Stampin' Up! Events Feed

Stampin'Up! Mt Vernon Teacher's Conference!

Hey there! I'm out the door in a few, but wanted to share some pics of my booth at the Mt Vernon Teacher's Conference:

Mv booth 6

Alisa & Oakley are working the booth with me this year!

We have Alisa's Pursegirl purses:

Mv booth 2

My displays of upcoming classes:

Mv booth 3

Cards and stuff for sale:

Mv booth 4

Kimberly's fingerless mittens:

Mv booth 5

I went all out this year and had a Carol Payne Stamps banner created:

Mv booth 1

I'm at the Conference today, then off to a workshop tonight! Whew! I'm gonna be tired (I am already, but enjoying the time!)

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

 

 

All products used are ©Stampin'Up!™1990-2013

Stampin' Up! Grand Vacation Redux! Froggies-on-the-lily-pads Challenge!

Just a quick post this morning to remind you of my challenge to find all the froggies in this picture I took at the Garden of the Sleeping Gods Orchid Garden in Fiji!

Where's waldo frogs
Comments here and likes on Facebook close on Sunday, May 12th. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 13th and will receive this:

Fiji frog give away
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2013

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!


 


Stampin' Up! Fiji was Awesome!

Happy Monday! A good nights' sleep in my own time zone goes a long way toward helping counteract the effects of  two LOOOONNNGGG days of going-home travel! Fiji was awesome, the resort was luxurious and comfortable, but my own bed sure felt good!

Today has been a day of unpacking, laundry, and re-orienting myself with my "To Do List" and calendar. Since some of you have already been clamoring for Fiji pictures, I've put together a little overview of our activities and some of my Fiji impressions.

Troy & I waiting to board our first plane in St. Louis. We flew from St. Louis to Chicago, changed planes, then flew from Chicago to Los Angeles.

1

After about a 5 hour wait in LAX, we boarded this GIGANTIC plane to begin the 10.5 hour flight to Fiji! We flew at a 11 p.m. at night! See how small the trucks are compared to this plane? It was TOWED to the terminal like a cruise ship! Yikes! It was a double-decker plane with a second section of seats on top! Wow! About 400 Stampin' Up! Cruise Achievers & guests on this flight alone!

2

They served us a dinner and a breakfast during the flight. We slept (fitfully, but I did sleep) in between meals. We each had our own video screen installed in the seat-back in front of us with headphones. I read most of a book during this flight between naps (I read Call the Midwife-excellent read). This was the first hot meal I have ever been served on a plane -chicken & rice, green beans, grapes & crackers, a soft roll & butter, and ice tea!

3

My first impression upon landing in Fiji at 7 a.m. in the morning was HUMID!!! This picture is foggy because as soon as I took out my camera it immediately fogged up! They had been having more rain than normal for the past few days before our arrival, with a shower just before we landed, so the natural humidity of Fiji was increased! (in case you are wondering, Troy is holding MY pink-flowery carryon!)

4

After clearing customs, we were transported to the resort by bus to this! We had a comfortable balcony room looking out on the Pacific!

5a

Not only were we off-the-grid technology-wise while in Fiji, we were also on Fiji-time, which is very laid-back and relaxed! I found these clocks for sale illustrating the Fiji attitude toward time perfectly:

7

Troy taking advantage of one of hammocks by the beach! He had fun learning how to sail a catamaran, and we also took a few spills in the Pacific on a "banana boat" ride!

5b

Troy went deep-sea fishing one day,(yes, he caught 3 Yellow-Fin Tuna!) so I took a tour with some friends. Here we visited a Hindu Temple in Nadi, Fiji. Very beautifully decorated and painted. We had to take off our shoes, and they gave us scarves to wrap around our legs if our knees were showing and around our shoulders to keep us modest.

8

Our tour took us to an open-air farmers' market. Lots of variety, some familiar and some I'd never heard of before!

9

This is Kava roots. The natives dig this up, dry it out, then grind it into a powder which is put in a little muslin bag. They put the bag in water, then drink the water. Apparently Kava has some "dope-type" effects, the first of which is making your tongue numb. Yes, I tried it, but just a tiny taste. Some of my group drank a small bowl of it, but my impression was dirty sock water. WHY????

10

Very different way to present the fruits - $2 a "heap"!

11

We then visited the "Garden of the Sleeping Gods", a beautiful orchid-garden!

12

This is one of the two "sleeping gods", silhouetted in the Mountains around the garden. Can you see the face, hair, and body?

15

I will show you more of my Fiji trip soon, but thought you might like to see a card. This was one of the swaps on display, so I don't know who made it, but it is a vibrantly beautiful Secret Garden sample!

Secret garden p
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2013

And lastly, I'm going to leave you with a little challenge! At the orchid garden I took this picture of a lily-pad pond. I know I have made cards in the past with frogs on lily-pads but had never actually SEEN a frog ON a lily pad! In the lily-pad picture below is at least one frog on a lily pad, but there are actually more!

My challenge to you is this:

Count how many frogs you see in the lily-pad picture. Leave a comment with the number of frogs you find here on my blog or LIKE this post if you are seeing it on Facebook and your name will be put in a drawing for this:

Fiji frog give away

The Sent With Love Designer Paper Pack and stamp set, which was available in April 2013 but is now retired.

You will have until Sunday, May 12th to submit your comment or LIKE. I will announce the name drawn on Monday, May 13th, and will post this same picture with all the frogs highligted so you can see them too!

Where's waldo frogs

That's all for now. Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!

To order Stampin' Up! products, go HERE!

 

 

 

 

 


Occasions Mini 2012 Sneek Peek from Founder's Circle!

Founder's Circle always provides us with the cutest Make & Takes! I love to get a chance to work on them during my free time. What Stampin' Up! Demonstrator wouldn't love it when someone ELSE is prepping the fun?!

This banner uses some cool "sneak peek" products from the soon-to-be-released Occasions 2012 Mini Catalog! If you have ordered from me in the past year, you should be receiving one of these in the mail near the end of December. If you don't, and it can happen, as they are shipped out Bulk Mail, then contact or see me at one of my future Stampin' Events and I will make sure you get one!

This banner uses the new "Paper Doily" Large Sizzlet Die! All I can say is, "it's simply gorgeous"! The teacup in the center of the Daffodil Delight one is from a new stamp set, "Tea Shoppe"! So sweet!

Paper Doily banner
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Here's another section of the banner, this time using another "Tea Shoppe" stamp, a super-big teacup, scalloped circles, and one of the doilies cut from one of the laser-cut pages from the "Flirtatious" Specialty Designer Paper pack!

Paper doily banner 2
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

That's all for today, but I'll be back again tomorrow! Until then, hope your day "Stampingrox"!


More New Friends!

As much as I love spending time with old friends, I do enjoy making new ones! Our table at the 6 p.m. dining time this year turned out to be really fun new friends for Kimberly and I!

Our table
l to r: Deke & Meg Wheeler (old friends), me & Kimberly, Chris & Mandy Grant, and Pliny & Linda Hunt!

Meg is my coaching buddy and dear friend. Even though we live 6 hours apart, we talk every week, sometimes several times, and help each other out with our Stampin' Up! businesses.

Chris & Mandy are new friends. I'd visited Mandy's blog before and was impressed & inspired by her work. I am so glad I now can say she is my friend!

Mandy and chris

Pliny (pronounced PL-I-NY with the long "I") and Linda are new friends we instantly fell in love with. They are from Massachussets, but we would love to visit them sometime! We found we had loads to talk about, and not just stampin' stuff!

Linda and pliny

On the last night we all ate together, our waiter surprised our table with an extra dessert, chocolate souffle's! Chocolate souffle' had been a dessert choice earlier in the week, Kimberly loved it and had mentioned to our waiter how excellent it was. "Alit" took it upon himself to treat us to an extra chocolate souffle'. Even though we were all stuffed after the traditional "March of the Baked Alasksa" dessert, we ate our souffle' with gusto! Pliny is even trying to help himself to Kimberly's share!

Souffles for everyone

I'm looking forward to seeing Meg, Mandy, and Linda in just a few short weeks at the Stampin' Up! Convention!

Well, I can't leave you today without showing you something fun and stamp-y, can I"

Hello blossoms box
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

This is actually the #2 Box Die embellished by Shelli Gardner with the Hello Blossoms set! REALLY SUPER CUTE!!!!!!

Gotta go, Logan just called and asked me to make him some lunch in between his summer class and going to him summer intern job! Until tomorrow, have a "Stampingrox!" day!


Dinner With New Friends!

Another thing I love about the Stampin' Up! Cruise is meeting new people and making new friends! After 7 Incentive Trips, 7 Conventions, and two Founder's Circle Retreats, I have made alot of new friends! About a month before Alaska I received an invitation:

Pam morgan invite
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

I was thrilled to receive such a gorgeous invite, and was even more thrilled to find out that I had been invited, along with two other fellow demos, to dine with Pam Morgan, Vice President of Demonstrator Training, and her husband, Chris! We had a wonderful meal, got to know everyone at the table a little bit, and even had our brains picked by Pam for ideas that have been working well in our business!

The invite was made using a little Sneak Peek from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog, 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon! Colors used are Old Olive, Pacific Point, and Whisper White!

Here we all are:

Pam morgan

Thank you, Stampin' Up! for a wonderful trip and giving me the opportunity to spend an few hours with this fantastic group of people!

Now I must go get everything ready for my meeting tonight of my downline, the "Yes, Ma'am's!"

Hope you have a "Stampingrox!" day!


Icebergs and Glaciers!

One of the highlights of the Alaska Cruise this year was the morning we sailed up Tracy Arm Fjord to view the glacier at it's head. I never in a million years thought I would ever be able to look out my balcony window and see icebergs floating by, but here they are!

Icebergs
Chunks of BLUE ice! The view was gorgeous, with the trees, the sheer rocks towering over the boat, and the low clouds! We saw probably hundreds of waterfalls, and by the time we got through the fjord (with the boat making "S" turns to get there!) the water was littered with small & large icebergs and we saw this:

Glacier
Truly a cathedral made by God's own hand! This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to how breathtaking it was. I felt like I was in church.

It took us two hours to sail up the fjord and two hours back before we headed on to Juneau. This part of our jouney started at 6 a.m., so when we headed back down the fjord, Kimberly and I had breakfast and then went back to bed for a few hours!

Here's another cute card from the Hospitality Room using the Summer Mini set, Best Dad Ever!

Best dad ever
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

I'm all ready for my Punch Club Class tonight, so I am taking a little down time today to go play with my grandkids in their pool! Summer is here!

Until tomorrow, have a "Stampingrox!" day!


I'm back, relaxed & refreshed from Alaska!

Hello there! I'm finally back, after a long absence, I know! I've been extremely busy ever since the end of Sale-a-bration in March, culminating in the Stampin' Up! Alaskan Cruise at the end of May! Now that the trip is over (sigh) and June is here, I want to get back to my little ol' blog and all of you!

To start off, here's a pic of me & my daughter, Kimberly, on our zip-line RAINFOREST CANOPY excursion!

Alaska 2011 085
Those of you who know me even slightly, know I am very cold-natured, which made me a little worried about this adventure. I even forgot to pack a suitable coat to zip-line in, I guess I was just thinking of staying on the ship the whole time! But after a visit to one of the ship's many shops, I was oufitted in a cozy jacket, hat & gloves, which is why my helmet looks so dorkily perched on top of my head!

We had a blast, though, zipping on 7 lines 135 feet above the ground, landing on platforms that had NO RAILS! We also traversed 3 suspension bridges, and saw a bald eagle! Who would have ever thought there woud be a rainforest in Alaska? Apparently temperature has nothing to do with it, it's the amount of rain they get that makes it rainforest-y! In case you are concerned about the DANGER factor here, as you can see our entire body is harnessed, and the harness was attached at all times to strong cables! Even if you did lose your grip or fall the worst you would do would be dangle! lol!

I can't leave you today without showing you one card! I took a picture of this one in the Stampin' Up! Hospitality Room on the ship. It uses the Summer Mini set, Hello Blossoms, and a technique called Faux Suede! I hope to give you a little tutorial on this one soon!

Razzleberry hello Blossoms

©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Oh, and I can't forget to give you the Retiring Lists that posted on the Stampin' Up! Website today, now can I?

Download LastChanceStamps_0611_US

Download Availability_en-US

Download Definitely Decorative Last Chance 2011

(These lists are only current until June 30th, with the Accessories and the Decor Elements being "while supplies last"! Contact me to order or go to my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Website:

www.carolpayne.stampinup.net

Until tomorrow, have a "Stampinrox!" day!


Downline Meeting-"Yes, Ma'am!" Projects!

My group of downline, the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers, met at my house this past Saturday evening for a fun time of stamping and fellowship. We meet once a month to stamp & share ideas, get to know each other better, and have fun! When you are the one bringing the fun to the party, it's nice to get to relax and let someone else bring the fun to you, which is what I hope to accomplish by hosting this monthly meeting.

Definition of "downline": people (usually but not limited to female) who join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator.

The members of the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers are ladies who have joined Stampin' Up! as hobby or business demonstrators to either get the demonstrator discount on their personal stamping supplies orders or to sell Stampin' Up! to other people to help pay monthly bills, save for a special treat or vacation, or any other reason they may have! These members include all the ladies who have directly joined Stampin' Up! under me, plus their downlines, and their downline's downline, all the way to 5 levels below me!

Before I explain what the "Yes, Ma'am" Stampers name means, I will show you the projects we made. Each project, while cute and fun all on it's own, had a purpose in how it could be used for their Stampin' Up! business.

First up, a Big Shot project, is an Easter carrot box made with the Occasions Mini Petal Cone Die! We used all the parts of this die to make the carrot, including using the banner to create the "greens" of the carrot top! We ran the Tangerine Tango cut pieces of the box through the Big Shot with one of the plates from the Texture Plates Kit #4 before putting the box together. The scalloped half-circles for the top of the carrot we cut using Pear Pizzazz from the Designer Series Paper Pack-In Color Level 1 Hostess, and the carrot top was created by cutting two Pear Pizzazz banners in half length-wise and curling them around a Paper Piercing Tool!

Petal cone carrot
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Each half circle of the top was attached to only one side of the box top flaps so the flaps could still be folded under each other to close the box! This carrot box  was our "Big Shot" project!

Petal cone carrot top
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Next, we made a "give-a-way" project, which were these darling little chocolate holders! Who doesn't like to receive an unexpected piece of chocolate? I know I do! These are quick and easy to make when you use the free "Ice Cream Parlor" Designer Series Paper & Quick Accents Pack and the Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon & Button Pack, both free with $50 orders during Sale-a-bration! The middle chocolate holder uses the "Eat Chocolate" set from the Occasions Mini! If you notice something different behind the holders in this first picture, it's one of the Clear Mount Stamp Cases (they come in a set of 4 for $4.95 and are found on page 192 of the Big Catalog). I am putting the chocolate holders in one of these to keep them safe and muss-free in my purse!  These cases are great for lots of little things, from it's original intent of storing un-mounted stamps to notepads, to chocolate! Cool!

Downline 1
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Downline 2
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

As a potential Hostess Gift we made these cute and quick Hand Sanitizer Holders! I received this great idea from my good friend and fellow demonstrator, Meg Wheeler. She (and we!) embellished the holder with Creat a Cupcake stamps and the Build a Cupcake punch! SO CUTE!

Dimensions for the holder are as follows:

Cut strip of cardstock 2" x 11". Score at 1/2", 1 1/2", 3 1/2", 4 1/2", 7 1/2", and 8 1/2". Fold on all score lines, then punch a Large Oval between the 1/2" and 1 1/2" scored lines. Attach 1/2" section to back of holder with Sticky Strip.

 

Downline 3
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

Inside:

Downline 4
©Stampin'Up!™1990-2011

We made two more projects at our "Ma'am's" meeting, but I'm going to save them for tomorrow!

However, I did promise to tell you why my downline group is called the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers! Several years ago during the Stampin' Up! Convention in Denver Colorado, several of my downline and I attended a Shoebox Swap hosted at a nearby hotel. This shoebox swap consisted of 48 Stampin' Up! demonstrators from all over the country gathering in one rather small hotel conference room to stamp 24 different projects! Needless to say, it was a madhouse trying to get around to all the projects, sharing stamps and accessories with everyone else! One lady I was stamping next to asked me for a punch I had in front of me,  and as I handed it to her I said, "here you go, Ma'am!", which is a term I often use with all my stampers and friends. She was almost offended that I had called her "ma'am", which to her I guess meant "old lady"! But I explained to her that where I live in Southern Illinois it is a term used for endearment as well as respect. I later realized that this encounter had given me the perfect name for my downline group: "Yes, Ma'am!" means we are dedicated to friendship, respect, fun, and superior customer service! I was able to officially register our name with Stampin' Up!, and the "Yes, Ma'am!" Stampers we are!

A long-winded post today, I know, but I'll be back tomorrow with more fun ideas!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! Day!

 


To Love What We Do . . .

I just returned home from the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference a few days ago, and all I can say is WOW! Stampin' Up! did an awesome job of inspiring, motivating, and giving us lots of great ideas (and product!) to use in our businesses. At every event there is a "swap-drop box" for attendees to put one of their swaps in for the Stampin' Up! Home Office. When I go by it I usually take a peek to see what's in there, and this is what I found:

Blog card
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011

This is the Stampin' Up! Statement of the Heart. It exemplifies exactly how I feel about my Stampin' Up! business and the relationships I have made because of it!

Here's another cutie from the same box:

C is for cat
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011  I love the slightly "off kilter" look of this card, sort of like the harum-scarum way kitties do things!

Lastly, here's an elegant valentine I found in the box:

Elegant valentine
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011

I LOVE the new "Framed Tulips" Textured Impressions Folder used on here! It's my favorite right now!

Here's a few pics from my adventures at Leadership! From left to right: Meg, Brenda, me, and Cynthia!

Blog post

Brenda is a sideline (we ultimately had the same upline!), but the other two I met on the Stampin' Up! cruises as a result of my friendship with Brenda. I have grown incredibly close to these girls through the years. Although we don't see each other much during the year, just on cruise, convention, and Leadership, but each time it's as if we've never been apart! Thank you, Stampin' Up! for bringing these sisters into my life!

As you can see we aren't always calm and proper!

Blog post 3

Shopping at Memento Mall is always a "must do" at Stampin' Up! events. Memento Mall features exclusive logo merchandise we can purchase to help us promote our Stampin' Up! business:

Blog post 4
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011

Here we are displaying our new "nose rings"!

Blog post 7
Before you get too worried about me losing my marbles, here's a close-up:

Blog post 4
My "nose ring" is actually one of our Basic Jewel Rhinestones, which are adhesive enough to stick on your nose! Fun!

Throughout the event, Stampin' Up! gives away free product with their "Prize Patrol"!

Blog post 5
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011

During the final general session, Stampin' Up! gave EVERYONE this packet of Glimmer Paper, Champange Glass Glitter, and Glimmer Brads!

Blog post 6
©Stampin'Up!™1999-2011

Now that I'm back home, I am busily getting projects prepared for workshops and stamp camps!

My next event at my house will be Friday, January 28th, 6:30 p.m. for a Valentine Stamp Camp! We will be making 4 fun projects that include a mini card packet, a scalloped favor basket, a Petal Card, and an easel post-it holder! These projects are easily changeable to fit many other occasions, including birthdays, mother's day, co-worker gifts, etc! Fee is $10 for all 4 projects or the class is free with a $35 order! Sale-a-bration starts on January 25, so bump your order up to $50 and choose a FREE item from the Sale-a-bration Mini Catalog!

Contact me at 618-237-6281 or [email protected] to RSVP!

Until tomorrow, have a Stampingrox! day!