My Incentive Trip swap

Thanks to Jayne, who emailed me a pic of my swap from Incentive Trip, so I could show you all. We had to use In Colours, so of course I chose blues and greens...very me! Soft Sky, Blue Bayou and Wild Wasabi.
I used a stamp from "True Friend" (in the Spring Mini) to stamp a background in Soft Sky ink on Soft Sky cardstock. The main image is also from True Friend. I inked it in Soft Sky ink, and then carefully inked the stem using my Wild Wasabi inkpad, and the tips of the flowers using my Blue Bayou inkpad. I did some paper piercing in the corner to balance out the design, and tied some Blue Bayou stitched ribbon around the bottom. The Blue Bayou panel on the right is actually textured cardstock. I stamped the tiny flower from "Season of Joy" (also in the mini) on it using Versamark ink. Even though the cardstock is textured, it still stamps up well, especially if you use Versamark. I mounted this on Wild Wasabi, and then punched out a Large Oval. The whole panel has been popped up using Dimensionals. The sentiment 'best wishes' is from my favourite, and most-used greeting set, "Short and Sweet". I punched it out with the Small Oval punch, and also popped it up on Dimensionals, inside the large oval hole.
I received some lovely swaps on the trip... everyone went to so much effort. I hope they all liked mine too!

Incentive Trip Day 4

Our final day in Palm Cove was a "free" day. We awoke to blue skies (most other days had been warm, but overcast), and decided to go for a walk along the beach. The resort was absolute beachfront, so we didn't have far to go! It was rather windy, so I felt sorry for those who had elected to go on boats. I was quite happy to stay on dry land, having explored the reef just a couple of years ago when we stayed in Cairns for our wedding anniversary.After our walk, we then sat down to a leisurely breakfast (or more like brunch by this time!).
And then back to the Resort for one last spin of the wheel. We got to spin the wheel every day. If it landed on green, you won Stampin' Up! goodies, brown meant a pack of lollies. I was lucky enough to get 4 out of 4 greens, and I took home a pack of Ribbon Originals, Pockets and Pieces, Rub ons, and Rhinestone brads. Cool!
We whiled away the afternoon by the pool, and then I had to get in my robe for a photo shoot! Aaron (the Australian Manager) joined us:
Dinner that night was an amazing experience. We all hopped on a couple of coaches (we found ourselves on the "Party bus"! Nicki and Vicki had organised a karaoke sing-along. I was hoarse by the time we arrived from singing and laughing!). We headed up the mountain to a Wildlife Reserve where we had dinner with the lions. Our dinner tables were set up right next to an enormous Lion's enclosure. They were close enough to touch (but thankfully there was a big fence and an electric current separating us! Seeing a pride of lions running towards you out of the darkness is an amazing experience. Having dinner at the same table as Shelli and Stirling is not to be sneezed at either!
It was a much more tired bunch of people going down the mountain that night, after a tour of the zoo, dinner and yummy dessert.

Sad goodbyes that night, and the next morning, with lots of hugs and promises to see eachother on next year's trip. I'll be there for sure! Who wants to join me? :o)

Incentive Trip Day 3

Day 3 started with a yummy eggs benedict breakfast with Jayne and Joanna, and then we all gathered in a conference room at the Resort for swaps and make-&-take session. Dave and a few other hubbies went to play golf, so they were happy!

Swapping was heaps of fun..I wish I could show you my swap, but I underestimated how many I would need, and gave my "spare" away! Silly me should have at least taken a photo first. All of the swaps I received are gorgeous, and I'll be showing them off at my classes over the next couple of weeks.

This is what we found on the tables for us:

...a Pumpkin Pie bag that has a plastic lining, and inside was 3 inkpads for us to keep and a brand new stamp set called "Ocean Commotion". It was so exciting to get a set that no one else in the world has!! Also on the table was the new Scallop-edge punch that they have in the US, and the news that we will be getting it in our Summer Mini, due out on December 1!

This is how happy I was about that news:

Then we got busy stamping and chatting. This is the table I was at with Sharlene, Rebecca, Karen, Teresa, Karen and Kelly:Afterwards, there was time for a few quick photos. Here's me and Shelli:

And here's the whole group on the steps outside:

The afternoon was spent having a leisurely lunch, and a spa with Sarah, and then the boys came back and we headed out for dinner at a Thai restaurant. Here we are at the restaurant. Julia, Naomi, Jayne, Joanna, me, Liz, Robyn, Robyn, Teresa and Jane. Dave was the token male! (taking the photo)
There was another gift when we got back to our rooms, in a BIG box. Here's a very attractive pic of me (can you tell I like pressies?!):

....containing the most gorgeous, soft bathrobe, embroidered with our initials. ta da!

Day 4, our last day, tomorrow, and then I'll get back to cards, I promise!

Incentive Trip Day 2

Thursday - The whole group met for a buffet breakfast in the Resort Restaurant....yummy tropical fruits as well as the usual hot breakfast. Then the coaches arrived to take us to the Railway station so we could catch the train up to Kuranda Village. We were treated to Macadamia nuts, juice and train souvenirs on the way up. Here's a pic of Alisa Tilsner, Sarah Klass and I on the train:
It was lovely to wander around in Kuranda. Dave and I visited the Butterfly Sanctuary, which was amazing. Butterflies were landing on us all the time. This one was a bit cheekier than most of them!
We had lunch with the lovely Cheryl Andrews and her hubby Craig, did some shopping, and then headed back down on the Skyrail. We stopped and did a walk through the rainforest on the way. Sarah took this photo of Dave and I on the Skyrail (I may look like I'm smiling but my teeth are actually clenched... I hate heights!)
We caught the coach back, and then headed back to our rooms to find another pressie - a Workshop Wows DVD of lots of US demos presenting at their Regional training events.
We met up in Alisa's room for drinkies this time, watched some of the wows (while the boys talked man stuff on the balcony), and then headed out for dinner at the local pizza restaurant. We were all set to have coffee with Jayne, Joanna, Alisa and Craig in our room, when Dave realised his key wouldn't fit in our lock. It took a moment to work out why....it was the restaurant's toilet key! And where was our key?? Hanging on the restaurant's toilet key hook, of course! So poor Dave had to go all the way back to the restaurant and swap the keys over. Don't feel too sorry for him... He did come back holding an icecream!

Stampin' Up! Incentive Trip Day 1

I'm back!!
I was lucky enough to be one of the 25 Aussie and Kiwi Demonstrators who earned Stampin' Up!'s Incentive Trip this year. It was an all-expenses paid holiday for two to Palm Cove (north of Cairns). I arrived home late yesterday, and I'm still on a high.
It was lovely to wander around in shorts and t-shirts and defrost my frozen limbs!
I know there are a few of you out there dying to know all about the trip, so I'll be spending the next couple of days filling you in!
Day 1 Wednesday
We packed the kids off to my Mum's on Tuesday night, and the dog off to a good friend and downline, Robyn (Thanks Rob!!), so we could leave for the airport at 7am. The airport was quite a gathering place, as all the flights from New Zealand, Adelaide, Melbourne and the US all met there to go on the one flight to Cairns. Shelli and Stirling were on our flight, as were Aaron and Karen, the Australian Manager and his wife. We were all sooo excited. It was great to see so many people that I hadn't seen since Convention. We were all seated towards the back of the plane, and there was lots of excited chatter all the way. We were met at Cairns airport and had a friendly coach trip up to Cairns, with a few local attractions pointed out along the way. We were met at the Resort with a cool towel and a glass of iced tea, and then shown to our rooms. The rooms were HUGE! Large lounges, full kitchens, 2 bathrooms, a bedroom with another lounge in it, and a balcony. The balconies were very "Melrose Place", all overlooking a central pool area. We could all hang over our balconies and chat to eachother. All our doors had an "Incentive Trip achiever" plaque on them (magnetised, so you could take it home afterwards). This is what the plaque looked like:

In our rooms were our shirts for lawn bowling, our group activity later that night. We were "Brilliant Blue". All the teams were Stampin' Up! colours (of course), and I was relieved not to be Yoyo Yellow, my least-favourite colour!
We spent the next couple of hours settling in, and then a few of us gathered for drinkies in our room before heading to the Group Dinner. Dinner was an elaborate BBQ smorgasbord at the Resort's restaurant...absolutely delicious. We sat and chatted with the lovely Ngaire and her hubby, Donald. After dinner we hopped onto a couple of coaches to the Lawn Bowls. Who knew that the oldies who play this game were having so much fun?? Well, probably not as much fun as we all had! We gathered in our teams, and were given our bowls. Here's me bowling (obviously a natural...NOT!):
Our team was Nicki Tidbold and her hubby Dave, and Naomi Swan and her friend Julia. We came up with a very memorable team chant "we're Brilliant, we're Blue, we're better than you!", won nothing and had a blast! The owner of the bowls club thought our Stampin' Up! team names were quite unusual, and dubbed "Bravo Burgundy" "Bravo Bundy"...hilarious! When we got back to our rooms, there was a gift waiting for us. All our pressies were so gorgeously wrapped, it was a shame to open them! Here's me in my sexy bowling shirt (that has now become a pj top!) holding my gift. That's the back of the big lounge I'm sitting on. Inside was the softest white hoodie you can imagine, with the Palm Cove Stampin' Up! logo on it.
We watched some Olympics before heading to bed. Asleep by 10:30...now that NEVER happens at home!