Earlier this week was all about getting ready for OnStage and then Wednesday was travel and Thursday was the first day!  It has been BUSY!  But oh my goodness has it been a wonderful experience!  I can’t even believe where my journey with Stampin’ Up has taken me and I’m so grateful I stuck with it so that I can have amazing experiences like I am this week!

I know many of you aren’t able to join us here in Salt Lake City, so I thought I would share a little about the adventures happening here so you can be here with us in spirit… we can always use more crafty friends!

Over the years, I have built a team of amazing folks that we now call the Fun n’ Crafty Stampers.  There are folks from all across the US from the east coast all the way to Hawaii and many states in between.  So, when OnStage (the new version of Convention) is in Salt Lake City, it is a great opportunity for some of us to travel to reconnect in person, get inspired, try new things, and of course, STAMP!  This year, it is in Utah from April 14-16 and we had 7 of us from the team meeting up here

So, 6 of us arrived on Wednesday and after meeting up, 5 of us headed south to Riverton for the annual pilgrimage to the Stampin’ Up home office.

It is always fun to get to meet and chat with the staff and see what has changed.  This time, there were a few new displays in the Legacy Room museum

And we even got to tour the upstairs floor and see Shelli and Rich’s offices!

Then it was time for a bit of shopping… driving back in HORRIBLE rain… (sorry guys, didn’t realize the Seattle rain tagged along with us!) and then raced back to the hotel for a fun night of Shoebox Swapping with Dawn Olchefske and Kelly Acheson’s teams.  Better believe some of the cards we made will be showing up in my upcoming classes!

Then it was back to the room to finish up card swaps and team gifties!  These are the general swap cards I made for this year and am trading around the convention center.

OnStage 2016 – Day 1

Due to the schedule, we pretty much had the morning to kill, but as a Display Stamper this year, I ended up heading over to start putting up my projects….and can I just say, they picked some AMAZING demonstrators to work on the display boards because they all look fantastic!

Unfortunately, I can’ post pictures from that until Monday (due to SU’s spoiler alert” policy.  But I can share photos of us waiting to get our bags and to go in and be part of the party! Notice any pretty colors you like from the banners?  That may or may not be a sneak peek of the new In Colors.

And of course there was swapping…. I’m very serious about my swapping….

seriously CHEESY! 

And then it was time for Opening Session!  Hopefully I didn’t hurt the ears of my Mom and Nicole next to me from my screaming.  Let me just say, I freaked out more than once as they gave us the new catalog and I got to see new things that are coming out!  So glad I am a demonstrator and have the demo discount because my wishlist is LOOOOONG! 

I know!  I wish I could show you pictures or tell you more details about what I saw in that new catalog and on the presentations but we have a gag order until Monday afternoon.  But I can say, you won’t be disappointed!

CenterStage Live – Evening Dinner and Entertainment

Stampin’ Up hosted a lovely incentive dinner that first night to celebrate and thank folks of Silver Elite and above titles – which includes me!  So they bussed us to a nearby swanky hotel where we socialized and had some mocktails. 
Isn’t Sheri adorable?  She is a lovely friend from Canada who I always love to see at SU events. 

Side note, this is one of the coolest parts of attending the SU events, you end up making friends in random places that you connect with for life!  I met Sheri randomly during one of the Make & Take sessions at Convention a couple years ago.  She had been recognized as a Rising Star (one of the demonstrators who had a stellar first years as a demonstrator)  and so I had congratulated her and we hit it off talking.  Just like I met Brandy Cox when we both went to Founder’s Circle for the first time and we had a sweet connection from that.  Now I’m so blessed to see them at events and get to reconnect and share laughs and hugs.  The women you meet in this business really are just some of the most amazing people!  It really does make my heart full!  And I’m so grateful to be able to cheer them on and get to celebrate their successes!

Anyway, back to CenterStage, enough of my sappy moment.   We ad a fabulous 4 course meal.

They even had dueling pianos while we ate which was way more fun than I expected!  I’ve never seen a dueling piano show and it hilarious!

So, at the end of the day, iit was an awesome time to meet and/or connect with folks who share this awesome journey with me.  We had a few fun gifts from the company and then it was off to bed to try to get some sleep before we start bright and early in the morning!

Wish you could have been here with me!  Hopefully next time you can join the Fun n’ Crafty Stampers at one of the events in the US!

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