Before I go into day three, I need to back up about 12 hours and update you on the pajama party last night along with our swap & share event.
We lined up in a string of about 115 people, Winding up and down the hotel halls to swap our creations.

I can’t wait to spend some time to go through each one and look at them more closely!
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Oh my gosh, these ice cream sandwiches were amazing! Salted caramel ice cream with red velvet cookies….yep, amazing.

I love this pic (thanks, Dena!) since we are in our pjs, probably on a sugar high, and reminding me of why I’m still doing this after 14 years. Mary Ellen, Robin, Dena and Susan- you girls are awesome.

Ok, on to Day 3, which began bright and early with our Annual Trip to Kanab, which is Stampin’ Up’s manufacturing facility. All of the employees Look forward to us coming over for the day and wave us in!

We load us 2 big buses for a 2 hour trip filled with lively ‘discussions’ with corporate team. Great time for us to tell them our ideas and feedback!

For the first time ever, they allowed us to take pictures of what happens in the facility to get all of the product to us. It’s so much fun to see how the ink pads are made, how the stamp sets are burned and created and all of the hard work that goes into getting everything we need to stamp ready for us.
See the huge mountain of pool party card stock? After they cut it to size, there are huge bins of large scraps that I know we would never throw out but they do recycle it. I wanted to dive in the bin and save them from certain demise:)

Brandy Cox got a lesson on burning the rubber images, cutting them apart and peeling them out of the molds. She did a proper job and has a good back up plan if her demonstrator gig doesn’t work out lol

My Florida buddy, Lisa Curcio, worked the line assembling stamps in their cases. She wasn’t as fast as her neighbor on the line who had been there 16 years. She was going so fast I couldn’t believe how many she made in just 5 minutes!
They were so generous and gave us many gifts as we walk through the different departments. We are always just happy to be there and gifts aren’t necessary but thank you Stampin’ Up for the extra goodies!

This year they even had 2 cute little make & takes for us, two easy cards with washy tape:

(Since there is usually no professional photography studio in a dimly lit hotel room at these events, so you will have to pardon my iPhone pictures)

Lunchtime was at the facility with
grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken along with potato salad, baked beans and a really nice salad. Then we headed outside to the Rock, a place to get our picture each year. It’s a tradition as long as I earn the trip!

We always stop on the way back at the Kanab Park where the playground is filled with our recycled rubber chips!
I believe that Shelli and Sterling donated the funds to renovate the park in memory of Sterling’s father. It’s really pretty there and I can’t help taking off my shoes and feeling it barefoot!

This picture doesn’t even come close to experiencing the park but the confetti looking stuff in the air is really rubber bits I was throwing around.

Great hanging out with old and new friends like Brandy today!

After a 2 Hour bus ride home and a short nap, a few of us went to a lovely Italian place called Piccolo Mondo’s.

The food was wonderful but lots of laughter was the best part! Chef Alfredo (yes that is his real name) was quite a charmer! Thanks Tami, Mary and Dawn for the entertainment:)

And to top off an amazing day, I came in to my hotel room to find this pretty package!

It’s a pretty corduroy pouch and a brand-new pair of craft scissors!
This was a long one today- if you read all the way to the end, well done!
Tomorrow will be a lazy day of finishing my make and takes and a surprise dinner event! The only clues they have given up is a dress code of ‘cowgirl optional’, pet dander and dust. Hmmm…… Petting zoo? Horses?
I’ll find out tomorrow night!
Linda