Stampin' Up! Convention

I am back from Convention 2013 and I have to say, it was the most rewarding, fun, exciting, inspirational but exhausting trip I've taken in a long time. But the exhaustion came mostly from being so "involved" with so many things going on at once! This year is the 25th Anniversary of Stampin' Up! and let me tell you, they pulled out all the tricks and treats for an early Halloween surprise. We receved several "all attending" prizes, along with the usual Prize Patrol. On the first day we all received a gorgeous back pack FILLED with stamp sets and kits to make! A beautiful silver 25th Anniversary pin and a wrist band with a SU color on it. The wristband was used for the Prize Patrol. What's Prize Patrol? Well, during each of the general sessions they surprise us with another set of free goodies! If your color is chosen, that's the prize you win! My color was Melon Mambo and I was actually beginning to worry because on the last night's session, they still hadn't called my color. Oh well, I thought, I've received so many other free goodies, I was totally ok with it. But they DID call my color and I won the new Halloween Hello stamp set, Orange and Black glitter and the Witches' Brew designer paper! WOW! This of course is in addition to the MANY other free products we already received! But that's not all! Stampin' Up! is such an AWESOME company; they wanted to be sure every single attendee won, so the people who had the last color of the night, Crushed Curry, received the most generous gift! They EACH received EVERY SINGLE STAMP SET IN THE NEW HOLIDAY CATALOG! WHAT???!!! OMG! You should have heard the crowd. It was such an awesome end to a wonderful time.
There was a guy who shaved the back of his hair with a "25" and died it bright red. Now, that's dedication. I asked if he would let me take his picture and all it cost me was a donation to the Ronald McDonald House, which of course, I was happy to do! Stampin' Up! has been a sponsor for the Ronald McDonald House for 10 years and they make a special stamp set every year and proceeds from the sale go to the kids. We met Ronald McDonald too and his story broke our hearts. So inspirational!
I wanted to share this exciting adventure with everyone who sees my blog. If you love to stamp and make beautiful things, you could not find a better company to join. I have been energized and inspired for sure! Awards night was awesome too. So many demonstrators were given cash, gift cards, free vacation trips and just wonderful recognition for their efforts throughout the year. I hope one day, I might be among them.