A couple of weeks ago I busily making 53 swaps for a team gathering in Birmingham. Every year we meet up for a crafty weekend which is organised by my team manager Michelle Last. This time there were 10 of us Strawberry Stampers at the event, Lynne, Jenny, Maria, Saffron, Adrienne, Sylvia, Claudette, Annette and myself. It made me so happy to see everyone in the same room!
Here’s my crafting desk all laid out with my cardstock and stamps ready to get going. Swapping is a huge part of attending Stampin’ Up!® events. The number you make really depends on the number of people at the event or how many you’re happy making and receiving. This time the number was based on the total number of attendees. The swaps you make are either a 3D item or a card front and you must include the list of supplies you used for reference.
Here are my finished swaps all ready to give out, I took this photo on my iPhone just as the swapping was getting underway. I’d forgotten to take a photo up until then so I’m glad I remembered! Just! When I was making my swaps I had my little boy Adam (3) come and stamp with me, he’s a huge fan of the A Little Piggy stamp set, I managed to capture this little video of him attempting to ‘Oink’ like a little piggy. Right at the end of the video, he realises I’ve been videoing him and he hates that. We were all giggles afterwards.
I arrived in Birmingham with my fellow Strawberry Stampers, Lynne and Jenny where we were booked into the same hotel, literally 2 minutes walk from the venue. I nipped out to the Bull Ring with Michelle for an hour before they shut, it’s so nice to browse Selfridges and touch and feel things on display! I’m so used to internet shopping! After a while, we thought we’d best have some dinner and went into the Thai restaurant to get us in the mood for our travels to Thailand on the Stampin’ Up!® Incentive Trip in a few weeks. When we walked into the restaurant my mouth dropped open because my teamies were in there! It was so funny and we ended up joining our table into there’s and enjoyed our dinner date with them all.
The drink I’m holding was called a Mango Passion, I HAD to have that! I’m completely addicted to fruit at the moment, especially Mangoes!! My teamie Jenny pointed that out, it was slightly alcoholic but I promise you it wasn’t the size of my head!! Hahaha!!
Here’s the large room, the calm before the storm of 53 Stampin’ Up! crafters set upon it! Just look at the space, isn’t it wonderful, it’s light and bright with plenty of space to craft. We even had a raffle too!!
On the Saturday we had the pleasure of welcoming Rich Jutkins, Stampin’ Up!’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Rich is an amazing person and I’ve met him on several occasions during my Stampin’ Up! career. Normally you’ll only see him at Conventions/OnStage or at company Incentive Trips. So to have Rich’s company for a whole day, over from head office in Utah, America is a pretty big deal. We were all extremely lucky! Thank you for joining us Rich, see you in Thailand!
On the Sunday I ran a Watercolouring class, with the aim of tackling our assumptions that watercolour is a skill you have to master. It’s really not! So I broke it down for everyone in the class with a few techniques and simple stages with our Watercolour Pencils. On Sunday we also had a team photo, I must remember to take one on day one when we’re all still there and looking fresh! 😀 Hahaha!
I love attending Stampin’ Up! events and meeting up with my fellow team members. It’s a chance for me to step out of the office for a while and recharge my batteries. I always come away from events like this with a huge grin on my face and my head buzzing with ideas! There’s so much more to Stampin’ Up! than stamps, paper and ink, there’s a whole community of stampers out there who enjoy the same hobby as you do. If you’d like to attend an event like this in the future then you can join my Strawberry Stampers team at any time. You do not need a special invitation to join to be part of something amazing! >>> Find out more about how to join Stampin’ Up! and my Strawberry Stampers team.
STAMPIN’ UP! SUPPLIES
Here are the products I used today. All products are from Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased directly from my online shop by clicking the pictures below. Phone ordering is available between 10am-3pm Monday – Friday (01524) 561059, where you can talk with me directly. If you’re ordering online, be sure to add the current red code into the hostess code box. You’ll receive an email asking you to choose your free gift. Thank you for shopping with me and supporting my business!
