Tag: paper pumpkin

Day 1 of Leadership was awesome – amazing product announcements, great presentations by top demonstrators, and lots of being just a little bit silly with friends at Manager’s Reception! So, I was excited and ready to go (even on little sleep) to head in for day 2. 

Here is a taste of what was in store for us on Friday:

We started off with a talk from a Keynote speaker.  I wasn’t expecting a Keynote at this event, and especially not from someone who was a psychotherapist!  But it turns out Pat Pearson had some pretty good points to share – both for our business lives and personal lives.

For example, she talked about the cycles of change and how in every aspect of our life we are at one of these points on the cycle. It is a continuous cycle so you typically rotate through them as you go through life.

But it led into a great discussion about handling being told “No”.  I wrote out and then deleted her whole story about the last pumpkin pie slice at thanksgiving and even if you wanted it but were too full, you’d have to say no.  So you weren’t rejecting or saying there was something wrong with the pie, you were just sharing that you were too full to be able to enjoy it.

Anyway, I swear it really was a great perspective on when someone tells you no, whether it is inviting someone to a card party, to join Stampin’ Up, or just to go out for coffee sometime.  🙂

If you are interested in the full story, let me now and I’ll share it with you!

Ok, so that was the kick off for more classes in the morning – this time with corporate team members or Pat.

And of course there was swapping all over the place before and after each session. Like this card created by Naomi Keeling from MA.

Then we got some yummy lunch and headed to the Gathering Place for more fun!

There was Craft Wars: Paper Pumpkin:

Basically we had access to 2 colors of card bases, past Paper Pumpkin stamps, half sheets of designer paper from the Occasions catalog, a few markers and inks, and some of the new accessories from the Occasions catty.  Everyone had the opportunity to pick whatever supplies they wanted and create 1 card.  Then SU would judge all of the cards Friday night and pick 20 winners to receive 2 past Paper Pumpkin kits (I think of their choice).

Honestly, I just loved the idea of the challenge to create something from a limited and slightly random pile of supplies! 

Then it was off to play carnival games for a chance to win tickets to be entered in a drawing for more free stamps.  Games like Plinko, bean bag tosses, etc.

We also got to carve another stamp – I knew exactly what I was going to make… sort of.  I knew I really wanted one that said “You Rock” because I constantly want to make cards that say that to send to the awesome girls who are part of my Fun n’ Crafty demo group.  Turns out as I tried to make it look “cooler”, I ended up making it WAY more challenging.

Thankfully we had hilarious staffers who didn’t mind hanging out and lending support by taking selfies with our camera! ; )

And did I mention that I was so stinkin’ slow that I managed to be the very last demo in the Gathering Place after it shut down and Shannon West and the other staff were super nice and hung out late so I could finish my silly stamp? So sweet, right?

Ok, moving right along!

Finally the night ended (after a dinner break) by a set of stamping presentations that were broken up by time to work on make and takes.  It actually worked out really well and was way more relaxing than usual!

We even got to see sneak peek stamp images….

and get another new product announcement!

Brian Pilling shared with us that the Textured Boutique machine from Sizzix is coming back!  If you remember, this machine was out for a limited time about a year ago as a test run.  I guess it was a hit because it is not only coming back but it is now all black and says Stampin’ Up! on it!

It is a small light weight embossing machine.  There are no cutting plates to worry about or a long platform that you have to scooch piles of papers and ink around your craft table to fit (or is that just me?) because this machine is just for embossing folders.  You crank your embossing folder through by itself and you are done!  Now,don’t get me wrong, you will never get me to give up my Big Shot… but having a cute little machine that takes up less space when I need it and it most likely going to be only $30ish is pretty compelling to me!

The Textured Boutique was supposed to be coming out in June with the new catalog, but they got a shipment early so they’ll be selling some starting January 28th!  So if you were sad you missed it the first time around, mark your calendars and start counting down!

Next up – I’ve got more stuff to share in my Day 3 recap!