OnStage 2016 – Telford, Swaps and Team Gifts

Last weekend was spent at the Stampin’ Up! OnStage Local event in Telford. 

OnStage Live was taking place in Salt Lake City, which was a little far to travel to on this occasion, however nice that would have been. Instead, I took my two favourite boys up to Telford with me to extend our stay to celebrate hubby’s birthday that followed.

We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast to a wonderful Afternoon Tea and my favourite Coffee & Walnut cake. Don’t worry, it didn’t start off the size of that cake plate … I didn’t eat that much, but it was yummy!

Friday evening was spent at CentreStage, which is an event held for certain Leadership grades, to help them guide their Teams. 

We received a fantastic planner that covers the next 6 months. Why only 6 months? Well, there’ll be another OnStage event in November, when we’ll set another series of Goals for ourselves and come together for some more inspiration. 

These nibbles that accompanied our training session, were truly delicious and make me hungry just looking at them. 

Following some brainstorming and a Training session with some very inspiring Demonstrators, we were treated to a tasty sit down meal. By this point, you must be thinking that the day revolve around food … well it also revolved around friendships.

The wonderful thing about events like this is that we get to meet up with fellow Demonstrators who have become good friends. Pip Todman and Louise Simms have both become good friends and are fellow members of the monthly Stampin’ Creative Blog Hop team that I’m a part of. I just love their energy and positivity and it was a pleasure to share the evening with them.

The main event would kick off the next morning, with 380 Demonstrators all coming together in one place to Share, Create and Inspire. Telford was our destination and this was the Team who pulled it all together for us to enjoy. This team are our support network in the offices and we don’t often get to see them, let alone share an event like this with them … and I know it will have been many many months of hard work from them, in bringing this event together. 

Stampin’ Up! events go hand in hand with Swapping creations and the giving of Team Gifts.  Swapping gives Demonstrators the opportunity to engage with other Demonstrators and share inspiration. It’s a fun part of any Stampin’ Up! event and plays a big part of the fun. 

A recent card I made for my upline had me think of far flung tropical places and bold, bright colours. I coupled Botanical Gardens with Sheltering Tree here in Cucumber Crush and Bermuda Bay with a punch of Melon Mambo to give it some lift. Even the names of my colour choices sound tropical.

I was fortunate enough to share the event with several members of my Downline Team and their teams. For many, it was their first ever Stampin’ Up! event and it was a pleasure to be a part of that experience with them. This shows each one of us taking possession of our Prize Patrol Stamp Set, that at the time we couldn’t reveal. The lovely Paula Gorry couldn’t help but get in on the act. Some very happy faces. 

I’m a very lucky girl in having such a lovely Team and knowing how long the day can be, I made these little gifts for them to enjoy. Each box was filled with something different, from chocolates, to savoury snacks to refreshing mints. Essential nibbles to keep them going.

I’d received a Christmas gift like this from my upline once and decided to CASE it with different papers to give a fresh, spring like feel. I used the Garden in Bloom Stamp Set and English Garden DSP. The Sentiment on the tag was aptly chosen and read ” Friends are kind to each other’s hopes & cherish each other’s dreams”.

A fantastic weekend and oh … did I say that we were given a copy of the up coming new Annual Catalogue? …. We most certainly did and that has kept me busy ever since. It’s a beauty and I can’t wait to start sharing some creations from it with you, but for now … we’ll not turn our back on the current catalogue just yet. The Retirement list has just been published and there are some amazing discounts to be taken advantage of, so be sure to take a good look at and get your order in quickly before stocks sell out. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick snapshot of last weekends fun. I’m sure I’ll share more with you over the coming weeks, but if you’d like to join me in November at the next event, then do get in contact with me and ask me how.