Hi All!
Matt and I just returned from our week with Stampin’ Up on the Alaska incentive trip.  It was a wonderful trip away and it’s also great to be home:)  Some of you are on Facebook and followed along with me but for those not on social media, I’ll recap here on the blog!

Before I do, just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day for our ink pad starter kit promo!  If you decide to join my team by July 31, you get a free set of 10 ink pads!
Email me for details. 
New demos can also get in early on the Holiday catalog pre-order in August!

Stampin’ Up always leaves a little welcome on our cabin door.
This year is a wooden photo frame!

We boarded on a Friday and got settled in.  Beautiful balcony view and roomy cabin!

My guy loves the ocean.  He must have sailor sea legs in his ancestry somewhere!

On Saturday, we had our General Session for achievers and their guest.
It’s a business update and sneak peeks of the upcoming Holiday catalog!  (Demonstrators can order from it in August and customers on Sept 4*)
It’s a beautiful, stocked full catalog as usual!
*if you have ordered from me in the last 6 months, you will automatically receive one from me. If you want to request one, email me with your address to Linda@stampingschool.com.   (Demos, you will receive a complimentary copy from SU.)

(It’s not that easy to get a selfie on a windy balcony with a ship rockin!! I look surprisingly calm but I was trying not to get knocked over LOL)

During our General Session, we received some freebies!  Look at this beautiful foiled holiday paper!

This is a fun tool coming out in the Holiday catty, too!  It’s called Take Your Pick, and it has a little spatula for getting up stuck pieces or scooping up embellishments.  It can be pulled out and replaced with 2 stylus ends. On the other end is a sticky end for picking up sequins, etc. and it has an extra replacement sticky end.

This folder…..Love!  its a corrugated folder that creates deep grooves.  Shelli, our founder, showed these cute samples using it along with a new stamp set:

The hospitality room is full of candy and stamping inspiration!  This is where the guys hang out….I can’t even imagine how many pounds of peanut M&Ms they go through that week!

SUNDAY – JUNEAU

We were at sea until Sunday when we got to Juneau.   Matt and Tom went kayaking and I went to see the Mendenhall Glacier and Mt. Roberts tram.

Janet, Patsy and I enjoying the cool water breezes after a long hike to get up there!
(Alison and Des were with us too!)

When in Alaska, have some King Crab legs with chowder and crab cakes!  And the most fantastic Alaskan Amber beer that I can’t get here.

The view of our cruise ship 1800 feet up from Mt. Roberts.

In the hospitality room there were LOTS of samples on display featuring stamps coming in the holiday catalog!  We have a poinsettia each year but I love when they have coordinating framelits. too:

    
I tried to get a good shot of the detail above in the right photo but in person it’s really pretty.  The set below is called Alpine Adventure and there is a sled framelit die, too!

MONDAY – SKAGWAY

Matt and I were super excited about a Grizzly Bear excursion along the Chilkat/Chilkoot river in Skagway.  We had been to Alaska about 5 or 6 years ago and missed seeing bears so were hopeful we could get some this time but no.  Hard to control nature!  But we saw pretty scenery…

Then feeling a little ‘blah’ over our non-bear excursion we had a little time left for some
mush puppies!  We stopped to see the Iditerod-in-training sled dogs for some puppy breath and play time:

TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY- TRACY ARM FJORD

We were at sea the next 2 days!  It’s a long time to be on the ocean and it was really too chilly to be on deck or in the pool.  We enjoyed the views, friends and ship entertainment.  Saw goats on the rocks, eagles and a few seals.  Cindy, Janet and I got a little  itchy for land but luckily SU had some nature set up in the hospitality room LOL

 
THURSDAY – VICTORIA
We decided to go very local and took a tour called Eat Like a Canadian!
So much fun with a great group of friends and we ate well indeed!
From our first time enjoying Poutine to Nanaimo bars, candied salmon, crab cakes, smoked tuna…..our taste buds were singing! Our tour guide MaryLou gave us a walking tour with history and food at the same time, perfection.

After all these years, I still rush back to the room to see what they left for us.  Like opening presents under the tree, I can’t wait to see what’s inside!  Giving us the upcoming, new Holiday catalog goodies is EXTRA exciting!
Here are the goodies on our pillows during the trip:

Who doesn’t love deer for the holidays?  And the framelit dies….love.

Beautiful papers with ph0to-realism ornaments and pine on one side

Annual catalog ‘stocking stuffers’

This jacket is actually gray but the lighting in the cabin was odd.  It’s a perfect weight and fits me perfectly, which most don’t.  There’s a SU logo on the back collar.  Love it!

Swirls & Curls embossing folder!  This will be fun for winter and all year, really!

A custom logo Bluetooth speaker!

A cool Scratch Map so we can scratch off all the amazing destinations
we have traveled with SU over the years

Another fun bundle coming in the Holiday catalog!  Matt said the light bulb punch
looks like a man’s shoe!

Isn’t this a pretty SU logo tote bag? Holds lots of stuff
including some 12×12 paper stuffed inside, too.

A   
This may be my favorite!  Think Tin Tiles embossed metals….going to be fun!

My FAVORITE bundle so far!  The framelit word dies are super!  Lots of possibilities!

Thanks for stopping by and if you have read all the way to the end, good job!
Less than 1% of all demonstrators earn the incentive trip each year so I am so very grateful to my team and customers!
I know it was a long one!

P.S  August 1st begins BONUS DAYS COUPONS!   You may remember those from last year.  Spend $50 in August and get a coupon in your email for $5 off orders in September when the Holiday catalog begins.  Collect as many as you want and spend anyway you like!