As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the special events at Convention each year is the Managers Reception. And this year Stampin' Up! took it to a whole new level.

A bus collected us from the Convention Centre after the sessions finished on Day 2 and took us to our mystery destination. We were told to bring photo ID and have no sharp tools or weapons on us! 🙂 Being Canberra, our nation's capital and home to many many government buildings, we had a good guess as to where we were going but it was a real treat to end up at Parliament House. Our function was in the Mural Hall, beneath the flagpole mast!

By daylight:

Boarding the bus to the 'mystery destination'

Back entrance. Beautiful at night:

We went through security and collected our pass (bags x-rayed, etc):

Managers Reception:

Each attendee received a handmade keepsake and a yet-to-be-released stamp set. Gorgeous, on both counts!

Thanks Stampin' Up for a great night.

I'll be back soon to share some gorgeous Convention swaps.

Wishing my fellow Aussies a lovely Queens Birthday long weekend.

We're here in Canberra, one day into Convention. Having a truly awesome time. I'll be sure to fill you in on all the details in a couple of days but before Day 2 kicks off I just had to stop by and let you know about 3 super-exciting developments.

1. As of next month the Diagonal Score Plate will be available in Australia. This is a handy plate that fits on your Simply Scored board to make custom envelopes, boxes and more. Woohoo. $20.95.

2. Spend $125 during June and get a gorgeous stamp set for FREE! I was lucky enough to get my hands on it in May and must say it's Fabulous. For more details click HERE. 

3. During June and July, host a $650+ workshop (or catalogue party, or individual order) and get $190 in hostess benefits instead of $100. Not a misprint! You really do get an extra $90 in hostess benefits, as well as a half price item. 

Ok, better fly…

Happy stamping,

Simone

PS sorry no pretty pics in this post – haven't posted from my iPad before and wasnt really planning to post while away but I know some of my stamping buddies will be doing a huge HAPPY dance with this news, so couldn't wait another minute to tell you. Xx

It has been a few days since we got home from Convention, and my head is still spinning. In a good way! This was my fourth Stampin' Up! convention, and far and away the best one ever. We were truly spoilt, from the moment we checked in and were given our gorgeous convention bag (complete with brand new stamp sets) right through to the last session (when ALL 500 attendees were given more gifts a la Oprah-style).

A group of us were staying together in apartments near the Convention Centre, and we had a ball. My roommates, Juliana and Mel, and I had lots of fun leaving little pillow gifts for each other every day.

These girls are incredibly creative, so every day it was like my birthday! The AMAZING 'Create' frame above was made by Mel. It totally sums up what we all love to do, and features the Tiny Tags stamp set and matching Jewelry Tag punch. 

Love the detail…

Team member Tracy Penn and I put on a little stamping session for all the girls on the first night, just for fun. We were so excited about Convention starting that we were like school kids on a sleepover!

Here's Tracy's gorgeous make & take card, featuring the Nature Walk stamp set and Botanical Gazette designer series paper. So beautiful!

Inspirational Sessions

The sessions kicked off with a bang on day 1, and the WOWs didn't stop all weekend.

We saw sooo many amazing projects, and the presentations were truly awe-inspiring. Some of the sessions were on the 'main stage', with footage projected on a huge screen behind the presenter. Other sessions were held in smaller break-out rooms. Some of the presenters were from Stampin' Up!'s home office in Utah, USA, and others were our home-grown demonstrators and staff from here in Australia or New Zealand.

There were lots of laughs (especially the 'Win It In A Minute' game show – stamping style) and of course plenty of shopping at Memento Mall.

Managers Reception

Those of us who were Managers and above were treated to a wonderful Reception on the Thursday night, where we got to mingle and chat with the gorgeous Shelli Gardner, CEO and co-founder of Stampin' Up! Such a gracious, friendly and talented woman.

Tracy, Shelli Gardner, Simone (that's me) and Juliana, after Shelli gave us a lovely gift at Managers Reception.

Awards Night

Convention finished off with our Awards & Recognition Banquet… a delicious meal followed by the presentation of annual awards.

I was overwhelmed to learn I came 1st in the Leadership Award category! Wow – I still can't believe it. I was presented with a stunning Michael Kors chronograph watch, and look even the box was embellished Stampin' Up! style.

I've been wearing the watch and every time I look at it I think of certain people who are very special to me. Afterall, the Leadership Award is really  a reflection of the hugely talented and successful girls in our group, the EurekaStampers. We include hobbyists and business demonstrators – and everything in between – but importantly we have fostered an overwhelmingly positive environment where we can each find our own perfect fit. Thank you girls. xx

I was still reeling from that, and the Sales Award which I also received, when the Demonstrator of the Year awards were announced. At check-in I had received a pin so I knew I was somewhere in the Top 25. But you really could have knocked me down with a feather when I was named 7th place Demonstrator of the Year.

The best bit was finding out that two of my downline also achieved a Top 10 spot, with Tracy Penn in 6th place and Maureen Crameri in 10th. These girls, along with my roommate Juliana, achieved numerous other awards too. They are fabulous, creative and very talented women, as are all the girls in my group (can you tell I'm a bit biased) and are absolutely all winners in my eyes.

Thanks to my upline Janine Rawlins for this photo of Maureen, Janine, Shelli Gardner, Tracy and myself during the Awards Night. Janine was also named as one of the Top 25 Demonstrators of the Year!

All too soon Convention was over, but we've already made plans for attending Convention in 2012 – in Canberra! And we'd LOVE you to join us. With the great news that you no longer need an ABN to join as a demonstrator, it is certainly a quick and painless process. I never imagined when I joined for the discount on my craft supplies that nearly 4 years later this would be my full time job. And that's what I love about Stampin' Up! – it can be as little or as much as you want it to be!

One thing I can say after seeing lots and lots of sneak peeks over the past few days, is that we have a LOT to look forward to!

And now I've got this fabulous stack of brand new yet-to-be-released stamps to mount and get inky. Oh, and in case you're wondering…inside the blue boxes are the most divine yummy chocolates that all the award achievers received on Awards Night.

Thanks for sharing in my recap of Stampin' Up! Convention 2011, and for letting me share what I love.

Happy stamping,

Oooh, a bit of excitement today. I got three lovely handmade cards. Two of them were part of a swap our team is doing during May and I'll be sharing those soon, but the third was a bit unexpected…

Something from Stampin' Up!? You should have seen how fast I got inside that envelope LOL, and I found this gorgeous card…

It was an invitation to the Manager's Reception to be held at our demonstrator Convention in Sydney in a couple of weeks. How exciting, and what a beautiful card.

I thought I'd share the card we got for last year's invitation too. It's just as gorgeous…

We are very lucky to be spoilt by Stampin' Up! – I bet the staff at Demonstrator Support had a lot of fun making all those cards! Thank you so much xxx

For more information on the benefits of becoming a demonstrator contact me and we can chat about how it can fit in with your life… or even change it!

Happy stamping,

(Swaps received at Convention 2009, above)

Day 2 of Convention was fantabulous!!

We spent the morning in our smaller group, learning and being inspired, then gathered together for another yummy lunch.

It was a beautiful day so we sat on the steps of the Convention Centre and soaked up the rays. During lunch I had one of those ‘wow’ moments, when I stopped to realise how many hundreds of women (and a couple of men) had come from all over Australia and New Zealand to share our love of papercrafts in general, but especially for Stampin’ Up!. You know, I always thought I was the only one who could spend hours in the stationery aisles of shops! LOL. It was so wonderful to meet like-minded people and put faces to names/websites. Oh and the creativity!!! It was sooo inspiring!!!

We gathered for more Workshop Wows and inspiration. It must have been scary for the demonstrators to go up on stage in front of their peers, but they all did such a great job. Thank you!

 We ‘frocked up’ and returned to the Convention Centre in the evening for one of the highlights of the weekend… the Awards Night. It was a night of celebration as demos were recognised for all their hard work over the past year.

I was lucky enough to go up on stage for a couple of awards, as were two of the lovely demonstrators in my group. Congratulations Maureen and Juliana!!! A highlight was learning that my very own upline, Janine Rawlins, was one of the top demonstrators in the whole country – number 20 in fact! She also won an all-expenses paid trip to Noosa in August for her and her hubby Nick. Well done Janine!

The absolute best part of being at Convention, was the giggles and fun I shared with all the girls in our group. In the words of a stamp set, it was Priceless.

Now that I’m unpacking and getting ready for another great year with Stampin’ Up!, I’m already looking forward to convention next year – in Sydney!

(Our group on the Awards Night, with Aaron Scott, Manager Stampin’ Up! Australia)

Cheers,

What an amazing weekend!

Here we are in Canberra, for the annual Stampin’ Up! convention for Australian demonstrators. It is soooo exciting!!

Today was the first day and we spent the whole time being inspired, catching up with friends, chatting to the company exec’s and seeing the most incredible projects. We swapped loads of cards and I have received some absolutely stunning ones that I can’t wait to share with everyone when I get home. Yes, we even did some stamping! What a surprise 🙂

Below are some happy snaps from Day 1.

Photos: The amazing Shelli Gardner (Stampin’ Up! co-founder and CEO), Aaron Scott (Aus manager), our beautiful Stampin’ Up! bag that was filled with goodies like stamps, pen, lip balm, etc, and finally a pic of Shelli and I.

I’m here with some other demos from my team and we are having an absolute blast. Our group photos are on another camera so I’ll have to upload them tomorrow.

Want to join us????  Come with us next year – you’ll love it!! And if you’ve loved the products for a while and have been thinking about joining Stampin’ Up! then NOW is the time. An amazing promotion was just announced, offering a special starter kit for the reduced price of only $150!!!! You get heaps of products, discounts off all future purchases, the opportunity to earn some money and/or support your habit – oops, I mean hobby, AND next year you could join us for Convention 2010! You’ll also receive a welcome gift from me! 

I’ll be posting more details soon, but in the meantime visit www.stampinup.com then contact me to set up a time for a chat and cuppa.

Simone 🙂