Hope you are ready for a long read as I have lots of fun stuff to tell you about the recent Regionals last Saturday, and you know I love to tell a story!

Considering we had guests till 1am that the morning before, and I was back up at 5am to finish off some projects, I did really well. I think it was the adrenaline either from excitement….then again maybe fear for my upcoming presentation!

 Anyway I got all organized and headed up to the Convention Centre in Perth bright and early actually I was the first one there apart from the SU team. So i managed to help them set up and do the registration of the guests. It was great to see lots of familiar faces, and names etc,…. and to meet some of my on-line buddies Sarah-Jane and Kelly Winstanley. Hey gals!

It was so great to see Aaron (SU General Manager for Australia) who we spent lots of time with at the Incentive Trip again, and to also meet Derek and Donna who came down from the US head office. They were really great, and Derek is a crack up!

We got off to a great start with Aaron stamping on stage, and then Donna giving us her stamping tips as well. Then onto making some of the make and takes which were just beautiful! We all recieved the Live Your Dream stamp set that will be released in the Summer mini, December 1st. I think it is a beautiful set and can’t wait to really give it a bashing.

These are the projects that we made on the day:

Cute hey! We made a  6 x 6 scrapbook page, a groovy little Love Notes card holder, a matchbox card, and another long notes card. It was great to use the Afternoon tea papers that match the set, and they are coming our way too! Gotta love getting new products that we haven’t seen before!!! YAY!

We all got to run around and do swaps too with other demonstrators, which is always fun. I, thanks to Monnie moo, because she convinced me and came over one night to work on them together! I managed to get about 25 swaps made the week before, and here is a picture of mine:

Here I have used the stamp set that we recieved at the Incentive Trip that is also going to be released in the Summer mini, called Ocean Commotion. I love it! So I thought it would be fun to use this as no one else has it (apart from the IT gals). I used Pumpkin pie for the base and stamped the swirls up accross the centre. Then using a large silver metal edge tag, I layered a scallop punch in Bayou, then a 1 3/8 punch of Soft sky. I stamped the fish in Pumpkin pie, cut him out and popped him up with dimentionals. Accross the top I used Double stitches Bayou ribbon, that I then hung the metal edge tag off with some twine. Lastly I added the greeting from the One of a kind stamp set with Bayou ink. I hope everyone liked them!

After lunch I had the pleasure of doing a WOW presentation……well I did say pleasure, but at first I had the jitters!!! Once I got going though they couldn’t shut me up and I went over time!! hehehe. I just had so much to share. What fun that was!

I really wasn’t too sure what to present as i totally know there are lots of beautiful stampers out there and they have lots of wonderful tools like other people’s blogs and Splitcoast stampers as well. So thinking of something new was a little bit daunting.

I thought to myself what is it that I use all the time that I can share with others……..well thinking I did, and I have to tell ya how i came about what to do!

The Saturday before I went to my most Favourite Book store….. Koorong! I love that place, because I love books. I never fail to come back with two shopping bags full of goodies. I came home that day and went to load my new books onto the book shelf to get to later……I love knowing I have books to read, and won’t run out!!! Well I did that and then had a little step back to look at my book shelf and what do I see???? THIS!!!

Yep that is my bookshelf that has been totally grown out of!! See all the piles of books climbing the wall! LOL! I have been promised a new bookshelf for a couple of years, but we just haven’t made it a priority, and I just keep buying books! Books are such a fantastic hobby don’t you think? You learn things, get entertained, and don’t talk and drive everyone crazy whilst you are reading…….see I can justify anything. Oh and besides Tiarne loves to read, so i can pass these onto her too!

Later that day I just happened to be sitting on the edge of my bed (not too sure why??!!) and I glance over to see this on my bedside cabinet:

Hmmm more books and quite the stack!

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE!!!

This is my little stash beside my bed on the floor between my bed and the cabinet!!!

Can you believe it. I have some serious reading to do!!! Well actually I think I am like three chapters in on 75% of these books so they are a working progress.

Seeing all these books got me a thinking (yes dangerous at times!) and i thought to myself if someone asked me to list my top 10 books,  I would pick…..hmm well first would be my Bible for sure, cause if I didn’t have that to keep me going, and on the straight and narrow, I would be doomed, not only here but eternally. THEN I thought hey I think it would have to be the Stampin’Up Idea book and Catalog, cuz I view it each and every day, and it is such a wonderful TOOL….Hmm maybe, just maybe I could show how fabulous this book really is…..!!!

So I didn’t quite get to listing the other 8 top books of mine, I was away with an idea and that is just what I needed……Good thing I did go to Koorong and busy another….(I am not going to tell you) amount of books….see justification is a fine art!

So my presentation was all about using the Catty to your advantage. I am a person that is stretched for time, as I am sure you can imagine with 4 young kids, and a hubby too I might add. I don’t have a lot of time to be sitting in front of the computer scanning all the wonderful projects on Splitcoast or other peoples’ blog (although I do keep up with my fav’s) so when I sit down to make a project I will work out what type of card, which stamp set, and colours……THEN I will pick up my catty and plan a Sketch. Yep using what I see I can gather great ideas to run with.

So I showed everyone what I was waffling on about, and I think you will be amazed too, just how easy this is!!!

I have taken some pictures of the catty so the photos aren’t brilliant but you get the idea.

First I showed everyone this page and asked if they could tell where the layout was from in the catalog….??? Can you tell?

 

From this sample used to show the Boatloads of love Stamp set on page 45of the catty!

Then I went on to explain that when you see a feature you like from something in the catty, use it!!!

This card on the right has that gorgeous little button cut into the side of the card, and I think that is a great feature. By the way this is the samples used in the catty on page 31 to show the Peaceful Wishes stamp set. I have taken this sketch to produce a Love note, Card, and Scrapbooking page.

Here is the love note. I have used Pomegranite, Pretty in pink, and Close to Cocoa cardstock and stamp pads. The colouring isn’t perfect and it drives me nuts but I didn’t have time to re-do it before hand. But you get the idea anyway with the button, brads and ribbon etc. I have used the Fun & Fast notes stamp set also.

Then this is the card, again with the same layout. I used Bayou for the base and added some DS paper from the Spring Break paper pack. I coloured the octopus from the Fishy friends stamp set with my aquapainter and stamp pads. This time I used a jumbo eyelet instead of a button, and some double stitched bayou ribbon, and antique brass brads.

And here is my Scrapbook page using the same layout. I have used Chocolate chip for the base which is rolled with the rough edges jumbo roller with Chocolate ink, then adding some Bashful blue paper from the Summer picnic paper pack. I added a large clear button that I packed with the same paper, and then two jumbo eyelets on the left. Lastly I added some wide grosgrain ribbon knotted off with some twine.

 

Now here is a little Love Note Sample that is on page 43 of the catty. I am not super keen on this sample, but is probably because it has yellow on it, and you all know I hate yellow! So once again I have made a Love note, Card and a scrapbook page following the sketch above.

Here is the little love note…..colours are better hey! I used Bayou for the base then textured Guava for the large circle. I have then scallop punched Bayou and then added the circles on top. The stamped image is from teh Wishing you the best stamp set. I also added some copper brads, and some detail around the edges with my white gel pen, and ah yeah some paper piercing too.

This is the card which is 12 cm x 12cm square. I used Pomegranite for the base, adding some Berry bliss paper for the circle. I cut a larger circle of pomegranite cardstock and then layed a whole stack of little circles around the underside to create the scalloped edge. The centre stamped image is from  One of a kind stamp set and I have punched out little holes, and then thread pretty in pink satin ribbon through it  lastly adding a pink rhinestone brad in the centre.

And here is my scrapbook page. I used textured Certainly celery cardstock for the base, adding some detail around the edges with a rose red marker. The DS paper is from the Petals and Prints DS paper pack. I again punched lots of little circle and underlayed them under the Pretty in pink circle. Finally adding the paper piercing, rhinestone brads and journaling to finish it off. This photo is of my oldest daughter Tiarne, and it is almost a year ago already!!! YIKES!

 Next I want to show you how a very very simple sketch can work for you. This image in the catalog is from page 60 and would have to be one of the simplest in the whole catalog!!! Well that’s my opinion. Here is the catty picture

I worked with the card on the right….

Here are three different samples I made following that sketch, all different but the same layout.

Once again working with the colours from last weeks colour challenge, Regal rose, Certainly celery, and Apricot appeal. I stamped some of the swirls along the bottom with regal rose ink. I stamped the Apricot cardstock with the Canvas background stamp. The butterfly is from the Priceless stamp set which I stamped and cut out, popping it up with some dimensionals. I added some wide grosgrain celery ribbon, celery brads, and paper piercing for features.

This one I turned into a Christmas card. I used the Season’s of Joy stamp set with Pomegranite, Artichock and River rock colours. The River rock strip is actually paper from the Holiday Harmony paper pack. I used the flower stamp, and have stamped it with Pomegranite ink, and added lots of glitter for bling. The ribbon is the wide Satin Pomegranite ribbon, and I used antique brass brads at the top.

For this card I have again used the Ocean Commotion stamp set. I used Bayou cardstock for the base which I also stamped the swirls along the bottom. I stamped the Celery cardstock with the stamp from Polka dots and Paisley stamp set. I have stamped the seahore, cut it out and again mounted it with dimensionals, adding a little bit of glitter for bling. I then added some double stitches ribbon in Bayou, and celery brads at the top.

Next I showed how you can again copy a sketch, but it can go different ways. For this one I showed the long card sample from page 21 of the catty. Here is the image…..sorry it is a bit blurry!

And here is my first sample

See how it is the exact same layout I have just used totally different colours and products. What did I use? Well the base is Soft sky stamped with the Tres’Chic background stamp.I have added white cardstock at the top which had been torn, then a big piece of Pumpkin pie prints DS paper with some soft sky double stitched ribbon. I then added the other two strips, being Bayou, and Celery with the greeting stamped and embossed on the celery cardstock. The large flower is from the Fabulous flowers stamp set, stamped in the 3 different colours and cut out, mounted and blinged up with lots of sparkly glitter, and a half pearl in the centre. I added two more half pearls at the bottom to finish it off.

Now I have turned the sketch around and made the long card horizontal. I used Pretty in pink cardstock for the base stamped with the Fine Lace background stamp. Then I added the white strip with Berry bliss DS paper in Close to cocoa. Next a small strip of Pomegranite, and a another strip of Chocolate chip cardstock which I have stamped the word “forever” in white ink, which is from the Wonderful words stamp set. I stamped the one heart with Chocolate chip ink onto white cardstock, and the other I stamped with Versamark and then embossed it with white embossing powder. I added the wide Satin ribbon and the half pearl to finish it off.

Pheew are you still with me…….this is a mammoth post, but I hope you are getting a little glimce of what I was trying to get at. It really is to show you that you can use what is right beside you for inpsiration rather than spend copious amount surfing splitcoast or the net!!! I always like to tell myself to…”Create don’t Procrastinate”! That way i use time wisely and get something done

Last of all here is a couple of pictures of me in action on Saturday…..just for fun. Thanks to Monnie Moo and her fandangled camera again!

 Blabbering away

 A shot from a distance….

 

 And here is a shot of Aaron Scott (general manager) and Donna Grifith from the Home office whilst they were viewing my presentation……..hmm maybe by the looks on their faces, I wasn’t too boring after all! Thanks for the picture Mon…!

Well that is all folks! I hope I have shown you a little of what a FAB-O day we had on Saturday. Thanks to Stampin’Up for coming to Perth and for picking me to do a workshop WOW, that was great fun!

I will be back later for the new Challenge!

Hey Everyone,

I know some of you have been dying to hear all about my trip to Palm Cove for the Incentive Trip!!! Well all I can start to say is that it was AWESOME, AMAZING, FUN, MEMORABLE, and BEYOND MY WILDEST IMAGINATIONS!!!!

I have so many fun stories to tell you as well as soooo many photos that I will have to pick which to show, and which to cull, so as to either not bore you silly or make you green with envy.LOL!

So just to make it easier I will break the trip down into days, starting with day one…….(stating the obvious i know)

Okay so since I lived the furthest away, the other side of the country actually, Rod and I had to do the flight what we call the midnight horror. So we left Perth at 12.05am to fly directly to Brisbane. I flew with two other demonstrators, Ngaire and Donald and Sarah and Tim who are also both from Perth.

It was a great flight bar getting no sleep. We got a meal on the flight too, and I just remember thinking to myself at one in the morning, “why am I eating this meal of Chicken Stirfry right now??!!” Why they serve a hot meal at that time of night is beyond me, but it is always the same with Airline food, you just have to see what is under that foil lid!!!

We arrived and then transferred straight to the next flight to Cairns, which I managed to catch a couple of zzz’s. We were met by Christa who is one of the wonderful ladies from Stampin’Up USA who organized the Incentive Trip. We then were tranferred to the the Angsana Resort and Spa in Palm Cove.

We were met by the Hotel Manager, and the gorgeous Janeil the other lady behind the magic of the Incentive Trip. We were served with fresh, towels, and a chilled glass of Iced Tea…yum.

We were then taken to our rooms. Rod had gone in first to take in some bags and then I came in. I went into the main bedroom and was rather gob-smacked with what I saw. The room was HUGE, and it had two bathrooms!!! Here is a piccie,

and the window view….

I was so excited with this beautiful bedroom, and then Rod says to me, “go check out upsatirs”…..I’m like. “there is an upstairs?”….so off I went to explore and was so shocked with what I found! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got upstairs to find a huge family room, kitchen, dining, laundry, and balcony!!!

This is the Lounge / Kitchen shot…

View from the window….

This is the view from the Balcony looking down…

 The Resort was just beautiful, and had such a beautiful ambiance. I didn’t quite don the cossie and get wet, as I like it to be stinking before I will wet those toes of mine! Anyhooo some people braved it!!

In our room when we arrived they had a beautiful cd playing that was one of those relaxation cd’s and they had essential oils burning…..which really set the mood.

We also had two shirts  wrapped for us to wear to our night of Lawn Bowls. Each of the shirts that everyone recieved had coloured sleeves to state which team they were playing in…….I had my fears that I would be put in Yoyo yellow, or even Garden Green…BUT we got Basic black…..how cool was that!

We then went to the Far horizons restaurant to have a BBQ dinner before heading out for a night of Lawn bowls. It was great to share a Champagne with Yvonne at last!

Here we are having a little drinkie to loosen up the joints for lawn bowls!

Now lawn bowls was an experience and a half!!! So much fun!!! I totally can see how people get into this game, see …. I suprised myself again!

In our team we had Linda and Greg Higgins, and Kelly and Paul Bowen. We had to compete against Bravo Burgundy which has Craig and Alisa Tilsner, Martin and Yvonne Campbell and Jarred and Jaquie Pederson. And we didn’t win but hey that is okay. Here are some pictures of us having fun…..

Here is Rod and I in our team shirts….

Linda and Greg our other team mates….

And here I am actually going for a shot….

Not sure what Rod is trying to do here…….??!! LOL!

And here is Shelli and Stirling having a blast…..!

Our competition…. the cute Alisa and Craig

And lastly Yvonne showing us her magic moves!

What a fun night. We all heady home on the big buses and what we didn’t expect was a beautiful gift left in our rooms whilst we were out that evening.

Wrapped in a beatutifully decorated white box was a gorgeous little hoodie with the incentive Trip Logo!

I also made these little goodie bags for some of my friends on the Incentive Trip. I would have loved to make one for everyone, but there just wasn’t time!!!

Day 2:

Well it was up bright and early the next day for a Continental Breakfast in the Resort restaurant before heading out. The breakfast was deluxe!

We headed out to do the Kuranda train ride and then the Skyrail back down.

This was on the side of the train…

This is a side view of the train out of the window….

Here is Rod and I whilst on the train….

And here is Rod with two of the other hubbies, Vern, & Warren…

The train stopped off at the Barron Gorge Lookout…

Here is a picture of Donald and Ngaire with us at the lookout…

When we arrived in the town of Kuranda which was the end of the train line, we all went to explore the townsite. It was just beautiful there, and we had a great time exploring. Ngaire and Donald and ourselves went to Birdworld and they had some beautiful birds.

Here is Rod trying to give the Scarlet Macaw a scratch…

 

After a yummy lunch at the Frogs restaurant it was time to head to the Skyrail to head back down the mountain. I am frightened of heights, so was a little anxious about how I would go, on the Skyrail!!!

We actually had the pleasure of being in the sky cabin with Shelli and Sterling and Robyn and Vern. Sterling thought it was the biggest joke that I was frightened of heights and was stirring me up the whole way down!!! He is quite a humorous man and was telling us some of the jokes he has done on Shelli over the years.

Here is a Beautiful photo of Shelli and Sterling together in the Skycabin…

And here is a picture of Shelli and I up in the air!

So that was the day trip out. And once again when we got back we were spoilt with another gift! We recieved a DVD of WOW presentations taken at the US regionals over the past year…….and it is FANTASTIC.

 

That night I had swaps that still needed to be finished off….yep didn’t quite get them done before I left!!! But hey what is new, doing them at the last minute. I even had to rope in some helpers, and hubby once again did wonderfully on the distressing this time, and cutting flowers out! Thanks to Robyn and Steph we got them all made, but not before 1:30AM!!!

We had Steph’s hubby as the, what did he call is, Oh yes….PRESENTATION MANAGER!….He put the finished cards into the plastic bags! He was very proud of himself…..see here!

Cute hey!

I didn’t have any of my swaps left so I will have to make an extra one when I get home to show you what I made as my swap…..Well after a late night it was off to bed!

Day 3:

Are you getting bored yet???

Day three began with Swapping and Stamping!!! Yay, just what us demonstrators love to do hey….To be honest it was a relief to finally get to my hands on a stamp after a few days!!!

We recieved some beautiful swaps, I just hope everyone liked mine! We of course got a cute Stampin’Up goodie bag with stamps and stamp pads for that mornings stamping!

This is what was at each ones place at the tables…

We recieved a new stamp set called ‘Ocean Commotion’ . It is a stamp set that hasn’t been released anywhere yet, and it will be appearing in the Summer mini here in Australia, 1st  December.

And here is the cute projects that we made…

Here are the lovely ladies that put up with me for the morning…..

Sarah, Ngaire,Yvonne, and Emma (NZ general manager) We had a blast!

After stamping we all lined up for a piccie with Shelli. She is so gracious to allow us to jump in on photos with her….She just takes one after the other and still shows us that beautiful smile!! I really would love to know her beauty secrets, as she is 18 years older than me and looks younger!! You would never guess she has 13 Grandchildren!!!

First I had a photo of Shelli with my wonderful friend and Upline Ngaire, and myself

Then one by myself….see what I mean about the age thing…..she is just stunning!!!

Okay so that was a really fun morning of stamping and swapping. We were then all called outside for a group photo. This was fun, squeezing into a stairwell, but I think the photo turned out really well!

Can you find me?

So we had the rest of the day to chill out. It was Rod and my 10 year wedding anniversary that day too……we really can’t believe how fast the years have gone. When I get home I will show you a couple of older photos of us, as it is just too much fun to remeniss (is that how you spell it????) So we just took the rest of the day really easy with a walk on the beach, and afternoon sleep….and went for a beautiful dinner together.

Here we are at a cute restaurant in Palm Cove called Colonies! The food was deluxe!!! We both had a Pina Colada to remind us of our honeymoon in Hawaii……yummo! And then we both had Thai green curry for dinner and desert to top it off. I was SOOOO full after all that! What a special time to reflect on how much God has blessed our lives! We have of course had our difficult times, but through it all God has cared for us and given us the strength to endure. Praise God!

Just backing up a little, in the early evening we had a knock at the bedroom door and it was the Resort Service guy delivering a huge box to me. Once I saw the green ribbon, I knew it was from Stampin’Up, but I totally did not expect what was inside!!!! I am still shocked at the BEAUTIFUL gift we recieved!

A beautiful Robe with our initials embroidered into them!!! I will treasure this gift whenever I wear it. I can totally visualize wearing this whilst trying to keep warm at my stamping desk……just have to watch I don’t have any accidents with my Real red Stamp pad….hmm maybe it isn’t such a good idea afterall!

A little while later I got a phone call from Ngaire to come down to the pool area with my robe. I had only just gotten out of the shower! So I had to really quickly throw on my underwear, don the robe and run down for this……….picture!

How funny is this photo!!! We were all dressed in our robes. Can you spot me? This was great fun, and we were all laughing our heads off. We certainly got a few looks from other guests in the Resort!!!

So that was a fun day…..many of us were saying by now, how we can’t believe how fast it was all going and that we were sad that it was almost over!!!

Day 4:

So this day was my Birthday!!! You know last year was the big 30! And it really is amazing that another year has passed in a blink of an eye. I was so anxious about turning 30, but have totally accepted it now, and really it is no big deal and to be honest I now feel rather foolish about worrying about it! Your age does not define who you are, and so being now 31 is great!

I started off the day with a beautiful breakfast with Ngaire and Donald and Alisa and Craig in the resort restaurant…..which was just DELUXE by the way……I don’t dare to jump on the scales to see the damage that these yummy breakfast do! The boys were working out what to do for the day as it was free, and in the end Rod and Donald settled on hiring a 4WD to go on an adventure!

They had a great day and got most the way up the coast. I think they were a little dissapointed that the tracks were a bit tame, as I think they were hoping to get down and dirty!!!

Me?.. well I had a top to toe package booked at the Day Spa!!! What a treat that was!!! I had a Body scrub, a Body wrap, a Facial, and a Massage!!! It was devine, and I totally was walking on clouds when I walked out of there!. I have had the odd facial, and pedicure, but never a whole works package before, so that was a lovely birthday treat!

Being the last night we had our Farewell dinner which was going to be at the Cairns Wildlife Safari Centre….hmm that was an adventure and a half! As we were getting ready for that another knock at the door………I was starting to get used to these! Yep the delivery man again bearing gifts! This time a beautiful bag…….and how appropriate considering where we were off to that night!

How Gorgeous is that bag!!! And do you see the embroidery with my initials on there too!!! Talk about SPOILT!

So we all headed out in two big buses. Rod and I were on the “Party Bus” ….because we had Kareoke!!! Nicki and Vicki arranged an assortment of songs, and it was soooo much fun to sing along….then they got the bright idea of getting some of us to come down and sing! Well not being a big kareoke fan, I didn’t intend to join in, until they played Cyndi Lauper’s song ” Girls just want to have fun”…well I was out of that seat and singing before I knew it…..loudly too  (hope everyone’s ears have recovered!) and here is the evidence!

How funny is this photo!!! LOL!!!

We even got Ngaire up there and on camera! She sang Dancing Queen by Abba, which she very quickly changed the lyrics to Stamping queen, doing sponging and buying that set…..it was just too funny!

As you can see she is putting her heart and soul into singing…..I hope she doesn’t kill me for putting this photo up here, but it is too much of a ripper not to!

So we arrived at our adventurous dinner…..at the Safari centre. First we got to have a drink and nibblies by the Hippo pens and learn all about hippos! After that we went for a walk and was greeted by a very interesting fire swallowing guy…..a little spooky looking with all that make-up, but pretty good body with all that swinging around he did!

You won’t believe it, but we ate dinner in a little pen that was sourounded with fences that had Lions in it! Rod was in is absolute element, where I was scared half to death, especially when they were getting grouchy! They had heaps of feed out for the lions, and when they opened the gates for them to come out, man they really went for that food!!! Even up a tree there was a chook and to see that lion jump for it was rather cool ( I do admit)

So we ate dinner by candle light sourrounded by lions! My camera didn’t want to co-operate but Ros and Jayne have kindly emailed me a couple of photos so that I could show you.

The daddy lion

The mummy lion

There was this groovy car in the food bar area that they converted. It fitted in with the whole Safari theme!

Love that striped ute with matching tablecloths!

The dinner was great although a little scary for me! I also got a wonderful birthday phone call from my brother calling from Greece where he is touring at the moment with his girlfriend. I can’t believe that you can chat from mobile to mobile around the world and get such great reception! amazing!

Anyway we were all far too knackered to be singing on the way home, and then all off us crashed as soon as it was back to the hotel……even on the last night!

We all had to say a quick farewell to Shelli and Sterling as they had to get up at 3am to leave for the airport. They had a little grandaughter born that day and were anxious to get home to meet her! It was starting to feel really sad that this wonderful trip was coming to an end…..a few tears were shed

Day 5:

Well with Shelli and Sterling gone, it was up early for the Perth people to leave. Now we would have been with them too, but considering it was our 10 year wedding anniversary Rod and I had planned to stay on for some extra days just togehter by ourselves. But we got up early to say our good-byes to Sarah and Tim, and Ngaire and Donald. Oh and of course we had to take some photos too!

Here we are…..the Perth Incentive Trip winners…

And here I am with Aaron Scott, Stampin’Up Australia’s General Manager, and Ngaire in front of the Resort sign…

After they left, everyone else was due to leave at 11am, so there were lots of last minute photos and LOTS & LOTS of HUGS!!!

Here is a picture of myself at Breakfast with Kim (on my left) and Robyn. Rob and i have been friends since the beginning of Stampin’Up here in Australia and have caught up at each Convention, but it was soooo great to spend more quality time with her this time. AND then there is Kim…..you won’t believe it but we are almost twins! Yep she has 4 kids as well, is the exact same age as me. Her kids are all the same ages, and we worked out that our firstborns were only born days apart!!! Over the few days, we found out about all these quirky things that we both do the same….like don’t eat salmon, love chocolate, and oh….so many other things, it was truly amazing. She is so much fun and a real sweetie.

Here I am with Joanna and Jayne, both gorgeous girls and lots of fun!

They are both from Sydney.

And my gorgeous friend Steph, who I am known to chat to for like 3 hours at a time on the phone….! It is her that does all the talking! hehehe…NOT! - She is from Brisbane

My wonderful friend Yvonne who is always is inspiring me and great to chat with! She is from Melbourne.

And very sweet Vanessa Webb. It was so great to finally meet Ness after our emails back and forward!

The very talented Claire Daly, also from Melbourne

And here I am with the most sweetest gal….Linda Higgins, my lawn bowls partner! Again I really enjoyed meeting Linda and getting to know her. She is the loveliest person and she is lucky enough to live in Central Coast NSW too. Her hubby Greg was fab too!

And here are the funniest ladies I have ever met!!! Teresa and Jane. They had us in stitches of laughter the whole time. They actually call each other by the names Porky and Fatty! It is so strange to hear them yell that out to each other in public! They certainly made it heaps of fun, and I will always remember them for sure!

Each day we had the opportunity to spin a prize wheel too! There were prizes if you landed on the Certainly celery squares, and a booby prize if you landed on the Chocolate…..but really it wasn’t all that booby because it was chocolate…..hey if anyone is giving chocolate away it is a good thing!

Here I am on the first day having a spin. I managed to win on the green everyday and was spoilt with these great prizes!

Pretty cool hey……Pockets and Pieces, Rhinstone Brads, Ribbon pack, and Rub-on’s! YAY!

 Well I think that was about it for photos…..I bet you can’t believe it. I hope this hasn’t been too long winded for you…it has taken me about 4 hours to get this post together, and really I can’t express enough how wonderful the Incentive Trip was. Stampin’Up really treated us like royalty whilst we were there and we got so spoilt. I am so grateful and really it wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for the hard work of these two amazing ladies…….

 I will get a bigger piccie asap to show you.

From the accomodation, food, tours, prizes, stamping, badges, etc…… they made it happen. WOW what a job that would be! But knowing what it was like putting together the Stamp a thon for 1 day, I can just imagine how much work would have gone into orgnizing a 5 day event in another country!!! Now how is that for amazing!!!

And they are the sweetest gals you will ever meet. I was just to amazed at the wonderful job they did and really really hope they know how much we all appreciated their efforts.

Well what can I say, it is over for this year! Palm Cove was an experience I will never forget. I met new friends, got to know others better (especially Sarah, Kim, and Alisa, which was great) and to really feel that us top SU demonstrators are in this together to encourage, share, and enjoy our love of Stampin’UP. Now who wouldn’t want a job that allows you to be so rewarded!!!

 Thanks for your patience with my very very long post, but I really hope you managed to capture the fun and Excitment of the ‘08 SU Incentive Trip!

hey you,

 I am so excited to share with you my adventures from Convention! I love to tell stories, so rather than being brief I want to share it all with you…..so hopefully I won’t bore you, but rather make you want to be there with me next year!

Getting all ready for Convention was a mammoth task this year. I had been so flat out with the Sale-a-bration months, then not to mention the Retirement workshops for March, that the time for Convention had rolled around so fast I could hardly believe it!

 I was flying out Wednesday evening, but there was a hitch….. when I was flying back into Perth on the Monday morning, we (family) we heading for 2 weeks family holiday about an hour later. It was going to be our very first Camping adventure as a family. So before I left for Convention, I had to have all my family’s clothes, food and accessories all packed and ready to go! It was a huge task, so by the time I finally got the airport I was so pumped, and emotional, I was nearly a blithering mess of tears. Luckliy all my gorgeous friends gave me hugs and their excitment for Convention helped me hang in there!

I had my gorgeous friend Monique coming along this year, so that also made it extra exciting. Ngaire, Skip, and Monique and myself all got seats next to each other on the plane, so we managed to have a blast on the way over. I think some of the people on the plane thought we were nutcases from some of the stares we were getting!

 On Thursday we all piled into a Mini Van that we hired and headed down the Coast to Tambourine Mountain. We passed Nicki Tidbold’s place in Logan Holme….so glad I spotted that! It was a windy trip up the Mountain, but it was such beautiful scenery. Rod and I went there 2 1/2 years ago, so it was nice to be back again. The weather was pretty fresh and it rained a little. We found this cute little restaurant for lunch and most of us had a yummy bowl of pumpkin soup……….

After the yummy lunch we all went for a wonder around at the shops. I bought a gaudy teapot with matching milk jug and sugar bowl. Ngaire said she didn’t like it, then managed to talk me into buying it…..no wonder she made Demonstrator of the Year! hehe!

Here is some of the view we saw. It was pretty stunning up the top.

We then used the wonderful TomTom that Kerry brought from home to navigate ourselves to the wonderful Pacific Fair Shopping Centre!!! This place is amazing. Whilst I would love one of them in Perth, it is probably a good thing for hubby that there isn’t! I was actually knackered so didn’t find anything as I wasn’t in the shopping mood, much to everyone’s suprise as I was the one begging to go to there. Everyone else though managed to load the van full of  shopping bags.

We then ventured back down the Motorway to Movie World where they now have the “Autralia Outback Spectacular”

Now to be really honest, I am sooooooo not into the country thing.  Unlike my best friend who is on the hunt for some real cowboy boots!!!I hate Country music (except for “the Waifs”) Worse still when you get there, you get a not so gorgeous straw cowboy hat……yep we all had to wear them. Some proudly, me not so proud! We all had to pose for photos, which is great to have them now, but at the time was a little painful. It included a meal with the show, so we were all hanging out to get into the arena as we were hungry!

Lou and I lookin like cowgals

YEE-HA!!

Me Helen, & Mon….”Howdy Partner!”

 I can not mention enough how awesome the show and food was!! If you have never been, DO…it is so worth the money and it was great entertainment. Funny thing is that as much as I HATE country, they had you stompin your feet and cheering,  not to mention COOO–EEE-ing and swinging those cowboy hats around in no time! Yep I could hardly believe it myself. I was a rocking and shouting, like all the others! Good thing it was in the dark as I am sure I was a sight to be seen!

 Skip did a wonderful job getting us home to the hotel again… I really appreciated her driving as she was cautious. I really hate reliquishing driving control to other people…I like to be in the driver’s seat, but Skip was a fab driver….so thanks Skip!

The next day was the start of Convention……had to be there at the crack of dawn to get to Momento Mall! As last year stocks dissapeared pretty quick so we really didn’t want to miss out.

After getting our bags full of new goodies, we got to mingle before the show began. I learnt so many fantastic new techniques, and projects at Convention, I really can’t wait to share them with you. We had some fantastic WOW’s by Alisa Tilsner and Teresa Debrowski, and of course some from the American team also.

That night we all went out to a great Italian restaurant for dinner. Those of us who have teams under us, were intvited to at a special class called, “Your leading role”. I found it to be really inspirational. We got spoilt with a free, Garden Whimsy stamp set and dessert with coffee and tea.

 Saturday at Convention was just as inspiring. Time to create as well with the make and takes. I have taken a little photo of the projects we made, along with our Convention bag.

After a jam packed day, we all got to leave and prepare for the Awards Dinner. This is a very exciting part of Convention, where some amazing Demonstrators get rewarded for all their amazing hard work over the past year.

I do have lots of photos from this night, but I don’t want to bore you. It certainly was hard to cull them So here they are

Here I am being totally goofy before we got to enter the Dinner Hall.

A quick photo with the gorgeous Monni Moo…(what we called Monique all weekend!)

This is my gorgeous friend from Brisbane Robyn Lawton and her hubby Vern, who I was so happy to meet in person for the first time….hope he doesn’t kill me for putting this photo up here of him!

This is the ever WONDERFUL…Bernadette!! She is the magic behind the preparations for Convention! Way to go BB, you did a fab job putting this event together and should be so proud of yourself!

Here is a group photo of the 25 ladies who earned the Incentive trip to Palm Cove later this year….I still can’t believe that I am one of them!!! What is so special about earning this trip is that whilst hubby and I are there, it will be our 10 year Wedding Anniversary, oh and my birthday too. I can’t think of a nicer way to celebrate!

As for the other awards, they reward the achievers in Sales, and recruiting, which I recieved, but they also announced the top 25 Demonstrators.

We were all so excited to have our very own Upline Ngaire, get Demonstrator of the YEAR!!! WOO HOO!! Way to go Ngaire. Certainly well deserved as she is not only a beautiful stamper, she is a beautiful person and we feel so lucky to be a part of her team.

This year I ranked in at number 22 in the top 25! I am still amazed with that as I really wasn’t expecting to be a part of the top 25 considering how much Stampin’Up has grown in the past 12 months. I of course couldn’t have got there without your support in the past year!

Here some of us are all having a cheer. Ngaire is at the far right and I am second in on the left with the whole armpit showing and my mouth wide open…..good one hey

Here is a very special photo of me with Louise who is a wonderful friend and my roomie for the weekend. She totally teased me all weekend about all my lotions and potions I brought along, not to mention my spotty shower cap, which she had been dying to try on all weekend, I got it on camera, but I think she would have my head if I put it on here!

This year Stampin’Up decided to add another special award called the “Heart of Stampin’Up” award. Demonstrators were given the opportunity to nominate a fellow demonstrator who they thought eminated Stampin’Up’s Statement of the Heart. Much to my suprise, some of my crew (thanks Chantelle and Jen) and Louise nominated me.

To my total amazement, I was chosen to be this years recipient of the Award! I just remember feeling so heavy in that seat and wondering how I was going to get up on that stage! After a big hug from Lou and many tears later, I managed to get up there. I recieved a beautiful gold heart neclace,  from Shelli,which I will cherish forever.

 Whilst it has been really special to recieve this award for the Stamp-a-thon that I put together last year to rasie funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, I would really like to emphasize that I by no means am a hero. The real Hero’s are the people and families that have to endure the devastation that this disease brings into their lives.

 I have been so encouraged this  past year by Louise’s ability to remain positive, encouraging, and to keep that gorgeous smile of hers! She has really taught me that in all things that life brings you, you can look to the positive. She even has a joke about her “Bikie Chick” hairstyle she has now that her hair is growing in after all the Chemo! I think she is so very brave and I feel so honoured to have her in my life. I am so proud of you Lou!!!

Receiving my beautiful neclace from Shelli

And a photo together.

After all the buzz of the evening, I still managed a couple more photos with friends.

This is my gorgeous friend Stephanie Pike (in the middle) She blew us all away by getting 4th place this year! Well done Steph. Then on the right is Nicki Tidbold, who is also pretty amazing herself. She was 3rd place! Both Brissie gals. I really look forward to catching up with them in August at Palm Cove.

Here are the two jokers of the weekend. Ngaire and Skip, who both managed to keep us in high spirits, and not to mention making us laugh till we wet ourselves. (won’t mention why will we…hmmm) Thanks guys!

Last but not least a beautiful photo with Shelli Gardner CEO of Stampin’Up

So that was the Awards Night! All very amazing.

Then we went out to Celebrate!

So once Convention officially ended we had a beautiful Day in Brisbane to relax and catch our breaths. Monique, Louise and I went out for a lovely brunch together. The rest of the Day Monique and I slept, and had a wander around Southbank which is just gorgeous. Here we are enjoying the Sunshine

Monnie Moo

Last of all me….

I hope I haven’t bored you all silly here with my Convention Adventures! But at least I did warn you to make yourself a cuppa first!  It has been fun to share this with you, as as soon as I arrived back in Perth we headed directly to Esperence for 2 weeks which was jsut what I needed! Convention though then felt like months ago!

Convention is such an amazing event and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend. I really have to give all thanks to my wonderful hubby who firstly let me go, but who also held the fort here whilst I was gone. For a guy to look after 4 young kids totally on his own is pretty amazing! (well I think so)

Convention will be in Canberra next year 1-2 May. So if you would like to be apart of the fun keep the dates in mind!

Love Keesh x

What is this I hear you ask!

Well did you know that it is World Card Making Day on the first saturday in October! Here is some further information about what it is and stands for:

WHAT

World Card Making Day is a holiday especially for card makers around the world to:

Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family

Kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season

WHEN

The first Saturday of each October, kicking off the holiday card-making season, the most popular time for creating and sharing handmade greetings.

WHO

The card-making community worldwide, including hobbyists, beginning card makers, manufacturers of card-making products, retail sellers of products, educators, and press are invited to come together to celebrate this holiday and creative passion.

WHY

It is a day to connect with fellow card makers both near and far, to applaud the creativity that powers the craft, and to provide an opportunity for card makers to connect and find resources that will empower, inspire, and encourage them in their card making.

Card Making Facts

The exchange of handmade greeting cards can be traced back as far as the ancient Chinese

Today, card making is a worldwide hobby, especially popular in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

1 in 6 U.S. households participates making cards

86% of scrapbookers also create handmade cards

92% of paper crafters create cards more than any other type of project

The top occasions/themes for making cards are

• Birthdays
• winter holidays (Christmas, New Year’s, etc.)
• thank you
• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day

Card makers prefer stamps and rub-ons for use on their holiday handmade cards

73% of card makers use their computer in part or all of their design

Card Making Benefits:

Creating a handmade card brings a special kind of joy. There’s joy in the process of creating, as well as in giving and receiving handmade cards.

Handmade cards are:
 

GIFTS. It is a little sliver of energy, time, and love that says, “I really care about you” in a world of impersonal communications such as e-mails.
 

CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS. Beneath the cardstock and embellishments is emotion from the card maker–encouragement, celebration, commemoration, and love.
 

KEEPSAKES. Instead of being thrown away, they are cherished and displayed
 

RELATIONSHIP BUILDERS. They spark deep connections, express feelings, evoke laughter, and warm the hearts of friends, relatives, and co-workers.

These details I have obtained from  the official World Card Making Day website. If you would like to view more the web address is www.worldcardmakingday.com

So what are we going to do to celebrate WORLD CARD MAKING DAY??? Hmmmm got any ideas?

Well I have a GREAT ONE! it is ……………………..

SUPER SLUMBER STAMPIN STASH!

Yes quite the mouthful but all the same it does have some meaning!

SUPER - because we all are

SLUMBER - because you can wear your jammies, or trackie to see the day into the early morn

STAMPIN’ - because we are going to do lots and lots of it

STASH - because we are going to make that many we will have an instant stash to store away in our new treasure boxes!

Okay for some more serious details…….

When: 5th October 2007

Where: Keesh’s house - 7 Waterwheel Road, Bedfordale

Time: 7pm - whenever you last

What will be be doing?  - Stamping, laughing, get to know each other and having a WOW of a time, and still achieving something!

What do you get? - We will all be making our very own card storage tin with your initials on it. That way you have a beautiful handled tin to stash away all those precious cards you hand make ready for that special event in someone’s life. There will also be door prises and fun activities throughhout the evening. See the image below for an idea of what we will be making. Of course the tin will be different as well as the cards, because it will be a suprise on the night!

How much ? - The cost to attend, make the stash tin and 16 cards will be $45. Supper and drinks will also be provided

How to register? - Please let me know if you would like to attend by the 30th of September. Places will be limited to 20 so make sure you book in early to avoid dissapointment!

A few extra details - Stampin’Up has joined in the celebrations for World Card Making Day and has offered a 20% discount on the Simply Sent kits. So I will be making the cards for the evening from the 4 different simply sent kits. You however can also get 20 percent off any Simply Sent card kit purchased 4 October - 8 October!

So if you are interested, please let me know and I really look forward to a great night all together, celebrating World Card Making Day!

Love Keesh xx

 

I jsut found these photos that I took the day after the Stam-a-thon, when I was shattered and not sure where to begin to clean up! So I have now had a giggle about these and thought I would share them with you!

This is the state of my craft desk and room after the Stamp-a-thon!

hehe well thankfully it didn’t take long to clean up!

Love Keesh xx