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Hi I’m Michelle Last and I live in Winslow near Buckingham in Bucks.
I am married to Simon and we have two children. I am a scrapbooker at heart. I love to treasure memories and love photography too, so scrapbooking is perfect for me. In 2007 I was shown a copy of the US Stampin’ Up catalogue and desperately wanted to get my hands on the products. US demos are not allowed to sell products to customers to outside the US but then learned that Stampin Up had plans to introduce themselves into Europe and would need some demonstrators to spread the word.
I waited patiently till the European launch in November 2007 and signed up to become a demonstrator at the earliest opportunity. I really thought I would be the first demo to sign but as it turns out there were lots of very enthusiastic ladies like me waiting to get their hands on the products too.
I had my first workshop booked before my starter kit had even arrived and had to postpone the date to the following week. I held my first workshop with just 4 other ladies and we spent most of the evening stroking the pages of the catalogue and whipping ourselves up in to a frenzy (I know that sounds weird to you non-crafters but that is just how it is!) Their response was fantastic and I was off and running. Every workshop I did resulted in more workshops and before long I was doing 2-3 workshops a week.
Initially I just signed up to get my hands on products at a discount, I did not intend to become a fully fledged demo doing workshops and training – it just happened and I have now given up my part-time job to concentrate on this as my main source of income. At the annual Convention I was recognised as being the top 6th demo in the UK and won the incentive trip to Monaco in June 2010. But it gets even better…..
At the latest convention held at Addington Palace near Surrey I was won the top spot and became the UK’s #1 Demonstrator – I could not believe it!! I won £1000 and also £500 worth of prizes too and of course I got free stamps too – what more could a girl want??
Incredibly I have since gone on to win the top spot again in Paris in 2011 and at the most recent convention in Mainz in Germany in 2012 I was 1st for Recruiting, 2nd for Leadership and 3rd for Sales in the UK. Stampin’ Up! no longer give the title demonstrator of the year but they reward their top 5 demonstrators in the three categories and I was delighted to be included in their recognition.
My business has really grown and I now have a huge team of demonstrators in my downline from the UK and Holland and I even make cards now! I am not brilliant at giving cards away though, that is something I need to work on :0) I guess once a scrapbooker, always a scrapbooker!!
What I love is the ‘family’ atmosphere that Stampin’ Up encourage in all us demos. We all support one another even if we are from different teams and the message that is so clear…..
