A Fabulous Founder's

The changes continue to surprise and delight! As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not sure if the changes I’m seeing at our Stampin’ Up! events were already in the works before I mentioned at convention that it was time to change, but Sara, Shalae, and I just returned from our Founder’s Circle event, and I really think it was the most fabulous (the theme was Fabulous Founder’s) ever!

                                  

From the first minute, things were a little different. We were divided up into teams at the welcome dinner (a '50's theme, complete with period eyeglasses!) on Wednesday night, and we sat with our teams—a great way to mix up the first-time attendees and those who were coming back. I could see people chatting and getting to know each other, and I just felt a warm, welcoming vibe in the room.

On Thursday, we took two buses to Kanab, and were greeted with another heartwarming change there—all the Kanab employees were outside, waving signs and cheering, as we drove up. What a great way to start off the day! They had made their own name tags, so we got to see their creativity at work. The newbies took a guided tour of the facility, while those who had been there before walked around and revisited their favorite parts. Demonstrators took photos the entire time there. We went to a nearby park for lunch, and I snapped this one of our Rising Stars.

The Kanab trip is a highlight of Founder’s Circle for me, partly because we have a wonderful discussion on the way to and from, and partly because I have a soft spot in my heart for Kanab and I love sharing this part of Utah with our demonstrators.

 

Thursday night was our Sock Hop Swap and Share—a high point for just about everyone, I think. We come dressed in cozy, warm jammies, and spend the evening swapping and sharing great business tips.

 

I’ve posted our swap—fabric pouches filled with chocolate and featuring our new fabrics! 

They changed the order of things up a bit, and the energy stayed high the entire time. Sometimes in the past, things have gone a little late, and things slow down a little, but not this year! Although we did go quite late, things moved along quickly and I never felt the energy ebb.

Friday morning we had a special Founder’s Circle regional, which was a completely new thing. We had scheduled regular half-day regionals on Friday and Saturday afternoons, so staff members just treated the Founder’s Circle crowd to their own special regional. Several demonstrators mentioned how much they loved that, and that it would probably be the only opportunity they’d have to attend a regional this year.

Saturday afternoon we wrapped up the whole event with a very interesting Wii Bowling activity and cheer competition. It was as entertaining as it sounds!

We rejoined our teams from the first night, had lunch, bowled, and performed cheers that we’d created during the event. I have never held a Wii controller in my hand, so I was a little hesitant, but I’m proud to say I got a few strikes!

And while my team was certain that if the judges had given a prize for the worst cheer (they didn’t), we would have won, we actually did have the most strikes. Go, Paper Daisies!

And in between the planned activities, demonstrators found plenty of things to do on their own—shopping, spa, hiking, exploring the area. And can I just tell you how lively the Gathering Place was? It’s always a fun place to go—cozy and welcoming, and always chock full of lots of goodies (edible as well as stamping)—but this year it was definitely the place to be!

It was a Sweet Shoppe theme (similar in look and feel to the Sweet Shoppe at convention), but in addition to card stock treats , the shelves were loaded with the real thing! There was plenty of candy, and then every day there was a different treat—hand-dipped chocolates (made by our own Michael Vanderlinden!), cookies, cinnamon rolls, and doughnuts. I rolled out of the Gathering Place every day!

And the treats weren’t the only thing that was happening at the Gathering Place. What I enjoyed seeing even more were the groups of demonstrators chatting, helping each other finish swaps, teaching each other new stamping or MDS tricks, and just creating a camaraderie that I loved! That’s what Founder’s Circle is all about! It truly was a fabulous three days in southern Utah!

Fabric Projects--Next Week!

OK, I know I said on Sunday I’d post yesterday about the fabric skirt and necklace I wore at convention and then again at our first regional, but I have to confess something—I leave for Founder’s Circle this morning, and yesterday I had meetings all day in the office and into the evening. By 8 at night, I wasn't even packed and I still had several projects I needed to wrap up before I could leave.

In addition,  I get back from Founder’s Circle on Sunday night, and then have a jam-packed Monday and Tuesday with our Advisory Board retreat—and I still have things to do for that as well!

So I finally got realistic (I always think I can do it all until the last minute!) and realized that I had to choose between doing those things and getting ready for Founder’s Circle. I hope you understand why I chose Founder’s Circle. . . . I can blog about the fabric projects next week, but I can’t get ready for Founder’s Circle next week!

So when I resurface next Wednesday, watch for that post, OK? In the meantime, I’ll be sharing a Founder’s Circle blog later this week, and I’m certain I’ll blog about the Advisory Board as well.

Thanks for understanding!

One Card at a Time

As promised, here’s the story that goes with the card pouch I posted yesterday; I shared it at the Ft. Worth Regional, so if you attended, sorry about the repetition. But it’s still a great story!

One of the reasons I chose this pouch is because I was talking to Rich Jutkins, our new president, a while back, and he mentioned that he’d started taking cards to church. He said that in the past, as he listened to people speak or teach, he’d often think, “Wow, they just said something that really impressed me, or touched me, or made me a better person. When I get home, I ought to drop them a quick note and thank them.”

But by the time he got home, the moment had passed, and Rich’s good intentions became simply that—intentions.

So now he has the cards with him, and at a moment’s notice, he pulls out a card, writes down a thought, and then gives it to the person right then and there!

Haven’t we all had similar experiences? We’ve wanted to express to someone our appreciation or concern or support or love, but by the time we get to where we can write a card, we’ve forgotten. I loved Rich’s idea, so I’ve tried to keep a few cards with me, and I’ve been trying to follow his example.

I’m an absolute believer that people are touched and strengthened when they receive heartfelt expressions from others, and cards are a wonderful way to do that.

The card pouch I showed is fairly small (holds a handful of standard cards perfectly), provides a little protection as cards get jostled around in your bag or purse, and makes it easy to follow through on those good intentions.  Like I said yesterday, I’m making a pouch for each of my daughters, so they can do the same thing.

You’re welcome to join us in our efforts to make the world a happier place, one card at a time!

A Regional to Surprise and Delight!

At convention when I talked about change, I mentioned that we were going to take a close look at our events and come up with ways to surprise and delight those who attended; however, I also mentioned that planning for our regionals was pretty complete, and that it might be too far along to make many changes there.

Well, our first regional of the year—held in Ft. Worth, Texas—was absolutely fabulous! I’m not sure if the changes were already in the making before my announcement at convention, or if our Demonstrator Training group scrambled after convention to implement some changes, but either way, they did a fantastic job of taking an already wonderful event and making it even better.

I won’t go into a lot of details, because I don’t want to ruin the surprises for attendees of our regionals for the rest of the year, but there was a contest that I got to judge that was lots of fun, some new “energizers” (short activities to get participants acquainted with each other and thinking in different ways), more workshop wows (which are always a regional highlight), a model workshop (Glenda Travelstead was amazing!), and a few other things that really made this event memorable and valuable.

I think the thing that I was most impressed with is the pace of the event. Everything moved quickly, from one thing to the next, and the presentations were interesting, informative, and entertaining.  We follow the same agenda for each regional, and typically when we have a Friday and Saturday regional, on Saturday I’ll sit back and dual task a little, working on various projects, while I wait for my next turn on stage.

I didn’t do that in Ft. Worth, partly because there simply wasn’t enough time (everything was timed just the right length and it moved very quickly) and partly because the presentations were so interesting and valuable, I wanted to listen again!

Of course, we tweaked a little bit from Friday to Saturday—we always do. We listen to each other and give each other tips, and every regional runs a little bit smoother than the one before (hopefully), but the main content and information remains the same—and this year’s regionals are our best yet!

In addition to the program being wonderful, I loved meeting the participants. I can’t explain how much I enjoy meeting with our demonstrators—it means so much to me! And we had an unusually high number of guests at this regional, which is always fun as well. Several guests actually signed up at the regional (we offer a little incentive, which we’ve not had before either), and it was fun to see their enthusiasm about their new businesses.

And I was reminded how much I love the people I work with! They are simply amazing! We haven’t had a regional for awhile, and it’s so much fun. The group is smaller, more intimate, and we travel together, we eat together, we walk over to the event together—it’s just a great opportunity to get to know a few of our staff a little better.

And I can’t forget to mention my projects—I’ll post them here, but I’ve got a story to tell you about them, which I’ll save for tomorrow. In addition, I can’t count the number of people who took pictures of my skirt and necklace (both made from our fabric; I first wore them at convention), and I promised people I’d post them as well, so look for that post coming up in the next day or two as well.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love our new fabric and am so excited with the many ways we can use it. This project (a card pouch) was so easy to make, and I really like the different but coordinating inside and outside! You can get six pouches (measuring approximately 7" x 14")  from one package of our fabric, so it’s pretty inexpensive,  and still have plenty of leftover scraps to accessories your cards as well as several other different projects. 

Spoiler alert—if you’re a Gardner girl, stop reading here. I’m planning on making one of these for each of my girls, and I might even make a few more to give out as gifts as we head into the holiday season.

 

And the cards were quick and easy too. (I showed a full shot, and then a close-up of the fabric accent.) Of course, you can tuck any standard-sized (4-1/4" x 5-1/2") card into these pouches, but I like the coordinating look of these cards, especially when I’m giving it as a gift.

So that’s my regional report—simply amazing! I was surprised and delighted, and I hope all of our attendees were as well! I’m already looking forward to the next regional!

Ready and Rarin' To Go

I landed in Texas earlier today with a group of Stampin’ Up! staff—we’re all here ready for our first regional of the 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up! year! (Well, at least I hope we’re ready. . . )

There’s a buzz in the air, as there always is at any Stampin’ Up! event. But it’s always especially exciting at our first regional because we’re each doing our “thing” for the first time. We have several regionals scheduled throughout the year, and they pretty much follow the same agenda, so once we get this first one under our belt, we all feel a little bit more comfortable.

I’m very excited to show you the project I brought (I do a little stamping presentation on stage), but you’ll have to wait a little bit—the regional attendees get first peek! Check back on Sunday, and I’ll give you the regional scoop and share some stamping creativity!