Hi Everyone!

Well, boy has it been a long time! Did you wonder where I was? 

No, of course not! Those of you who came to my team's totally awesome New Catalogue Parties at the start of July know that first week or so in July were terrifically busy, and those of you who follow my Facebook page will have seen some of the photos from our amazing, exciting, wonderful three week trip to the US, thanks to the generousity of a truly special company called Stampin' Up!

If you've only recently found me, you might be wondering what this trip was all about?

Every year, Stampin' Up! Demonstrators can work towards a benchmark, acquiring points for sales and team leadership, and anyone reaching the benchmark (54,000 points) qualifies for the Annual Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip (or Grand Vacation). This year's trip was very popular with lots of lovely ladies working hard to achieve it. Why?

Because Stampin' Up! took us, and our guest to Salt Lake City, Utah, USA so we could opt to attend the SU! 25th Anniversary Convention in Salt Lake City and then spend 6 days being totally spoilt at a gorgeous mountain resort at Deer Valley, outside Salt Lake City. Even better - it's summer over there!!!

Hubby and I added on a few more days so we could check out the lights of Vegas and see what all the fuss is about, and we also did a three day camping trip to some very well known canyons.  It sure was a Grand Vacation!

I have tonnes of photos to share with you, but I might just pop them over in the albums on the right hand side, so they don't fill every blog post for the next six weeks!  But here's one to get you started.

Salt Lake City really turned it on for us, everywhere you looked there were signs and banners welcoming the Stampin' Up! Demonstrators to the city for the 25th Anniversary "Be The Difference" Convention.

Here's hubby picking up a map outside the City Creek Centre, so we could find the foodcourt a couple of hours after we arrived in Salt Lake City.  By the way, this photo was taken around 7.30pm - see how sunny it was!!

I've got lots of catching up to do. My gorgeous new Craftroom is almost finished - just a little more electrical work to do and then I need to fill some shelves and start holding some classes in there! The space is so light and bright and SPACIOUS!!

I've got some new classes planned, as well as Kathryn's Craft Room Christening - which I am combining with a Daffodil Day Garden Party.  Be sure to check out my updated Classes and Events Page as well as my Special Events page, and book yourself in.

We've got a couple of big craft shows coming up later this year, as well as our regular days at Chirnside Park Shopping Centre on the casual kiosk - the next of those is just next Saturday 17th August, so be sure to pop in and say "Hi".

I'll be running some product shares from the new Annual Catalogue, and will put the details up shortly. I already have some takers for shares, so if you are keen to get small samples of ribbon and paper, be sure to check it out earlier rather than later so you don't miss out.

Tony & I are definitely planning on being on the next Grand Vacation - a Caribbean Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, so I am planning to have a very busy Stampin' Up! year with lots of fun creative events packed into it.

If you've ever considered joining the Stampin' Up! family, or hosting a fun, free party, or attending a class - NOW'S THE TIME!!

JUMP ON BOARD!

Well, I've got albums to create, class schedules to lock in and shelves to stack in my new room! So, hope to see you soon with ink on your fingers!

Kathryn Ruddick

Senior Manager

Aussie Inkpressionists Stampin' Up! Team

Yarra Valley Papercrafters.