Wow! What an incredible Leadership Conference. Stampin' Up! surprised and delighted us for three straight days. Our third day started with a General Session. During the Leadership Conference, the CFO speaks about the state of the company. It's generally a rather dry presentation. How exciting can numbers really be...even if they are all positive results?!?!? Well, this year, the theme was "+One". Each presenter tried to add something new. This year, our CFO, Scott Nielsen didn't just present the numbers. He stamped while doing it!!! Notice the Big Shot up there on the right side of the table? Well, he decided to personalize his, and renamed it the "Big Scott". His stamping skills were not stellar. He admitted that he had a lot of help with his projects. But, he did a phenomenal job.
As has become the tradition at all Stampin' Up! events, one Prize Patrol hands out free products to EVERYONE. It's usually in the last General Session. So, we were all surprised and delighted when they told us to put our buttons away. We were all getting Red Glimmer Paper, Glitter Brads, and Champange Glass Glitter!!! WOO HOO!!! Thank you Stampin' Up!
We had a morning class which was packed full of fun ideas for My Digital Studio (presented by my favorite employee - Holly Linford), Color, Stamps, and Fabric. Why is Holly my favorite? We worked closely together to prepare for my convention presentation. It was WONDERFUL to visit with so many of my SU employee friends who I haven't seen in MONTHS.
We then broke for lunch where we enjoyed what might have been the BEST salad I've ever eaten in my whole entire life! Kristin v2 was still talking about this salad today. I even ate the whole thing and I hate salad! Oh yes, and did I mention, this lunch was FREE? Stampin' Up! treats us well - and the service at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel was amazing. A great mix! For dessert we enjoyed some sort of Twix Tart thing.
After lunch we enjoyed a couple more classes. However, right in the middle of our second class, Shelli walked out on stage. Why is that strange? Shelli doesn't show up on stage during presentations. But, since this year was about +One and surprises and delights, she decided to give away some free stamp sets! I wasn't a lucky winner, but some other lucky people were!
Next was the final General Session (but not the closing event). It started with the highlight video from Founder's Circle. And, boy, did I cry! It was fun to relive those moments. I even showed up in the video a couple of times! And, there's a picture of me making stamps!!!! It was so fun to watch.
Bonnie Thurber presented on the Sew Suite line of products in the mini - oh gosh, she's a favorite of mine as well! Okay, so maybe there's a tie between Holly and Bonnie! I'm not a fan of the Sew Suite product line. I've said that from the begining.....until now. Gosh darn it, the projects were SO stinkin' cute! But, her +One (I think) was that she invited one of the 2010 Artisan Award Winners, Richard Garay, to present on stage with her. I don't think I've ever seen an SU demonstrator present on stage during a General Session. Richard is TALENTED! He's the first male Artisan Award winner. What's an Artisan Award? Out of HUNDREDS of demonstrators, 10 are chosen as Artisan Award winners. They must submit several cards, 3d projects, and scrapbook pages. Their entries blow me away every year. And, we all LOVE watching a man stamp! Richard came out on stage wearing an apron and an iron! My photo of him is blurry, but I just had to post it! AND, how lucky was he that he got to announce a prize patrol! He was wearing the fun apron because he got to give away 8 of them to 8 lucky demonstrators!
But, Stampin' Up! was not done yet! There was an AWESOME special given to everyone in attendance. I'm not going to post it here. It is amazing and brought tears to my eyes. AND, there was time for one more prize patrol.....for EVERYONE!!! We ALL received the Something to Celebrate Level 2 Hostess Set from the Occasions Mini catalog, a package of Designer Big Buttons, fabric, and the So Much to Sale-a-Brate Digital Content CD! OH MY GOSH!!!! I think I brought home 3 free stamp sets, glimmer brads, glitter paper, designer buttons, glass glitter, MDS content CD, and fabric....and we haven't even gotten to the Make and Takes.
During each presentation over the last few days, the presenters teased us with the Make & Take projects. They looked AWESOME! Normally I'm not a huge fan of the Make & Takes, but this year's were over-the-top! Below is a photo of everything that came in our Make & Take boxes. Insane, right?
During the Make & Take evening, prizes and awards were given out. Eight lucky demonstrators found a certificate for a free stamp set of their choice. Out of the 1000 demonstrators in attendance, Kristin v2 found a certificate! She's SO excited (and rightfully so). Here are four of us (Mary Ellen, me, Kristin v2, and Claire) posing together during Make & Takes...
Want to see what we made? Well, I didn't finish them all. The projects were a DVD case, a flower pin, a Simply Adorned Charm with three inserts AND three different chains/cords, a card, and an MDS card. I didn't finish 2 of the inserts or the card. The supplies included a package of Trinket Keys, a Trinket Crown, a Bauble, a 34" Simply Adorned Chain, and a 1-1/2" x 2" Simply Adorned Charm! We used the Clearly For You Stamp Set to complete our projects. So, here the projects I completed...
I'm home now. We had an EARLY flight this morning and I was home before lunch! My head is spinning with ideas! I sure hope I can keep track of them all. I hope you'll stop by my Open House later this month to see these projects and the swaps I received this week. They're AMAZING!
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