My Mate Maggie

It is my utmost pleasure to introduce to you my good friend and fellow Aussie demonstrator - Maggie Mathern. I have known Maggie for some time now and we both share the same upline and during our time with Stampin' Up! We have become such good friends that we will be sharing a room when we are at Australia's 2nd Stampin' Up! convention in Brisbane in just three weeks!

Here is what Maggie has to say ...

Hi everyone, I am Maggie. Maggie M in my posts. I have been with UDI now for some time, can't really remember my original date that Max found me and pulled me kicking and screaming into UDI LOL. Lately I always seem to be so busy with life I do not get the chance to visit and participate as much as I would like.

Leonie and Tracey (my upline) are awesome friends and I look forward to spending some time with them both at Convention in Brisbane 10-13 April 2008.

I grew up on a farm in north central Victoria, Australia. It was primarily and wheat/sheep farm. I had a very happy and carefree childhood there. I still miss the farm as it was sold in 1992 after my father was unable to run it. I became a nurse in 1982 in Bendigo, Victoria and have been working in aged care ever since. In 1997 I took a leave of absence from my job and trained as a Travel Consultant in Ballarat. Another gold mining area of Victoria.

I met my now husband Shane, online in 1999. I moved to Geelong later that year. We got married in 2002. Have just had our 6th wedding anniversary. Yes, I was a late starter with this marriage thing.
I was too busy working, saving money and travelling the world when I could!!!! I will be 46 later this year...it almost scares me when I say this. Where did the time go??? I don't feel that old..therefore it
cannot be true.

I first started stamping in the mid 1980's after doing an adult education course. I stamped off/on for a while and then my supplies got packed away after one of many moves and I didn't start again till 1999. Mainly as I didn't know many people in Geelong and had to fill my time in. I did a few lessons at a local Scrapbooking shop in 2002 and started to scrapbook. I first heard about Stampin' Up! on FOXTEL (pay TV) several years ago now. Shelli was demonstrating and I loved the look of the inkpads, stamp-a-ma-jig, stampin' scrub/mist and the size of a background stamp. I was hooked!!! I was so disappointed after doing an online search to discover that I could not buy these products in Australia.

I belonged to several online crafting communities in Australia and was so excited when I heard Stampin' Up! was going to start up over here. Like many others, was concerned about making the minimum requirements. $500 every 3 months. I now laugh at this, cos one workshop usually covers it!!!! I joined approx 6 months after SU came to Australia as I was doing my medication endorsement course. This kept my budget very tight as I lost 50% of my working hours during the course and my husband had little income either.

Life has been enriched in so many ways since joining SU. As I said to Shelli at Convention in Sydney last year, SU has really saved my life. I have become a better person for it and I have gained so many friendships all over the world. Crafters of the world unite!!!!!! As our convention motto last year said...It Starts With Heart and this is so true.

The card with the On Board chipboard letter I have made for a friends birthday on March 25th.

I guess my style is clean/classic. I love shabby chic and generally stick to pink, green and cream, but have been venturing out lately to use other combinations. I love that Sahara Sand goes with all the other colours so well.

I am really looking forward to getting the new In Colors soon. The new IB&C2008-09 is almost due to be released April 1st.

Can't wait..and can't wait to spend some more time with my Diva friends again soon.

Cheers for now and UDI Huggggs, Maggie Mathern

Easter Blessings to you all and have a happy & safe holiday