Stampin' Up! Convention 2012: Memento Mall

DUDE!!! What a day it has been. I wanted to share with you a little from Memento Mall. You can see so many more pictures over on my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter (@Stampincita) for frequent updates.

My favorite items from Memento Mall were the bags and the Book-a-Workshop Planner. The t-shirt was also nice and I fell in love with the water bottle. Hey downline, I have presents for you! (Want presents? Join my team!)
 ~Cita

As usual, all the product is creatively displayed. SU! can make chapstick look amazing. (Chapstick available in spearmint and vanilla)

I am Winter....chapstick, incentive stamp set, reusable tote bag, Christmas tree ornaments, and mittens.

Set of three adorable Christmas ornaments.

Close-up of incentive stamp set.

Mmmmm...chapstick

Cute mittens, although I don't think they will be too useful where I live.

I guess I could use mittens to decorate my Christmas tree this year.

I love love love this card tree. I think it's beautiful and will be displayed in my living room when I get home.

I am Fall.....card tree, reusable tote bag, and incentive stamp set

This year's Stampin' Up! shirts.

Cafe Latte blouse.. It looks beautiful on the mannequin, but not on me.

~Cita

I am Sping----reusable tote bag, incentive stamp set (this will be available on the supply list soon to demonstrators), erase board magnets, hammer, tape measure, and kleenex

I am summer.....a booking calendar, floral district pens, Wish List pad, ,reusable tote bag, water bottle, incentive stamp set (will also be available on the supply list to demonstrators after convention).

Close-up of the booking calendar and accessories.

Isn't this water bottle awesome? I will be styling!

Stampin Up! Convention 2012: Arrival & Gifts

Ok, so I've already been in SLC for a day, but my roommates arrived this afternoon and brought an even stronger feel for the Stampin' Up Convention. This afternoon, I sent my daughter and husband home on an airplane (I was such a sap about it too), and then picked up three Ladybug Stampers. We took a fun trip to Wal-Mart to stock up on snacks (maybe a little too much), and then exchanged gifts. It's tradition to make gifts for each convention attendee in our group. There's six of us total, but the other two Ladybugs don't arrive until tomorrow. Check out these awesome gifts!

All of our gifts on the bed. A traditional shot.

Bags from Angela.

Surprises from Vickie.

My lanyards. I made these! All by myself. I hope to post more about these lanyards in the future.

The tag on Michele's gift. She always make the greatest tags.

T-shirts from Michele!! She designed the shirt in My Digital Studio. We're wearing these awesome shirts on Thursday. Yay!

So, I was pretty sad when Steve and the Booger left (yes, I even cried), but I'm ready for convention. I've gotten the "we're home" text from Steve. There will be no article on MSNBC tomorrow about a man and his toddler being removed from a Delta flight due to an unruly toddler. :) Knowing they are home safe, I can now be super excited about convention.

Remember to follow me on Twitter for more frequent updates (@Stampincita).

~Cita

Convention 2012 Roadtrip: Day 4

No major traveling today

Daily tractors spotted: 19

Total tractors spotted: 85

The Wasson’s Number One Rule when Traveling with the Booger: Be Flexible

The number two rule: Always expect at least one bad day during the trip

We were reminded of both of these rules today. The first came this morning when Steve asked, “Do you think Thanksgiving Point will be open on a Sunday.”

He had a point. We are in Utah. 

So we looked up the hours, and sure enough, Thanksgiving Point is closed on Sundays, meaning I needed to rework our itinerary. So I changed Thanksgiving Point to tomorrow and decided that we would do Bridal Veil Falls and the Shops at Riverwood. (The Shops at Riverwood are also completely closed on Sundays….thank you Utah). 

We were super excited about Bridal Veil Falls, and stood in awe when we got our first glimpse of the natural beauty. However, the Booger was having none of it today. That little girl was grumpy and uncooperative. She would breakdown over the littlest and most stupidest things (like Steve not giving her the ‘Big Fish Food’ and in reality they were all the same size). The Booger ended up getting a massive time out in the car among other punishment. By the time we got back to the hotel for nap time, Steve and I were at each other’s throats and not wanting to deal with the Booger. Oh, how I longed for the days of babyless vacations……

Then nap time happened, and Steve and I talked, and we got a nice break. God designed babies and toddlers to have nap times to help parents remain sane. I’m convinced of this. 

After naptime, the Booger was the sweetest little angel, and we had an amazing time at the Provo Town Center mall. We rode the carousal (three times!), rode the in-mall choo-choo train, ate tempura ice cream, and played in the indoor toddler playground. It redeemed this morning and reminded us that, even though it’s hard to go on vacation with a toddler, we do make wonderful memories and we do love each other. Plus, we expect at least on bad day on vacations. Today was that day. 

And another positive thing from today! I got to work on swaps! I made five; I still have 30 more to go with two more days until convention.  

~Cita

 

Steve and the Booger feeding the fish at Bridal Veil Falls. This picture was taken moments before the Booger had the meltdown of doom.

Steve and the Booger in the mall Choo-Choo train.

The Provo Town Center's choo-choo train. It takes you on a ride through the mall.

The Booger and me on the carousal. I think this was the third time i was riding. See how happy I am?

Convention 2012 Roadtrip: Day 3

Daily Travel: 191 Miles

Total distance traveled: 559

Daily tractors spotted: 37

Total tractors spotted: 66

Today was a loooonnnggg day, but we finally have made it to Provo, Utah, and will no longer be driving hundreds of miles within one day. 

We decided to spend the morning in Moab, Utah. We spent some time playing around the Moab Valley RV park, where we stayed last night. Then we headed into town to walk around and eat lunch, which we ate at the Moab Diner. After lunch, we took a stroll down the creek walkway that passes through town. Unfortunately, we ran into some drunks, and witnessed quite an ordeal between several of them. I wish I could have put cotton balls in the Booger’s ears to drown out all the nasty things she overheard. 

We then headed north to Green River, where we stopped at a park in the middle of town to let the Booger shake some wiggles out before we tried to enforce the in-the-car nap. The Green River does run through that town, and it actually looked green. (I’m from NM, all of our rivers look brown). I wanted to play CCR’s “Green River” as we left town, but the Booger distracted me. 

We made it passed Price, Utah, all the way to a rest area in the middle of the mountains.  It was my fault that we had to stop as I could no longer contain all the water I had for lunch. However, I’m glad that we did stop as I think this was the best rest area I have ever been too. The facilities were in great shape, the bathrooms didn’t stink, it had some great information about the Utah Valley, and it had a model train displayed that kept the Booger entertained for the duration of the stop. 

From the rest area, we finally got onto I-15 and into Provo. Shortly before we reached I-15, the Booger had a major meltdown (the first one of the trip) and then knocked out. Ha!

We will be staying in Provo for two nights, which will be nice because I’m tired of packing up every morning and traveling hundreds of miles. 

On a side note, I have yet to work on any of my swaps and convention is three days away! I need to get busy!

~Cita 

We gave the Booger her own camera (yes, it's real and digital. Thank you Fisher Price). She really enjoyed taking pictures of her daddy and the train at the best rest stop ever.

Convention 2012 Road Trip: Day 2

Daily Travel: 190 Miles

Total distance traveled: 369 Miles

Tractors spotted: 29

Once again we started the day late. By now you would think that we just assume that we are going to leave 45 minutes than what we plan.

We left Aztec and spent the morning in beautiful Durango, Colorado. On the way to Durango, which is about a 40 minutes drive from Aztec, the Booger and I started to count all the tractors we saw. I’ve decided that I’m going to keep a count of all the tractors we spot together on this trip. Today we spotted and counted 29 tractors (although, we saw way more than that).

In Durango, we spent some time at the Children’s Discovery Museum. We have a membership to Explora, which also gets us into the Children’s Discovery Museum thanks to the ASTC program. If you have little ones and love museums, I highly recommend getting a membership from an ASTC-affiliated museum. We will be using our membership a lot this trip.

We left Durango later than planned, once again, but it worked out for the best. The Booger napped all the way until Monticello, Utah. This allowed me and my husband to really enjoy the scenery and each other. Sadly, we saw a few areas that seemed to have been victim to a wildfire of some sort. Some of the burn scars came awfully close to people’s houses.

Before we arrived in Moab, we stopped by Wilson Arch. Steve has been talking to the Booger about arches for about a week now, and she stood in amazement at the huge arch off the side of the highway. She even willingly hiked to the top of the arch with us and then enjoyed herself (for the most part) sliding down the side of it as we made our way down.

We’re spending the night in Moab in a cabin without, to our surprise, a bathroom. Tomorrow will be our biggest travel day. Pray that we survive.

Four more days until convention!!

~Cita 

Goofing around at the Durango Childen's Discovery Center

Convention 2012 Road Trip: Day 1

And we’re off!!

We left 45 minutes later than we anticipated, but we got out the door and started our five-day road trip to Salt Lake City. It doesn’t take five-days to get from Albuquerque to Salt Lake City, but my husband and I decided that we would make a family trip out of this. The route to SLC from Albuquerque is beautiful and we wanted to start exposing the Booger to God’s beauty.

So day 1, we traveled 185 miles from Albuquerque to Aztec, NM. My father-in-law lives in Aztec, so this was a natural stop. We stopped in Cuba, NM for lunch and a quick play session. Did you know there was a Cuba, NM? It’s a small little town, but a great stop.

The Booger traveled great today and actually spent a lot of time looking out the window trying to find tractors. Tractors even trumped Finding Nemo. J

Follow me on Twitter (@Stampincita) to follow our daily adventures as I make my way to the Stampin’ Up! Convention. Five more day until Convention 2012 starts!

~Cita

Steve, the Booger, and Ricky the Monkey playing at a park in Cuba, NM. 

The Booger chasing her Grandpa in the San Juan County Courthouse. Her Grandpa is finishing his second term as the San Juan County Treasurer and she loves visiting him at his place of work.

The Booger watches as her Grandpa shows her a map of the County Courthouse. 

The City of Aztec opened up a brand new splash park in the middle of town. We checked it out this afternoon and, after a bit of a warm-up period, the Booger had a great time.

Aztec splash park.

At the end of the day, we took a short walk along the Animas River and came across a Roping Club practicing in an arena. The Booger really enjoyed watching the horses and the cows. I have never seen roping live and it was quite mesmerizing. 

Stampin' Up 2012 Convention: Follow Me!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!
Tomorrow my family and I head out to venture toward Salt Lake City. We're making quite a road trip to SLC with lots of stops on the way. Tuesday, my husband and daughter will fly home, while I get to stay in SLC for the 2012 Stampin' Up! convention!!!
Tomorrow my adventure starts.

I will be posting updates in three places this year. I'll update twitter the most, so follow me on twitter (@stampincita). I'll also be posting updates and pictures on my Facebook Page. Finally, as time and energy permits, I'll post here with details and pictures. For the next few days, you'll probably hear mostly about how traveling with a toddler is going. After Tuesday, it's all about convention and SLC adventures!

So follow me and join me on my adventure!

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Warmest Wishes

I'm typically not that big of a fan of Calypso Coral, but was extremely surprised when I paired this color with Wisteria Wonder. I liked it! This card is what I consider outside of my color comfort zone, but I think it works.

Stampin' Cita Tips:

• Stamp sets: Raining Flowers, Warmest of Wishes (2011 Holiday Mini hostess stamp set)
• Colors: Versamark, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Crumb Cake
• Stamp a few flowers from the Raining Flowers stamp set in Versamark to create a subtle background
• The Raining Flower stamp set is a great two-step stamping set. Stamp a flower in Whisper White Craft ink and then stamp its border with a Chocolate Chip Classic ink. 

~Cita 

Need a Reason to Smile?

Do you need a reason to smile? Would a $5 stamp set make you smile? I think it would make me smile.

For the month of July, if you purchase $50 of Stampin' Up! product you can get the beautiful Reason to Smile stamp set for just $5 (a $20.95 value). This stamp set is exclusive to this offer and is only available until July 31. Head on over to my website and take advantage of this great deal.

Reason to Smile - Wood Mount Item #131274 - $5.00
Reason to Smile - Clear Mount Item #131275 - $5.00

• Enter the $5 item number after reaching $50 on your order.
• Limit of one (1) set per customer
• The Reason to Smile Set is exclusive to this promotion and will not be available after July 31, 2012.

~Cita 

Using Scraps in the Background

I am a paper hoarder. How about you? I will use a piece of cardstock or designer series paper and save each and every scrap afterwards. I’ve gotten better at throwing the little scraps away, but I have file folders full of little paper scraps, all organized by DSP or color. At least I’m trying to be organized about my problem.  

A few years ago, I attended a Stampin’ Up! Regional where some demonstrator showed us how I could use the Word Window punch and lots of scraps to make a nice background for cards. The demonstrator actually used this technique to make a fence. I use it to make a little background and use all my DSP scraps.

The technique is super simple. All you do is punch out a whole bunch of word windows using the Word Window punch and then adhere them side-by-side, in a straight line. A piece of ribbon looks great over the arranged word windows, like I did in the above Mother’s Day Card. I was so proud of this card that I made for my mommy last year; I never sent it to her though. I hope she forgives me, or maybe I can use it next year.

~Cita