Stamp With Anne

Touches of Texture Make and Take from the Mediterranean Cruise

Hello,

I finally finished my make and takes from the Mediterranean Cruise a few weeks ago. When we were on the cruise, they had a morning dedicated for a Make and Take session. I didn't make it down to the session as Emily and I decided to go into port to check out Cannes Frances. Since I wasn't able to do them at that time, I was able to bring home the make and take package.

The make and takes focus around the Touches of Texture stamp stamp and the Moroccan Designer Series Paper and Washi tape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cool thing about this stamp set is that it's meant to add some texture to your background meaning it's another great grunge stamp set to add to your collection!! There is a variety of 15 different images in this stamp set, and the another neat thing is that you can layer over top of the images for a technique called Collage stamping!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My one tip for this card is that it's okay to have your images off-centered. I know it's hard for us stampers to do but it's okay to not have perfectly lined up images as it's as add a little bit of character to your project and this stamp set is designed perfectly for us to do that!!

Curious to know what I used on this card, you can view all the supplies listed below in the clickable links.

Only a few weeks left to REDEEM those Bonus Day Coupons!! Make sure to get your order in before Aug 31 as this is when the Bonus Day coupons expire!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise Day 7 and Day 8

Hello,

Welcome back to the final days of our Stampin' Up! Incentive trip. Today was our last port of call which was Marscilles, France and we  decided that we would stay on the ship for most of the day. Once we arrived in port we saw that they had a few shops by the port and we thought we would get off to check them out plus we need a few souvenirs for Corrie and Alison.

This was our view as we came into port.

Since we weren't heading into town to check out the sights we had to get a picture by the welcome sign so that we could say that we were there.

 

 Once back on the ship, we headed up to the Cafe for some lunch. This was one of our favourite parts about going into the cafe was being greeted by this lady. She would say to us "Washy, Washy, Happy, Happy!" Emily and I would be saying it all day long!!

  

After spending some time by the pool with our friends we had supper and headed back to our room. We were excited to find our last pillow gift of the week. I think the whole ship must have heard me scream as we received the new Foxy Friends Bundle ( stamp set and punch), the new smoky slate ribbon, and the Foxy Friends Designer Series Paper Pack. Once again, I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture.

 But I did manage to remember to take a picture just before we packed up of all our pillow gifts, daily spin prizes and our swaps. It took some creative packing to get this all home!! Thank you Stampin' Up! for the amazing week!!

It was an early night for us as we had to be up early for our flight home the next day. This was our view as we arrived back in Barcelona Spain at 5 am.

I think this picture sums up our fun week in the Mediterranean. I went to grab a little snack before we left the ship and came back to find Emily asleep at the table.

It was a trip of a lifetime and I'm so grateful that I got to spend it with Emily before she heads off to university in the fall. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone for all the support with my business and helping this dream become a reality!!

From the bottom of our hearts...thank you!!

 

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Day 6 Cannes France

Hello,

Welcome back to our trip!! We are on our finally days with the Incentive trip and that makes me a little sad!! I loved spending time with Emily as we explored Europe but I had to say " we sure were missing Corrie and Alison".

Our stop today, takes us to Cannes Frances! We decided that when we were booking excursions, that we wouldn't plan anything on this day incase we were exhausted and decided to just relax on the ship while we were in Port. We decided the night before at supper that we would get off the boat for a few hours and go explore the streets of Cannes and check out the beach right by the port with our friends Kevin, Rose and Amanda.

Cannes is located in the French Riviera and is a very rich and luxury port with lots of famous movies stars!! We couldn't turn down the opportunity to spot a movie star while in town!!

The neat thing about this port was the Cruise ship couldn't dock in the port so they used boats called Tenders to take us ashore!!

A view from the Tenders as we were transported into shore!!

As we were walking along the walkway into town, I couldn't resist taking this gorgeous picture of our cruise ship docked at sea!!

Some sights as we walked along the streets of Cannes!

Amanda and Emily had quite the little bond going on! I love this picture of two of them!!

 

You can't go to Frances without trying a yummy Macaroon!!

After, walking around for an about an hour, we decided to head to the beach for some relaxing time!! The water was a beautiful colour of blue and the initial shock was cold but after that it warmed up!!

 

 

After a few hours on the beach we headed back to the ship so we could have lunch and then hang out by the pool!! After supper, we headed to the private showing of Burn the Floor. This show was amazing and I wished we could have taken pictures but it was against their show policy!

Once the show was over, we headed over to the Hospitality room for our daily spin. This time, I got to spin for the prize and won the new Incolour Lace Doilies!! Just as we were heading out, we stopped to talk to Shelli and Sterling and of course had to have a photo done with them!!

After a little snack we headed back to our room. Once again it was a race to the room to see who could get to the pillow gift first!!

Our pillow gift for the night was Stampin' Up! t shirt and some new enamel shapes.

We are totally feeling the LOVE from Stampin' Up! Look at all the pillow of gifts that was given to us so far on the trip!!

I think today was my favourite day out of the trip. Don't get me wrong, I love all the days but I just love the more relax pace to the day!! I will be back tomorrow with our finally days aboard the Norwegian Epic!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

 

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Day 5 Florence and Pisa

Hello,

Welcome back to Day 5 of our Mediterranean Cruise and today our Port of Call was Florence and Pisa!! We were up early again and off the ship by 7:30 am to meet up with tour for the day! Once again we used Can't Missed Tours and they did another fabulous day of tours highlighting the main attraction in Florence and Pisa!!

Some of the beautiful scenery as we head up the highway to Florence.

First stop on our tour was the to the Galleria dell’Accademia, home to the original Michelangelo’s David, among other of his sculptures, as well as the works of other famous Italian artists such as Botticelli, del Sarto and others.

Allison and I taking Selfies in front of the famous David sculpture.

After touring the museum, we headed into the Michelangelo Square to enjoy the beautiful panorama of the city. Here in the city, we were able to enjoy the sights of the following places: Republic Square and Jewish Ghetto, Cathedral Square and Brunelleschi’s Duomo, Baptistry and Bell Tower, take in a view of Ponte Vecchio and more.

Emily and Amanda checking out the stores along the streets.

That was the best Gelato that I ever had!!!

After some sightseeing in the Market place, it was time to head back on the bus to the Pisa!! Emily and I were so excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!

 

Rose, Allison and I were taking a Selfie in front of Leaning Tower, when John (Shelli's son in law) took this pictures of us taking our selfies!! I found this picture of us on Shelli's blog and knew that I had to share it with you!!

 

After another long day of sightseeing, it was finally time to head back to the ship. After supper, we headed down to the hospitality room for our daily spin.

We decided to spend some time chillin in the room, and when we came back to the room, we found these waiting for us on our bed!

Our pillow gift that night was the new Tin of cards!! I can't wait to put this new project kit together as the cards are gorgeous!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! I will be back to share highlights from our day in Cannes Frances!!

 

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Day 4 Rome

Happy Monday!!

Welcome back to the Day 4 of our trip and today will be all about Rome. Emily and I took tons of photo's while we were in Rome and it's hard to narrow it down to just a few to show you. This was another must do on Emily's bucket list...she wanted to see the Coliseum!!

I have to say "Rome is a crazy busy place to live, with a population of 3 million people this city never sits still. The traffic was insane and there was people everywhere!! Plus the day that we were there, their CUPE Unions decided to go on strike, so there was extra people and traffic around the city that day!!

Our view as we came into port that morning. A little different then the view in Naples, this port was more of a business with lots of buses waiting to take the tourist into the city!

Our first stop of the day was the Coliseum! This was a must on Emily's places to visit and I was excited for her to see. Unfortunately with all the extra traffic in and round the Coliseum, we couldn't go inside. Emily was disappointed but she was still happy that she got to see it in person!!

 

Then it was off to see the Pantheon. Another item on Emily's bucket list to see while we were in Rome!!

I have to admit, I did love walking thru the town checking out all the cute displays along the store fronts!! This is how they sell their pasta and look at all the different styles!

Cute little bike displays were all over the city!!

After walking thru town, we head over to see the Trevi Fountain. It was gorgeous and breathtaking!!

After a little more sight seeing in Rome, we head over to the Vatican. The Vatican was very moving and beautiful. It was super crowd that afternoon we were there, as the Pope had delivery a Mass that morning so all tours were all hold. I took lots of pictures and will share a few of my favourite with you from St. Peter's Basilica. We also saw the the Sistine Chapel, which was breathtaking, and gorgeous!!

Another exhausting day and we were already to head back to the ship for supper and some R&R time! I think we did almost 16,000 steps that day that work out to almost 7 miles!!

Once back on the ship we headed out to dinner with Rose and Amanda. Of course, I had to save room for this yummy Lava Cake dessert!!

After supper, we headed down to the Hospitality room for our daily spin!!

Then it was a race to the room for to see who can get to the pillow gift first!! Once again, I was excited about the pillow gift that I forget to take a photo of the inside. Tonight's pillow gift was a little bag that unzipped to a big tote. Can I just say it's my favourite bag!! I love all the bags that Stampin' Up! gives us! I think I need a hall tree for my studio, then I can display all the colourful totes and bags on it for my family and friends to see!!

Another fun little thing we found on our bed that night was a Towel Animal!!

I decided to chill on the balcony for a bit and I'm so glad that I did, I was able to capture this beautiful sunset while we were leaving Rome. What a great way to end a crazy busy day!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!! Tomorrow, I will be sharing highlights from our day in Florence and Pisa!!

 

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Day 3 Naples, Italy!

Hello,

Welcome back to Day 3 of our trip! Emily and I were very excited as today was our first port stop along this trip..welcome to Naples Italy!! Emily was very excited as this was the day that we were going to tour Pompeii, Sorento and the Amalfi Coast!!

This was our view from our balcony as we pulled into port!! It was breathtaking and beautiful at the same time. I loved seeing all the building on the hillsides and the variety of colours!!

Welcome sign as we came into port!

Can you see the Mt. Vesuvius in the background. This was the volcano responsible for Pompeii!!

Emily was very excited about the tour of Pompeii! When we were booking our tours, she asked if we could go see the city of Pompeii, and I'm so glad that we did. The history that was in the city was ancient, beautiful and breathtaking. To think that people once lived there was unbelievable!!

 

Our amazing tour guide Paulo from Can't Miss Tours! If you are ever in Italy, look up this tour guide company...trust me you won't be disappointed!!

Look at the detail in the ceilings...wow!!

The famous spot where they all bath together. Once again, look at the detail on the marble walls.

After our tour of Pompeii, our next stop was the Sorento! This was one of the view along the road. Our bus driver stopped for 10 mins so we could take some photo's.

Look at the different shades of the water.

While we were in Sorento, we stopped for a bite to eat. Our tour guide recommended this pizza place for us to try. Well, the food was okay but the company that were with totally made up for it!!


The pizza was very cheesy!!


I wish we had more time to explore in this city, it was full of fun little shops!!

After stopping in Sorento, we headed up to the Amalfi Coast line. This place was gorgeous and unbelievable. If we ever return back to Italy, this is one place that I would love to visit again!!

Three happy demo's on the Amalfi Coast: Krista, Rose Marie and myself.

Emily and I at the look out point of the Amalfi Coast.

After a busy and exhausting day in Naples, we headed back to the ship for snacks and nap. Of course, we had to stop at the hospitality area for our daily spin of the prize wheel!!  We won the Floral Phrases stamp set.

Then it was a race back to the room, to see what our pillow gift was that night!! I was excited when I opened it up to find: The Floral Boutique Designer Series Paper, the Solid Baker Twine Night of Navy, Detailed Floral Thinlit Dies, and the Floral Boutique Designer Washi Tape. Wow, is all I can say!!

I was very lucky that night to have dinner with my Canadian President of Stampin' Up! Dale Hampshire and 19 other Canadian Demonstrator's that earned the trip! Dale gave each of us a beautiful Calvin Klein Scarf as a thank you for attending dinner with him and for all we do as an Canadian Demonstrator.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Tomorrow I will be sharing highlights from our crazy day in Rome!!

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Day 2 At Sea

Hello,

Today, I'm back to share highlights and photo's with your from day 2 of our adventure. Day 2 was our first full day on the ship and we were looking forward to our day at sea. We were most excited about touring the ship, hanging by the pool and taking it general session in the morning.

One of my favourite things to do in the morning was to sit on the balcony and watch the sea go by. I loved listening to the waves crash again the ship, it was so soothing and relaxing. They say "that being by the ocean is great for the sole!!"

I was excited to take Emily to her first general session where she could experience main stage stamping and finally get to see what all us demonstrator's love...stamping and prize patrol!!!

Allison and I had to do a photo op before we headed into general session!! One of our favourite things at general sessions is watching all the main stage presentations. A big thanks to Pam and Paula for wowing us with their amazing presentations!! Paula shared the new Foxy Friends suite with us and let me tell you that this bundle is a MUST on your list!!

Pam shared the beautiful and gorgeous Floral Boutique bundle. I have to admit that this bundle was not on my wishlist but after seeing her projects I knew that I had to add it to the list!!

Emily was pretty excited as she even got to participate in prize patrol!! It was fun watching her!!

After general session, we headed down to the Hospitality room to check out all the displays and spin for our daily prize!

And of course, I had to have my picture done too!

Then we spend the rest of the day, hanging by the pool with fellow demonstrators, I got hooked up these yummy drinks!

 

After having some snack we decided to head back to the cabin for a some down time. Of course it was a race back to the room to see who could see the next Pillow Gift first. OMG, once again, I so was excited that I forgot to take pictures after we opened it. Actually I was distracted as Emily really loved the purse and claim it for herself. I had to wrestle her to get it back. Yes this pillow gift had 4 rolls of ribbon and a gorgeous cross body Doony and Burke purse!!

After having some down time in our cabin, we got ready to attend the Private Show and Dinner of Cirque Dreams. Just before we headed down to the 9:30 show, I was out on the balcony and manage to capture this beautiful sunshine!

We had a fabulous time at the show and I wished I could have taken pictures to share with you but they had a no photo policy at the show. Let's just say it was amazing!!

After a fun filled day at sea, Emily and I fell fast asleep quickly that night!! I will be sharing highlights with you tomorrow of our day in Naples Italy!!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!!

 

 

Stampin' Up! Mediterranean Cruise - Barcelona Day 1

Happy Monday!!

I finally feel like I'm catching up with the world! Wowzers, the jet-lag last week was crazy and most of the week I felt like I was walking around like a zombie!!

Emily and I had an AMAZING time on our Mediterranean Cruise and I can't wait to share it with you! It truly was a trip of a lifetime and I have my loyal customers and amazing downline to thank for making this dream come true!! Today I'm going to share highlights with you from Day 1 of our trip as we travel to Barcelona Spain and board the Norwegian Epic Cruise ship.

Sitting in the London airport getting ready to board our plane to Toronto.

We were so excited for our adventure together!

The best thing about Incentive Trip is meeting your friends at the airport.

We were so excited to spend our week with Rose, Kevin and their daughter Amanda!!

When we landed in Barcelona, Stampin' Up! had arranged for bus transportation to the pier.

But because we arrived around 9am and couldn't board the ship till 12pm, they decided to

give us a tour of Barcelona City. This was once an arena that was now turn into a shopping center.

Just look at the detail on that building!!

One of the things that I loved while on the tour was seeing all the beautiful buildings!

Our bus driver had stopped at one look out spot so we could stretch,

grab a snack and check out this gorgeous view of Barcelona!!

We could also see our ship the Norwegian Epic sitting in dock!

Our home for the week!

Our room had a balcony! My favourite thing was sitting on the balcony and

listening to the waves crash against the boat!! Just being on the water was relaxing to the soul!!

The Norwegian Epic delivered some tasty desserts to our room as a welcome to their ship!! YUMMY!!

Our first visit to the Stampin' Up! Hospitality room. Stampin' Up! set up us this fabulous room,

so we could chat with Stampin' Up! Employees and Corporate Members, mingle with fellow demonstrators,

spin daily for prizes, check out the amazing displays and of course eat some chocolate while we were there!!

One of the highlights of our day was returning to our cabin each night to find a pillow gift waiting for us!

I forgot to take a picture of the inside, I was so excited!

Our gift for the night was a gorgeous Stampin' Up! hat that we could wear during the week and

tickets to the Cirque Dreams and Dinner Show for Monday night!!

After traveling and being up for almost 24 hours, let just say that Emily and I were exhausted and called it a night!! Tomorrow, I will be sharing highlights from our day at sea!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

 

Stampin' Up Cruise Swap

Hello,

One of the things that I'm so excited about is swapping with other demonstrators on the cruise. Stampin' Up! organized a swap for us and I can't not turn down the opportunity to swap with fellow demonstrators from around the world!!

The only rules we had to follow for the swap was that it had to be current product and we had to make 26 swaps and in return we would get 25 as Stampin' Up! keeps one for their display boards that they do up while we are on the ship. They have a hospitality room that we can visit each day to check out new product displays, chance to network with other demonstrators, coporate team members and we even have the chance to win prizes!!

My swap was designed using the new Pop of Paradise stamp set. I have to admit when I first saw this set on preorder, I was like really pineapples and flamingo's?? But OMG...they are so hot and trendy right now. I was out shopping for a few things before we left for the cruise and I couldn't believe the number of tropical pictures I saw on the clothing in stores! All I can say is that Pineapples are hot right now in the clothing world!!

 

Omg, can I tell you how much I love this new Incolour called Flirty Flamingo!! I think it's my favourite out of all the new Incolours right now!! I love it paired with black and pear pizzaz!!

Wondering how I made the scallop board down the side of my card? I use the scallop framelit from the Cutie Pie Thinlits die. I love when you find other used for your framelits then what they are designed for!! My squares were easy to create with the Layering Squares Framelits! You are going to want to add these to your wishlist...they rock!!

 

Wondering where my greeting came from? It's a new bundle in the new catalogue called Thoughtful banners. The neat thing about this stamp set is that is has tons of greetings, and banner images. And the best part...is has a matching banner punch!!

There are still lots of great product available on the Farewell List and you have till May 31 to order your favourites before they are gone for good!! You can view the Farewell List here.

Curious to know what products on used on this project, you can view them all on the supply list below.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

 

Just a note that the Flirty Flamingo card stock, Thoughtful Banners Bundle, Layering Squares Framelits and the Pop of Paradise stamp set are not available till June 1st.