I cannot begin to say enough about how much fun I had at my Spring Stamp-Along. 160 of my favorite people in the world joined me for a day filled with fun, stamping inspiration, sharing, games and giveaways. It was a lot of work and took a lot of time to pull together, but I enjoyed every minute of my day. Today I’m excited to share a quick summary of the day – mostly pictures. While this summary will never share the energy of the day, I hope it gives you an idea of how much fun we had.
Brian’s Spring Stamp-Along
When Stampin’ Up! announced that it would be hosting an OnStage Local event in Atlanta this April, I decided to give my stamping friends an additional day of fun by hosting Brian’s Spring Stamp-Along. I organized it the same way Pam Morris (my upline) and I have organized our World Card Making Day events in the past – presentations, games, a little business talk and lots of fun.
My event was hosted in a pair of ballrooms at the Cobb Galleria Centre. What a great venue! Stampin’ Up!’s event was in the same facility, so everyone only had to arrive one day early to get in on all the fun. π In this picture, I’m about to open the doors to welcome everyone to the day:
And, boy, did they ever pour into the room! Here’s a partial shot of the room once they were all seated – some sat in groups to reconnect with old friends, while others made new friends. As the moderator of the event, I don’t get to sit at one of the tables, but I could see that they were all having fun. Lots of my InKing Royalty team members are in the Atlanta area, while others traveled to Atlanta for the event. What fun! Robin, Deb, Carole and Bonnie (from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Georgia and Nebraska, respectively) sat at one of the tables in the front. I always “require” the Royals to be awesome, so Carole made this sign for their table that says, “Wake up and be awesome!” Love it!The day started with an icebreaker so that everyone in the room could get to know one another – I asked each person to make an over-the-top tacky name tag. We held a parade so folks could show off their tags and meet one another. And, boy, were these tags over-the-top?! There were blinking lights, feathers and lots of glitter. Does it get any tackier than glitter? π Here are the finalists from the contest – the audience selected Carol as the winner of the parade – just look at those name tags:Because Mom was able to join us at the event (she always has a great time), I presented her with a most gracious gift – lightly used 2016-2018 In Color pads, refills and markers. <3
Presentations
We had several great presentations centered around a “We’re Having a Party!” theme. My expert presenters shares some amazing projects for throwing incredible parties. They showed some projects they designed especially for this event and wow’d the group with their creativity and humor.
We kicked off the morning with party invitations. Julie DiMatteo (The Paper Pixie), one of my InKing Royalty team members, shared some out-of-this-world invitation ideas – everything from a simple card to a 3-D invitation that will leave your party guest dazed. She covered invitations to bridal showers, weddings, birthday parties and slumber parties. Wow! Wow! Wow!Once the party invitations were sent out, Candy Ford (Stamp Candy), also one of my InKing Royalty team members, shared some over-the-top ideas for party favors and decorations. Like Julie, Candy took us on an adventure with fun ideas for wedding showers, baby showers, kids’ birthdays, graduations and “over-the-hill” birthday parties. She shared a treasure-trove of ideas to make any party special.
Once the party is over, we all need some great thank you notes, right? Amy Koenders (Stamp with Amy K) shared some great ideas for spectacular thank you notes. She shared super-simple, moderately layered and over-the-top projects for a variety of occasions. It’s always fun to hear how someone else approaches card making:
We had another presenter, who almost couldn’t make it. My friend Jen Campbell was in Atlanta for the Stampin’ Up! event – she’s a concept artist for the company and has created some amazing projects you are already familiar with (e.g., the front cover of the 2018 Occasions Catalog and the spread of projects for the Petal Palette suite). Jen also designed Endless Wishes, Endless Birthday Wishes and Endless Thanks. Jen spoke about her job (which is a dream job for most of the people in the room) and took questions. What fun!
Card Swap
It wouldn’t be a Stampin’ Up! event without an awesome card swap. I already shared two project from the swap with you – you can see my swap here and see my Mom’s swap here. I’m so grateful for the kind words you shared about Mom’s gorgeous card – she is always so excited to hear from you.
Here’s the line for the swap – is there anything more exciting than a card swap?:Before the event, we collected one of each swap card to showcase on the display boards. Here’s a look at all the swaps – I know you can’t see each and every one, but they are all amazing! I love that there is such a great variety of cards and projects from demonstrators at all levels – some have been active for 15 years, while others joined this year.
Games & Giveaways
The day was also filled with fun games. For the after-lunch game, I printed a product list along with some prices and distributed to the tables. Working as teams with their table mates, they worked diligently to place the prices with the corresponding products. It was fun to see just how familiar they were with the products we work with every day. Look how serious they were with the fun game: Along with random drawing throughout the day, winners were treated to prizes from my prize table – each paper bag contained an amazing gift. While most were Stampin’ Up! products, I also gave away tea (I’m obsessed with Tazo Glazed Lemon Loaf tea) and several bins donated by my 31 Bags consultant, Erin Wheeler (31 Bags). Judy Newsome was one of the winners of a scrap bin:
The Rest of the Weekend
Friday night, several of my team members and I attended CentreStage, a leadership event hosted by Stampin’ Up!. The theme was 1988 – in honor of Stampin’ Up!’s 30th year in business. Here I am standing in line with Julie DiMatteo:
And Candy Ford joined us inside:Before CenterStage, I filmed a video for Stampin’ Up! that aired at all CenterStage events across the world. What a thrill! I received “selfies” from Australia, England, Germany, Canada and all over the U.S. while people were watching my video. I thought it would be a great opportunity to grab a “selfie” of my own:On Saturday, we were introduced to the 2018 Annual Catalog and the new In Colors – what fun! I can’t wait to share these new products with you over the coming weeks, months and years!
What an incredible weekend! I love any and every opportunity to hang out with my stamping friends and super-awesome team members. So glad this event with in Atlanta so I could be a gracious host. <3
Thanks for stopping by today!
Brian
Now that demonstrators have seen Stampin’ Up!’s 2018 Annual Catalog, the list of retiring items is available to everyone. These items will no longer be sold after this catalog period ends on May 31 OR while supplies last. Yikes! In addition, bundled pricing on all bundles (even those where the stamp set and coordinating punch/die) will retire on May 31. Click on the image above to review all of the retiring items in my online store.
For a list of all of the items retiring from Stampin’ Up!’s 2018 Occasions Catalog, CLICK HERE. For a list of all of the items retiring from Stampin’ Up!’s 2017 Annual Catalog, CLICK HERE.
Fantastic, Brian!!
Thanks, Judy! Wish you could have joined us. <3
Looks like a fabulous time Brian! Thanks for sharing all your great photos. A 1988 party…I would have dressed as a very pregnant lady… I was pregnant with my 10 lb. 1 1/2 oz. oldest son in 1988!!! π
Wow, Dawn! We had a great time – I’m happy to share. <3
What a beautiful day! Fabulous photos and lots of fun samples! Love your MTV shirt!
Thanks, Mary! It was a delightful day – had so much fun. <3
Wow……looks fabulous as always! You do know how to throw a party Mr. K!
π Thanks, Linda! It was super-fun. <3
What a great time for everyone that attended! So glad you shared the photos and events of the day with all of us. Thanks Brian, you are amazing.
Awww…thanks, Grace! We had lots of fun – I’m so excited to share this day with so many. It’s always amazing because of the people who come.
How could you not have fun with those fun-loving, crafty people?? Thanks for sharing these photos. I know it takes a LOT of planning and effort from many people to pull off a successful event for that many people! Great job to you and your team!
It does take a lot of work, but it’s worth every bit of it. Thanks, HJ! <3
I missed all the fun! Hopefully, I will be able to get in on the action in Orlando! So glad your mom made it!
π Thanks, Rachael! <3
Love this, thanks for sharing!
<3 Thanks, Traci!
Thanks for sharing this with us. I almost feel like I was there! It looks like everyone had a great time and why wouldn’t they with such a perfect host. Your team is amazing. Then for the next day which was really amazing also. Congrats! Now, I am going to have to find some of that tea!
Oh, and my swap card is in the mail including a little extra goodie for hosting the swap. Thank you Brian for all you do!
Yay! Thanks, Chris! It was a wonderful day – so happy to share it with so many. Can’t wait to see your swap! <3
Great post Brian. Iβm so glad there arenβt pictures of the sponge toss, lol
<3 You were amazing!
What an amazing event! You are the event planning extraordinaire and host. ?
π Thanks, Rene! It really was great fun. I enjoyed spending the day with this group of friends.
I enjoyed every photo and your captions. What a blast! I love tea so Iβm going to have to give your Tazo Glazed Lemon Loaf tea a try, sounds delish! The tag game must have been truly over the top. The winners tags were so fun and they looked so proud. The swap board looks amazing, what a talented group.
My upline Julianne Orsa, told me your presentation was awesome, she wished we could have seen it at OnStage. Great job Brian!
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much, Katrina! All-in-all it was a great weekend! The tea is wonderful! Please thank Julianne for me – I had fun pulling that video together. <3
Awwwwww, how fun You all had , I sure missed being there ,one day Iβll surprise you ?, thank for sharing all the fun, Iβm still smiling,
Hugs Frenchie β₯οΈ
Thanks, Frenchie! <3 I would have loved for you to join us, but I understand. I'll look forward to seeing you in Orlando. <3
Oh boy ….what a fun time !
Thank you for sharing and how exciting all this is !
The pictures are too cute and love those outfits and just look at those outlandish name tags !! What a HOOT !!
SUCH FUN !!!
You are right, Sonny – such fun! Thanks so much. Maybe one day I’ll get you to Atlanta… <3
Looks like another great time was had by all! And that board of swaps? Amazing! And Mary King did an awesome job on her swap- the infinity shot was da bomb! Way to go, Mom!
π Thanks, Cindie! It was a fun time. I always love the swaps at these events – and Mom did a good job. π
What a great event, Brian! It really looks like a *great* time was had by all. I’m sure that your humor, warmth, creativity, and leadership made your event all the more enjoyable.
Thanks so much for your sweet comments, El! It was a great day. I had a blast! <3
All I can say is “WOW” … what an awesome event!
π Thanks, Suzie! I’m always so happy when it comes together. Happy and wiped out, but still happy. <3
What a great event! The presentations were amazing, as were the swaps! You all did such a wonderful job π
Thanks, Nina! I was so happy to meet you and am so glad you were able to participate in the event. Much love to you! <3