Part 1 America
With the passing of the old year and the start of the new it’s a great time to review and reflect. Wow! What a fab life I have and how much my crafting forms a big part of that fun. I’m a little late but here’s my January New Year round up … well it’s only just Feb! Come back over the next few days to see what else I got up to.
November flew by and included an amazing trip to Orlando, Florida all built around attending the Stampin ‘ Up! 30th Birthday Crafting Convention. Hooking up with old friends and making many new ones how fabulous that the simple art of crafting can bring people together so easily in perfect harmony and understanding. If only all world leaders were crafters !
A trip to the Big Apple for the Stampin’ Up! 30th Birthday bash and crafting spectacular.
We started with Family Fun in Florida.
My husband , John, came with me to America. Our daughter Jen and her fiancé Luke went out a week before us and timed their American road trip so they could join us for a week in the theme parks.
As a family we ran around the big parks of Florida hoping on and off rides with much squealing and giggling, yes the boys too! We ate enormous sticky Cinnabon buns washed down with gallons of coffee, watched late night laser shows, fireworks and stayed in the parks after dark for Halloween terror nights! We even squeezed into our busy schedule a basketball league match Florida Orlando Magics versus the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Park time over, Jen and Luke stayed on to keep John amused while I met up with my crafty mates for the Stampin’ Up! event.
The Brits are here in case you hadn’t noticed.
What fun I had. The 30th Birthday bash is an amazing event with over 6000 Stampin’ Up! team members all gathered at The Orange County Convention centre in Orlando, Florida for a few days of inspiring crafty brilliance. Plenty of fellowship and fun along with inspirational displays of craft work and lots of hands on crafting. We danced the congo with the CEO and playing daft games and ate cookies in the evening with fellow crafters. We celebrated the achievements of others, got a first look at the new 2019 catalogue and won prizes and giveaways galore.
Swapping and making connections.
” Swapping” happens at many Stampin’ Up! events. We all design one or two lovely things and make a quantity of them. We take them to events and swap them for something someone else has made taking home lots of different items all with stories attached. A great way to break the ice and introduce yourself and get talking about your crafting too. ” Are you swapping?” has been the fantastic first words to many a great conversation and some super friendships too. As this was a big event I made 150 note pads with dancing lady covers and over 200 sets of varnished paper beads. Needless to say I came home with a case full of inspiring cards, gifts and more along with the names and contact details of some new friends.
Culture and Romance.
Convention over Jen and Luke returned to London. Hubby and I flew across to New York for a touch of culture and romance. John lived his childhood dream as we watched Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera house and we visited art galleries and saw landmarks from all the films. Finishing our trip flying out during one of the worst blizzards of snow New York had experienced since the 1920’s. America certainly threw a lot at us. What a trip and all because I’m a crafter with Stampin’ Up!
our ” Sleepless in Seattle” moment out on the top terrace.