All I can say is WOW!
When I first got there (around 8:15 am) everyone was lined up to check in, then lined up again to enter the ballroom.
There were so many people there - over 350 demonstrators, presenters and helpers.
I was so excited to see that Shelli Gardner, Cofounder and CEO of Stampin' Up! was there. I'd read somewhere that she wouldn't be at this event. What a wonderful motivational speaker she is and I can't believe how good she looks in real life. Just like her picture in the front of the Stampin' Up! catalogue!
People were swapping card fronts and some other items up and down the line ups and others were sitting on the floor trimming and mounting their free set.
I took 52 swaps with me and traded them all! I received a lot of great swaps and can't wait to CASE some of them!
I met some new people and ran into (and sat with) some wonderful ladies that I have never met in person but swapped with before. I felt like I knew them from email correspondence and it was great to put faces to names. One of the ladies I sat with today is Diana Crick. If you don't know Diana, you will soon - she's coming out with an amazing new tool called Scor-Pal. You can check it out at www.scor-pal.com
As I mentioned before this was my first ever Stampin' Up! event and by lunch time I was done. I 'm easily overwhelmed in these kinds of crowded, loud & visually busy situations. I've been like this for as long as I can remember. I can't go to the PNE and the first time I went to Michaels I could only stay for about 10 minutes. It's like "sensory overload" and that's how I felt after just a couple of hours at this event.
I learned a few exciting things - like new wider Stampin' Up! grosgrain is coming and the retirement list comes out May 1 (this Tuesday!!!).
I learned how to make a folded, pocket journal album and missed out on the folded wallet demo (my cell phone rang but Heather was sweet enough to fold one up for me!).
I also saw a couple of WOW! things demo'd that I'd heard about - fraying grosgrain ribbon and using the cutter kit & vanilla craft pad to make faux stitching lines.
I took a lot of photos of the display boards and the presentations which I'll post over the next few days. I saw lots of great card samples and scrapping samples - I even found some samples to CASE for my next Scrapping Club meeting!
I ended up leaving 1/2 hour early - all the door prizes had been handed out and I wanted to get home to my kids. I'd left them on their own in charge of each other and the dog (who will not stop biting his tail even with the cone on!).
Stay tuned for some photos from Regionals....
What fun! Glad you got to go & I'm excited to see the photos.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! A friend of mine over there also went and she said it was a lot of fun.
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