief so I can try to share it all with you! 

That and the fact that it is almost 3am here in Houston and I really ought to go to bed soon before my 7:00am wakeup call.  ; )

If you are looking for lots more pictures – check out the albums on my Facebook page, these are my highlights reel and exciting news scoop!

Leadership Day 1 Highlights

This year Leadership is smaller in terms of attendance than last year (no surprise because last year was an anniversary year) but that meant I had an easier time finding friends that I was excited to see and catch up with!  I may not be the best about staying in touch, but everyone is so amazing when you see them again at an event like this!

Hanging with the Seattle-based SBStamper crew!  And then quick pictures with two amazing gals I got to hang out with at Founder’s Circle this year – Tamra Davis and Julie Davison!

Then session was ready to start.  I had the new snazzy bag they gave us and we waited to hear what new exciting things SU had in store.

Let me say, they did NOT disappoint!  First up was Shelli Gardner, CEO of Stampin’ Up!  She was in a horse riding accident last August and was unable to walk due to fractures of her pelvis, clavicle, and wrist!  And check it out, not only is she walking now – but in HEELS!  What a strong and driven woman.

After a great message from Shelli, her daughter Sarah took the stage and started sharing some stamping projects with us.  Little did we know we were going to be BOMBARDED with new product announcements! 

My poor seat neighbors probably go some ringing in the ears from my excited screaming as we saw and heard about new goodies such as:

Blendabilities – Alcohol based blending markers

These markers will come in sets of 3 – with different shades (“light”, “dark”, etc) of the same color that will blend together to allow you to create gorgeously smooth colored images.  And it will only be $11.95 for the set which is a great deal for this type of marker!

The markers are currently in production right now so we didn’t get to play with them, but we saw them demo’d up close and I CAN’T WAIT to get my hands on some!

See all 12 colors that will be released in the first quarter of this year

New Photopolymer Stamps & Update

Then she talked about photopolymer stamps – aka “completely clear stamps” – and share how they will be continuing to not only release a new photopolymer stamp set each month, but there will be photopolymer stamps in the June annual catalog!

Plus, they will start coming in CASES mid-year, yay!  And they will be picking designs for these stamps sets that are most benefited by the completely clear nature of the stamp (like alphas and outlines).

Even new photopolymer personalized name stamps!

After the initial sessions, we got lunch and a chance to check out the Gathering Place. It was full of great stuff including

Children’s Hospital Service Project

We were working to put together 500 Birthday Celebration kits (notebooks, banners, stamp, marker, etc) to give to kids at the hospital.  We all chipped in on assembling the kits and boxing them up.

there were lots of resources for business building tips and tool training, but I didn’t get a chance to hit most of the booths on day 1.  So more on the interesting parts another day.

But there were lots of samples and project displays!

Like I love this lollipop decorated with the new Spiral Flower die!

And of course, display boards!

Then it was off to more classes for sharing all kinds of great ideas for projects, classes, ways of meeting new people, better using social media, etc.  Fun stuff!

We finally got a break, which I TOTALLY needed because my cell phone had died earlier in the afternoon.  But soon it was time to head back to the convention center to catch a bus to Manager’s Reception.

Stampin’ Up! sets up a special event every year for anyone who has grown their group enough to have earned the title of Manager or above.  They plan a fun activity and some snacks to eat while you are there.

So, our wild crew got ready and waited in line for our bus.  (Aren’t those sharks adorable?!?  They were our tickets to the event!)

We headed to the Houston downtown aquarium and boy was it more than I ever expected!  We got off the bus and were greeted by staff, stilt walkers, and not just fish but amusement rides!

Plus there was SO MUCH AMAZING FOOD!  I’m glad I didn’t eat dinner before I came!

We rode a huge ferris wheel

We had a chance to feed some stingrays. 

(If you want to check out the hilarious faces we all made when the stingray took the fish from our fingers, click and be ready for a laugh!)

And generally wanderd, talked, and had a great time!  It was a full but super fun day and though I’m still up even though it is almost 4 in the morning, I can’t wait to get up and see what is in store for us tomorrow … err… later this morning.  : )

I’ll be back tomorrow with more details as I get them.