Stampin’ Up! Leadership

You may have heard me mention that I attended the last Stampin’ Up! leadership in Orlando, Florida a couple of weeks ago.  Stampin’ Up! are changing their strategy and going global which means that this was the last leadership event and when I heard I knew I could not miss out.  To recognise demonstrators who have reached a certain title they also treat us to a night out and when I heard what and where it was I knew I had to book my place right away.

So we headed off to Gatwick.  Look at poor little Pip below, she hates it when she sees me packing a suitcase, I wish I could bring her with me…. We had a big breakfast and amused ourselves for 9 hours with some in flight entertainment!  We did some number crunching, some crafting thanks to the lovely gift from Michele Phillips (a fellow demo), some snoozing and lots of selfies.
We arrived in Orlando and headed out to our hotel and a quick bite to eat before heading to bed ready for the first day at the leadership event. We were still on UK time so after waking at 4.30am we headed out to find somewhere for breakfast.  We found some lovely German demos in Dennys and headed over to the convention centre for leadership to begin.

And begin it did… It was a full days programme with lots of chance to catch up with our friends and demonstrators from across the globe. We saw product demonstrations, business strategies and we carried on till about 4pm when we headed off for dinner with the plan to meet back up at the convention centre for 7.30 to go to the Managers Reception (the event for demos of a specific title and above).

You won’t believe where we went….. We got on buses (over 600+ of us) to Disney for the evening.  We had a section of the park cordoned off just for us and we had a private showing of the latest Disney show called Fantasmic.  It was followed by deserts and treats and exclusive access to the Rockin Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror.  That meant no queues and unlimited rides, although once was enough for me!!

It was a truly magical evening and one I shall remember for a long long time to come.  We headed back tired but happy and I don’t even remember saying goodnight to Sarah!  The next morning we managed to lie in till 5am and Dennys became our regular breakfast spot.  We had another full day of leadership with a break for dinner and then back for more stamping presentations.
We were able to make something for the service project where Stampin Up donate gift packages to their chosen charity to make a difference in the lives of others.  I met some wonderful people and hung out with Sarah and Sam for a while before heading off to dinner with Janet and her team to a wonderful tapas restaurant.
These events are as much about the people and I am so fortunate to be able to spend my time with such a wonderful group of ladies. But don’t ever ask me to ride the rockin rollercoaster EVER again!

And we had a little free time on Saturday afternoon to do some shopping and have something rather lovely to eat at the Cheesecake factory.  The fact that the food was so good that I had no room for cheesecake is by the by.

And I found my idea of heaven………………. The Container Store. OMG it is amazing, just rows and rows of boxes and storage in so many pretty colours.  I didn’t really buy anything as I already was struggling to fit everything in my case but I so wanted to.

And before I knew it, it was time to head home.  It was one of the most fun but intense few days I have ever had.  If you look at the photos you can see me looking more and more tired each day but the goods news is that I did not struggle with jet lag when I got home as I had not had a chance to adapt to the US time zone!

Who would have thought that my little hobby of scrapbooking and cardmaking would lead to this?  I am so fortunate and thankful that I can do a job I love and spend time with the best people 🙂

Wishing you all a great weekend x

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