Convention 2011 Melbourne

 Five Fabulous days in Melbourne... Stampin up certainly know how to entertain, educate and reward their demonstrators!
 I brought home far more than I ever expected.

All 450 plus demonstrators received stampsets, cardkits, badges, pens, and gifts (that I can't show you yet as they are products from the new catalogue that doesn't come out until September).

Lucky I packed light on the way down otherwise I'd have had to pay extra on the way home.

Where to start?

Day one:

I flew down with my room mate Denielle (she picked me up at the unearthly hour of 3am for our 6am flight), we had breakfast, did a bit of shopping, caught a tram ride around the city, strolled the gardens and visited the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Melbourne museum.

 Day Two:

On the first day of the actual convention we splurged on Memento Mall gifts with the Tote bag everyone had to have, the shopping bags, the book marks, more pens ... and a Convention theme stamp!

 The Theme of Convention 2011 was

"Love what you do, Share what you love."

The main stage was decorated with massive punched cardstock props, wood blocks and a tag with the

 share what you love theme.

When you first arrive at Convention, there is this hum of voices in the entrance hall ... the buzz of women swapping card samples with the main purpose being: meeting up with other demos and making new friends.

This year the swaps were exceptional: not just cards but 3D gifts, jewellery, embellishments and brooches. 

Some of them are dropped in a basket and then pinned on display boards as a wealth of shared ideas and technique samples.

Denielle and I got to meet Shelli and have a private chat, she is one of the warmest and most approachable CEOs I have ever met.

 Shelli demonstrated a number of gorgeous ideas and techniques up on the main stage and we get to see every step of the process on the big screen, stuff ups and sneak peeks of new not-yet-launched products included.

Here's a snapshot of the hostess gift Shelli made up on stage.

Her style is very much vintage and she loves embossing, bling, butterflies and distressing her embellishments and papers.

Here is Denielle, Ellen and I having a good giggle and soaking up the atmosphere.

Each day at lunch we found the dining hall and sat with friends to eat and plan our evening entertainments.

And, on Saturday night we dressed up for a formal dinner at the Convention venue.

Denielle, Maree, Charmayne and Me.

More to enjoy tomorrow!

Nerida