h{art} Strings

Leadership Conference - Day 2

Wow!  It's been a full day . . . we started early with Opening Session by Shelli Gardner (her Royal Rubberness) and Dale Filmore (company President and all-around great guy), along with FABULOUS product demonstrations by Shannon West and Pam Morgan.  My wish list just grew by leaps and bounds!  More on that later.  First, I promised a look at our make-and-take projects from yesterday.  All products copyright Stampin' Up.  The primary stamp set used was With All My Heart from the Occasions Mini Catalog (this is the FREE stamp set that we received as part of our Leadership Conference registration).

Cute projects!  I love the fresh spring-like colors.  While we were doing make-and-take projects yesterday, there were a number of demonstrators who were showcasing different products and projects.  One I was particularly impressed by was a demonstration featuring quilts and other textile projects using the Big Shot.  Look at these beautiful samples created by Susan Adams, Janet Baker, and Jill Olsen!

 These were breathtaking, and are just a few of the many projects they had on display!  Almost makes me want to become a quilter.  (Not.  I have enough unfinished projects.)  I also met a couple of demonstrators who had used this same process to make rag quilt bags to carry their swaps.  They used the scallop square die with the Big Shot and embellished it with Stampin' Up! ribbon, buttons, and hardware:

Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the demonstrators who made these, so I don't know who to give credit to.  If it was you, please leave a comment and let me know so I can post it!

So now, back to today's activities.  We attended great classes on supporting and training our demonstrator teams, growing our business, and using social networking to enhance our businesses.  So much good information!  And then it was time for Manager's Reception!

Attending Manager's Reception is a real highlight and it's an honor to attend.  Stampin' Up! really spoils us for the evening.  Tonight's plans were kept a surprise - we only knew it involved some sort of Mexican theme.  As we boarded the buses, we were each handed a brightly colored shawl wrapped in a tight roll.  We were then skirted off to Corona Ranch where we were greeted by a mariachi band.  We walked around the grounds and enjoyed beverages and appetizers. 

After a bit, they opened some doors on one side of the grounds, handed us brightly painted maracas, and escorted us into a rodeo arena.  The rodeo was great until one of the riders was pretty seriously injured in a risky stunt  . . . a bit of a downer as you can imagine.  We have been reassured that he'll be fine and we'll hopefully have an update tomorrow.  However, when it appeared they would be tending to him for awhile, they shuffled us off to a large banquet area where we were served fabulous food and were entertained by dancers.  At each place, there was another package - a stamp set ("Love Bandit" from the Occasions Mini Catalog) wrapped in a bright colored cloth with a paper flower.  It really was a marvelous evening, and one of my favorite Manager's Receptions that I've attended (even in spite of the rodeo mishap).

Here are the goodies we received.  I am not a Bold Brights person, but wow, I love these colors!

Julie, me, Debbie, and Heather at dinner. 

I know that I promised to post some of my favorite swaps tonight, but the internet connection at this hotel is painf u l l y   s  l   o  w.  I am catching a flight home tomorrow night and will finish posting great samples, swaps, and news from tomorrow's activities once I get back home.

Today's the Day!

Today customers can finally order My Digital Studio!  I have been using it for almost a month and am still just as excited as the day it arrived.  I have learned to use the scanner on my new printer, and so am motivated to get caught up on some of my personal scrapbooking.  Here's another sample:

 

I love being able to edit and size my photos while I'm working.  With traditional scrapbooking, I either need to use the printed photos I have, or I frequently would print a photo in several sizes so I could decide later which I preferred. 

While I don't see myself making too many cards using MDS, I did create a couple of samples.  The first card is 6" x 6" - and even though I added a strip of digital Chocolate Chip ribbon, I knew that I would cover it up with the real stuff later.  

Better, don't you agree?  I was really pleased with the print quality.  But the best part of this card was being able to design the inside and have that be included with the printing cost. 

How cool is that!  And here is another 5" x 7" card sample:

You can see that I added ribbon to this one as well - just couldn't resist!

There is something in this software for everyone!  There is more detail including a video on my Stampin' Up! website. 

I'm working on holiday card samples and some special kits I'll have available for the holiday season.  Stay tuned for some sneek peeks in the next few days!

Oh me, oh My Digital Studio!

I have been working on several card samples from the new Holiday Mini Catalog, and had every intent of posting them two days ago.  But the Man in Brown (the UPS guy, who is one of my favorite people!) showed up to deliver my copy of Stampin' Up!'s new My Digital Studio (tm).  This will be available for customers to purchase on October 1st, but demonstrators can pre-order their copies in September. 

Now, I really am a paper and glue kind of gal, and didn't know at first how I felt about getting into the digital papercrafting and scrapbooking world.  But once I saw this at convention, I KNEW I had to have it!  (Not just wanted it, but HAD to have it!).  While I love the process of traditional scrapbooking, it is something that often takes a bit more time and space that I have, and so projects get put off.  And, so, well I'm something like 20 years behind on my scrapbooking.  (OK, confess it!  You are too!)

So when my new MDS arrived on Thursday, I immediately went to work and within 3 hours I had completed an 18-page 12x12 scrapbook.  What?!  Yes, 18 pages in 3 hours!  Now, I can't show you THAT book because it is a surprise for a friend . . . but I have created a few other sample pages like this one:

I made this 8x8 page for a frame that I bought recently, and my intent was to change out the scrapbook pages frequently to display what's up in our family.  Obviously, Jackson (aka El Diablo) was the August highlight.  (Sidenote:  Isn't he adorable?  But don't let those puppy-dog eyes fool you!  And please ignore the dandelions in my yard - I am!) 

This page took me about 45 minutes, and that includes time I spent with the learning curve, experimenting with some layout things, and figuring out how to print it on my own printer.  Of course for the 12x12 pages and also projects like calendars, bound scrapbooks, etc., I will be able to use the printer contracted by Stampin' Up! But how cool is this?  I am so stoked!  I'm like a scrapbooking madwoman! 

I really would like to get back to MDS and work on some more projects, but right now it's pretty easy to get sucked into it for hours - kind of like a good book that you just can't put down.  Instead, I gotta head to the kitchen now to deal with a bunch of produce that needs to get into the freezer.  I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!