Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013 Day 3

Posted on July 21, 2013 by mauistamper

Crystal and I were very privileged this morning to participate in a “You Crew” event. Demonstrators are selected at random for exclusive, up close and personal convention experiences and we were invited to meet with a Stampin’ Up! illustrator early this morning.

Kathy Pitt has been a Stampin’ Up! illustrator for 23 years! She shared such interesting and insightful information about how stamps are designed and selected for the catalog, and a little bit of history too. She also shared some scrumptious cupcakes!

As an extra bonus, after our You Crew experience we were escorted into the General Session and given fabulous seats in the second row! With almost 6000 demonstrators in attendance, that was a real treat.

The morning sessions were filled with lots of product demonstrations. Stampin’ Up! does not disappoint when it comes to projects! I have loads of photos but it is going to take a little time to organize them, and then I will share. I did find pictures of Shelli’s cards made with the newly announced Flip Card thinlets:

There are two sets of thinlets – one makes a circle flip, the other a label shape. They will be available August 1 (I think – there were so many announcements and dates that my head is spinning more than usual.)

We had really informative classes this afternoon, and then the final general session of the day. I’m heading home with loads of loot!

It was a great day. We finished up with the Pioneer Day concert at the LDS Conference Center, a truly lovely and revitalizing experience. Late night dinner at the La Jolla Grove and then a couple of hours of organizing and packing! We are two pooped pineapples but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Convention 2013 Day 2

Posted on July 19, 2013 by mauistamper

It’s late, the hotel wifi is really slow, and we have been going 110 mph with our hair on fire!! So much to tell – check back and I will try to update more over the weekend when I have more time.

First off is a very very cool new product available NOW. Undefined is a carve-your-own stamp kit. I made one – a pineapple – and once I got past my initial fear of starting it was fun and very rewarding! Check out the video! You can order NOW – the kit is #133402 for $19.95 and the rubber/block refill is #134808 for $9.95.

Draw your design, transfer it to the rubber (pencil transfer), and cut it out!

Don’t you love my pineapple?? I do!!

Shelli also demonstrated two new thinlets for creating swing cards. I don’t have a picture of a card right now but I do have one of a booklet she made. Look for the circles that seem to flip in mid-card. VERY exciting!!

Lots more swapping today, more free product, more opportunities to learn. Stampin’ Up! does an awesome job of providing resources for the demonstrators and Convention is where they shine.

This is one of the Dress Framelits cards – cover and inside – that Shelli demonstrated online. Please forgive the extraneous hands, cameras, etc – EVERYONE wanted photos!

Don’t have the cover of this one but love this moose card!! Haven’t seen a moose on Maui for, well, EVER, but the card is fun.

I participated in 4 organized swaps and some general floor swaps – be prepared for some INCREDIBLE projects in the next few weeks! Swappers are busy people!

The evening ended with a 80’s cover band, lots of entertainment, and dessert: mousse, brownies, cupcakes, you name it!! There was also a Washi Tape giveaway (almost as sweet as the dessert!!) and the opportunity to view more creative projects. So much to tell!! So much to show!! So ready for bed!!!

Convention Day 1

Posted on July 18, 2013 by mauistamper

Day One was full of adventure, Stampin’ Up! and otherwise! I have lots of fun photos to give you a feeling for our day.

We were up pretty late last night, so we skipped the super-early call and headed over to the convention center about 9am to pick up our convention tee shirts and do some swapping. TONS of demonstrators – Crystal met someone who turned out to be the cousin of a co-worker, and I met a fan of the Maui Stamper!

We visited but I have forgotten your name!! Please leave me a comment and remind me of your name. 🙂

We left the convention center and headed out to complete yesterday’s unfinished business, namely a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We got out to the wine store only to discover that THEY WERE STILL CLOSED.

Please don’t think I am a pathetic paper bag wino. We are eating our main mean at lunchtime (European style) and are having a little snack in the evening, and a glass of wine is a lovely companion to fresh berries, a baguette and some cheese. Oh, and perhaps a little chocolate. Anyway, we are standing outside the store with 25 minutes to go and it’s about 195 degrees outside. Crystal looks across the street and sees the next best thing to the State Wine Store:

Gourmandise provided a divine cappucino, beautiful air conditioning and lovely, warm service along with my scrumptious chocolate meringue. (Crystal had a rum ball, and she shared a little taste – also divine.)

The neon “Open” light went on across the street. Third time was the charm and we accomplished our task and then headed to Trader Joe’s. This is what people from Hawaii DO when we come to the Mainland because in spite of the fact that everything about TJ’s looks like the islands, they don’t have stores there.

Let me tell you something about walking around Salt Lake at high noon when it is 195 degrees outside. It will turn you into a crazy person in no time! You start standing in the shadow of the stoplight while you wait for the “WALK” sign to turn green. You consider opening the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in your bag and swigging it right there on the sidewalk. And then you make the excellent decision to take TRAX out to the Red Iguana for lunch (which was actually the plan all along.)

I have never had a bad meal – or a bad Margarita – at this restaurant. Today’s choice was the Mole Negro and it was delicioso! Once we were happily fed it was back to the hotel for a quick break before the Opening Session.

There are 5800 demonstrators and guests attending convention this year and it took a while to get inside. We found a couple of seats and quickly learned that our companions were from North Queensland! LOVED sharing Opening Session with our beautiful Aussie friends!! (Dearest Aussies, please let me know how to contact you so that I can send you a copy of this photo.)

Shelli shared some Stampin’ Up! history, we heard from Ronald McDonald himself about the impact Stampin’ Up! has made on Ronald McDonald House, and Pam Morgan shared some great stampin’ projects with us. We also got our bags!! Don’t know where my Convention Bag photo is now – I’ll share it tomorrow – but we have been assured that we will be heading home with plenty of convention swag. There were TWO Prize Patrols and then Shelli closed the session with an All Attendee Giveaway of new stamps from the Holiday Catalog.

Next stop was the Expo with 5,800 of our best friends! It was a little squishy at first, but things settled down a bit and we had the chance to see some great products and talk to some very knowledgable SU staff. Fabulous new stuff coming in the Holiday catalog!

I was one of the very last people to add my card to the Guinness World Record Smashing effort – 2,984 greeting cards mailed from a single location! And there’s that bag – a gorgeous backpack with beautiful Stampin’ Up! style.

It was a fabulous first day and I look forward to sharing more with you! Check my Facebook page for updates during the day tomorrow and I hope to hear from you soon!