Stampin Up Convention and loads more……

Are you sitting comfortably as this could take some time…….

I had the MOST amazing weekend at the Stampin Up convention in Frankfurt, Germany.  I met some truly wonderful people and received some awards too which was the icing on the cake.  All I can say to other demo's or potential demo's out there is how ever you have to do it – MAKE SURE YOU GO ALONG TO NEXT YEARS CONVENTION which is to be held in LONDON.  Beg, steal or borrow (or even save) as myself and everyone else I have spoken to have come home buzzing, completely inspired and with a bag full of beautiful card swaps and free stamps as well as all the gorgeous items given to us by Stampin Up.  I have lots of photo's and loads of journalling so brace yourselves.

I was blessed that 5 of my lovely downline also came along with me but I had only previously met Carole so it was a complete treat to spend some time with all of you and get to know you much much better.  I wish all of my downline could have come and I will be begging all of them to come along next year and don't fret I will be sending an email to my downline ladies who couldn;t make it, with a breakdown of all the info and make and take instruction as well as a few of the beautiful card swaps I received.  If you want to be part of my team you have the next 24 hours to get the starter kit at a discount of 10% (£125 instead of £139) so call me today 01296 715787.

I am a prolific journaller, so feel free to skip this bit…….

I met Peg in my downline for the first time in the departure lounge at Birmingham airport on Thursday am.  We chatted the whole flight and it was the best flight I have taken in a long time as time flew by so quickly – quite literally!! Whilst waiting at the train station in Frankfurt Sarah called me to say she was waiting for the train too and was standing about 50 yards away from us.  She was a great navigator to the hotel and before long we were all unpacked and I got to meet Jane my roomie for the weekend.  She is another of my downline I hadn't met before and we hit it off right away.  She has a wicked sense of humour and loved to wind the other girls up about promotion gifts I had given or rather had not given her but I got my own back on her – all I will say is peanuts but I can't reveal all otherwise you will think I am a real meanie!!  Jane also had some other SU friends that joined us over the weekend and it was a real pleasure to spend some time with Debbi, Helen and Shirley.  What great girls and I really hope to see more of you all again really soon.

Jane and I foolishly slept a little later on Friday morning which didn't have anything to do with us talking till 2am.  What we didn't realise was that we were missing out on all the Stampin Up excitement where ladies were signing in and receiving their convention bags, swapping cards and also stamping a great little resource to show all the ink colours and card.  This can be found in the demo website under  My Business Resources/Printing place called Colour Chart.  We managed to get caught up and get some lovely swaps before the first session started with a talk from Shelli as well as other members of the Stampin Up team.  Shelli is such a warm and genuine person and we all envied the beautiful relationship she has with her husband Sterling.  Charlotte did some demos and showed us some great ideas and which are shown in the photos below.  Dave who is the Vice President of the International side talked us through the figures and the growth we have achieved in Europe which is nothing short or remarkable.  We then have some workshop wows from Monica, Jenni & Emilie who are all top demo in their respective countries and I will definitely be sharing these techniques in my up and coming workshops so thank you ladies.

Amanda Fowler then did a workshop for us on stage showing us all the things to remember whilst holding our own workshops.  This was one of the most useful sessions at the event and I think everyone learnt something but generally we all learnt lots of things – well done Amanda you were amazing.  We then had some time to relax and prepare for the awards dinner on Friday evening.  Jane and I popped out for a little retail therapy.  I was flagging at this point and needed sugar.  We cut it fine to get ready for the event and thankfully no one was filming Jane, Sarah and I trying to get me into my dress.  We did try to pin my dress so that I wasn't showing any underwear but by the end of the night I was far too relaxed and glad it was over to care – I am sure there is a photo or two out there of me looking very relaxed so I will apologise now :-). 

I was so thrilled to be awarded for my efforts over the last year and I got the opportunity to grace the stage three times, firstly for sales over £10K, secondly for being in the Top 25 demo's in the UK, I was ranked 6th which I am so chuffed with, in fact I haven't stopped smiling about the weekend and my pinny is weighed down with badges now!  And finally the last trip on stage was with my fellow demo's that also earned the incentive trip to Monaco.  There are going to be 15 of us lucky demo's from UK, France and Germany and they are all such a lovely bunch and I am so looking forward to spending sometime with the all next June – I really cannot wait and double bonus, we get to meet Shelli again.

The top 3 demo's from each country all won cash prizes for all their hard work and it was so well deserved so well done Monica, Julie and Amanda.  I must also congratulate Jenny Moors for selling over £25K worth of product in one year alone!!  In my opinion the best prize of the night went to Jacqueline Siedel who won the 'Heart of Stampin Up' award which is award by fellow demonstrators to someone who shows extraordinary kindness, dedication, generosity, or a willingness to serve others.  The winner from Germany received a gold heart necklace embellished with a diamond, she was absolutely thrilled and emotional and she is coming to Monaco with us so I will look forward to getting to know her some more.

Sunday morning started with make and takes and it was so nice to be crafting although I stole a little of the time to take my swaps to anyone who I hadn't had a chance to meet and if they had run out of swaps I was offering 'gives' as I really didn't want to take them home again on the flight.  It was a great opportunity to meet demo's from Germany and France who were all so friendly and spoke perfect English (thank goodness).  It was my absolute pleasure to meet Andrea  from Germany as we have spoken via email whilst checking out each others blogs.  She is such a sweet and warm lady and I left Frankfurt with so many new friends.

We had a leisurely lunch with a little bit of drama thrown in from the poor Carole who is an absolute star as she is allergic to nuts and wasn't aware that the muffin had nuts in the centre.  Chris to the rescue and Carole with a glass full of ice and all was well.

Finally the afternoon session started and Shelli and Pam delighted us with some of the projects they made, what really talented ladies there both are.  The GORGEOUS Paula took to the stage and gave a heart warming speech to remind us why we create beautiful cards and to remember the gift of giving,  Unfortunately Peg and I missed the last hour as we had to sneak out for our flight but the girls kept us informed about the location of the next convention by text and I think I forgot to mention that the Incentive trip for 2011 is in Prague.  So you have loads of time to strive for the incentive trip, I know I will be doing everything I can to get there and also hope to have some of my ladies from my team to come along too.

I want to say a BIG thank you to Chris, Eileen, Paula, Charlotte, Mirko, Silvana as well as all the contingent from the US for making the weekend so amazing.  I truly didn't want it to end and wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to anyone for future years.

Now for the photo's

Me and my downline (The Pink Ladies) from left to right – Rose, Sarah, Me, Jane, Carole and Peg

Me with Shelli (the co-founder of Stampin' Up)

Me and Chris and Me and Eileen

     Gosh I look tired!

The promotional Stampin Up products available to purchase from the demo website shortly –

  

 
 

Debbi, Me and Jane

Shirley and Rose

Rose and Carole

Peg and Helen (the birthday girl)

Helen and Sarah

Thanks for a great few days ladies x

And finally as if the last few days have been wonderful enough a friend emailed me this morning to tell me my craft space is featured on the blog called Crafty Storage, thanks for letting me know Nicole x