And the Wedding Weekend Begins!

I’m home! Woo hoo! And just in time for a wedding. (smile)

The next few days will be wonderfully busy and exciting. We had dinner last night with Jared’s parents, and it was great to get to know them better! You always hope and pray (and cross your fingers) that your children will marry into loving, supportive families, and Shanna is definitely doing that!

Today is her bridal shower, tomorrow is the wedding, and I’m sure you’ll understand that I’m going to be a little busy. I’m planning on posting on Sunday with an I’ll-try-to-keep-it-as-brief-as-possible summary of all the festivities.

In the meantime, have a wonderful Friday. . . .

A Day with Dawn

Have you ever been to lunner? Sara and I have! Yesterday, we joined Dawn Griffith and Jessica, her daughter, (plus her daughter’s best friend) for a late lunch/early dinner. Lunner!  (Hey, if they can do it with brunch, we can do it with lunner. . . .)   

It was a delightful way to start out our time with Dawn. We got to know Dawn and Jessica better; you can tell they are the best of friends! (We met Dawn’s mother later, and the three of them are just an incredible, close-knit three generations!) Dawn’s husband has been working in Iraq as a civilian employee the last three years, and they are getting excited to welcome him home later this year; he’s planning on making it in time for Jessica’s high school graduation. She’s their only child, so it will be a milestone day for the whole Griffith family, I’m sure.

It became very apparent after spending only a few minutes with Dawn that she is a very genuine, sincere person. We talked about a lot of things, but mostly about her business and how she is so successful. She does workshops and clubs, but much of her business comes from online. She got into blogging years ago and had built up an enthusiastic, loyal following. When online ordering became available, many of her blog followers started ordering from her.

I was impressed with how hard Dawn works—she invests hours and hours into her business! She has created lots of videos, shares ideas and samples constantly, includes a hand-stamped card with every order she receives, and provides incredible customer service. And she doesn’t offer continual discounts, which is significant in my mind as we all look at ways we can balance an online presence with our commitment to living the Golden Rule.

The customer service she provides came up over and over throughout the day’s events, as people talked about how much they adored Dawn. People at her demonstrator event (a small group meeting with only 8 other demonstrators) and guests at her workshop treated her with such respect and love! Some of them were meeting her for the first time, having only communicated online previously. I was not the celebrity at this event—Dawn was! What a pleasure to see the friendships she has formed through her Stampin’ Up! business.

 

We met at a local hotel (Dawn’s home was kind of small for such a large group; she holds her clubs at a local church and other events at her mother’s home), which she had decorated in nice spring colors. Because the group meeting was first, the workshop guests waited outside the room in the hotel lobby (so the anticipation could build!). That meant that all the guests entered the room at the same time—no early birds or stragglers.

Because of that, we did both Make & Takes  (besides the card, which is different every time, we also do a quick pen tag at every workshop) together. I demonstrated Two-Step Stampin’ and the Stampin’ Around wheel . Dawn closed the workshop tonight and earned a free Awash with Flowers set! She also got three bookings (Woo hoo!) and enjoyed the opportunity (I hope) to be thanked and appreciated for the incredible effort she makes to share what she loves with so many others!

Fun in Frankenmuth

It’s official! Sara and I have now shopped at the largest Christmas store in the world—Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, Michigan! Of course, I hasten to add that our visit there paled in comparison to Jodi’s workshop—but I had to mention it!

Frankenmuth is a charming little tourist town, thanks in large part, I’m sure, to Bronner’s. Jodi accompanied us there yesterday afternoon between her workshop and her demonstrator event, along with a brief stop at a salon where she has her hair done. We stopped there to view the darling Décor Elements that decorate the salon wall; it was beautiful! I felt very proud—of both Jodi and our products!

The day started out a little gray; it was raining and I thought, “Great! We don’t have an umbrella, so we’re going to show up to the workshop looking lovely—NOT.” Turned out that the rain stopped just as we left, and the day just got better. Frankenmuth is decorated for Easter like nothing I’ve ever seen, and they tell me that Christmas is over the top. (Note to self: Come visit again during Christmas sometime!)

As we drove to Jodi’s house (a few miles out of town), both Sara and I commented on how wonderful it was to see the farmland spread out as far as the eyes could see. Although it was certainly much flatter than my beloved southern Utah, it had the same feeling of lots of space and freedom; it reminded me of growing up on the ranch!

And the charm of Frankenmuth continued in the Reinart home. Jodi and her husband bought the old farmhouse that Jodi grew up in, and it’s wonderful. (I threatened to steal the antique doorknobs!) Her entire family was waiting to greet us, and her three children presented us with hand-stamped cards. Jodi tells me that Allison, her five-year-old daughter, has been waiting for Shelli to visit since the day Jodi told the family she’d won. Yesterday morning she woke Jodi up, announcing that today was the day! I felt incredibly honored that she would be that excited to meet me, and I was equally honored to meet her!

Jodi’s workshop was in her stamp studio, a bright, clean, and well-organized addition to the family farmhouse; I could have stayed there all day!

And what an amazing group of customers! Several were new to the art of stamping and were excited to discover this fun new hobby. (None of us can relate, can we?) Several had been invited to previous workshops but hadn’t been able to attend, so it was great to see them realize what Stampin’ Up! was all about. There were also a few former demonstrators, and one commented she’s planning on coming back, and we’d welcome the others back too!

I’m not sure how many bookings Jodi got, but I know there were a few. The project we demonstrated featured the poppin’ pastels technique, so I’m hoping a customer or two purchased the Stampin’ Pastels. I never know how high sales went, so I just cross my fingers and hope it was at least above average! And the fun and laughter we all shared was, of course, a highlight for me!

Jodi’s demonstrator event was also great fun, with more than 75 demonstrators and guests. We shared Stampin’ Stories, answered some questions, did a Make & Take, and enjoyed a fabulous dessert bar. (I think I will have gained 10 pounds by the time these workshops are over!) Sara and I are leaving Frankenmuth with some wonderful memories!

The Color Renovation

Sara and I are in Frankenmuth, Michigan, today for the next Workshop of a Lifetime. As you know, my life for the past few weeks has been full of mostly workshops and wedding plans, but yesterday I had something else on my mind.

 We arrived yesterday, a little earlier in the day because we had to be checked into the hotel and hooked up to the Internet by 4 p.m. (MT) for an exciting webinar we had with our leaders (managers and above). I’ve never done a webinar quite like this one—we had four people participating, and all four of us were calling in from different locations! I was a little nervous, but it went off pretty well considering it involves technology...gotta love it and hate it at the same time!

I’m hoping that the announcement is met with as much enthusiasm as I feel! We announced what we’re calling a “Color Renovation,” which is an update of our color line. We’re adding a few colors, bringing back a few In Colors, and bidding farewell to some of our existing colors. While I will admit that I’ll be missing a few of the “retiring” colors, I am already in love with so many of the new ones!

We’ll still be color-coordinating our products (and offering even more color coordination than before, actually), but our colors are organized into four different collections instead of families. Every time I look at our new color line, I smile—it has such a fresh, vibrant feel! If you’re a demonstrator, you’ll find all the details on our Demonstrator Web Site; if you’re one of our customers, your demonstrator can tell you what it’s all about!

Now I’m off to today’s workshop with Jodi. . . more on that later!

Sharon's Southern Workshop

I think I've got my problems worked out, and I can post this now! (sigh) I feel a little strange posting this on Easter, but I want to get it up because it was such a wonderful experience. So I'll just start out by saying that I hope you're all having a special Easter Sunday!

So. . . I don’t know if you’re like me, but before just about any event—including the Workshops of a Lifetime—I always feel a little bit nervous. I’m not sure how things are going to go, how people will be, how I’ll do. . . all sorts of worries. You never feel that way, do you? (smile)

Friday night was no different, and as we drove up to Sharon’s house, we saw two women walking in. They were dressed very nicely, and immediately, I worried that we were underdressed. One more thing to be anxious about.

I should have known better. From the first warm hug I received when I walked in the door, I knew the night would be fabulous—and it was! Sharon is simply a dear! You could tell immediately that this was a special night for her, and she had truly gone the second (and third and fourth!) mile.

Her home was decorated for both the workshop and her group event in beautiful spring colors and fresh tulips. She had catered a fantastic dinner for her group event, which was small, intimate, and wonderful! The food was unbelievable, the service was great, and the group was the best! We ate and visited—and completely lost track of time. People had started to arrive for the workshop before we were quite ready!

And the night continued to be wonderful as the workshop began. Almost half of Sharon’s guests were new to stamping, which is always fun to watch as people discover their stamping creativity. We taught kissing (on the Make & Take) and two-stepping (on the demonstration project), and everyone fell in love with the color spritzer tool! I am loving the April promotion and the Awash with Flowers set; I could use the set for projects all month long!

And having both Sara and Shalae with me was a bonus; it’s so fun to do these workshops with my daughters! Sara took charge of the Make & Take, Shalae was the go-to girl, and I got to talk with the guests more than I normally would, which was a real treat! The entire evening, from beginning to end, was a ball—and I think successful too. Sharon got three bookings and I hope some good sales as well!