Today was fabulous. All I did was stamp, eat, and chat with friends. The day started early for me. I set an alarm for 7am because I didn't want to miss a thing. BUT, apparently most decided to sleep in. When I got down to breakfast, there were only 4 demonstrators. I quietly ate my breakfast and then wandered around, called home, and relaxed until 9am when the Gathering Place opened. I was anxious to snap some photos before anyone touched anything. The comfy couches multiplied overnight - as well as the candy jars. Loads of them filled to the brim with goodies. On the menu today from the Tea Shop were eclairs and fruit & yogurt parfaits. I had an eclair. Is anyone surprised?
Next on the agenda was Make & Takes. There were three. Two cards and a VERY involved banner. I managed to get the two cards done before lunch. Yes, they were that crazy. Gorgeous, but crazy. I was too overwhelmed to tackle the banner. But, in the middle of our morning stamping, Shelli stopped by for a wonderful chat. Afterwards, I wandered out to the lobby and met up Linda Heller who was still working on swaps. Deb Valder was also jumping in to help. Once we were finished with swaps, we all wandered over to lunch at the Olive Garden with Mary Fish, Dania Welch, Deb Valder, Linda Heller, and Karen Bernhardt. A few of them have a photo of us on their cameras - maybe someone will e-mail it to me??? Pretty please!
The other ladies hadn't even started their Make & Takes so we dove into them this afternoon. It took me two more hours, but I managed to complete my banner. I'm missing the hemp twine so you'll just have to imagine what it would look like strung together with clothespins and ribbon. And, yes, there might be a new die in there that helped to make that banner! The projects will all be on display at my Open House next Saturday, September 24th.
By that time, it was time for dinner. Yes, we were eating AGAIN. So, our lunch crowd, Claire, Missy Shipman, and a couple of other gals joined in at Iggy's for dinner. Conversation is always GREAT at these events. I love hearing what everyone else is doing in their business.
After dinner we got ready for my FAVORITE event - the Pajama Party/Business Share/Swap! We all put on comfy pajamas and line up in the hallways to get a good seat for the share. Stampin' Up! made us adorable notebooks using My Digital Studio. But I just couldn't bring myself to write in mine. It's still so perfect! When we walked through the doors (I was first), we were greeted by DOZENS of beautiful and yummy cakes! It was better than a bakery because you could try them ALL! No one wanted to take the first slice because we were all too busy snapping photos.
We shared ideas for about an hour, sang happy birthday to Shelli (who has a big milestone birthday next month), then we lined the halls for the swap. The cards are SO wonderful this year! I believe I received 121 cards - all of which will be on display next weekend. They are all so different, so beautiful, and so creative. I cannot wait to share them with you. Here's a photo of mine!
Claire and I headed right up to my room (because it's bigger and she wanted to see it) to sit on the beds and look through them all. BUT, for the second night in a row, I completely forgot about PILLOW GIFTS! How is that possible??? Some of us had guessed what we might be doing tomorrow night and tonight's gifr revealed the event - and I'm not complaining. Stampin' Up! is taking us to Tuacahn this year to see the Little Mermaid. I went last year and it is INCREDIBLE! It's an outdoor ampitheater in the middle of a canyon. There are red rocks on either side and it is an experience I'm SO thrilled that I get to have all over again. I was REALLY REALLY hoping that's what tomorrow night's activity would be. BUT, we found a cute bucket with a card tucked inside along with the Playbill, some snacks, and FIJI water (of course).
Tomorrow will be a LONG day - in the morning we're headed over to Kanab to MAKE STAMPS and have lunch in the park.
SO....here are a few more photos from the day....
Shelli stopped by and posed for a picture with me!
Here I am playing Plinko. We get to play each day for fun products! Today I won Decor Elements Blocks!
Here's a photo of some of the gals I made Make & Takes with - Mary Fish, Deb Valder, Linda Heller, Dania Welch, and me!
Claire and I in our PJs at the Business Share! (Check out the cakes in the background - that's probably only a quarter of the cakes that were out for us to sample!)
Finally, here's a photo of some of the gals swapping. Everyone lines up and just swaps cards down the line. No time for chatting!
Finally, what post would be complete without some more BLOG candy??? To get a chance to win this blog candy, you must place an online order through me between now and the end of day Saturday, September 17th. There are a couple of you who have ordered since I left for the trip on Saturday - I'll already throw your names in for the drawing! But you're welcome to order some more, too!!! This one includes the Bells & Boughs Stamp Set in Clear and the mini jingle bells found in the Holiday Mini!
I probably won't be posting much during the day tomorrow - but I will probably be on Facebook!!! I always get that updated so much more frequently! It's time for bed - Kanab comes early!
Hi Kristin! A friend of mine sent me the link to your blog because of your wonderful pictures of Founder's Circle. (She knows that Mary Fish is my upline.) Great pictures - it looks like you girls are having a fabulous time! An added bonus is that I got to browse through your blog and check out all of your wonderful creations as well :) Enjoy your time in Utah!
Posted by: Linda Callahan | September 16, 2011 at 06:07 PM