Convention Day 2--WOW!

There's so much to share that I don't even quite know where to start, and I'm exhausted, so I will do my best to keep this concise and informative.

The big announcement of today was of a new partnership with a company called Sizzix, which makes a die cutting system that makes slick work of cutting alphabets and all kinds of shapes! Sizzix has a machine on the market and dies already, which I hadn't heard of before today (where have I been?), but SU! is going to be selling an exclusive model with exclusive dies, and let me tell you, they are to die for! There is one that makes these wonderful favor baskets for parties of all kinds, one that makes pennants for holidays and any kind of celebration you can think of, a beautiful script for the holidays, as well as a complete letters set or two that will be coming in a the holiday mini, I think. Shelli introduced this, it's part of the signature line of items she's endorsing, and she was talking so fast and we were all scribbling down stuff so fast, so don't hold me to the alphabet set, but I'm pretty sure there's going to be one called Serif Essentials and another one called Go-Go Boots.

Some photos of the projects she created:





Picture #1: The pennant. Picture #2: Two pennants put together to create a child's birthday party hat, as well as some items on the centerpiece "cake". Picture #3: The adorable and way versatile party favor basket. Picture #4: An adorable Santa that can attach to a paper bag and become a puppet! Picture #5: A luminaria bag, done in seconds with the machine. Picture #6: One page of an adorable felt book for children that teaches lacing up a ladybug.

This system cuts through paper, chipboard, fabric, felt, vinyl. The possibilities are truly endless!

The training piece after lunch was also good, as we were taught by some of the company's most successful demonstrators. Great practical stuff! We had 4-6 projects that we were given all the supplies and instructions for, and that's how we ended the formal portion of the day--by crafting!

Let me back up and share what I had for lunch. I went back with Neelam and Lydia, and a new friend named Bonnie from Kansas to Takashi, and this time I had my own sushi roll called Strawberry Fields. It had escolar, a very mild, raw white fish, thai chili peppers, and strawberries, wrapped in seaweed and sushi rice and topped with toasted slivered almonds! I've only ever had sushi once before, and I wasn't as brave to have raw fish as I was this time. It was a fabulous combination of flavors, and if you ever get to SLC, I highly recommend this dining experience!

The other highlight of the day was watching Linda Hansen demonstrate. This very talented lady works at the corporate office, and she comes up with these amazing projects. I was too enthralled to take a picture, but there are offerings I'm going to be making this fall based on some things she demonstrated, like a class featuring 6 different sized gift holders for Christmas. She also made a great tote out of heavy vinyl that is completely customizeable with SU! Designer Series Paper, ribbon, and such. All the instructions for that are going to be online for convention attendees, which is so great! Coming to convention was a very good investment, and you my customer friends are going to be the recipients of their generosity.

I'm hoping most of you have received your postcard from me about the open houses I'm hosting the next two Saturdays. I did learn, unfortunately, that the catalogs for customers are NOT spiral-bound, but believe me, you'll still enjoy seeing all the cool, new stuff!!

I'm headed home in the morning, since I need a recoup day before a new week starts. I know I'll be missing the closing session, which my upline told me today they gave away incentive trips at last year. So, I may miss winning a free trip to Hawaii, but it's a chance I have to take. Lydia, I'm tellin' you right now: if my name is on the screen, I don't want to know!

One last WOW for the day. I'm standing in line waiting to get into the mainstage area this morning, and out of nowhere this gal walks up to me and says, "Jenn Blum!" I look up and find I'm looking into the eyes of a gal I went to college with 20 years ago, Michelle Yoder Halleen! A total blast from the past, and SU! brought us back in contact again. We spent about an hour catching up at the end of the day. Amazing...

While I've been gone, my dear Bob has been painting our bedroom, so I'm anxious to see it (yes I'll post pictures) and be with my boys again. Convention has been a great experience; I'm glad I came. I hope you've enjoyed reading about it!