South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention 2015 - Day One

Thursday was the first day of Convention for me, but Managers had already had an extra day prior. The welcome this year was by Sara Douglas, who is acting as CEO of the company while her mother, Shelli serves a mission. I was thrilled to speak with Sara during the Convention, she is just as gracious as Shelli.

There was a bit of business to hear about first but we didn't have to wait very long before Bonnie Farley arrived on stage and began to introduce the catalogue to us. They're smart enough not to hand them out to us at this stage, it is just as we head out for lunch we held it in our hands. It's a really good way to introduce the catalogue, with a walk through some select pages, looking at completed projects and cards. It makes you want to go off and stamp!

 Before we could stamp though, Carrie Cudney talked us through the new In Colors. They work really well with the existing colour range, adding a lot of life. In the picture, they have sample circles of the existing colours, mixed with the newest In Colors. We were surprised at the two greens, but they're quite different from one another. There is a new Butterfly Framelit, while the one from Occasions Catalogue - Butterfly Basics and matching die, appear in the annual catty, I'm glad about that!

Our first Make and Take was made with a new stamp set, I Think You're Great. We used notecards and envelopes, and it was a quick and easy card to make. I think that this will be a lovely card to make when I have my catalogue launch in June.

After lunch, we had opportunities to play with new products, view the samples we'd seen on the big screen up close and listen to presentations by other demonstrators. My team leader, Sue Madex, was giving an 'In A Nutshell' talk on holding a catalogue launch. I thought she was very brave being onstage in a large theatre like this, but she definitely is an expert on the topic, with a ton of helpful ideas to share. There were others who presented 'In A Nutshell' talks on holding a class, a workshop etc.

On Thursday night, our greater team (Art With Heart - under Claire Daly) went out for dinner at a restaurant called Hanks. There were actually three tables of us, a really good turnout, and the menu was a shared one with dishes being brought out all the time, One of the big pluses of joining Stampin' Up! are all the new friends you make, who share a common interest.

If you think this is something that might interest you, and you live in Australia, you can either join up by clicking on the "join my team" link down the right side of my blog, or you can email (rpalmieri5@bigpond.com) or phone me (0417 500 681) for some more information. Now is a really good time to join, with a new catalogue in pre-order now, and available to the  public from June 2nd. You don't have to do parties or demonstrate unless you'd like to make it your career, every level of participation is welcome at Stampin' Up!

Cheers,
Rachel