Convention 2011- Melbourne

Hi readers,

I've just had the most fantastic  few days in Melbourne at my 5th Stampin' Up!® Convention. 

Yes I'm a desperate stamper and avid SU demonstrator who has attended every SU Convention in Australia and I have to say number 5 was the best so far. Can't wait for next year when Convention will be held in my home town of Canberra.

Melbourne was not so very kind to us with it's weather, but you know what? We didn't care as a little rain and cold could not dampen the enthusiasm of some 500 stampers/demonstrators/guests who attended this year.

View from the Convention Centre along the mighty Yarra

 See what I mean about the weather, but it really didn't matter and I only had to wade through shin high water once!!!

Our sincere thanks go to Shelli, Rich and the amazing team from the USA as well as Aaron, Emma and the gang from Australia and NZ. So much fun. so many prizes and gifts and so much fantastic inspiration from fellow demos, and the creative team from the USA. 

I mentioned fun - this Convention - that lasted 3 days - was filled with laughter from Aaron break-dancing on stage to Emma misusing the iron and then both of them riding camels on stage. Shelli and her teeny little faux pas and Bonnie's hat - what delightful humorous people, so natural and so sharing. Yes I know, these are in-house jokes, but you'll just have to attend next year if you want so much fun. 

It was terrific to share this convention with 2 of my team who were attending for the first time.

I know Sharon and Jenny enjoyed the experience and have gone home full of enthusiasm to both enjoy and extend their paper-crafting, but also to attend again next year. 

We had the opportunity to witness many other demonstrators talents through the Workshop Wows. These included demonstrations from Shelli, Shannon, Pam, Bonnie, Emma, Vanessa, and a host of very talented Australian and New Zealand demonstrators, and they certainly were wows. Every presentation was filled with brilliant creativity and I learned so many new and exciting techniques to extend the use of my Stampin' Up! products. Thank you to all the presenters in both the Wows and the Business Seminars. 

So much thought and preparation went into the entire Convention.

It was great to catch up with some old friends that I usually only see at Convention, and wonderful to meet new friends - some as far away as Perth. (Look forward to seeing you girls next year)

I was lucky enough to achieve some awards this year as well as being a first time winner in Prize Patrol. 

5 Conventions and this is my first Prize Patrol win. 

But it was worth waiting for - not yet released stamps and DSP. Fantastic!! 

In fact I came home with 8 free stamp sets, some DSP, and a Simply Sent kit. How good is that? Stampin' Up! certainly are a generous and caring company to work with.

We are not able to give away too much about the Sneak Peeks we were shown at Convention, so I've tried to mask some of my goodies, but I did want to show you just what sort of "bootie" I received.

Here it is!

Drum Roll Please....

Yes I almost had to get another case to bring back all of this plus my purchases from Memento Mall.

We have a lot of fantastic announcements coming soon so stay tuned,

Until next time

Stay Crafty!