2021 Looking Back At My Year

2021 Looking Back At My Year – #1 Stampin’ Up! UK Demonstrator Pootles

Happy New Year!

Hasn’t this year been a peculiar one. For us in the UK, we started the year in lockdown which didn’t end until almost the end of March, and that meant my boys all at home again.

I was a little better prepared this time around, and actually, I really missed them when they returned to school, having had 3+ months with them home the whole time!

We also welcomed the mischievous Fauna into our home and 9 months on, she’s still a little tinker – we call her Little Miss Feisty Pants!

 

Our Summer brought us some day trips rather than any time away from home – wanting to keep safe inside the pandemic – though we had 1 night in London in a lovely little boutique hotel just off Covent Garden!

The day trips were just what we needed and refreshed us for the Autumn term. And it also built me up ready for our first team get together in 2 years. It was the most amazing time for us to just get together and see other people. We missed each other so much!

During this time, I had been working on reassessing how I took the photos for my blog, what programmes I used to get ‘good’ photos etc, and while that has pretty much settled into place, I’ve had some kind of glitch in my PC that seems to really hate my videos!

I possibly have to overhaul and implement some new programmes into it, or somehow get my videos straight from my camera to youtube, but I’m slowly getting there.

It’s been a rollercoaster of colours on my videos – there have been pink and purple tinted videos, and I can film 2 videos back to back, without changing any settings, they’re at the same time of day, literally back to back, and one will be pink and the other will be fine when they appear on YouTube!  I’m stumped!

I also made the decision back in October to reduce how frequently I have a blog post – going from 7 days a week down to 4, and I’m finding that I have far better balance in my creativity and the other part of my business – working with my team. I’ve got far more time now where I’m working one to one with some of my team!

November brought our Annual Recognition event and I was thrilled to be recognised for my Sales, Team Building and Leadership activity, and for the 8th year running, I’m ranked at #1. I really do love my job – it’s the best ever!

It was also the time for me to showcase the stamp set I helped design as part of my 1m personal sales achievement, and despite being anxious about how it would be received, I’ve been touched and humbled by the outpouring of positive comments and thoughts!

However, December started with the greatest of plans but it also started with me injuring my wrist and then 6 days later, injuring my knee (both on my right hand side!).

I’m still resting both of them now, the pain flares up unexpectedly, but thankfully I work ahead of time, so normal service here has continued! And my aforementioned amazing team stepped in and supported one another and helped the newer demos too. They really are remarkable!

So I end the strangest year of ups and downs with excitement for the future, but also proud of all that I have achieved too!

I can’t wait for the one that is coming!

I leave you with a few more of my favourite projects from the past year, I hope you remember them fondly too!

S x

I hope you enjoyed this project, I absolutely adore what I do and spend many hours working on designs, new projects, new ideas and more.

I love to spoil all the people who shop with me, so every month I post out a handmade card, an exclusive newsletter and a product gift too.

And if you use the hostess code, I send even more free product! (hostess code shown in the top right of my blog for the current one!) Learn more HERE. If your order is over £150, please do not use this code as You become the hostess and get the Rewards!

Sam Hammond Donald

#1 Stampin’ Up! UK Independent Demonstrator

• • You can buy Stampin’ Up! online easily through my Stampin’ Up! shop link on the right hand side, or within this blog post.
  • You can also join Stampin’ Up! through similar links too! I have various FAQ and joining Stampin’ Up! pages on the blog, so do click around!  
  • I cover the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, France and Austria with my shop, but also my team too, so you can join me in those countries also!
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