Saturday night is a part of convention we all look forward to - the dinner and awards night.  We all got dolled up in our evening wear.  (I'll share a funny story with you about that at the end of this post!)

Here's some of the girls from our table - me, Tina and Toby in the back, and Christine and Judy in front.

There was a band playing ('scuse the blurry photo!)

Now if you know me you'll know I've got a strange habit of photographing the food at special events so here goes .....

I was rather missing my nice big digital SLR.  Not quite so photogenic in the food pics with my little point and shoot, but easier to fit in the handbag!  The yummy chocolate 5 on the cheesecake was because Stampin' Up is celebrating their 5th year in Australia this year.

Once our lovely dinner was finished it was time to head downstairs into the main stage area for the Awards Presentations.  It was so exciting to cheer on our fellow demonstrators for achievements in Sales, Recruiting and Leadership, and especially when my team mates names appeared on screen - Elaine, Miriam, Claire, and Tanja.

We Think Ink girls were very excited for our team member Kylie Bertucci who received her first sales award.  Kylie couldn't be there for the evening but we gave her a huge cheer which she'd just about have heard in Werribee I'm sure. 

An unanticipated fabulous highlight of the evening was this screen .....

Kylie was named 1st place in the Australian Rising Star Awards. What an achievement! 

The Rising Star program recognises demonstrators in their first FULL Stampin' Up year as a demonstrator for sales and team building.  (The SU year runs from April - end March.)  What a terrific recognition for Kylie and a lovely reward for all her enthusiasm and dedication.  A huge congrats!

Having a little toot of my own now, I was excited to be walking the stage this year with a sales award, a recruiting award and a career milestone award. 

And I must confess I was so thrilled to make the Top 25 Australian Demonstrator of the Year award again this year.  I got this silver pin when I checked in on the Thursday (along with pins for the other awards)  .....

..... so I knew then I'd made the list - then it was exciting on the evening to find out exactly where.  I'm number 15.   A huge congrats and pat on the back to the other girls on the list, and especially to a special someone who came in at number 1.  And to the 18 girls from Aust/NZ who are heading off to Fiji later this year on the Incentive Trip - well done.

We all got to go on stage and Shelli gave us each a hug and a lovely long stemmed rose.  Stampin' Up do a terrific job of making us all feel very special.   (Thank you to my friend Kathryn for some of the pics in this post - much appreciated.)

Stampin' Up give stamp sets as part of the various awards so I went home with a nice collection of goodies to add to my craft stash, and even better - a lovely lovely feeling of being recognised, appreciated and rewarded.  In my other roles that feeling is sometimes a little hard to find - they don't have 'Instilled a Love Of Reading' awards, or 'Kept Everyone Fed for a week' or 'Gives Good Snuggles' or 'Battled An Out Of Control Laundry'.    Hannah and Jack were most impressed with my certificate and think it should go up on the wall next to the Student Of The Week awards.  J

I wouldn't have received these awards without my lovely lovely team and my gorgeous customers and class girls, and most importantly my very supportive (and patient!) husband and lovely kids so a big big thanks to everyone.  What a fabulous job I have.

Before I close for today, a few other announcements were made at convention.

Next year we're heading to Canberra for Convention 2012, May 31st - June 2nd.   Put the date in your diary if you're a demonstrator.  And give a holler if all this fun has you tempted to join the crew and I'll send you some more info.  Did you know that you no longer need an ABN to join so it is now super quick and easy. 

Another memorable moment of the night -  Aaron and Emma (Aust and NZ managers) rode onto the stage on camels to let us know that next year's Incentive Trip is to Broome to the Cable Beach Resort.   Ooh sounds exciting!

Now - want to know that funny story!  I impulse bought a new dress the day I was leaving for convention as I fell in love with the funky flouncy hemline.  Ducked into DFO between sessions to get a 5 way convertible bra and while getting dolled up I was madly converting it 5 ways to see which was best (and wishing it came with a manual!)   Time was ticking so got dressed in a hurry and off we all went to the dinner.  It wasn't til I got home again that I realised I'd put the dress on backwards!   It does seem to be cut the same front and back but the nice panel of pleats was supposed to run down the front, not the back!   I did have a giggle!  What do you think - can you tell??  JJJ

And after that little laugh between us girls, now I'd best switch this computer off for a bit as my bag is still sitting here waiting for me to unpack it.   Have a wonderful week.

Cheers, Sue

Well, I'm back from a fabulous few days at the 2011 Stampin' Up Convention - close to home this year in Melbourne.  What a wonderful event!

Yesterday I caught up on some family time and snuggles.  Monday means school, kinder and work for John and the kids, and for me some time to unload the camera and share a little convention excitement with you.  (Probably better unpack too!) 

Better grab a cuppa  - long post alert!

The theme this year was ......

 
...... and that very nicely sums up Convention 2011 for me.

Around 450 demonstrators and guests from Australia and New Zealand shared the excitement, oohs and aahs as we saw techniques, projects, and sneak peeks at exciting things just ahead.

I loved sharing convention with 3 Think Ink girls heading along for their first one - Tina, Toby and Lyndall ......

 
(That's Tina, me and Toby.)

..... plus the most fabulous bunch of stamping buddies a girl could wish for.  (Here's a few of them.)

Plus you meet heaps of new faces too.  Everyone is so friendly that you can guarantee many smiles, laughs and chats are shared over the 3 days.

With our orange and pink convention bags - even when we wandered next door into DFO or were walking to and from our accomodation - we could easily find who was a fellow convention goer!

The staff from the US, Australia and New Zealand shared their talents during the sessions, along with some fabulous homegrown demonstrators.  Waving a hello and saying a thanks to all of them for all the wonderful projects and techniques you shared.  I think I have enough inspiration to last a LOOOOONG time.

That's the 'oh so funny, had us all in stitches' Bonnie Thurber sharing a fascinator a la Princess Beatrice at the royal wedding. 

I got this pic while the super talented Teneale Williams was setting a new record for eliciting wows from the audience!!  Every time she got ready to hold up a completed card, a sea of cameras would go up in the auditorium. 

 By the way - don't you just love the staging.  Did you spot the eyelet border and scallop trim punch bits at the sides and the huge stamps and tags and what not?  Gorgeous.  Speaking of gorgeous - here's the co founder and CEO of the company - the always gracious and positive, Shelli Gardiner.

Convention was over 3 days this year and I loved that this meant we had time between sessions or of an evening to catch up with friends and share some laughs. 

There were sessions to help us with ideas for sharing some of the creative techniques and projects at a Stampin' Up workshop or party, and sessions with ideas for sharing all the fun of becoming a member of the crew as a demonstrator.

Stampin' Up in their usual generous manner shared not only ideas for using products but some products themselves in Prize Patrol.  We all got a wrist band at check in with various different designs printed on.  When it was prize patrol time they'd flash the prize up on the screen ....

Then up would come the winning wrist band design and those who had that one would jump up and wave and holler excitedly ......

 ... until along came a smiling staff member giving out the prizes.

Tina and I were excited to win the bundle  'Clearly For You' and 'Hello Blossoms' after watching Shelli herself create a bunch of gorgeous things with them - a bookmark, box and cards.

No one went home disappointed as during the last session on Saturday they gave us ALL a Simply Sent pack, PLUS a terrific stamp set.  You probably heard the whoop whoop when they announced we were all sharing in the winning feeling!

Hmmm what else is there to tell you.  On Thursday evening those of us that are managers and above were invited to a special reception.  It was my friend Genna's first one and my second and we were both very excited.

After a session with Shelli and the Stampin' Up staff, we went in to another room for delicious nibblies.

Here's Genna, my upline Claire and me enjoying the reception.

There were gifts for us all to take home ....

That last pic is of the beautifully packaged up fortune cookies we got - except they looked so delicious I ate half a one before I remembered I wanted a photo!  The slip of paper inside reads "Share what you love."

I've still got all the excitement of our dinner and awards night to share but I'd better leave that for another post. 

I'll close off this one with a very special photo - one of the Helping Hudson team who worked together with the help of the craft community last year to raise over $15,000 for Tina's son Hudson, for a KidWalk and other aids.  (We're just missing Gardenia and Jo from the coordinating crew pic.)  How perfect to have a "Share What You Love" tag as background.   Convention reminded me that sharing what we all love can bring so many rewards - not just creative ones but friendships, common bonds and so much more.  Stampin' Up has enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined. 

Back soon,  

Cheers, Sue

Tonight to bring Convention 2011 to a close we have a special celebratory dinner followed by an awards ceremony.  It is always a highlight of the Stampin' Up Convention.  I'm rather excited to be heading up on stage this year to receive a sales award and a recruiting award - sending a big thank you to all my customers, class attendees and Think Ink team members who help make this such a fun job.

I'm super excited that one of my team members Kylie also achieved a sales award this year - congrats on all your enthusiasm and hard work Kylie.

We had a Think Ink Celebration Day a few weeks ago to celebrate another year of Stampin' Up fun.  Some of my local team members came over for the afternoon and we chatted, made cards, experimented with a few techniques and ate nibblies. 

I wish I'd taken a pic of Lyn's beautiful pink cupcakes and Sue's yummy slice!  And my lovely team members for that matter.  Oh well - here's the table all set up for us to make some cards - that will have to do!

We recognised the achievements of some very hard working Think Ink team members with our team awards.  Well done girls on all your efforts over the past year. 

It was lovely to spend some time with my 2 newest team members too, and just to chat stamping with people who love their inks!

Speaking of catching up with my fellow SU enthusiasts - I'll be back as soon as I unload my camera with some more pics and news from the Stampin' Up convention 2011. 

(Better fit in some snuggles with my little munchkins first, and say a big thanks to John for holding the fort at home while I've been away!) 

Cheers, Sue

PS Want to join the fun??  Check this page for more details or get in touch and I can send you an info pack.

I made up some little 'Convention Packs' for the girls from my Think Ink team that are heading along to convention this year.  (And for my two lovely roomies Christine  and Judy.) 

I took some step by step pics while I was putting them together so thought I'd share them with you lovely ladies in blogland.  I used the set 'Tote-ally Tess' from page 40 and decided she'd have Cherry Cobbler hair, a Pacific Point shirt and Early Espresso pants.   Plus of course her bag full of stamping gear.  (Which has been thrown all over the place, probably in a mad dash to finish swaps!!  J)

Our Paper Snips are fabulous scissors for cutting out fiddly things, and my Two Way Glue Pen and handy tweezers made dressing Tess a breeze!   I've used the little scallop trim bags from the Autumn Mini - they're rather cute!  Closed them up with the big clips from the Clips Assortment on page 139.

Inside I popped a few things that might come in handy during convention, starting with a notebook for jotting all the wonderful ideas we always get at convention, or contact details for new friends made.  Found some snazzy sparkly pens and a bunch of Big Shot butterflies  ......

Some tissues, and some nibblies (also dressed up in their Stampin' Up best with some help from Blueberry Crisp DSP and the Something Sweet stamp set.)

I'm excited to be sharing the fun of convention with some team members heading along for their first one, and it is great to catch up with a whole bunch of Stampin' Up friends, and to make new ones too. 

Back tomorrow with some pics of my swaps.  (OK with LOTS of pics of my swaps - I got a bit carried away with the camera!)

Cheers, Sue 

We had a lovely couple of nights this week launching the Autumn Mini Stampin' Up! Catalogue.   Samples to look at, products to try out, throw in a few Tim Tams and it makes for quite a fun evening. 

I held my Hostess Rewards Prize Draw and here are the lucky prize winners.

Drum roll ........

Level 1 Hostess Sets
Mel chose Birthday Bakery

Anne-Marie chose Afterthoughts

Annette chose Slice of Life from the Autumn Mini

and Terri chose Birthday Bakery

$30 to spend

Zoe chose the Colour Coach

Crystal chose 1" Circle Punch and Antique Brads

Carole chose French Foliage

and Judy chose Blueberry Crisp DSP and Neutrals A4 cardstock.

Congratulations ladies! 

Thanks to everyone who came along on Wednesday or Thursday night.  Hope you had as much fun as I did.

Here's one of our make and take cards.

This one uses the Strength and Hope stamp set.  Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from the purchase of this set to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Our launch card uses Rose Red and Pink Pirouette and is finished with some self adhesive pearls.

We spritzed the Hope greeting with a mix of Isocol and Frost White Shimmer Paint.  

I'll share some more launch pics and photos over the school holidays.  For those of you having school holidays, happy holidays!

Cheers, Sue