It happens every year… the first night of a Stampin’ Up Convention or other event, I stay up late the first night socializing and then blogging/facebooking.  Then the second night, we are up late again… but more tired from the late night/early morning from the day before.  So I get a little less done.  Then by the last day… I’m just toast!    This year was worse than normal for me as my team had a blast staying up and having in-room “happy hour” as we chatted and some people had some wine.  But after coming home at midnight on Saturday and then spending time with the family before the hubby turned around for his turn to go on a business trip) I rested and am finally catching up on the last bit of sharing! 

I wanted to give you the full experience, so WARNING! Lots of pictures ahead!

Stampin’ Up Convention 2015 – Day 2

As always there are a ton of demonstrators gathered for Convention, but I love getting a chance to meet and mingle with everyone!  By day 2, my crew had a plan in place for snagging seats for our group.  I just had to sneak away for a minute to snap a quick pick of some of the crowd eagerly awaiting the chance to get in for day 2!

I also love the chance to see and say hello to some of the amazing Stampin’ Up Home office staff who make these events and all the support for demonstrators so great throughout the year.  Like the lovely Miss Andrea Withers and the fabulous Bonnie Farley!

Plus they always play fun music while we are waiting for the session to start so you have to stand up and dance a little!  See, even Tanya, Nicole, and Carla were getting into it.

There were awesome stamping demonstrations featuring new products like new Black Glimmer Paper, new stamps, and a new Pillow Box die!!

And new spiderweb doilies, framelits, papers, and even new fall wood accents!

Of course there was Prize Patrol!  Monica and I won the new Project Life stamp set coming in the Holiday Catalog.

Then on to a workshop demonstration and Make & Takes!

I totally meant to finish my projects… but I was chatting and getting way to excited about some of the new product I got to play with!

FINE TIP GLUE!!!!!  With a pin in the cap so that the tip doesn’t get sealed up!

And new Archival Ink in Basic Black and Basic Grey.

The new ink pad stamps like a dream!  They use the old linen pads and are a new formula but they are AWESOME!  I fell totally in love when I was using it on the make & take… so imagine my excitement when they ended up giving the out to everyone at convention!  Yay!!

As usual, there was lots of swapping

And as you wandered around the Gathering Place, you could see lots of the new products as samples or to just play with… such as these edgelits (there are 3 in the pack! Trees, sleigh, and cottages)

New embossing folder of birch trees

And window/fireplace scene stamp set and framelit bundles!  There are two bundles… one all about the fireplace

and one all about the window frame and scenery

Then it was time for more classes and stamping presentations

Let me just say this bird set is going to be HUGE this year!

psst – new punch alert!!

psst – another new punch alert!

I even got to walk across the stage for earning the Grand Vacation – the Mediterranean Cruise – which was fun!

And in addition to spoiling us at the event with great places to relax and chat and share with other demonstrators, prizes, and inspiration… for everyone who earned an annual award or had reached a milestone anniversary with the company, we had a little relaxation space that not only had some treats and drinks, but they also gave us this reuseable trash bin filled with lots of goodies!  I didn’t have that stamp set yet either – so super bonus score!

Then we had the evening to ourselves so the crew headed to Olive Garden before heading back to the hotel for a dip in the Hot Tub and day 2 of “happy hour”.  I also got a chance to catch up with some other great friends, especially my great friend Sarah Naber

I went to bed “early” as it was only 1am… not too bad for me on an event night!

Stampin Up Convention Day 3

With the sun rising on Day 3, it was my last day in Salt Lake City.  The main convention event only went until lunch time, so there was a lot to get through in a little bit of time!

… I always love having this view from my room!  Its my happy place!…

I spent some time in the morning checking out the display boards… they were entirely filled with cards brought by other demonstrators this year and they were fantastic!  Like how stinkin’ adorable is this bird?

*** See all the display board cards in pictures on my Facebook Page here ***

Rich Judkins, the President of Stampin’ Up, came out and shared a great story on perspective and talked about how the company was doing both from a numbers perspective and from a morale perspective.  It was honest, and real… and great example of him sharing that the executive team really does hear how demonstrators are feeling, what we are concerned about, and CARES about us!  There is a lot of change this year and we all know it is tough, but they are trying to make things better for demonstrators and keep improving as they hear our feedback.  It was seriously great and reassuring to hear!

We had more stamping demonstrations… so more cute ideas!

and new product!  Must have this snowflake stamp set/punch bundle and those wood snowflakes!!

and more cute stuff!

Double wide pillow box using the new pillow box thinlit!

And of course, more prize patrol!

Plus something for everyone!  Hand painted holiday paper for all of us… thanks, Stampin’ Up!

And with that, convention was over!  I had the opportunity to attend some additional leaders training in the afternoon.  I got to chat with Sara (seriously the most down to earth CEO there is!)

And for those of you who have seen Brian Pilling bring Diet Coke to the presenters on stage at events before… he does it in real life too!  Isn’t he sweet for taking care of everyone!

The training was a great way to review what I learned and think about how to make improvements to my business but also how to use it to help my team as well!  So much to get implementing for all my crew as the year goes on!

Fun Fact!  My Mom and I have attended every Convention together since I joined and 2 leaderships.  So this was our 7th Convention together… .how cool is that?!?

We celebrated the end of a great weekend with some Strawberry Shortcake before heading to the airport to say good-bye once again to Salt Lake City and back to our amazing, supportive families!

So, I hope you enjoyed my recap.  Wish you were there (unless you were there – in which case, glad to celebrate with you!)  I’m already looking forward to the new On Stage events coming up starting in November.  I’d love to have you go with me.  All you have to do is let me know you want to go, snag the great deal that is the starter kit so you can become a member of my Fun n’ Crafty Stampers and then register!  We have an awesome group and you will have a blast!

Give it a try!  Join the Fun and pick out your Starter Kit here

Until next time… keep it fun and happy stamping!