January ’25 Silver Elite Retreat

I hosted my 8th Annual Silver Elite Retreat the weekend of January 17-19 and once again was blessed that all my achieving team members (those in my Stampers With ART group at the Silver Elite title or higher) were able to spend those days here in my home in Andover, MN. My husband and my boys left the house all to us during those 3 days. Nick stayed at a friend’s house. And Tim and Luke spent the weekend with my parents up at their lake home (which is why you don’t see my mom in these photos this year – yes, we all missed her).

Vy Tran flew in from Houston Thursday late afternoon and treated Tim, Luke and I (Nick was unable to make it) to dinner at a new restaurant in Maple Grove called Grackle (such a nice “treat” before the boys left the next day). The food was amazing! In fact this experience made Luke decide to have his birthday dinner here on Feb. 7th.

On Friday morning after a relaxing breakfast and time to chat and catch up even more, Vy and I ran a couple errands to get some food: take ‘n’ bake pizzas from Papa Murphy’s and mini bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. We also picked up Cheryl Lee.

Then Nancy Forsberg and Kayla Cory drove over and joined Vy, Cheryl and me at my home soon after we got back, and we were all back together again!

We got settled in and visited for awhile. My guys packed up and left. And then I presented my gifts to them. You may recognize the bags from last year’s retreat photos (I had a few left over 😁).

It was so fun to watch them open up and check out all the goodies. I gifted them each a Balance Pad (great for overall health) and explained all the ways they could use them. And to continue the theme of balance, I also gifted them an organizer/goal setting booklet with printouts that I purchased from TidyPlans.

I also gifted them their make-n-take pre-cut materials and some consumable products from the Wildflower Birthday Suite to make my planned out cards. They received the Brightest Birthday Kits Collection Kit too (another make-n-take project), blank dice with labels to make a fun card-creating game, a glittery pen, a mechanical pencil etched with “Silver Elite Retreat January 2025”, an eraser, and a D-Block etched with their name in a decorative box.

The boxes with the blocks are ones I’ve collected whenever Stampin’ Up! sends me a pin of achievement, so it was nice to repurpose them as they were much too nice to just throw out. I used papers from the Wildflower Birthday pack to cover portions of the box, stamped Hooray from the Birthday Celebrations Stamp Set onto a die-cut circle (from the Spotlight On Nature Dies), and added ephemera from the Wildflower Birthday pack. Then I cut the foam insert with my Hobby Blade attachment for my Take Your Pick Tool to fit the block within.

Here are all the boxes from above.

Here they are from a slight angle to show you how they latch shut.

And here are everyone’s pretty blocks. I’m so proud of all these women for what they have achieved in their businesses!

Then Cheryl gifted each of us one of these adorable snowmen treat holders.

And Vy gave us each a pair of “friendship” socks. (The hands are magnetic!)

We had Papa Murphy’s Pizza for dinner and then we stamped with our prepared make-n-take materials to create some fun fold & interactive cards with the products from the Wildflower Birthday Suite. I will share my versions of these cards this Wednesday during my Live Online Paper Crafting Class. That video will also be connected to my Wednesday blog post where I’ll also share photos of some of the variations these gals created.

By the way a HUGE shout out to Cheryl Lee. She was my first team member to promote to the level of Silver Elite and has attended each and every one of these retreats. ❤️

Nancy & Kayla are a mom/daughter team. It’s always fun to watch them create together and see how these two heads work as one.

On Saturday after a casual morning of sleeping in a bit and yummy breakfast, we ventured out in the elements to check out a local vendor/craft fair. I was impressed with the variety of items being offered there at the booths. There are SOOoo many ways to be creative!!

We got back and relaxed and chatted while I whipped up my chicken salad for lunch. Vy was super enthusiastic about conducting science experiments in the cold weather. Our high temp that afternoon was about 5 degrees. But it was windy! So after we ate lunch, we went outside. And I have to say it felt like we were at the south pole while we were blowing bubbles! Vy must have brought a bit of Texas warmth with her. She was the only one who didn’t wimp out. I think she was out there for about 30 minutes straight. (I DID join her the next evening. Sunday night after the event was over we both went out to blow more bubbles, throw boiling water into the air, and make snow angels. And I lasted without complaint. But we had snow pants on and bundled up better.)

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening indoors chatting and sharing, relaxing, eating tacos for dinner (a tradition now as we’ve had that meal for every one of the 8 retreats since we first started these in February of 2018), and making more cards. This time we played with our Brightest Birthday kits. I will share my altered creations this Friday during another Live Online Paper Crafting Class. That video will also be connected to my Friday blog post where I’ll also share photos of some of the variations these gals came up with.

On the final day, Sunday our plan was to drive to Medina, MN together to attend the annual Stamp Share For Leaders event. But the forecast of VERY cold weather (it only reached -2 degrees for a high on THAT day) caused a lot of cancellations. So the in-person event itself was cancelled and changed to a virtual one. We stayed indoors to join in on Zoom. Vy was a presenter and did a fantastic job sharing various ways to promote the Friendly Seagulls Sale-a-Bration Freebie Stamp Set. It was fun to see her creative ideas.

I shared images of this card a couple days ago, but I wanted to share here in this post as well…These are the stamped invitations for this event I had sent to Vy, Cheryl, and Nancy & Kayla. I used products we didn’t end up using in our make-n-takes (normally I try to make everything coordinate), but at the time I sent them I didn’t have a plan in place for what we were creating at the retreat.

Gosh that Bloom Impressions Sale-a-Bration Freebie Paper is amazing!

BTW, you can visit Cheryl Lee at Stamping Upstairs, Vy Tran at Crafting Daily Dose, and Nancy & Kayla at Stamping BAE. As always, it was a fantasic weekend! Thanks for checking in to see what I had to share today.

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Hugs For Love Bundle (English)

[165738]

Bright Borders Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[164753]

So Swirly Embossing Folder

[163791]

Bloom Impressions 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[164944]

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133675]

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[159276]

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

[147092]

Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin' Pad

[155611]

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

Blender Pens

[102845]

Blooming Pearls

[162238]

Wildflower Birthday Suite Collection (English)

[164604]

Wildflower Birthday 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper

[164591]

Birthday Celebration Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[164592]

Birthday Celebration Dies

[164598]

Party Dots

[164602]

Gold 1 1/2" (3.8 Cm) Open Weave Trim

[165715]

Clear Block D

[118485]

Brightest Birthday Kit (English)

[165004]

Spotlight On Nature Dies

[163580]

Take Your Pick

[144107]

Take Your Pick Crafter Tips

[161602]

THE 2025 SALE-A-BRATION PROMO BEGINS!
EARN FREE PRODUCTS!! Sale-a-Bration is the most popular promotion of the year. Click here to read all about it.

THE JAN-APR 2025 MINI CATALOG IS NOW LIVE
Products from the new Jan-Apr 2025 Mini Catalog are now available. Shop the products in my online store. You may also view the catalog online.

MORE SCRAPBOOKING PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN ADDED!
Meet Stampin’ Up!’s January 2025 Scrapbooking Brochure—full of scrapbooking products that coordinate with the mini catalog and some online-only projects! Stickers, Two-Toned Cardstock, Workshop Kits, Page Protectors, Flip-Flaps, and more. View the brochure online from my Catalogs Page. Shop these products in my online store.

LAST CHANCE PRODUCTS
There is now a new section called Last Chance Products in the Online Store and it includes all retiring products from any online releases and any catalogs. All of these items are available while supplies last.

DESIGNER PAPER RETURNS WITH FRESH NEW COLORS!
Stampin’ Up! is offering three previously released Designer Series Papers with fresh, new colors – some of our best-selling colors! The products debuted in the Online Exclusives section of the Online Store on December 3rd and are available while supplies last. Click here for the downloadable flyer. Click here and scroll down for a bit more detail.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES NEWS – MORE NEW ITEMS WERE ADDED 1/7/25
You won’t find Online Exclusives products in any catalog or publication. So be sure to visit this link to shop today. New items were just released January 7th. AND… every 2 months you’ll see even MORE added. (All Online Exclusives products are always available while supplies last.)

A PEEK AT FEBRUARY’S PAPER PUMPKIN KIT
Hello Spring: Plant the seeds of happiness with these lovely garden-inspired cards! Makes 9 cards: 3 of 3 designs. The kit also includes precut pieces with bronze foil and unique spring-themed envelopes. And it pairs well with the Grow with Love Bundle (item 164804). Coordinating colors: Basic Beige, Bubble Bath, Lemon Lime Twist, Lost Lagoon, Old Olive, Petunia Pop (Classic Stampin’ Spot). Click here for a flyer showing peeks of the January – March kits. And don’t miss the special add-on that coordinates with all three months: the Spring Is in the Air Dies (#166237) — made available December 11th and only while supplies last! If you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, I invite you to give it a try. CLICK HERE to learn more. CLICK HERE to sign up by February 10th for this next kit.

KITS COLLECTION: THANK YOU KINDLY, BRIGHTEST BIRTHDAY, AND BIRTHDAY BASH KITS ADDED
These are the kits that were most recently added to the Kits Collection! Click here and scroll down for more details.

ALL STAR VIDEO CLASSES
I’m a designer with the All Stars, a group of globally recognized Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. And we are excited to share exclusively with our customers, paper crafting friends & team members our January 2025 Marbled Elegance Suite Video Class Bundle which is now available. Click here for more information. Click here to get to my Tutorials/Classes for Sale page to see others that have been offered. The next one featuring the Storybook Moments Suite from the Jan-Apr 2025 Mini Catalog and will be available February 1st.