Sydney Regional Training Day

This was a little wearable brooch that I made for each of my group.  Just in case anyone got lost!

Yesterday we enjoyed a full day of Stampin' Up! fun at the Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.   This year was a bit smaller in numbers than I remember but then again in those massive halls it's easy to feel a bit dwarfed! 

We were treated to some wonderful craft presentations and workshop wows by demonstrators and staff.  As always I came away with a lot of new ideas and was inspired to try some projects with our new fabric line and Big Shot dies.   

One presentation that really stood out was about the creative process involved in designing a card or craft project.  The projects used our stamps to create a scene and the first example was a Christmas setting looking through a window into a house.  It was lovely with the family dressing the Christmas tree (Welcome Christmas set), decorations hanging from the ceiling and the roof with a big wreath over the top.   I wish I'd taken a photograph of the finished card!  But the main thing I took away from the presentation was about looking at our stamps in a different way - using them to create a picture.  Sketching a design beforehand is rarely something I do.  I usually have a stamp set, colour scheme or technique as my starting point and jump right in!   I might try some preliminary sketches to see if I can view my products from a whole other perspective.

I would also like to mention a big thank you to Jenny H for bringing her donation of cards for the troops with her.  We did the handover after lunch and had a nice catch up chat!  It's lovely to connect with other demos at these events and continue to build our friendships.  And of course, this year I had an extra treat having both my downlines, Tracy & Irene and 6 of my gorgeous customer friends along for the fun.  That's the first time I've been able to take a group with me and it was lovely!

Anyway, enough chatter.   Here's some pics!  All images are copyright to Stampin' Up!

Here we all are, very happy to be stamping and crafting all day!

At the table, BEFORE we got it all messy with our make n takes

Me & Susie checking out our swaps

Gloria offers tips on how to put this card together......it's all about the glue & where NOT to put it!

Michelle is in her element

Tracy won the first door prize of the day

Could you give us a bigger smile Susie?!  It's all about the glitter - FREE champagne glass.  No wonder she's grinning.

The swap board

More swaps

Susie's swap is a memory game.  How adorable is that! Check out her blog here.

A close up of the flower on the top of the box - I love it!

Tracy made these pinwheels as little party favours

How cute!

Irene used the Top Note to make these lolly bags - and put lollies in too!

This is Avril's swap.   She's layered stamped images from Autumn Days, Upsy Daisy, Pocket Silhouettes, Clearly for You & Curvy Verses.  Doesn't it look amazing?  It reminds me of a cottage garden. And she had a variety of colours for people to choose from too.

My swap - it had a freddo frog inside - emergency chocolate is always handy!  But crazy me, I didn't keep one for myself!!

I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed ourselves, from the moment everyone arrived at my house to car pool. Thanks Michelle & Tracy for being our able chauffeurs.  

One last word, if anyone has any spare lunch boxes that they don't want - or cutlery, Wendy will gladly take them off your hands!!

Have a great week!

Karen