Well, well....it's been quite a while since my last blog post and if you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, you're probably well aware of the absence and the reasoning.
For those of you who don't (head on over and follow) here's a brief summary of the creative portion of my life the past few months.
February - CTMH (the papercrafting company I've been a Consultant for for 22 years) announced that they would be closing and potentially selling some of their product lines to a much larger competitor in the stamping world. You can watch my reaction to this news {{{{
here}}}}.
What ensued over the next couple of months was nothing short of chaos....products flying out the door (I mean who wouldn't want to stock up on HIGH QUALITY papercrafting supplies), backed up shipping, the end looming.
We, as CTMH Makers, also had to come to terms with where would we go next. Stampin' Up! was offering us a golden parachute and purchasing some of our product lines that were already in production. Creative Memories was also offering a place to call home. Leaders from CTMH were scalping other team members to shore up their position at whichever company they would choose. When I say it was awful, it was AWFUL. I usually stay away from situations that give me anxiety but this I could not. It reminded me of when my cousin was on Survivor (The Australian Outback, All-Stars, and Heroes vs Villains - he was on Team Heroes)...I couldn't watch all the backstabbing, lying, opportunistic acts of humanity. Only the strong survived (no pun intended).
The good thing about writing this now is that hindsight is AMAZING. The dust has settled, friends have been lost, friends have been gained, and we are all better for it.
My CTMH Website closed April 30th and my Stampin' Up! website went live May 1st (in a matter of 60 seconds between the two, literally). I have had a chance to play with the wonderful Stampin' Up! products and look forward to putting my spin on them.
Last week, I met some of my closest friends in this creative journey...the CREATIVE DESIGN TEAM. I had the pleasure of teaching at various CTMH Events with a couple of them but some I was meeting in person for the very first time. I can tell you that our week was full of laughs, talks, strategizing, even some tears (mainly from me and all the hiking we did...lol). It filled up my emotional bucket in more than ways than one.
I can't wait for our next adventure...and keep an eye out for all the things we put into motion during this trip. I think y'all will LOVE IT!
To end this update post, let's talk about Stampin' Up! workshops and projects. Tomorrow I will post a peek at the CTMH Products that are now being offered at Stampin' Up! as well as my very first Stampin' Up! Workshop so stay tuned!
