Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Good Times & Great Friends

Recently I attended a Mini Convention organized by my upline, Christy. She, along with a group of her "managers", which I am a part of, organizes a Mini Convention for everyone in her group to come to for training, swapping and loads of fun!

We always have great Make & Takes to do and this year was no exception! Here's a picture of my and some of the demonstrators in my group doing our make & takes.

We had a blast! I had too much fun and took most of my Make & Takes home to finish...there was just too many friends to catch up with and too many awesome display boards to take pictures of!

One of the great things about this event is the demonstrations. There are so many demonstrations full of fabulous ideas that I almost can't think straight at the the end of the day! My mind was swimming when all was said and done and I came home with some great ideas for class, club and workshop projects! Christy had me do a demonstration this year on projects that could help simplify and organize your life...even after seeing my craft room she wanted me to do this demo!!! I had some cute projects that you will see in upcoming classes. All our demos are videoed and put on a DVD that we can buy for training our own downline or for inspiration in the future. Here's a picture of me doing my demo. I have a very sneaky downline...I didn't even know she took this picture, but I'm glad she did!!!


Chrsity also recognizes us for all our achievments by having us come up and get a rose. See those beautiful roses behind me in the last picture? Those are what she gave out that day! It's so inspiring to see all the achievements the demonstrators in this group are being recognized for. I was one of the recipients of two different roses this year. I got a red one for reaching the $200K career sales milestone and a beautiful orange one for earning the cruise last year (we don't cruise until April though!). Here's a picture of me and Christy right after I got my rose for career sales. Since the roses don't make it home with me too well, I always give them to my mom. It's kind of like a thank you for looking after my boys while I'm at my meetings. She was thrilled to get two this meeting!!!

And the last picture I have to share, I'm most proud of! It's a picture of me and 3 of my downline who also received roses for promotions this last quarter. There was a few more of my downline who were there and received roses, but weren't sitting with us so they didn't get included in our inpromptu picture at the end of the day! But, rest assured, I'm so proud of each one of my downline for all their accomplishments and achievements. They are a great bunch of girls who have become good friends!

I had a great day, but I was exhausted when it was over! Between driving 5 hours the night before to get there and then staying up waaaay to late talking to my mom and then attending and participating in this wonderful event, I was happy to go to bed that night. And, yes, I slept like a baby!

So, do you think you would like to attend events like this with me in the future? If you do, you'll want to contact me today to learn more about the benefits of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, I think one of the best things about being a demonstrator is the true friends you make!

Happy Stampin'!

Lisa

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Jack-O-Lanterns

Happy Wednesday! We're halfway to the weekend! My finger feels better today, but it's still pretty sore and it's really hard to type!

Today I have a super cute project to show you. I know it's a while until Halloween, but I got some cute Decor Elements yesterday and had to try out my idea in real life. Check it out...


Sorry about how "glarey" (if that's a word!) the picture is. It's really sunny here! Anyway, I made these three cute Jack-O-Lanterns this morning and the kids were so excited. I made awesome backgrounds for each one with cardstock, the Sanded background stamp and some Direct-to-Paper with my ink. Then I added some of Stampin' Up!'s fabulous Striped Ribbon in Old Olive to the tops of the frames to mimic a stem. The middle one is Dusty Durango and the two outer ones are Pumpkin Pie. How cute are they?!? Here's one up close...


Here's the best part...you can make them too! I'm having a Jack-O-Lantern class on Friday, October 16 @ 7:30pm. You can make as many Jack-O-Lantern pictures as you want. Cost is $20 for your first one and $15 for each additional one. Your fee includes the frame, the Decor Element, ribbon and the cardstock for the background. Registration closes and the fee is due by October 3.

If you want to make yourself a Jack-O-Lantern or two, or three, but can't make it to the class on October 16, you can purchase it as a Class-To-Go Kit for the same price ($20 for the first Frame and $15 for each additional one).


Space is limited, so contact me today to reserve your spot in this fun class!

Happy Stampin'!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Paper Crafter + Power Tools = Trouble!

What do you get when you have a paper crafter trying to build a fort for her kids because her husband can't build it due to his back injury?



OUCH! I was screwing some boards onto the fort for the kids, when the screw hit a staple (used to secure the screen around the sandbox...screen stapled between two boards=hopefully strong enough that the kids won't be able to pull the screen out). The screw stopped turning, but the drill didn't! It jumped off the screw and into my finger. I won't show you what's under the bandage (it's not pretty!), but I was glad Kev was at home with a migrane today so he could fix me up. When I was all fixed up he told me that I was perhaps one of the most clumsy people he knows...but that's one of the quirks that attracted him to me! Good thing he added that last part or he may have had to find a different place to sleep tonight!


Thank goodness it wasn't my stamping hand!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Name That Bear

So, I got this sweet little Demonstrator Build-A-Bear at Convention in August and she remains nameless! I NEED your help to give her a "Pawsitively" perfect name. She's soooo soft and cuddly and has a cute little Dusty Durrango bow on her ear! She came with a demonstrator apron and a little stamp that says "Life without stamps is unbearable"!



So put on your creative caps and send me your suggestions along with your name and email address. I will go through all the suggestions and choose a winner, who will receive a package of the "Pawsitively Prints" Designer Paper!

"Beary Best Wishes" coming up with a "Pawsitively Perfect" name for her!



Open to Canadian Residents only!