We have just returned from an *~AMAZING~* 5 days in Brisbane for the South Pacific Stampin’ Up! Convention 2013.

My very first convention was in Brisbane about five years ago. I loved it so much that I haven’t missed one since!

So much has changed in the past five years (my toddler back then is now a big school girl!) but one thing hasn’t changed: I still love to create. And our annual Convention really is a celebration of that… along with 700 others who feel the same way!

How do you sum up Convention in just six words?

Inspiration

friendship

fun

creativity

community

celebration

In fact, I would say this is the best Convention I’ve ever been to! I’ve come home with more ideas than ever and am itching to get back in my craft room.

Here are some highlights. **More pics & deets on my Facebook page.

We are hitting the ground running… at the end of THIS WEEK the Retiring Products List will be out! Wooohoooo!!

This is an exciting time of year. It’s our last chance to get our hands on products that won’t be available for much longer. AND it means a brand new catalogue is just around the corner.

$$ SAVING TIP: Don’t forget this is also your last chance to get 15% off the awesome ‘Epic Day’ This & That bundle. I used mine in Brisbane and I have to say it was the BEST and most enjoyable way of ‘memory keeping’ for a very busy few days! Ends 30th MAY.  Order yours here.

Happy stamping,

Wow – what an amazing start to August! Sooo much excitement with the huge Retired List sale and sneak peeks of upcoming catalogues.

I ALWAYS love being a demonstrator, but at times like these I know I HAVE TO be one!

AusPost delivered some lovely BIG boxes filled with the yummiest new products and new catalogues – the best ever! Getting new stuff early is definitely yet another perk to being a demonstrator.

I have to share a couple more happy snaps from last weekend's Heartfelt Stampin' Event in Melbourne.

This was probably one of my favourite projects of the day. Kathryn Ruddick's gorgeous scrap page (thanks for letting me share this here Kathryn).

Stunning.

And this card by Andrea Stork totally blew me away. * Sigh *. Such creativity.

Juliana Main was demo'ing all the WOW things you can do with a certain type of new and ama-a-a-a-zing cardstock (you'll find out on 1st Sept!)… very cool.

And, finally, here's another project I showed during my Gift Wrapping & Packaging presentation:

Early Espresso tulle flower with Vintage brad, and pop-up tag

Almost 20 items have sold out already from this month's huge 'Retiring Products' sale. But the great news is there are still plenty of bargains to be had.

My newsletter subscribers would have seen my version of the Retiring List Highlights – which included some of the biggest discounts on the most loved products. [Subscribe here]

But seriously… 75% off the Candy Cane Christmas designer fabric?  Was $19.95 now $4.95. Oh my. I LOVE this fabric.

Same deal for the gorgeous Deck The Halls designer fabric.

Embellished Deck The Halls tea towel made by fellow team member Lorinda. Click to enlarge.

This makes me fall in love with the Deck The Halls fabric all over again.

Ok, this turned into an epic post! Thanks for sticking with me… feel free to make my day by leaving a comment  🙂

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and happy stamping,

Stampin' Up! came to town on the weekend. Yay!

It was the first ever 'Heartfelt Stampin' Event' in Australia and was a FUN, innovative and relaxed day of inspiration and ideas at Melbourne's Exhibition & Convention Centre.

We've had Regional demonstrator Training Days for about 6 years now, but this year Stampin' Up! decided to shake things up a bit and open it to all friends of SU: customers, demonstrators… anyone!

There were mirrored booths where we could watch amazing creations take shape before our eyes…

'Product Playground' (love that name!) where we could get our hands on some of the brand NEW yummy surprises coming to our catalogues….

And inspiration boards and stage presentations…

Above: Felicity Fernandez's mini 'Burberry' bags. Check out more of her stunning creations here.

Above: Pam Jorgensen's heartfelt 'Friends' frame

And all attendees got their hands on the brand NEW catalogues that will go live next month. You could hear the squeals of excitement!!!

This year I was invited to do one of the stage presentations… and I chose one of my all-time favourite topics: Packaging and Wrapping Ideas. I was VERY lucky to get my hands on some of the new products last week and spent time totally lost in my own little world, creating and crafting. And making a big mess!

Here's a little peek at one of my projects… will post more photos soon.

Triple stack of Kraft boxes, wrapped in Espresso tulle dotted with adhesive pearls

I'll talk more about the new goodies after 1st of September when both the new Annual Catalogue and festive Holiday Catalogue go live… but for now, a special thanks to all those who helped make the Melbourne 'Heartfelt Event' such a great day. And big inky hugs for my guests and stamp club friends who came along for the day. xx

UPDATE: Looking for some great bargains on the Retiring List? Some items 75% off!!! Click here for links, and for the up-to-date list of sold out items visit my Facebook page.

Happy stamping,

Support cancer research and join in the fun

1pm – 3pm

Old Marong Shire Hall

(parking at rear)

Cnr Calder Hwy and Alternate Calder Hwy, Marong

$25.00   includes Devonshire Tea and all materials to make THREE projects on the day (card, gift box and 6×6 scrap page)

All proceeds will be donated to Conquer Cancer

Contact: Judith Wakeham on 03 5435 2500

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I'm so excited to be supporting a wonderful lady in her efforts to raise funds for cancer research. I met Judith a few years ago through my Stampin' Up! workshops, and was inspired when she told me about her latest endeavour. Judith's niece is participating in the 2012 Ride to Conquer Cancer in Perth later this year but she is legally blind, so Judith is going to be her guide as they ride throughout the scenic Western Australia countryside. Wow! To help her raise funds to meet her goal we are having a stamping day… details above. It's THIS SATURDAY so if you'd like to join us please contact Judith on the number listed above. And if you would like to donate in any small way to Judith's efforts just click HERE.

Happy stamping,

Home from Canberra and the bags are (mostly) unpacked. Wow – what an amazing few days we had for our annual Stampin' Up! convention.

I don't think Canberra knew what hit it when nearly 500 Stampin' Up! demonstrators from Australia and New Zealand descended on the Convention Centre.

We had sneak peeks of new products that'll be hitting our catalogues in a few months, as well as fabulous and inspirational 'Workshop Wows' from fellow demonstrators.

We were treated to fascinating guest speakers that were not only informative but entertaining as well. (Note: if you ever get the opportunity to hear Michael McQueen speak, take it! I have a new-found understanding of my Gen Z son after that one!). There were make & takes (of course!) and I even finished a couple of projects this year which must be a record for me.

As always, it was a pleasure to be in the company of Shelli Gardner and the other fabulous Stampin' Up! team members who made the trek over here. 

One of the treats at Convention is attending the Managers Reception, and this year it was taken to a whole new level. Check back for tomorrow's post to read all about that.

Of course, the best part of attending Convention is catching up with old and new friends and getting to know fellow team members from all over the country.

The Convention experience finished on Saturday night with the Awards night. We are so lucky that we have a sitdown dinner at our Convention, which always includes delicious food and this year was no exception.

After dinner we returned to the Main Stage for the Awards presentation, and to celebrate the achievements of many demonstrators.

We also heard announcements such as the venue of next year's Convention (sunny Brisbane – woohoo) and the next destination of the Incentive Trip (now called 'Grand Vacation'). Can you imagine how thrilled beyond belief we were to learn that next year it'll be to Salt Lake City, Utah. The home of Stampin' Up!.

And not only that, it will be a combined trip with achieving demonstrators from Germany, France and the UK. Oh. Wow. We'll also have the opportunity to attend the US Convention, which will be a celebration of Stampin' Up!s 25th Anniversary. Ok, that's big.

I was so proud to celebrate the achievements of 3 team members who were all in the Top 25 Demonstrators of the Year. Such amazing women, all of them. Congrats to Maureen (13th), Juliana (9th) and Tracy (10th). I cheered on as the girls walked the stage many times for a variety of awards. Lots of happy tears.

I came #6 in the Demonstrator of the Year, and #2 for the Leadership Award. A very big thank you to Stampin' Up! for the Leadership Award gift – a gorgeous watch which I'll treasure forever. Even the packaging was stunning!

During the night I was given lovely flowers, yummy choccies and certificates for the the annual $30K+ sales award, $100K Milestone sales award and Incentive Trip Achiever. Can't wait to head to Broome later this year with a great bunch of demonstrators. And to top off an amazing night, we learned that one of our team members came third place in the Rising Star award, which recognises the efforts of demo's in their first year. Well done, Nicole!

A very humble and grateful THANK YOU to my wonderful customers, stamp club girls, stamping friends, team members and of course family. Your support and encouragement means more than any award.

Phew. Well it sure was an action-filled few days… no wonder it took a couple of days to recover. Nothing was quite as good as the huge cuddles I got from the kids when we got back to Melbourne though. Arms flung around my neck and big squeezes –  nothing beats that.

Happy stamping,

P.S.  If my computer doesn't have a meltdown from all the photos, I'll be back tomorrow with highlights from the Managers Reception. Then I'll follow up with a separate post on swaps. So much to share…

A huge hello to all the fabulous people we met over the weekend in Bendigo at the first local Picture To Page papercraft expo.

The organisers and everyone involved agreed it was a great success, so it looks like we'll be making it a regular fixture on the calendar! That's great news for regional Victoria – it's exciting when these kind of events come up to us for a change. I'll let you know dates and times as soon as they're available.

Just a quick announcement… Congratulations to Norma Wilson, the winner of our fabulous door prize.

Norma won a craft tote filled with Stampin' Up! goodies.

If we met you at the show, we'd love to hear from you. You can get in touch by phone or email, and as always you're welcome to leave a comment here on my blog.

Did you come to the show? What did you think?

Happy stamping,