The Beginning of the Cruise!

I have to go back to the very beginning of our trip.  There is just so much to say, it was an awesome vacation and even better that we were surrounded by 400 of our closest friends (other demonstrators who earned the cruise)!  This is Carrie and I at the cast off party (this was after the lifeboat drill that we did when first boarding the ship). 

That night we went to the Pinnacle Grill with all of the Stampers In Stitches who earned the cruise.  Stampers In Stitches is the name of the group of stampers led by one of my uplines Glenda.  We had a great time at dinner and it was a wonderful way to kick off the best vacation of my life! 

The next day we arrived in Half Moon Cay for a very relaxing day at the beach!  After Half Moon Cay Carrie and I went to the Crow's Nest to watch the sun set before dinner.  Here we are in the Crow's Nest - notice the Ribbon Originals used as the lanyard for my name tag?  I thought this was a very cool extra touch.  Stampin' Up! sure does think of all the details!   

I think we're caught up now but I'm sure I'll end up posting a few extra photos at the end as I forget things or get additional photos from friends.  I love that this blog can act as a virtual scrapbook for you to read about our adventures on the cruise, after all, you helped us get there!   

Card Challenge!

My friend Diane, who is also in my stampin' group, posted a card challenge this morning on her blog. It was to use the Tag Time stamp set (which is retiring at the end of June) with a specified layout and the colors Gable Green, Tempting Turquiose, Orchid Opulence and Whisper White to make a card.  This is what I came up with for her challenge.  I rotated my card by a quarter turn but kept the basic layout the same. 

I love background stamps so I used the Canvas, Word Search and Dotted and I think it really sets off this card!  If you'd like to play along with this challenge then please let me know, we'll post your card on my site and Diane's and you can be our guest artist of the day! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there!  This is the card that I made for my Mom and Grandma on this special day.  It was done with the Wild Rose stamp set using Vintage Violet, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla cardstock and Ink. 

At the Beach!

Don't you just love the photos from those throw-away cameras?  This is Carrie and I on Half Moon Cay after being done in the water.  We have a habit of doing self portraits and this photo is no different!  We had one photo left on our underwater camera so here we are and not too sunburned! 

Oh, and here's that barracuda that Carrie saw while snorkeling.  I had to borrow her mask so I could get a good look too!

Half Moon Cay

So, I mentioned that I'd be sharing more photos and facts from the cruise, well here is the view of our ship from Half Moon Cay (pronounced Key) which was our first stop on the cruise.  Carrie and I were supposed to do a snorkling excursion but it was actually too windy that day so the excursion was canceled.  That was OK because I really wanted to just lay on the beach and do nothing.  I didn't exactly do that but we rented a set of snorkel equipment and a floaty mat so Carrie was able to snorkel (and she saw a barracuda and a sting ray plus tons of little fish) while I floated along and enjoyed the warm water and the sun.  It was really a great way to start our vacation together! 

When we arrived on the island the Stampin' Up! executives were waiting to greet us and they gave each person a frisbee with the Panama Canal logo on it.  While we didn't play with ours in the water it was a very cool souvenier to take back home! 

Retired Wheels are Back!

I just got home from a quick trip to Canada where I was a guest speaker at another demonstrator's large group meeting and I had an awesome time!  More about that soon! 

I just checked and all the wheels that have been announced as retired from my previous post will now be available until June 30th!  Even though Stampin' Up! has sold out of many of the wheels they are working with their vendors to restock the wheels that are retired and previously had sold out!  So, if you have these wheels on your wish list you still have until June 30th to order them!! 

Retiring Stampin' Around Wheels

If you're interested in ordering Stampin' Around wheels, you should know that the wheels listed on the retiring list will only be available while supplies last or until June 30th, whichever comes first.  You can check the availability of the wheels on the wheel status list but email me sooner than later if you want any of these wheels before they're out!