.

This is going to be a long post so make sure you are comfortable before we start.

Well what a fabulous weekend we all had. Stampin’ Up! sure know how to spoil a girl. Convention this year was in Sydney at Darling Harbour, what a spectacular venue. We flew down on Thursday and began bumping into other demonstrators at the airport. After checking in to our hotel we had a great catch up and swap with the lovely Kim Gavarra and her team of demonstrators, thanks Kim I had a ball. After heading to the harbour for a great steak dinner it was a reasonably early night for us so as to be up bright and early for check in at 7.00am.

BUT!!!! This was not to be - at half past midnight the fire alarm in our builidng went off and we all had to troop downstairs in our pj’s to stand on the street for an hour to be told there was an electrical fault in the alarm system. So back to bed we went – for a little while…….

At 3.00am guess what – that alarm went off again – NOT HAPPY JANE!!!!! So back down to the street we traipsed only to be told after an hour of standing around in the cold again that it was THE SAME ELECTRICAL FAULT!!

Back to bed, it was 4.30 by this stage and we were suppose to be getting up at 6, we did manage to stagger out of bed by 7 and there were a lot of bleary eyes at convention that day.

But it was all worth it. By the time we got there and picked up our convention bags with 2 brand new, not yet released stamp sets inside, it was time to get swapping. I managed to swap 70 cards in under an hour, that’s a record for me, and I got some beautiful swaps back.

This is a picture of my lovely roomies Jean and Leigh, a little bleary eyed but enjoying it all none the less.

Jean and Leigh

This is a quick picture of Shelli Gardner one of the co-founders of Stampin’ Up! demonstrating her fabulous “vintage” style.

Shelli Gardner

Shelli is such a lovely person with a wicked sense of humour and a beautiful smile, she is very charming and very talented.

One highlight of convention for me was meeting my ESAD Secret Sister who has been spoiling me totally these past two months and whose final gift just blew me away. Felicity Fernandez was my secret sister and I am just so lucky to have had her sending me such treasures these past weeks.

Felicity and Me

The second day of convention we had some make and takes using our new stamp sets and some hilarious workshops with the fantastic staff from Stampin’ Up! US, Pam Morgan and Bonnie Thurber, thanks ladies.

That evening it was time to put on our glad rags and head back to the convention centre for the presentation dinner. Here is a picture of our table with Judy, Me, Leigh and Jean.

I was lucky to receive an award for sales and received another fabulous new stamp set, can you tell I was pleased.

I also received a fabulous quilted patchwork bag and lots of goodies from my gorgeous upline Venessa.

Venessa & Me

And managed to catch up wioth and get a picture with my lovely friend Petronela who I’m sure isn’t that much taller than me and must have been wearing very high heels!

Petronela & Me

And suddenly it was all over and it was time to try and pack eveything into your suitcase (which was never going to fit) and work out how much you could reasonably carry on as hand luggage.

I had a fantastic time and would love to thank everyone Imet who made it even more special, there were a few people I didn’t get to catch up with that I wanted to meet but there’s always next year.

I can’t wait to do it all over again in Melbourne (have already booked the hotel). If you would like to be a part of all this fun and join us in Melbourne next year, contact me and I can help you become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, the one thing in my life I will never regret.