Group Gift Swaps

Hi,

The 12 of us made a "gift" to swap with each other also.  Sara took this picture of all of the gifts (Lesley's book is missing - I'll have to add a picture later.)

I made the "DVD case organizer" (top right corner of picture).  I would be willing to run it as a class if you're interested!  I really liked them!!!

Dayna made everyone necklaces with paper beads and faceted buttons.  They were a big hit!

Gisele made everyone "pinecone" style paper ornaments.  Loved them!  She also found the sweet little Canada flag bracelets for everyone.

Catherine made us all purses (they were a big hit with everyone who saw them) and matching Lanyards for our nametags.  She put a box of tea and hand sanitizer in the purses too.  

Tami made us a magnetic bookmark with our initial and three little magnetic clothespins.  So cute!

Sara made us fabric drink "sleeves".  Gorgeous!

Adele made a beautiful embossed magnetic bookmark for everyone.  

Stacey made us the fabric tissue holder and a gorgeous tag with our initial cut out of  metal flashing and embossed.

Kari made us the fabulous covered calendars and the emery boards with sweet little toppers.  

Claudette made us all a gorgeous fabric luggage tag.  

Sheri made adorable fabric flower brooches.  She said she has made some into headbands and hair clips too.  So cute!

OH!  The book that Lesley made for us is not pictured.  I used it for all my Convention notes!  I LOVE it!  (It definitely would meet the requirements for covering a book - which Courtney suggested we could do at a class!!)  I will take a picture of it soon.  

They are lovely gifts and it was a great swap.  I was a bit panicked about mine, but it turned out ok in the end.  I just could not come up with a cute enough cover decoration, so I gave up and left it blank!  This way, they can decorate it themselves!  If you'd like to make the DVD organizer as a gift for yourself or someone else, let me know by leaving a comment on this post.  I will happily order more cases and mini calendars!  :)

Have a wonderful day!

Andra

ps - Scroll back through the past 5-6 blog entries.  I have edited them and added a ton of pictures!  Hope you like them!  

Blog Candy Winner!

Hi everyone,

Well, I'm posting a bit late because I was so busy unpacking from my trip, but I wanted to post tonight so I could let you know the Blog Candy winner!

First of all, I counted the multiple person's posts (which I loved!!!) as 1 post and then I added the person who left her comment in the other post as the last person.  So, I had 14 posts and I used a random number generator to get the answer:


Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

7

Timestamp: 2012-07-24 04:40:23 UTC

That means my winner is Megan T.!!!!  Congratulations!  Contact me and we'll make a plan for pick up or drop off!  

Thanks to all of you who left comments.  I will definitely try to incorporate your ideas into my future classes.

I love Blog Candy, so I might just have to do more of them!

I have updated my blog posts with more pictures and information from Convention so please go back and check it all out.  Leave comments!  They are so fun to read - then I know you're actually looking!  :)

I will have a lot more to come, but I'm pretty much caught up now!

Andra

Home again (and Prize Patrol!)

Hi everyone,

Whew!  I made it home!

Convention was amazing this year.  I'm so glad I went!

The end of Convention ended on a high note...I won a PRIZE PATROL GIFT!!!  What is that, you ask?  Well, when you go to convention you receive a coloured wrist band in your bag.  I had a pink one with white flowers this year - so did Gisele, Lesley and Sara, who were all in our "group".  After a demonstration, each presenter gives away a set of items they used in the projects.  They flash a picture of the matching wrist band on the big screen and then you jump up and down and scream if you win!!!  Well, we WON!  I was thrilled to receive 3 items I had not purchased yet and am thrilled to have won!  We'll definitely be using them in upcoming classes!

I think it was even more fun to win WITH friends - we were very giddy about it!!  Here's a picture to prove it!

Lesley, Gisele and I (Sara is not pictured).  We were VERY excited!! 

(I still am, actually!!!)

Also, I think you should check out this link, just for fun!!!  I was so pleased to meet Linda Heller and chat with her.  She's lovely!  It's a great picture too!  Thanks for letting me know about that so quickly, Bev!

A final reminder to get your entry in for the Blog Candy by tonight at midnight (please enter IN the Blog Candy post (several posts ago...).

Also, if you get me an order of at least $50 by noon tomorrow, you'll get a special gift I bought for you at Convention!!

I have so much more to post but I'm exhausted.  I'll work on it tomorrow!

Night, night,

Andra

Last day of Convention 2012

Wow - It was a busy few days, but Convention is now over.  Today was a wonderful day!

First thing this morning, I attended a fabulous session called "I am Doing Business My Way" lead by Bonnie Thurber.  (Love her!!)  She had Rhonda Wade and Tami White, both top US Demonstrators, speak to us about the "way" they run their Stampin' Up! Business.  They have very different approaches, but have both had enormous success.  The class made me think about things I do and how I can do more, better or differently.  I have lots of new ideas!!

After that, I went to my Make & Takes and then did a little bit more shopping at Memento Mall (YIKES!) and then went to a class called "I am Making Money" lead by Pam Morgan.  Pam shared ideas and strategies used by several different demonstrators, including Lydia Fiedler (who I love!).  I liked the quote from Lydia that was basically: "let go of what you are not good at and don't do and embrace what you DO do".

We had lunch then and during that time, Shelli was at the Photo Area.  Yay!

Catherine and I waiting in line (they had a huge chalkboard in the area that we could write on.)

Ah, Shelli and I.  She is lovely and gracious.  

Adele, Catherine, Shelli and I.  

After lunch we had the final Main Stage time.  Great Stamping Presentations and Business Announcements and then a surprise: Dale Hampshire, the head of the Canadian Office, announced that all Canadian Demonstrators would cross the stage in honour of our 10th year with Stampin' Up!.  It began with the Demonstrators who signed up with the company 10 years ago and the rest of us followed.  I had a lady sitting next to me try to snap a picture and she got a pretty fun one.  :)

Shortly after that, Shelli surprised us all by giving everyone the "Moving Forward" stamp set (which is the Ronald McDonald Charity Stamp set).  They used to give $2 from every set sold to the Charity, but they are increasing it to $3.  I think I will plan a class with it so watch for that!

After that, we had Carrie Cudney's Stampin' Demonstration about Flowers (another great class idea there!) and then Lesley, Sara, Gisele and I won the Prize Patrol (along with at least a hundred other demonstrators too...)  I'll post about that in another entry.  

I am really glad I went to Convention this year.  I attended the Leadership Convention in January 2010 and Convention in July 2010 also.  They have all been amazing events.  This one, maybe because of the "I Am..." theme, I found very personal.  It was very self-affirming and positive.  I really loved all the positive ideas, thoughts and comments.  

Andra

Shoebox Swap at Convention

When we were in the planning stages for going to Convention, Catherine and Lesley suggested we do a "shoebox" swap on the Friday night.

That means that we each designed a card that had to be easy to demonstrate and used only current products.  We brought all the materials ready to go.  There were 12 of us in the swap.  We had to complete 6 of our own cards and therefore we only really made 6 of the cards we came home with.  That's ok - the night was really about visiting and creating together.

Here are the cards we made.  They were all so different but I love them all!

This was Lesley's card.  It showcases the set "Everything Eleanor" and the Comfort Cafe DSP.  

This was Claudette's card.  It uses the Hostess set called  "Happy You" and the Floral District DSP.

This was my card.  I wanted to showcase the Dahlias, along with the new stamp set called "Embellished Events".

This was Gisele's card.  I'm so glad I have a start on my Christmas cards!  She used the set "Snow Much Fun". 

This was Sherri's card.  You may not be able to see the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter on the wreath, but it's there.  She used the stamp set "Winter Memories" that is in the upcoming Mini Catalogue.

This is Stacey's card.  She used a butterfly from "Papillon Potpourri" and the coordinating punch.   

This is Kari's card. She used the Doily Sizzlit and the set "Bootiful Occasions".

This is Sara's Card.  It uses the new single stamp called "Two by Two".

This is Dayna's card.  She designed a unique card using the "Papillon Potpourri" stamp set and co-ordinating punch.  The full card is actually "plaque-style" and the part that opens is the small white rectangle with the corner tucked under the butterfly.  

This is Catherine's card.  It uses the new "Blooming with Kindness" set.  We used the Colour Spritzer on the card.  It's such a fun tool!

This is Adele's card.  It features the stamp set "Fabulous Florets" and the new Apothecary Accents Framelits.

I just realized that I don't have a picture of Tami's card.  I will have to take one and add it to this entry later.  It was a beautiful card!  

Hope you enjoyed seeing what we made.  I'll have to post our gift swaps in another post.  

Andra