Hi all,
I thought I'd share with you my FABULOUS trip that you helped send me on!! Remember when I posted this....A Very Special Bag...well this last week was the trip that went with the bag! :) I left Wednesday for St. George, Utah. We flew into Las Vegas and then took a bus to St. George. It took about 2 hours and I finished my swaps on the bus.
We arrived at the hotel and our group took up the entire hotel, so it was really fun to have run of the place. We tend to take over anyway, so it was fun!! The Stampin Up Staff greeted us as we got off the bus and handed us our room keys--we didn't even have to wait in line to check in!! I walked up to my room and saw this:
THey had made special name plaques for our doors!!!
Then we went to the Stampin Up Check in where they gave us our name tags and a stamp set from the upcoming mini catalog and then we saw this beautiful room...
It was all for us--comfy couches, big bean bags and pillows and blankets that all matched our pink bags (even with our printed paper designs on the pillows!!!)
We could just hang out and visit with one another and just relax!
This is me with my new set! :)
The other thing in the room was a bunch of tables with candy treats that we could help ourselves to all week long--and on the second day there were new and different candies to choose from...it was so awesome!!
Then each night there were different gifts left in our rooms. We each had our own rooms so it was fun because you could leave the door open when you had to use the bathroom and no one would come in (like when Carl likes to "see what is going on in there' while you are "busy"! :)
This is our table from our first day of dinner--it all matched!!!!! How cool. Dinner was yummy (and so was desert)
Each place had a napkin with our pink pirouette ribbon tied to it and a welcome card from Shelli!!
Here are the gifts....
The first night we had this waiting for us--filled with a new stamp set (that will be in the next catalog), plus 3 ink pads, and a roll of ribbon!!
We used the supplies to make our make and take projects later in the week.
The next day we spent the day by the pool and then shopping. I picked up some fun things and had a great time with my friend Jen and Catherine.
Later that night we had a pj party with a business share (sharing ideas that have worked well in our businesses) plus our card swap...They gave us more coordinating items (a journal and box with a fancy, matching pen inside so we could take notes during the share).
This is the journal and pen box
This is Shelli the co-founder of SU talking to us that night. She is in her pj's....
Here she is with her Mom (I think it is her step-mom, actually) and the lady in the blue is like demo #3 in the company (Shelli's aunt). Shelli was finishing her swaps (as several people were--I was actually done--shocker!!)
I have one of her swaps--she made them for us all--and they are really pretty--so Shelli!!
By the way--look at the center pieces--they were so beautiful--they looked like they should be in a wedding!!
This is me and my friend Jo in our jammies!
This is some of us lined up to swap--we all swapped--about 100 people!! It was lots of fun--even more fun to go back and look at all those cards!!
The next day we all got up and went to Kanab, UT, the town where our rubber stamps are manufactured. This is a small town about 300 miles south of Stampin Up's headquarters, where Shelli grew up. There is not a whole lot there--Stampin Up started there and they were at one time the largest employer there. Shelli is VERY commited to this town and has refused to move the operations up to Riverton (just outside Salt Lake City) despite the cost savings. The guy in this picture was our tour guide, Alan. He is in charge of maintenance in the entire facility and was giving us a tour of the "apartment". This apartment was built for Shelli and family to stay when they are in Kanab. They visit often for various reasons. It wa really cool!
We couldn't really take many pictures here because a lot of it is protected industry material that SU doesn't share with the outside world. We met the guy who is responsible for die-cutting stamps--as in he designs the "knives" that make the diecut around each stamp image. We told him we loved him and thanked him over and over for his work! :) He was really cool (as were all the employees). We actually got to die cut some stamps (and no one in our group even ruined them!!) :) We saw every step of creating the stamps from the molds to the people filling the boxes with rubber, labels and wood. It was really cool to see!!
They said they make on average 20,000 stamp sets a day! WOW!!
This is the outside of the plant. It was just finished a year or so ago, so it is quite new. It is really pretty!!
This is the "rock" in front of the building...
After we spent a few hours at the Kanab facility, we had lunch in a park in Kanab that Stampin Up helped build. The playground is filled with rubber (under the equipment) This is all recycled rubber--some with images even. I actually grabbed a few pieces!!
We had lots of fun!!!
On the last night, they took us to this swanky golf community that just happens to be where High School Musical 2 was filmed. It was just beautiful!! I called Ella to tell us where we were as she is a big fan of High School Musical and she asked me if they were filming and if the characters were there...she was unimpressed when I had to tell her no....man..it is tough to impress a 7 year old!!
You can see they set up a big screen that we watched a movie on and had gourmet pizza, salad, popcorn, and even "movie candy". They also had super nice blankets for us--again MATCHING in pink....
This is my friend, Jen, and Jacque (she's from Hawaii). Jacque and I are wearing the necklaces that we were given that day--they are sterling Silver charm necklaces that were made by an artist in Utah that makes them for a little Boutique that Shelli likes. They had our paper in them with our initial in glitter......SOOOOOOOOOOOO cool....it made me cry--
I just couldn't believe all the things they did for us this week--what an opportunity!! I really can't thank you all enough--you: my customers, downline and friends are how I got here--I thank you all so very much for all the support, loyalty and friendship you've shared with me over the years!! What a thrill to be a part of this unbelievable group of women!!
This is us with our blankets...we love them...can you tell?
Thanks for letting me share my amazing week with you...please take advantage of my special: For every $35 you spend you can take a BRAND new package of discontinued printed paper for FREE--an $11.70 value!! Good through MONDAY, Sept. 29th.
:)Thanks again to you all for making my dreams come true!!
