Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Welcome to my Blog

Hello Friends,

My name is Maxine (Max) Conrad and I live in Riverton, UT. I am married to Lance and we are the Parents of 4 wonderful children, Natalie, Kayleigh, JD & Olivia.

I moved to Utah in 2001 when I vowed I would never get into anything crafty. I was amazed at how so many people quilted and scrapbooked. I was NEVER going to do that. I was invited to a Stampin' Up! workshop by a friend. I found out another friend had received an invite and we planned to go together.We set up a plan. I asked Lance to call me on my cell at 8pm as an excuse to leave. I had never heard of Stampin' Up! and when I found out they sold stamps and scrapbooking items, I raised my eyebrows knowing I would never buy anything.
The Demonstrator had a wonderful variety of scrapbook pages around the room and I asked my friend "Do people really waste their money and time on all of this?" My phone rang promptly at 8pm and as it really is etiquette to place an order at a workshop/party, I chose the cheapest stamp set I could find.I don't remember the name of it, but there were 4 stamps in the set and they had cute sayings. "A cherry hello' is one I remember. We excused ourselves and left. What a relief to get out of there!It dawned on me after we left we didn't even stay to eat the great treats.....another thing Utah is known for.........My order arrived. I looked at the stamp set and saw a piece of rubber and 4 wood blocks. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" I asked myself. I put the set back into the plastic bag and placed it on a shelf in my closet for a year!

A year later, I was spring cleaning when I reached for the bag and found the stamp set. I showed it to my Aunt Ruthie who was so into crafting and making cute things and she was ecstatic. We started making cards right away.I was planning on contacting the Demonstrator to place an order for $130. I saw at the back of the catalog, I could buy a starter kit for $199 and then saw an add on kit for $50. I checked out many companies and realized that Stampin' Up! was the one that could offer me everything to match. From Cardstock, to marker pens, to buttons, brads and ribbon.
I called the Demonstrator, and told her I wanted to sign up. I was signing up for the kit and that was it.The kit arrived and I literally thought it was Christmas. I spent such a long time looking at everything. "I think I will be a hobbyist", I told myself. "I won't sell this, I will just buy it to use for myself."

4 years later, I am doing this a business. I have a team. (Stamp to the MAX) I have wonderful customers. I hold workshops and clubs, classes and stamp camps. I started an online group for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators. I just promoted to Manager and have almost earned the incentive trip to Hawaii.The highlight for me is the many, many people I have met through this wonderful company. People I would NEVER have met had it not been for Stampin' Up! When people tell me they can't host a workshop or sign up to be a Demonstrator as they don't know anybody, I tell them the only friend I had when I moved to the US, was my husband. Surely they had more than ONE friend? :)

This is amazing to me since I vowed I would never do anything crafty. I simply signed up for the kit after bringing the stamp set out of the closet after one year and now actually work FOR Stampin' Up! as a Demonstrator Support Agent. I have had many jobs throughout my life, but never one with such wonderful co-workers, Supervisors and doing something that I love.I plan on posting many projects made by myself and other Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.

Enjoy!

Happy Stampin'

Max

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool Max! I was wondering when you were going to be bloggin'. I can't wait to see all your posts.

Anonymous said...

Hi Max,
This is Stasia from Miami. I just spoke with you today. Great blog; friendly and inviting. Thanks for all the encouragement about the business and recruiting.
See you at convention - track 10.
inky hugs,
Stasia Todd