Jennifer Schaerer
I spent the better part of yesterday thinking back on my first year here at Paper Crafts (I know! It’s been a YEAR!), and one of the most satisfying parts of being part of this community is the enthusiasm and support for this oh-so-creative hobby of paper crafting.
And last week my cup, um, overfloweth with enthusiasm when I got to attend the annual convention for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. Ever seen clips from a Hannah Montana concert? Yeah, it was sorta like that, but with grown women in the audience.
Before the tidal wave of energy arrived
With a theme of Inspire. Create. Share. and some vibrant colors and set design to go with it, there was plenty of all three to go around. The most exciting part was hearing about the new design software being released Fall 2009: My Digital Studio. Let me tell you, this is one powerful and versatile tool, my friends. Keep an eye out for more information when the product is released.
Stampin’ Up! also unveiled its partnership with Build-A-Bear, releasing dies, designer paper and stamp sets that delightfully capture the charm of these furry do-it-yourself critters in paper crafted form.
Kelly Smith, Brittany Beattie, me, Megan Hoeppner and Brenda Peterson “sharing” the fun!
After the general session broke for lunch, we (Kelly Smith, Brenda Peterson, plus our Creating Keepsakes peeps Megan Hoeppner and Brittany Beattie rounded our group) wandered through the lunchroom to see the project displays. I somehow managed to pick up my jaw from the floor and dig out my camera to start manically snapping photos of each color-themed section.
Until my battery died. And I’m not even kidding you.
But I was able to capture a good dozen shots, and I’m here to share the wealth. Get set to scroll through some catchy color combinations and lovely layering ideas. Ready? Go!
The lunch area was packed with hundreds of enthusiastic demonstrators refueling for two more days of Stampin’ Up! fun, so we gave a big inspired sigh and went back to our magazine world for the rest of the day.
Looking forward to another year as enjoyable as the past one,
Jennifer
P.S. I’d love to hear what aspect of paper crafting makes your cup overfloweth with enthusiasm. Leave a comment and I’ll pick two winners to each receive a Stampin’ Up! stamp set. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Friday, August 14.
This might be obvious, but I love the paper itself! I’m so excited to see new designs and color combinations like the ones you showed. I like the use of brown — with turquoise, with pink, with red — really pops!
I think the thing I love the most about paper crafting, especially card making, is the creation process. I love taking out a bunch of paper, ribbons, stamps and accessories and figuring out the way I want to put them all together!
My cup overfloweth with enthusiasm when I have the perfect idea for someone. It is so much fun to figure out how to create what I’m sure that person will love, get a kick out of, or be comforted by. Each person is different and has different likes and dislikes, so coming up with that “perfect” idea is exciting.
For me, it’s when I’m surrounded by others who love to craft just as much as I do. Their ideas and creativity inspire me and help me to let go of all the rules of my day to day life and let go and just get creative. Thanks for sharing the photos. As a former SU! demonstrator I remember how fantastic the conventions are. Glad to see they’re keeping it up.
Cherishing memories and giving the gift of memories.
Stamping is wonderful because it enables me to create beautiful things even though I can’t draw. I love visiting different blogs for inspiration and then creating personalized cards for friends. It is just relaxing for me even to think about stamps and designs and colors.
I love having an idea and seeing it come together. I get excited by the blogs I read and the creativity that constantly amazes me. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I think I am a magazine addict. No kidding! I once tried to stop my subscription to Paper Crafts magazine and then proceeded to go to the public library every week in an attempt to check out the latest issue (which, of course was ALWAYS out!). Nevertheless, after taking home piles of back issues and filing away color photocopies of my favorite project ideas, I decided that Papercrafting was on the must have list….and I guess now everyone knows my addiction to the whole entire papercrafting industry – especially the mailman!
I know….admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming an addiction – but what if you don’t want to overcome this addiction!!!
In all seriousness, thanks for all of your inspiration! I truly love your magazine!
Well for what I love most is how people react when I give my creation away. This is what inspires me to want to keepgoing back for more. Love all your photos from SU. Thanks!
I just love giving a card that I have created. It’s giving a little piece of me. KWIM?
Sharing a card with friend or family & seeing the smile start…that’s when my cup runneth over..with happiness!!!!!
Paper, paper, paper!!!!! I just love paper. Well I love stamps and ink too, but you’ve gotta have paper to stamp on, so it’s 1st. LOL. Thanks for the chance to win.
Looks like lots of fun. Lots of card ideas in those pictures.
The SU convention is unbelievably inspiring, I must agree! New stamps, idea books, and awesome magazines provide lots of ideas!
OMGosh! A free stamp set! The SU convention is packed with great new ideas for the new year. It gets you all inspired for a new year to create and share with your customers. I wouldn’t miss it for the world! You were so very lucky to attend. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
It looks like Convention was amazing as always. I wasn’t able to attend this year, but I won’t be missing it next year. I love that stamping always, always relaxes me, even if i’m prepping for a huge workshop or just stamping with my friends. I love to be creative and Stampin’ Up! helps me with that, especially since I can’t sew to save my life.
I’m always so excited when I get a new tool… tool’s these days make crafting so easy that those that say they aren’t creative, actually feel like they are and that paper crafting is something we can all do!
The best part is getting together once a month with all my friends and making beautiful cards.
The convention was a fabulous opportunity to connect with friends and get new business and creative ideas! I’ve attended 18 conventions!!!
I just love the whole process of creating something. It is so much better to make a gift and spend time on it then just picking something up in the store.
It’s always so fun to get together with others when I stamp and scrapbook. It like being a little kid all over again. We share our ideas with each other, use each others new tools and gadgets for stamping and scrapbooking, and ooh and aah about what each other has created. Stampin’ Up! has such a wonderful array of products for every level of stamper/scrapbooker. Their new catalog is one of the best they have had in recent years!
It was an incredible event. There were so many things I wanted to remember, and can’t. Just looking at your photos brings some of them back. Glad you got to see Stampin’ Up at it’s finest.
I love the “mental escape” of the process and the reward of having something I can hold and then share when I am done..
What REALLY gets me going? Well, of course the annual Stampin’ UP! convention! I had been a diehard stamper for about 5 or 6 years before my friend convinced me that I HAD to go to convention. In order to do that, I had to be a demonstrator. Hmmm…what to do??? I had no interest in selling stamps…I just wanted to see what they did at convention! But, the curiosity factor was too much for me so I joined and man, did I ever love that convention experience!!! That was in 2002….after sitting in the darkened “Main Stage” area watching the presentations and the crazy excited stampers cheering and loving each project more than the one before, I decided that I never wanted to miss another convention. So here I am, home from my 8th convention (not to mention many other Stampin’ UP! events) still excited about the new catalogue.
But what got me started and what keeps me going? The thrill of watching a beautiful card spring forth from nothing more than stamps, ink and paper! No matter how long I stamp, I still get excited when a project comes together into a beautiful card…the magic of stamping! What keeps me going as a demonstrator (in addition to conventions, of course) is watching the creative experience being reborn when a new stamper gets her (or his!) wings….seeing them experience that same thrill of creating something beautiful with nothing more than stamps, ink and paper. I love seeing the look on their faces when that happens and that rekindles my love of stamping every single time!
Thanks for the beautiful photos of convention…it was exciting being there with not hundreds but thousands of other excited stampers and yes, SU really does know how to rock the place! You should have been there last year for the 20 year anniversary when we were 7000 strong! Jan Hoyt http://www.inkerzaway.blogspot.com
USUALLY, when you’re stamping a card and you MESS UP, you can TURN IT OVER!
:):) Not having to comletely start over each time I make a mistake makes paper crafting SO MUCH fun and EASY! Just one reason, I fell in love with stamping and became an SU Demonstrator!
I get excited when a card I made ends up on a display board at convention and then is featured in a photo on the Paper Crafts Blog! I love getting inspired by convention and sharing my inspirations with others!
Plain and simple, I love creating cards and other neat items with my stamps, inks, & papers. My second favourite part of stamping is being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator. It is through Stampin’ Up! that I have the most wonderful friends – both demos and customers! I am amazed at how these ladies have enriched my life and I hope that I have done the same for them.
Convention was a blast this year. It is nice to read your convention report on the Paper Crafts blog today.
I love being able to create a work of art in just a few minutes and then sharing them with friends and family.
Glad you got to partake in the Stampin’ Up! Convention frenzy!
Hopefully you will get to join us again next year as they seem to get better each year. I have attended 13 in a row and I am already making plans to attend next year! Thanks for sharing the photos of the gorgeous displays, I even recognized some of my work from projects I have submitted through contest this past year. It is always fun to see those up on display (i.e. third photo, “Family” 12×12 page with b/w photo of 2 kids with one upside down) . Hope you get to join us for another Stampin’ Up! event in the future!
I have been a SU! demonstrator for 5 years! All five of the conventions I have been to are exactly the same! The same excitement, the same wonderful ideas, and of coarse the friendships. I love SU! and I am what they call a “LIFER”!
Nothing makes me more excited than sharing something I either learned, found or made…..and then that someone looks at me and just can’t believe it is something they can also do!
Thanks for sharing!
Cindy
What makes my cup overfloweth?
Sharing what I’ve made. Nothing makes me happier to hear a “thank you for the beautiful card” or just a simple “thanks for thinking of me”.
I like to think that papercrafters are the keepers of a dying art…sending handwritten and handmade cards. In the age of email, texting, blackberries, etc, it is so easy to just send an electronic “hi” to your friends. But, when you take the time to hand make a card and write a handwritten letter, it makes all the difference. It shows someone you value them as a person enough to take time out of your day to tell them they matter.
I also love sharing my time and making papercrafts with friends. Talking, laughing, giggling, sharing our lives. Taking time out of our busy schedules as wives, mothers, employees, bosses, sisters, to just…be. Being ourselves, letting our creative juices go, and creating projects to share with others.
It’s almost like papercrafting is a “Pay it Forward” activity. You have fun and enjoying doing the crafting, and in turn, you make someone else’s day brighter by sharing that creation. Who knows, you may cause that person to love papercrafting, and they end up passing on their happiness to others.
I also love watching my daughter grow up and watch her start to fall in love with arts and crafts. She’s only 15 months old, but she already knows how to make her own mark with a stamp. I can’t wait to create more and more things with her and share that special bond with her.
I just love to share. Share my work, share myself, share time, share laughs, share my love of papercrafting. It makes me smile. It makes my cup overfloweth.
I have so many new friends because of the art of paper crafting. To sit alone in your craft room is wonderful and creative and soothing. To sit with a group of women and stamp is FUN and EXCITING and MOTIVATING. So anyway you do it, my cup overfloweth either way!!
My most enthusiastic paper crafting moments…
when a gal sits down to make a card for her very first time, you know the kind that warn you “you know I am not crafty, I’ll never be able to make this card”….. and then to watch her put the card together, find out how easy it is and get the feeling “hey, I CAN do this!” That moment of realization for a brand new paper crafter is when my cup runneth over and over. Oh yeah!
I’ve always enjoyed colors and variation- mix and match of designs in fabrics, etc. You should see some pix of some of my decorating over the years, some of it makes me cringe. lol
So when I found stamping and especially Stampin’ Up! I was in heaven with the coordinated product they offered. I started full steam and have never looked back.
I love seeing a one dimensional object become 2 and 3D! FANTASTIC! But better than that is creating it IN FRONT of a class and hearing the OOH’S and AAH’S from everyone!!! PURE JOY I tell ya’!!
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Hi Everyone!
I am the type of person who needs a “Creative Outlet”. Unfortuneately, jogging and going to the gym don’t trip my trigger, but paper crafting does! This is my positive energy flow, my mojo, my personality coming out through paper and all the wonderful embellishments made available to me.
May paper crafting live forever!
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You go girl! love your pics of projects!