Stampin With Liz

Leadership: Famous San Antonio River Walk

We visited the River Walk daily for some great food, however, I had no idea that we would be walking so much that I had to go to Macy’s and purchase a pair of comfortable flats (my boots were not cutting it)!  One morning while getting ready for the first full day of Leadership, we heard a news report about a special taping of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition taking place along the River Walk that evening.  While heading out to dinner, we noticed that all of the trees and bridges had the Christmas lights on.  It was so beautiful, not sure why the city only has them lit during the holidays.

The San Antonio River Walk is a public park.  It is made up of a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath approximately 5 miles of downtown San Antonio.  Lined by bars, shops and restaurants.

The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks, lined with restaurants, shops, hotels and more. It connects the major tourist draws from the Alamo to Rivercenter Mall,  Arneson River Theatre and La Villita,  the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Pearl Brewery.  Here is a great website that offers a full description and history of the River Walk.

I hope you enjoy these photos, as it brings back so many great memories of my time spent with great friends in San Antonio!

Hard to tell in this photo but there are tons of screaming people and TV crew in the stands and along the walkway.  This episode will be one of the final ones and will air in December 2012.

Because this episode is for the war hero’s and the family chosen to have their home re-built is Shilo Harris.  To read about this war hero, click here.

It is hard to tell in this photo as it was dark but that is Shilo in the dark blue dress uniform.

Here is the TV crew with some member’s of Shilo’s unit.  Maybe we will be on TV waving back at them!

Our group managed to get a quick photo with one of the show’s designers, Paige Hemmis (she was super sweet!).  Where we were standing, we were able to see the other designer, Michael Moloney and the back of Ty’s head but heard his voice clear as day!

To honor all of the war hero’s and their families, Mr. Lee Greenwood, himself came out and sang “God Bless the U.S.A.”  Of course both Cindy and I were singing the words to the song with tears running down our face!  What an experience!

On our last night of Leadership, a large group of us paid $8.25 for a 30-40 minute narrated boat ride.  It was fascinating to learn the history of the River Walk and discover that the river once flooded the downtown area.

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Leadership: Day 2

Now, to wrap it all up.  Here we are on the final day of Leadership.  sniff.sniff.  I know it’s sad.  But this day was still jam packed with excitement.

I don’t think that I showed a photo of the convention center with the Riverwalk.  So pretty and tranquil, I am thrilled that I was able to make it to Leadership again this year!

The General Session on Friday morning really showed how fun the Stampin’ Up! home office employees really are. ”Mr. Neilsen’s Neighborhood,” a spoof on Mr. Rogers, had the chief financial officer, Scott Nielsen, sharing the Stampin’ Up! numbers through a My Digital Studio scrapbook. When that was over he wowed the crowd with a sassy salsa number!

Sara’s announcement of a free 30-day trial of My Digital Studio and the prize patrol generated a lot of excitement. The auditorium was rocking when an AC/DC video was played–that’s the Administration Center and the Distribution Center. It was a morning full of fun and lots of laughter.  After the morning General Session, I headed to a class presented by Bonnie Thurber called Title Benefits.  Bonnie is always a favorite of mine with her quick whit, humor and talent.  In this class, Bonnie explained the title benefits and as you reach higher, so will your rewards with the career plan.  While I have heard it all before, it was fresh and loved hearing Bonnie’s story!

Lunch was on Stampin’ Up! and it was dee-lish!

Let’s not forget about the dessert too.  All I can say was it was a rich dark chocolate brownie with a side of caramel and whipped cream. Yumm-o!

One thing that stood out through the General Session and the breakout classes today was that this is a business–but even more, it’s about people and the difference we make in their lives. I attended two wonderful classes this afternoon.  The class Including a New Generation in Your Stamping Business presented by Amy Swartz and Paula Critchlow.  This class has inspired me to be more relaxed and real with my interactions with customers and down line.  I was even more inspired by the class Retaining and Engaging Your Downline presented by Donna Griffith and Patsy Waggoner.  It was an eyeopening experience dealing with the challenges associated with building, motivating, and retaining your downline – no matter what the demographics or size!

Then back to Main stage for some closing words. Oh, and of course more Prize Patrol. But get this, it was of everyone. Whoo-hoo!  Again, thanks Stampin Up!! You are too good to us.

The closing session was bittersweet as leadership came to an end. Shelli shared some beautiful stamping ideas featuring items from the Occasions Mini Catalog. She advised us to hold the Smooch Spritz way back–in fact, to just take it outside! Chad Richardson surprised us all by doing things “his way” and riding a Harley onstage. He was even more surprised when Tami White (my up-line) rode his Harley off the stage without him!

After a wonderful presentation on Leadership Made Simple, Rich Jutkins issued a recruiting challenge to all leadership attendees that generated a lot of excitement.

I can’t wait to get home to share Stampin’ Up! “My Way”!

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Leadership: Day 1

We started our day by heading to General Session, where the real excitement begins…..Main stage!! If you have been there then you know what I am talking about. Lights, music, dancing, swapping, and lots and lots of excitement!  Shortly after entering the Convention Center, we were asked for a group photo from one of the Home Office employees and made their Facebook page!  How cool is that!

Here is the line to get in. It’s a little hard to tell but the line goes through those glass panels/doors. We were very close to the front of the theater entrance so this is the line behind me. LET US IN!!!!! Whoo Hoo!

And here we are inside.  That’s the Main Stage and of course Shelli was there to welcome us and let us know what to expect for the rest of Leadership.   She also did a few awesome demos on stage too.

The theater had two very large jumbo-trons and this was on the screen.  Just had to take a photo!

Here is a photo of my group of gals (upline – Tami White) and two of my side-lines – Oksana and Dawn).  I had such a wonderful time with these ladies and I am looking forward to Convention this summer!

I love how Stampin’ Up! can bring people together and you can instantly connect with each other.  I met Cindy last summer at Convention and we became fast friends (maybe in a former life we were sisters/BFFs)!  This is a friendship that I truly appreciate and will treasure forever!

Look we were all awarded prizes – this a sneak peek of a stamp set from the upcoming catalog (sorry can’t show you) and some large pearls that are in the current Occasion Mini Catalog!  Thanks Stampin’ Up!

After General Session we broke for lunch.

Oh, and some cheesecake for dessert. Thanks Stampin’ Up! It was my favorite!

I attended a class before heading back to the Gathering place where Stampin’ Up! held a Share Fair.  My class this afternoon was called: Why Women Buy, presented by Carrie Cudney.  It covered some key habits, trends and triggers for female buyers.  As well some interesting (and funny) facts comparing men vs. women on a shopping trip.  Basically, the man will just go to the store with a certain criteria to make a purchase.  Get in and get out, so to speak.  On the other hand, the woman will like several things with a long list of criteria.  Maybe I am not in this demographic, I will typically go into the mall for an item and leave with it (if I can find it) and nothing else.  However, when I go to the grocery store, I have a list but will walk out with much more than what I intended.  Maybe I am not far off in thinking that female buyers just buy what they want just because!

The Share Fair was set up for us to learn from other demonstrators and staff who have discovered success by doing business their way!   The BEST presentation that I attended was with Dawn Olchefske, Missy Shipman, and Deb Valder.  These three ladies are current members of the Advisory Board.  They demonstrated way to use and maximize our current Sale-a-Bration products.  Not only were they entertaining, but I learned so many tips and tricks.

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UDI Color Challenge #71

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means…another installment of the UDI Color Challenge.  Here is our color inspiration photo.

This week I made a simple Valentine themed card using a new SAB stamp set.  Sometimes it is always good to go back to the basics.

Remember to stop by the UDI Blog and check out what the other Design Team members have created this week.  Remember that you can play along too with these fun color challenges.  I’d love to see what you come up with.

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Leadership: Check-in Day

I thought for the next few days I would share with you my leadership highlights. I may warn you first though. I came with a pretty empty camera card and came back with it full. No kidding! I took so many pictures, its insane! So I am gonna try to not bore you but share as much as I can.

I arrived in San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon. I waiting in baggage claim to meet up with Cindy and Dawn and started seeing ladies who were arriving from all over the United States and Canada.  Once we all met up and got our shuttle ride booked and checked into the hotel we headed out to the famous Riverwalk to grab a bite to eat.  Cindy and I attended a shoebox swap that evening and we were back in our room a little after 11 pm.

We were up early on Wednesday to head over to the convention center to receive the coveted Leadership bag and meet up with Michelle and AnnMarie from NY!  The kick-off for Leadership 2012 was with several different sessions of Make & Takes. We were surprised and delighted to see that there were nine ‘My Way’ Make & Takes to be made at our leisure (I only got 4 completed and the rest I will finish at some point this week).  One of the Make & Takes was a card for the Ronald McDonald House Charities, I always enjoy making one for the RMHC and keeping the other.  The Make & Takes were impressive; however, the excitement was the lovely gift Shelli left for each of us.  It was a coordinating fabric organizer that matched our leadership bags, along with a favor box filled with gourmet chocolate made by an employee from the home office!

Here is Michelle and AnnMarie holding their fabric organizer!  This was AnnMarie’s first Leadership ~ Yea!

Here is Dawn and Cindy!  This was also Dawn’s first Leadership and my looking at her face, she is thrilled with this experience! : )

Here is Michelle and I holding our special Shelli gifts!

This was a Make & Take bag of supplies!  We got to choose either wood-mount or clear-mount stamp sets.

Here is the group shot of our table.  Look at that mess!  : )

This is our Leadership bag that we received this year.  It is a sneak peek of fabric that will be available “soon”.

Items that were inside the bag.

The matching bag and organizer!  Not to mention the fancy favor box of chocolates.

This cello bag contained 3 pieces of chocolate.  I have not eaten it, so I can’t be sure what all of them are.  But the top one looks like white chocolate with crushed Oreos.

After Make & Takes, the 5 of us headed back over to the Riverwalk and had a BBQ lunch ~ yummy!  Then we walked over and spent the rest of the afternoon with a tour of the Alamo!  I will have that post for later in the week.

Okay, enough rambling for one day. Stay tuned. I will have day 1 and 2 for you in a few days. That’s where the real excitement begins!!

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Regionals: General Swap Card

Yesterday Leadership ended, and today Stampin’ Up! is hosting an all-day Regionals event.  These events are spread across the U.S. and Canada and showcase local demonstrators presenting their workshop WOWs.  The last time I attended a Regional was right after the Phoenix Leadership conference back in 2010.  Here is my swap card, showcasing the some new Sale-a-Bration products.  If you would like to earn these stamp sets or other products for FREE, please give me a call.

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Leadership: Roommate Gift

A really fun part about Leadership is the gift giving.  At Leadership we usually exchange roommate gifts. Of course it is always fun to see what the other girls make but giving the gift is the best part. At least to me it is, I love to give gifts!

Here is what I made or bought for my roommate (and a couple of other ladies in the SU! family, that didn’t actually room with us but still deserved a gift)!

The tissue holder I made last month and you can see it here.  I am so proud of these cute little things.

And this is a picture of a bag tag. I made bag tags because I knew we would be getting a fabulous new Leadership bag and in a sea of 1,000+ of them sometimes it’s hard to tell which one is yours. Bag tag= problem solved.

They came out cute, don’t you think?

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UDI Color Challenge #70

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means…another installment of the UDI Color Challenge.  Here is our color inspiration photo.

This is a super fast card to put together and I wanted to play with one of the new SAB stamp sets!  I absolutely love what SU! is offering this year!

Remember to stop by the UDI Blog and check out what the other Design Team members have created this week.  Remember that you can play along too with these fun color challenges.  I’d love to see what you come up with.

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Leadership: Shoebox Swap

This will be my 4th year attending a shoebox swap while at Leadership.  This event is put on by a high achieving demonstrator and I am always so impressed with the ideas I come away with.  This swap event is for 48+1 full cards (not card fronts).  I made 25 already and the other 24 cards are in “pieces” ready for the others to make during the event.  By the end of the night, I will have a total of 48 completed full cards to share with my fellow demonstrators and customers.

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Leadership: General Swap Card

I hate to share this early but I just can’t hold out any longer!  Next week I will be attending Stampin’ Up!’s annual Leadership conference in San Antonio, TX.  This is my swap card showcasing items from the new Occasions Mini Catalog.  This is by far the BEST mini that I have seen in a while.

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