I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator in October of 2004. I was neither a stamper nor a scrapbooker at that time. I had never even heard of SU! I literally had no idea what we would be doing at the first "stamping party" that I was invited to attend, and I almost didn't go! I was hooked on quilting at the time, and I had been a music major in college (many moons ago). But stamping? No way. From that very first workshop that I attended, I was intrigued by all of the creative possibilities that stamping offered. I was interested in learning how I could incorporate stamping on fabric into my quilting designs. I bought a couple of things, but not much because I was totally overwhelmed by the catalog and the huge number of products that it contained. I also booked my own workshop (so I could get some more stamp sets free). Then, just one month later, I signed on the dotted line, and here I am today!
Now, for the benefit of those of you who don't actually know me (most of you), I am really a pretty quiet, introspective person, and I have always been petrified of speaking in public. It was this debilitating phobia that pretty much destroyed my earlier hopes of a career in music. You might be wondering, then, why on earth I decided to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, since I would have to get up and talk in front of groups of people and meet new people on a regular basis. My husband is still scratching his head over this same question! It's a pretty good question. I signed up not because of anything logical or rational (no surprise there), but because something about it felt right in my gut--like I knew it was the right thing to do. I am a very instinctive, emotion-based person, so I quite often listen to what my heart tells me and overrule what my head is trying to tell me, or in this case what my fear was trying to tell me. As it turns out, I think that being an SU demo has pushed me to my limits and helped me to grow in ways that I never could have if I had not signed up and given it a try. I have more friends now than I ever had before, and I have more self-confidence, too. The many new relationships that I have formed over something as simple as rubber stamps, paper, and ink have added so much depth and richness to my life. It might seem corny, but Stampin' Up! has given me a means and an opportunity to open up and reach out to people, and to be the kind of person that I've always wanted to be. I really believe in SU's Statement of the Heart: "To love what we do, and share what we love, as we help others enjoy creativity and worthwhile accomplishments...in this we make a difference!" In other words, it's not one big thing, it's a lot of little things, and the connections that we make with the people around us, that DO make a difference in our own quality of life and the lives of others. If you would like to use YOUR creativity to make a difference, too, give me a call--I'd love to talk with you about it!
