Lakeshore Stamping

An amazing trip...

I finally returned home late last night after 14 hours of traveling...UGH!  It was worth every minute but sometimes my body just doesn't handle time changes well.  I got the kids off to school today and then I went back to bed.  It felt good and I feel much better this afternoon.  I am missing all my new and old friends today especially when looking through the pictures of this amazing trip.

I started off the trip with two amazing friends, Kimberly Van Diepen and Tamye Dunbar, in Las Vegas for a couple days.  We shopped, slept in, visited at the pool and enjoyed friendship in Vegas.

We enjoyed a delicious meal at our hotel, Bellagio, before our evening out.  Tamye is in the white, Kimberly in the middle and then me.

Shopping was fun and the experience was fun with a lot of walking in the warm sun!

It was SO pretty at night with all the lights.  This is the hotel Paris which was directly across the street.

 
On Wednesday afternoon, we boarded a bus to take us to St. George, Utah for the start of Founder's Circle 2010.  It was the most beautiful two hour bus ride.  The mountains and desert were just beautiful.

This was the welcome we received when we arrived at the hotel in St. George.  I am with Bonnie Thurber from Stampin' Up! in this picture.  Bonnie went every where with us and she was a hoot!  It was so much fun getting to know her and the other Stampin' Up! employees that put on this great event for us!

These are some of the new friends I met on the first night.  We all had assigned seats and our table was a riot!  We laughed all night long.  It was nice to met everyone!  Left to right (Front):  April, Jo, Jacque Left to right (Back):  Penny, Me, Sharon, Dawn, France.  I couldn't have picked a better table to sit at!

It was decorated with a 50's theme so we wore goofy glasses.  Here is Me, Kimberly, and Holle.  Holle and I are both Rising Stars and Kimberly is our fearless leader! 

On my last post I had skipped ahead a day so I wanted to back track to the beginning.   So these were the first few days of our trip and thanks for letting me share with you.  There is more to come and I hope to post some pictures of some projects in the upcoming days.  Time for bed for me!  Lots to do tomorrow!

 

Just pinch me....

I really can't believe I am in St. George, Utah for Stampin' Up! Founders Circle. For those of you who don't know, Founders Circle is a group of demonstrators who are either, in the top 100 for the U.S., 15 Rising Stars U.S., top 15 Canadian Demonstrators, and 3 Rising Stars Canadian.  I have met SO many wonderful people and have loved every minute of it.  Today is the last day and it is a bit sad as it has gone SO fast.  I hope today goes slow but we know that is never true.

Last night was our pajama party and card swap.  I had to make 135 swaps for last night...I was busy last week putting them all together.  Here's the start of them...

And here is the finished product.  I am sure you know after making 135 of this card I am a little sick of seeing it! 

Not all made Christmas cards which was nice...I have an assortment of others and some GREAT ones!  I just can't believe I swapped with the top 100 demonstrators last night!  We were in a LONG line and it seemed like forever but it went very smoothly!

While doing the swap we were all in our pajamas which was fun.  I didn't see many duplicate pairs which is amazing!  Here is Kimberly and I in our pajamas with our little gift which as in a popcorn box and we didn't know it wasn't popcorn because there was popcorn in the room until we opened the box.  The pen has "Founders Circle 2010" engraved on it.  The gifts are just great!

I also took a tour on Thursday to Kanab, Utah which is the town Stampin' Up!'s manufacturing plant is located.  We had a 2 hour bus ride of all first time Founders Circle attendees and it was a blast.  I met some wonderful people and the plant is just amazing!  Here are some pictures to share with you...

The employees were all outside cheering for us and it was a VERY touching experience.  They are SO thankful for us demonstrators and we are so thankful for them.  There were tears from many of us as I still get goose bumps thinking about it.  Everyone was SO nice!

This is in the entrance to the facility and many of us got our pictures taken here. 

Shelli and two of here girls were on the tour with us and it was nice because we learned more about them and the start here in Kanab with Stampin' Up! and some one on one time with them.  It was fabulous!

To the left of me is Sara, Shelli's oldest, and to the right is Shalae, Shelli's second oldest.  They were WONDERFUL to talk with. Yesterday I was able to chat for about an hour with them and we had such a fun talk and got to know more about them.  It was great!

This is a playground in Kanab where they use the rubber they cut off the stamps while making them and recycle them by putting them at the playground.  There is a whole long wonderful story on why they do this but I'll have to share that later.  It was so much better to have rubber than bark, it was very springy when you walked on it!

Here are two other Rising Stars that I met who are a lot of fun.  In the middle is Amy Jordan and then Jenny Watson.  These ladies were fun and I am just glad I got to met them.  I also went to dinner with them, Joanna Banta, another Rising Star and Mandy Grant, Demonstrator #57, who I am thrilled to have met.  We had a great time and will all hopefully stay in touch!

One last thing and then I need to go eat breakfast!!!

Each night when we get back to our room, we receive pillow gifts from Stampin' Up!  This is a SPECIAL gift that was waiting on Thursday night.

Isn't the cupcake just the cutest thing you've ever seen!?!?!  Then inside was even better.  A Simple Adorned Charm Necklace HANDMADE by Shelli and her girls for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How awesome is that!?!? 

I have SO many more stories and pictures to share with you but it will have to wait...sorry!  I hope this gives you a little taste of what Founders Circle is all about and I wanted to share my excitement and my trip of a lifetime with all of you...my wonderful stamping friends!

Have a great weekend!