Fun times are ahead! Yesterday, I flew in to Las Vegas and boarded a bus for the 2-hour drive to St. George, Utah, for the Founder's Circle trip. During the bus ride, I tried to capture some of the beauty of Utah, but pictures just don't do it justice. It is so majestic! Every time I travel to Utah, I am awestruck by its beauty. It's really something you've just gotta see. You won't be disappointed!
Sorry, the pictures are blurred because I'm traveling in a bus.
My bus mates and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. There were only nine of us in the bus, so there was plenty of room to spread out and relax. For the whole two hours, we talked stamps, of course, something we love to do. Some of my bus mates were Jodi Reinert, Tami White, Heather Summers, Connie Fitzgerald, Aly Schilling, Sharon McNeely, and Mary Kay Molnar.
The theme for this Founder's Circle is Tea Time Talk! For our welcome dinner last night, everything was decorated like a tea shop. It was so beautiful with all the fresh flowers on each table and all the beautiful linens.
Each one of us were given our own teacup and saucer as a memento.
The group I am in is called "The Sugar Cubes." During the trip there are several times that you do things with your group so that you can get to know some people you may not ever have met otherwise. I have met some wonderful new friends because of this!
This is the back of my chair! Stampin' Up! always makes everything so nice for us.
In my group, from left to right, are: Connie Fitzgerald, Brenda Keenan, Mary Kay Molnar, Sharon McNeely, Angie Juda, and Susie Wood. I am enjoying their company on this trip!
I was absolutely starving by the time this meal occurred, so I was extremely pleased to find that we were having Filet Mignon, with mashed potatoes and gravy, and fresh vegetables. I hadn't eaten all day while traveling, so I thoroughly enjoyed this meal!
Then came the banana and caramel cheesecake. I was a happy stamper!
When I got back to my room, this was on my bed! It's a Big Shot die box, and inside were lots of goodies consisting of ink pads, linen thread, paper flowers, notecards, a new Sizzlits and a BEAUTIFUL new stamp set that will be in the Occasions Mini Catalog. I can't show you the stamp set yet, but those of you attending my Halloween stamp camp will see some cute things we made with the set! I love it! All of my make-n-take supplies were in this box.
Everyone is welcomed into their rooms by finding their names on their doors. It's such a nice touch and makes you feel special.
Here are some of my buddies doing their make-n-takes. From left to right is: Dena Rekow, Terry Wise, Barb Mullikin, and Dawn Olchefske.
I spent my day with these ladies working on our make-n-takes. I had so much fun today and I'm having an absolute blast! From left to right is: Me, Jennifer Gulch, Sharon McNeely, Leeann Greff; back row, from left to right, is: Aly Schilling, Susie Wood, Ann Clemmer, Judy Garza
This is adorable Laura from Stampin' Up! manning the tea shop! There are all kinds of delicious things to eat - whenever you want them - including fresh fruit! My favorite is the yogurt with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and granola. Oh, and I loved the chocolate eclairs, too!
The fresh flowers everywhere are beautiful and add such a nice spray of color.
There are sofas and chairs everywhere so you can sit comfortably to visit with your stampin' friends. Notice the pillows are made with our Beau Chateau fabric!
This room is called "The Gathering Place."
There are areas set up all over with different kinds of candy for you to choose from - and you can help yourself to that candy anytime you want! MY KIND OF PLACE!
An extra little nook to sit and visit!
More candy, candy, candy!
Our agenda for the day.
Another view of the tea shop.
Tables decorated with Beau Chateau tablecloths and fresh flowers so you can enjoy visiting with your friends!
Every day there are different flavors of tea to choose from!
This is Jennifer Gulch using the Big Shot for her make-n-take.
Shelli Gardner and her daughter Sara working on their card swaps for tonight! Dena Rekow is on the right.
Here are two dear buddies of mine, Ruth Bingle and Debbie Moczek, working on their make-n-takes.
Tonight, a group of us walked over to Iggy's for dinner. From left to right is: Kelly Acheson, Jennifer Gulch, Aly Schilling, Susan Nygaard, Susie Wood, Leeann Greff, Sharon McNeely, Ann Clemmer, me, Jane Wike, Barb Mullikin, and Dawn Olchefske. They are great friends and a group of women I admire and respect so much! It was so much fun to hang out with them this evening.
The front entrance to the hotel.
The whole hotel has been taken over just by us! We are about ready to have our card swap and business share, so I've got to go get my pajamas on! I'll post pictures of our swap soon!
When we showed up for our business share last night, we each got a nice little journal, made from My Digital Studio, to record any notes in that we'd like to take. I love the teacups on my journal!
We had quite a few cakes to choose from for our snacking pleasure! This is just one table of cakes - there were several tables of cakes to choose from!
This is me and Dawn Olchefske in our PJs just waiting for the meeting to start!
This is Lisa Freeman, posing with the cakes! Don't they look delicious? I finally decided on German Chocolate......and it was GOOD!
One thing that Stampin' Up! always does that I really enjoy is the flavored water. Those are strawberries floating in the water and it gives it such a nice, light fruity flavor. Very refreshing!
The demonstrators are all starting to gather for our business share.
This is Janet Wakeland sharing a business tip with us!
This is Shelli Gardner. She is letting us know how much she appreciates each one of us - and we appreciate her!
Shelli's 50th birthday is in October, so Janet Wakeland organized a surprise for Shelli! Everyone made a birthday card for her. Janet also made a My Digital Studio book that is called "50 Reasons Why We Love Shelli." It was fun to enter our reasons in the book and Shelli was very moved by the cards and the book!
After the business share, we all lined up to engage in our card swap. Here are some of the gals lining up for the big event! This is something we all look forward to with great anticipation. It is so much fun to receive 125 card swaps!
I am NOT even going to ask my friend Judy Garza what she is doing in this picture! Actually, her PJs are a crossword puzzle! People were looking for places where they could enter their names with a Sharpie! We had fun with this one!
My pillow gift tonight is a HUGE popcorn bowl with candy bars, Fiji water, and a program pamphlet for The Little Mermaid! There is also a cute card inside this popcorn box that announces that we are being treated to the Tuacahn Outdoor Amphitheater tomorrow night! I have never been there, but I've heard it's phenomenal, so I am looking forward to a new adventure! I've had an incredibly fun day today.....and tomorrow, even more fun to come! I'll keep you posted!
