Welcome Baby "B"

Today is a very exciting day for my family, my little sister welcomed her first child into the world! She is beautiful.
So as I looked through my cards deciding on a card to give to her a "Welcome baby" one did not quite sum it up. She had a complicated delivery and I want her to know how much we all appreciate what she did to bring this beautiful baby girl into our lives. I chose this card I got in a Convention swap. This simple yet elegant card uses the most popular stamp that Stampin' Up! sells:
115223----Medallion----$17.95
As I looked through the cards I pulled the ones using the same set. This one was created by Kari Metzger.

This one was made by Angelika West


This one is by Tara Bazata

This one was created by Jill Olsen, I love glitter so this is one of my favs! She used heat and stick powder to adhere the glitter, that stuff is like magic!

Going once..going twice....SOLD!

Tonight I held a "Money Free Auction" with my hostess club members and those who have held a hostess club with me in the last Stampin' Up! year.
Each person filled out a survey when they arrived. They got points for each question they qualified for. Most of the questions were stamping related, like receive 5 points for each card you have sent out in the last 30 days. Some were not, like 5 points if you prefer the winter season as opposed to summer. They also had a chance to earn more points by bringing a pot luck dish and/or a hand stamped item. After finishing the survey they traded it in for "Stampin dollars" and the bidding began!
I had two tables covered with retired product and handmade items I have acquired over some time now.
I had a blast seeing what items were "hot". I also enjoyed visiting with my friends and eating the yummy food they brought. I should have snapped a picture of the amazing food that was brought tonight!






Sorry I did not get picture of everybody who attended, I was the auctioneer and got caught up in the bidding!!!
I plan on making this an annual event, so be sure to book a workshop or sign up for a club so you don't miss out on this next year!

Halloween Card Swaps from Founder's Circle

I wanted to share some of the swaps From Founder's Circle.

This first card had no name on the back, so I have no idea who to give the credit to....sorry.

stamp set:
116499 -----Pumpkin Patch ----$22.95 (in the holiday Mini)


This one did not have a name on it either. It uses one of my favorite stamps "Little Boo" and is in the "under $10" section in the back of the catalog. So Sweet, but so simple! You have got to love how she let the ribbon do all the talking!

Stamp set:
115558---- Little Boo---- $6.95

Ribbon:
115616---- Pumpkin Pie 1-1/4"-- striped grosgrain ribbon -- 10 yards---- $8.95

These next two use the same stamp set:
116497 ----Twick or Tweet---- $18.95 (in the holiday mini)

the first one was created by:
Denise Sullivan


this one was made by:
Laura Milligan

I hope this gets you as excited for Halloween as I am! Enjoy!

Founder's Circle Day 4

Day four of founder's Circle was amazing!
I slept in (just because I could). When I finally woke up and made my way downstairs they were setting up lunch. The dessert looked so yummy I had to snap a picture of it before I even looked at what was being served as the main dish. I chose the chocolate moose, the mint stick in it was to die for!



Lunch was a pizza bar, with several choices from plain cheese to BBQ chicken mmmm!
After lunch I went back upstairs for my in-room massage. The massage therapist Shelbie was so sweet and took away any stress that I may have had lingering.
I kicked back and relaxed in my room until the "Final Night Event". They kept this a secret as long as they could. We boarded the buses and were given a card that said either Chicken or Pork. When we registered for Founder's 2 months ago they asked which we would prefer.

After a 15 minute bus ride we arrived at a golf course. The first thing we did was all get together for our group photo of all the founder's Circle achievers. This is the view from where I was sitting during the photo.
Me and my new friend Cindy, she is a demo here in the Salt lake area.
I loved seeing all of the fun things that the demos have done with Stampin' Up's Big Shot. This is a beautiful broach made by cutting out different patterns of material with the big shot and layering it.
This is a fun and funky necklace made using the same technique.
The once again beautiful table setting. We were on the patio of the country club.

Before we sat we were informed that we were not to touch the boxes on our tables until told otherwise.
We had a few minutes to get a photo of everyone sitting at our table. Check out the amazing scenery we had to enjoy during our delicious meal.
Ok, so remember the box we were not supposed to touch? Shelli got up and gave a beautiful analogy tying our gardening and butterfly theme into our currently blooming and growing businesses. When she finished she told us to open the boxes and let the LIVE butterflies inside fly away! It was a bit different than even Shelli was expecting when half of them decided to stick around for a while.




After most of the butterflies had finally taken flight, the superb food started!
Um, can we say YUM!

The sun started to set over the redrock cliffs while were dining, the colors were awesome!




After dessert aUPS man came in asking for Shelli he was holding a box that had "CONFIDENTIAL" written all over it. We were asked to put our cameras away (sorry). All I can tell you is we saw a sneek peek of something I cannot wait to share!!!!!!



This is the last of my Founder's Circle Posts. Even though we had the next morning before I had to fly home I could not bring myself to take pictures of the last leg of my journey!

Thank you for letting me share my trip with you!

Founders Circle Day 3

This was a day that I have looked forward to for a long time! We went to Kanab, the town where the Stampin' Up! manufacturing facility is. It is a two hour drive from St. George. Those who chose to attend this activity rode there on two buses.

This is KelleeSue and me in front of the bus I was assigned to. They had everybody who was attending founder's Circle for the first time on the same bus, Shelli was on our bus on the way down. She did a small Q&A with us and really listened to what we had to say!

When we got on the bus there was a huge basket of treats to pick out of. Throughout the trip KelleeSue walked up and down the aisle and let us grab as much as we would like.
It was seriously a huge basket!
This is the Kanab Facility. There are not that many pics of the inside, the manufacturing line secret is kept on the down low to give them an edge on their competitors. i can tell you that I got to help make a couple stamp sets. It stared out with four, but I ruined two! I think after today they are glad that I sell them and not make them!
Above the facility Shelli has set up an apartment to stay in when she or other staff members are visiting. It is amazing, the decor has Shelli written all over it!







This is Shelli's mom, Pat
Me, Pat and Shelli



Pat posing as she relaxes in the beautiful living room.

Shelli greeted everybody as they entered the apartment







I so just want to kick back in that tub (can I call it a tub or is it in a different catagory?)!
I promise this pic does not do it justuce.
While we were in kanab we went to the city park that the Gardner family funded.
We ate luch at the park, each lunch was packed in a little pail (I am so cvering it with decor elements when I get home).



I found strips of Designer series paper at the bottom of my pail, of course matching the color scheme of the entire trip!
For dessert one of the choices was Creme Brulee. This is shelli's favorite dessert so they have it every year at Founder's Circle.
I however had the Chocolate cheesecake.
The park has pieces of unused stamp rubber instead of sand. I could not believe how bouncy it was to walk on.


You could even see images on some of the pieces.
This is me and the other Rising Stars posing on the playground.
This was a fun mill on the park property.
I sat by Mary fish to and from Kanab. She is also a Rising Star.
To keep us entertained on the ride back we played lots of games, bingo included (I WON)! There were so many prizes given out, I went home with three things!
I forgot to put my card back into my camera, so the rest of my pics for the day have been saved to the camera, not my card. I will have the pics of the pajama night business share posted later.