Stampin' Up Convention 2010

I'm back and still whirling in my mind after all the excitement. I've never seen so many scrapbookers, card makers, rubber stamp users, paper crafting women (and a few men) in one place. It was like being at the biggest CROP in history. I heard there were 2700 women (and a few men) in attendance. I also heard that was down from past years, but for my first experience I think it was the perfect number.

We had classes, workshops, games, parties, swaps (I'll share more about that later), food, snacks, and even a chocolate fountain! I didn't attend all the events, but the ones I did participate in were very informative. I'm rather a laid back sort of woman, so a lot of the hoopla was more than I could enjoy, but for girls who love lots of laughter, music, merry making and girl fun it was perfectly wonderful.

When we arrived we were given THE most adorable purse. It was bright pumpkin pie orange with melon mambo, whisper white and blushing bride pink circles. We were also given three sets of rubber stamps. Through out the four day event I collected all sorts of goodies so my suitcase was really heavy on the trip back to Texas.

The girls in attendance brought boxes full of card fronts and scrapbook pages to swap with each other. They had prearranged to have specific swaps covering specific stamps or subject matter. I was blessed enough to be gifted by a couple gals when they found out I was new and hadn't brought any to exchange.

We had many guest speakers, but I had a couple who turned out to be my favorites. I loved the gal (can't think of her name) who showed us a bunch of ways to use punches. She could sure think "outside the box". Another woman shared business ideas and how to meet the needs of our customers in a load of great ways. I bought her book as I was so impressed with her ideas and her ideals.

Hubby and I came together so instead of spending nights with the gals at the convention we shared quiet time alone and I showed him what I had learned.

There were all sorts of "display" walls set up with card ideas, scrapbook pages, and gift ideas. I am still feeling overwhelmed at all the creative juices that were flowing in that building.

Salt Lake City is a beautiful place. The temperature was right around the low 90s and it even rained a couple times keeping the temps down. We saw all sorts of interesting things after the convention. We had a good time and I was glad I went and that I learned so many new things.