Broome Swap

The lead-up to the Incentive Trip was insanely busy this year, so I knew that i had to keep my swaps simple if I was to have any chance of getting them done. No procrastination allowed! I decided on a favourite stamp set (Summer Silhouettes) and some favourite colours (Midnight Muse, Sahara Sand and Baja Breeze), and the rest was easy. This is what I came up with:

I also used my favourite ribbon (Seam Binding) and a cute little ribbon slide. The background is the Daydream Jumbo Wheel in Versamark ink.

I also promised I would show you the card we received from Shelli. Here it is, in all it's shimmery, shabby-chic gorgeousness:

Isn't it divine?? There's even some sewing on there! This is definitely one I'll treasure forever. She's also written a lovely message inside in her fabulous hand-writing.

Final Broome Adventures

It's always a bit sad when our final day arrives, but at the same time I miss the kids and can't wait to see them again. We spent the morning wandering around the local markets, and picked up a few gifts and souvenirs. And then when the heat got too much we retreated to an indoor mall for a while. The afternoon was spent doing all our "lasts" - last walk on the beach, last swim in the pool, last cocktail... Here I am having my last (and actually my first) hug of a Boab Tree:

Every day the door of the Hospitality Suite is updated with these cool signs, letting us know what's on:

For our Final Night Dinner we had to meet in the lobby at 5:15pm. As usual, all the details were very hush-hush, so none of us had any idea what was in store. This is what pulled up in front of the Resort:

And here we are, a self-portrait on the top deck, complete with double chins LOL:

And this was our destination:

When we walked through the gates, this is the sight that greeted us:

It's a Pearl Lugger, with a sail that doubled as a movie screen! And on the grass were our own personalised picnic blankets, made from Orchard Harvest Stampin' Up! fabric.

How cute are the little wicker picnic baskets, with matching nametags and serviettes?!

This is what was inside - yummy treats for the movie!

Our dinner was a buffet of gourmet picnic food - salads, chicken skewers, roast vegetables and corn on the cob. We watched "Just Go With It", a romantic comedy, and had yummy desserts afterwards. Then it was back to the resort for a group photo and goodbye hugs

And as if we hadn't already been spoiled enough, another gift awaited us in our rooms!

It's a gorgeous handmade card from Shelli (I'll take a pic when I have better light), and inside the package is a beautiful 'Statement of the Heart' stamp.

Sunday was a travel day - 12 hours from resort to home, via Melbourne. Lovely to hug the kids, and be back in my own bed. I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my Broome Adventures. Now I'll get back to showing you some stamping!

Even More Broome Adventures

The time is just flying by here in Broome (why do holidays always go by so fast?)
On Friday morning we decided to do the Willie Creek Pearl Farm Tour. The guides were awesome, so funny and very informative. At the end of the tour, guess who got chosen to model a $20,000 pearl necklace?

I think it suits me, don't you?? I don't know why Dave didn't want to buy it for me!

After the tour we cooled off in the Resort pool, and had some lunch and a cocktail (I'm determined to try them all before I leave, to see if there's one that I don't like - I haven't found one yet!!)
We decided to hire a car for the next 24 hours, so that we could see a few of the sights. Simon and Ness shared it with us. Here we are with our little Broome Broome (perfect name for a hire car company!)

We had a drive and a wander through the town centre (known as China Town). We made an essential port of call to Matso's Brewery. Dave had a Mango and Lime Cider (I had a sip and it was amazing), but I couldn't decide on one beer, so I had three - in taster size!

I had a Alcoholic Ginger Beer, a Lychee Beer and a Mango Beer. I'm not normally a beer drinker, but I enjoyed them all, and they are so refreshing in this 35 degree heat and high humidity. It's like being in a sauna all day long, and it doesn't even ease up much at night!
One of the spots we wanted to see was Gantheaume Point. There's a lighthouse, fabulous views and some dinosaur footprints. We were there to see another spectacular sunset.

We found a seafood restaurant to dine in, on the pier overlooking Roebuck Bay and then returned to the resort to find another pillow gift. This one was tagged "Remember" and look what was inside:

It's a print of our camel group on Cable Beach by the official photographer. How special is that?? I 'm going to get it framed when I get home.

More Broome Adventures

Our Group Activity on Thursday night (which was a secret, but I think we all guessed) was a sunset camel ride along Cable Beach. I was a little apprehensive - last time I was on a horse, it felt very high, and camels are bigger than horses! But it turned out to be lots of fun, and very relaxing, once you get past the camel-standing-up bit! Here's Dave and I on our camel, Raja:

Raja turned out to have quite the personalty. He was the oldest camel of the group, at the ripe old age of 27. It was magical watching the sun going down over the Indian Ocean.

 

Look at the gorgeous colours...it was just breath-taking. The camera really doesn't do it justice:

 

Afterwards, I gave Raja a carrot, and he posed for the camera. Who has the best camera smile???

After that it was time to head to the Hospitality Suite for "Swaps and Snacks". This is how Stampin' up! does 'snacks':

So much yummy food! Antipasto, breads, dips and cheeses, as well as fruit kebabs profiteroles and brownies. The idea was that you could have some pre-dinner nibbles, or dessert, or both, and we swapped in the middle! Here we are, waiting in the Swap Line (holding our new Swap Bags!):

I received some absolutely amazing swaps. I'll be showing them off at my classes next month. I'll also take a pic of my swap when I get home, and post it on here.
The Hospitality Suite is also where we spin the wheel each day and win a prize. Here I am, being the Wheel of Fortune prize girl (there's a sneak peak of new DSP on the wheel, but you'll have to look really closely!):

Even though we didn't actually need more food, a group of us went for some Thai for dinner. We just got a few dishes and shared them. Yummo.
It's always exciting going back to our room at the end of the day, to see if the Stampin' Up! gift fairies have been... And they had!!

 This one had a tag saying "Enjoy". And inside was....

A gorgeous bag to match our travel wallets. We are so spoiled!

Grand Vacation - Broome!

Here I am in sunny Broome! 11 Demonstrators qualified for Stampin' Up!s Grand Vacation this year, and we are all in Broome with our partners, getting totally spoilt by Stampin' Up!
We had a big day of travel yesterday, leaving home at 5am to catch a 7am flight. Even the airport was not without excitement....When we arrived at the airport we spotted Aaron and Karen Scott (the Australian Manager and his wife), and joined their queue  to check our bags in. But it ended up being the slowest queue ever, and we got completely overlooked. This all ended in a mad-dash for the plane, hearing our names called over the loudspeaker (except they pronounced mine "Mar-lee" LOL). But I've never had that experience before (I'm never late for ANYTHING), so it was fun feeling a bit naughty!
The flight to Perth was 4.5 hours. We were flying with Virgin and it was a pleasant surprise when we received complimentary breakfast and a great choice of free movies, so the time flew. It's always a bit strange leaving at 7am and 5 hours later arriving at Perth and it's only 9am. Our connecting flight to Broome wasn't until 2pm, so we had a few hours to kill. Dave and I, along with Ness and Simon Webb decided to catch a bus into Perth, and have a wander around.  After an hour or so we felt like lunch and wondered why none of the restaurants were open. That's because our stomach-time was 1pm, but Perth time was only 10am! We managed to find a cafe though, and had a nice al fresco lunch.
There was quite a gathering of Stampin' Up! demos when we returned to Perth airport, all having flown in from various states. Lots of hugs all around! It's a 2.5 hour flight to Broome (sadly, no movies on this flight). We arrived at 5pm, with just enough time to check in to our room, admire the spectacular ocean views with wine in hand, and freshen up before the Welcome Dinner. As usual, Stampin' Up! went all-out with table decorations, place settings and menus. All had that gorgeous hand-made touch. Look at these bird cages, filled with paper flowers and butterflies that were on each table:

The food was just divine too. I ate it all, even though my stomach-time was midnight!
When we came back to our room, there was a BIG pressie on the bed:

The gorgeous tag says "create" and inside the box is lots of stuff to create with! All of it sneak peaks from our upcoming Autumn-Winter Catalogue. I can't show you exactly what's in there, but it is a very cute stamp set, some gorgeous paper, and some fabulous new embellishments too! Our heads were very ready to hit the pillow after that long day!
And today we've been flat out eating a sumptuous buffet breakfast, followed by a walk along beautiful Cable Beach:

I had to dip my toes in the warm Indian Ocean!

Just look how crystal clear the water is...

After that we hit the pool for a cocktail or two! Here's Ness and I perfecting our in-pool cocktail technique!

We then had a bite to eat by the pool, and then I went and spun the prize wheel. So far I've spun 2 wild cards, meaning I can choose my prize! I've chosen a Paper Piercing pack and some DSP. I hope my wild card streak continues!
We have a group activity and swap-and-snacks evening tonight, so I'd better rest up after my busy, busy day today LOL

Graveyard Ghouls

I couldn't resist buying the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle in the Holiday Catalogue. Only $30.95 for a set of 6 stamps, plus 20 tags, 10 glassine bags, 50 googly eyes and some twine...Bargain! I'm so glad I didn't resist, because I've had so much fun playing with it all. This was the first card I made with the set:

 

I used my brayer to create a spooky Rich Razzleberry sky, and created a Graveyard scene using the stamp set and a couple of punches to make gravestones. These guys are just too cute to be spooky!

Embellished Events Stamp-a-Stack

This is the other Stamp-a-Stack Design from my class last week. We used the Embellished Events stamp set to make this set of cards. There's a card for all occasions here!

I'm loving the richness and intensity of the new In Colors. Here I have used Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple, paired with Crumb Cake and Basic Grey. I used markers to ink up the stamps. All of the words come with the stamp set, and they all fit in the Word Window Punch...gotta love that! The Modern Label Punch frames the Word Window perfectly.

As indicated by it's name, this stamp set is designed to be used with Stampin' Up! embellishments. All of the images have areas to place Rhinestones, pearls, dahlias or brads. For my class, we blinged them up with a bit of Dazzling Details glitter glue instead. I've also added some of the fabulous free ribbon from this month's Spool Time Promotion.

We made easy scalloped borders using the Tasteful Trim Die in the Big Shot.

Broome Bound!

Look what arrived in the mail last week!
A pretty parcel:

and inside....

It must be for me! And inside that....a pretty travel wallet...

and inside that...

It's all my travel documents and luggage tags for Broome. Hubby and I leave this time next week. I can't wait! Looking forward to some warm weather, and some time to relax :o)

All About "P"!

I had an unscheduled week off blogging last week. I had intended to blog, but in the end I didn't have a minute to spare. All of the things I wanted to get done during the school holidays didn't get done, so once the kids went back to school, I had to hit the ground running. I raced around all week like a mad chook, getting ready for the Craft Sale, plus I had classes and workshops too.
We had a very successful Sale Day on Saturday. I came home with a much lighter load and a heavier wallet :o) I still have a table-ful of goodies left though, so if you didn't make it along on Saturday and would like to come and browse, just drop me a line.
Enough babbling on. It's about time I showed you some stamping! Here is last week's stamp-a-stack class design:

It wasn't until I demonstrated these cards that I realised it's all about "P". Quite a tongue twister it was, saying "Papillon Potpourri", "Perfectly Penned", "Pink Pirouette" and "Primrose Petals". What a shame I used Certainly Celery and not Pumpkin Pie!
I couldn't resist using some of the fabulous free ribbon from this month's Spool Time Promotion.

I cased this layout from the fabulous Dawn O