Workshop of a Lifetime with Shelli and Sara

It was the most incredible day ever since signing up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (since Dec '09) and I'm sure nothing else will top this day!
I wasn't able to clean my house the days before because my dog was sprayed by a skunk, so instead I was busy fabreezing the house and washing the dog every second day with whatever remedy I found thru google. On March 4, I took the day off work to madly clean the house in the morning until at 4:30pm, Stampin' Up! CEO, Shelli Gardner and Sara Douglass's giant rental SUV pulled up on my drive way in Vancouver.

I was able to invite Shelli and Sara over earlier so that we can have a bit of chitchat before the opportunity meeting and workshop started. During my alone time with Shelli and Sara, I was offered a lot of great advice on growing my business and expanding my network. They were amazing and encouraging in every way that a new demonstrator would ever need. I felt so flattered when they complimented the work I had laid out around the living room...wow! to be complimented by the Great One was...surreal! AND...They didn't even mind the skunk-smelling dog wandering around us the whole time!

At 6pm, our opportunity meeting started with a few potential recruits of mine and my downlines' as attendees. Shelli and Sara shared their emotional stories about their start with Stampin' Up! and we were able to related and connect with them and shared our stories in return.

The 1-hour meeting went by quickly and before you know it, I had to kick my demonstrators out so that we can start the workshop at 7:30. It was such for rush for everyone! and I was beginning to worry about Shelli and Sara because they've been here since 4:30! They must be exhausted! Especially when they had to travel all the way from Williams Lake that morning from Diannae Galloway's workshop.

As people started filling up my living room, Sara had my guests start on their first make n' take which was a simple tag for a pen. What a great idea, right?! because everyone needs a pen when they got a long wish-list to complete! Sara was absolutely amazed at how little she needed to aid my guests with the make n' take. They were all natural stampers!

It was my first time to be a hostess since becoming a demonstrator. It was also the first workshop that I ever got to sit-back, relax and watch. But how could I relax when the CEO and co-founder is at my home?! I was so excited, better yet I was SUPER excited. And not only did I have the privilege to be my own hostess, I got hostess gifts from Shelli! She made this gorgeous vintage favor box stuffed with a spool of satin ribbon. Goodies!!

Shelli demo-ed a technique that is useful to people with scrap pieces...who doesn't have scraps? She pieced strips of DS paper and ran it thru the BigShot to die cut into a fancy butterfly. Simple and economic! Don't waste those scraps anymore and save the Earth!

Our final make n' take is so elegant yet it still yelled "style". We used the Groom Specialty Paper, Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Note Cards, and the FREE sale-a-bration set Vintage Labels

It was such a fun workshop that I wish it hadn't end so quickly. I tried to absorb and enjoy every second of the evening and to help preserve my memory of every moment, I had my dad help me video-record the whole workshop. My brother helped capture special moments of the night with his camera and my mom had been the sweetest by running in and out of the living room to refresh our goodies for our tummies. I'd like to thank them all for being so awesome!

By the time most of my guests were gone, Shelli and Sara looked totally exhausted. They were so quick at packing up and were so sweet to offer help in cleaning. I wanted to keep them around longer, but I couldn't let that happen because they still got a long trip ahead of them and I don't think they had any more energy left. So I finished the cleaning, took some more pictures with them, exchanged our last words and said good-bye. The last message from Shelli to me was "The day you walk across the stage for your Rising Star, I will remember this day".

I look forward to that day and will work so incredibly hard to be on that stage!! Thank you Shelli and Sara for an unforgettable day!

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