Thousands stamp up to Salt Palace for convention

People are stampin' it up at the Salt Palace Convention Center this weekend as stamping demonstrators from all over the United States and Canada meet for a national convention.

More than 8,000 women are expected for the the Stampin' Up convention that began with the first session starting Wednesday and ending today. The second session will start Monday and end Thursday.

Stampin' Up demonstrators were offered workshops that gave tips to increase their business, and suggestions for recruiting, increasing sales, time management and marketing. In addition, they also had the chance to participate in a "Make and Take" session, where they were given all the materials to create three new projects in the space of an hour to help provide them with new ideas for projects.

For some demonstrators, the Make and Take session is their favorite session.

"I really like the Make and Takes. They give me tons of new ideas," said Rhonda Best, a demonstrator from Wichita, Kan.

The convention included tours of the new Riverton Stampin' Up facility, which opened in March of this year. Dana Robinson of Stampin' Up public relations said the building has helped the company in many ways.

"The building has helped establish and help give us a sense of permanence. It sends the signal that Stampin' Up is here for good," she said. "It also gives us a sense of home and has helped speed up our ordering process by 40-50 percent. We can get orders out so much faster now."

The company's main product is rubber stamps, which were the means to its creation, but it also provides supplies for scrapbooking and card-making. Robinson says card-making is a growing trend, but scrapbooking continues to rise in popularity.

"It's probably one of the areas where we see our most steady growth. It remains very popular. Many people start there, then realize they can make cards and enter into paper-crafting," she said.

For Vanessa Willrich, a demonstrator from Monterrey, Calif., card-making holds special significance. Before her husband was deployed for a tour of duty in Iraq, she and her then-demonstrator Sarah Fravel spent a long time making personalized cards for each member of her husband's unit to wish them well. In addition, it also helped fill her time while her husband was in Iraq.

"It gave me something creative to do while my husband was gone," she said.

Willrich enjoys the chance to interact with people who have the same hobby.

"The convention provides time away from the daily grind of life, and it allows me to spend time with people who have the same passion as me," she said. She also enjoyed seeing Fravel, who now lives in Liberty, Mo.

"I love that I get to share my free time doing something I love with people who enjoy it too," said Sherry Weaver, from Goshen, Ind.

One of the things the company emphasizes is relationships, which many were able to form at the convention.

"I love meeting new people. I've had a great time chatting and learning new ideas," Fravel said.

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com