The New Catalog is Almost Here!

The 2007 Fall-Winter collection will be available soon - look for it here on July 1st!  Remember that you can also come to my new catalog open house on the 1st!  I'll be selling retiring stamp sets, there will be a make and take and of course you can pick up your new catalog!  Click here for more details. 

A Few Notes about the Retiring Accessories

Many of you have taken advantage of ordering your retiring accessories already and that's great because they're going FAST!!! 

Remember, you can view the list here:  2007 Retiring Accessories

A few important notes:

• Accessories are available on a first come, first serve basis.  Once something is sold out, it's gone!  And, the list is updated each night by 7 PM with the latest availability.



• Items in Green are Sufficient Supply



• Items in Yellow are Going Quickly



• Items in Red are No Longer Available

Be sure to get yours before they're gone and I'll see you on the 1st for my New Catalog Party!  Woo Hoo!!! 

I Did It!!

I know that some of you are wondering why I am posting a picture of an empty box on my website.  Well, a few weeks ago I posted a challenge that I had set for myself and by posting it here you know that I was going to complete it!  So, today I did! 

When I started my challenge I had 11 sets in the box and during the course of the challenge I added two hostess sets that I was able to pre-order from the Fall-Winter collection as a demonstrator plus the sets that I had pre-ordered from the preview brochure!  Wow, I put a lot of sets together but now I can and will use them all!  :) 

You may also be noticing the lack of samples posted recently and that's because I've been busy wrapping up the Stampin' Up! Bermuda cruise so thank you to all of you who helped make that possible!  I've also focused my energy on stamping for the Stampin' Up! convention!  I've been asked to present at convention this year and have been stampin' for my presentation!!  Unfortunately I can't post those samples until after convention so check back in August for those.  In the meantime, I'll post some other great samples soon with new colors, new stamps and new accessories!!! 

Retiring Accessories List is Here!

The retiring accessories list is here and the products are only available until June 30th or until supplies last!  The Products listed are limited to only the stock currently on hand at the warehouse so once each item is sold out then it's gone!  The items shown in green are sufficient supply, yellow is limited supply and red is sold out.  So, check the list and be sure to get the items you want right away! 

Just a few clarifications as well.  Embossing powder, 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and 12x12 cardstock will be sold in the future but will be packaged differently (I'm not sure how) and may be offered in just limited colors. 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!  Check out this great card just perfect for Father's day!  Unfortunately the Power Up and All Year Cheer II sets and the Builder Bits Wheels will all be retiring on June 30th so get yours before they're gone forever! 

Spring Mini is Coming to an End!

Don't miss your chance to order from the Spring Mini (the link is over to the left) and get great stamp sets like this Crab & Company set!  We don't know which, if any of these sets will make it into the Fall-Winter Collection on July 1st so be sure to browse through the mini before the end of June!

Isn't this such a fun card?  It's just colored in using an Aquapainter and some Classic Real Red ink.  The image was embossed and then the raised embossing acts as a sort of fence to keep the coloring where you want it.  Think of it as an easy way to color inside the lines!!!   

Other Cruise Photos to share

Carrie and I really had a great time on this trip!  It was so much fun to see a lot of my stamping friends from all over the country again and for them to meet Carrie!  Here I am with my friend Cindy from Hawaii.  Cindy and I did a couple teleconferences for Stampin' Up! this spring and it was so fun to meet in person and spend some time together on the cruise!  On the last full day of the cruise about 5000 of us, yes you read that correctly, did a walk for breast cancer called On Deck for the Cure and Cindy and I walked together.  The walk was a great cause and it was fun that so many stampers and their guests came out to support it! 

And, here I am with a bunch of friends from Wisconsin before the second formal night on the cruise. You'll have to come over to stamp with me to see the rest of my vacation photos.  I hope you've enjoyed reading about my travels!  Thank you for making this trip possible!!

The Panama Jungle!

Once we entered Gatun lake after passing through the locks of the Panama Canal Carrie and I got off the ship and got on a bus headed to the heart of the Panama Jungle.  This is a picture of the two of us with our tour guide for the day.  The comedian on the ship that night joked that the tour stickers we wore were targets but unfortunately that was his only funny joke of the night. 

We rode the bus for about an hour (which was a great time for a nap after getting up so early) and then arrived at the jungle.  We stopped at a resort there and then went to the aerial tram.  The tram was neat but we were there in the heat of the day so didn't see that much wildlife.  But we did hear some Toucans.  The tram took us to the top of a hill where we climbed an observation tower.  While climbing we saw and itty bitty snake which we all very carefully sidestepped!!! 

Sleeping in the timbers of the tour roof was an animal called an Olingo, which is a member of the raccoon family.  He was pretty sound asleep but as we were leaving he shifted positions to have his front paws hanging over the beam he was sleeping on, one on each side (just like my cat). 

Being at the top of the tower we could see  a long distance looking over the canopy of the jungle.  It was neat to think about all the wildlife hiding below!  After leaving the tower and aerial tram we boarded the bus again and headed back to the coast.  It turned out that the ship was late coming in to pick us up so we did some shopping in the market on the pier.  I found a great stitched item, similar to a quilt square, in bright colors made by the local people.  It was a great souvenier and I plan on making it into a pillow for my office to always remember the trip!   

The Panama Canal

For those of you who have been reading along about my adventures at sea with Stampin' Up! here is what you've been waiting for, some photos from actually going through the Panama Canal.  We were lucky because there was a cruise ship in front of us and another behind us.  So, we got up very, very early in the morning and went up to the front of the ship to watch the boat in front of us go through the locks.  Notice in this photo how there is a road that extends across the waterway when the locks are closed!

We stayed there until we started to enter the canal and then went back to the back of the ship.  One of my friends and sidelines, Laura earned the cruise very early in the year and as such had a large cabin on the back of the ship.  So, we had mimosas with room service and sat on the back deck while we went through the locks and also got to watch the ship behind us go through. 

Here is one of the "mules" that are used to help pull ships through the locks.  It was neat that these small cars could pull our large cruise ship through the locks!  It was really fun but really hot!  Even before 9 AM it was sweltering sitting in the sun like that and Carrie and I wondered how we'd make it through the day venturing through the Panama jungle, but more on that tomorrow! 

Relaxing on the Ship

Here we are after a day in the sun, relaxing at one of the ship's many lounges before dinnertime.   This is my upline Glenda on the right and my sideline Bobbi and her daughter Kirsten on the left.  We had such fun on our cruise so thank you for helping to make it possible!!