Grab a Snack, It's gonna be a long one!

I've got lots to say, so settle in! First of all, today was awesome. The demonstrations at the main session were spectacular, especially the punch demonstrations. For example, check out what they did with the three for you punch box and the flower from the Ronald McDonald House set - Just Like You.Seriously - how cute is that? Sorry about the pics - they are photos of the screen and I don't have photoshop on my laptop.

Now, when I was little, my parents made fun of me because on our drives through the stunning land that I love every summer I was TERRIFIED a bear was going to eat us. Pretty sure this had something to do with some sort of psychological terror campaign waged by my brother, but the statute of limitations is up.. Anyway, all I have to say now is BOOYA!! Bears are still trying to eat me!! Look at this bear trying to get inside the convention center to eat me like a jalapeno popper!!

It's really a miracle that I've made it this far. . Seriously, MOM.

Now, a brilliant woman named Michelle Fischer did our last demonstration of the day and using a single template to create a box that is 5.75 X 4.75 X 3.75 (easy to remember!!) made a bazillion amazing gift packages using everything we all love. Here is one from the boards.

One thing Stampin' Up! does "the best there ever was" (be the first to name the source of that and win a prize from me..) is inspire. Since the theme this year is "Dream Big" you can imagine the possibilities. My favorite quote of the day, attributed to that brilliant philosopher and statesman - ANONYMOUS - is this "A ship is always safe in the harbor, but that's not what ships are for." Really resonated with me.

To reward you for hanging with me so far, here is another pic from the boards using that same box template.. the monkey riding on the rhino cracks me up. I also think this talented lady really has an eye for color. Which brings me to a brilliant revelation of today. If you're stuck in a color rut, (as you can imagine, I get stuck on blue...) a great way to get out of the box is to just look at the Designer Series Papers - for example, take a look at the Cutie Pie series on page 173. So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Purely Pomegranate look SPECTACULAR together - do it!

OMG LADIES - CAN'T YOU SEE YOU'RE IN DANGER?!?!?!?!?

Okay - on to a little philosophical observation. I was sprinting back to the hotel at lunch to do some work stuff (hey! I'm on vacation people!! =0) and directly across from the convention center they are very carefully demolishing a building. I took pictures, and took short movies of the wrecking ball tearing out floor after floor, with what looked like accidental precision. When I looked around me, I saw all sorts of different types of men who had brought sandwiches and were standing on the sidewalk spending their lunch hour watching this happen. It was fascinating - both things. I thought to myself that no one brings their lunch to a construction site to watch a thing being built, but they will be completely mesmerized by the deconstruction of a thing. Things that make you go hmmm....

A lady in front of us showed us this cute teeny clipboard she made with a chipboard coaster and a binder clip. Geez, these people amaze me!! She has lovely nails too - just noticed that!!

Okay, so Chriss made me laugh so hard about "sheet meat" from last year's convention!! It's horrific! I heard from some "agents" from session one that this year's sheet meat was horrific, exceeding the horror of sheet meat past, so I opted out and went for this insanely good GRILLED caesar salad at my hotel. mm... Anyway, when I got back to the convention center, everyone confirmed, that yes, the lunch bordered on terrorism. How can you make lunch for 2500 people tasty? An impossible task, not Denver's fault. But Chriss, you get the giggle of the day. How about walking 14 miles to PF Changs and having me spill water on your butt though? That was fun, huh?

Anyway, I'm staying at the hotel Monaco, which, if you ever get the chance to stay in one, take it. They are beautiful boutique hotels with excellent service. And they give you a goldfish to keep you company in your room, which I love, being a Doolittle chick at heart. However, lest you get too attached, they fishnap your pet every two days, which leaves me a little confused and heartbroken. My first fish, Rusty, was sweet and kind of bedraggled. He actually had a small living creature attached to his tail. I'm completely serious. I didn't like that a bit. Today, I came home to find my new fish, Paint - he looks like a pony to me. He's a bit of a badass and we're getting to know each other. The before (Rusty) and after (Paint) are below.

So I better sign off before I bore you to death, but I will let you know the following. The Chamber of Commerce across the street is still flying the Jolly Roger. I'm determined to get to the bottom of this. And after I do a little work tonight, I'm going to check out the Art From the Heart CD with all the convention samples on it and watch my special convention order grow!! Thanks for looking. Have a great night!!!