In The Bahamas

I know it's been more than a month since I've posted. I was really busy in November with events because I knew I wouldn't have time to do any in December. December was busy with school and preparing for our vacation. We left on Saturday for Florida, stayed there a couple of days, then flew to Grand Bahama for four days. We're waiting at the airport now for our flight back to Florida for a couple more days. We'll get back home on Christmas Eve. I promise to try to post more once I get back home. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy seeing some of our trip.

Here is a picture of the hotel from the beach. We thought it kind of looked like a ship the way the balconies on the end were staggered.

Here is the view from our room. We just stepped onto the balcony and got a beautiful view of the harbor.
Here is the ocean through the palm trees on the grounds.

We went to a bonfire on the second night - it was windy and cold, but it was a great time!

I found this sign on a tour we went on. There is so much beautiful wildlife and plant life on the island.

Here is a small lizard we saw on the wall of a night club when we were walking one day - these little guys are everywhere here.

Rich and a man from Ohio tied on a drinking contest - the winners drank the entire drink through a straw the quickest. The split the prize - a half pint of Bacardi Gold. Rich was one of the quickest suckers.

We just loved the view of the ocean. There was a great rock formation by the ocean right in front of the Manor House.

Coconuts were growing everywhere!!!

They were putting up the plywood base for a gingerbread house as we checked in. Over the next three days, they covered it with gingerbread and decorated it. I thought it turned out very inviting.

We at lunch at a poolside grill - great burgers and lots of birds watching for crumbs to drop.

This is the last view we enjoyed before leaving the resort. It was absolutely beautiful and hard to leave.

Conferences Done & Classes Coming

It was a very busy week for me with school conferences. Now that I've made it through conferences, I have a full week of Stampin' Up! classes. I will try to take photos of the projects I'm doing at each class and will post them later this week.

Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp

I'm excited to share our newest product - the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamp. I've had a chance to use this new product and have fallen in love. The recipes included in the box are so tasty and the cookies turn out so cute!

Big Shot Promotion Extended!!!

Stampin' Up! has extended the amazing Starter Kit Promotion until November 11th. If you have ever considered joining the Stampin' Up! team, now is the time. Please call me before Friday so we can talk about it - 269-686-2349.

FANTASTIC SAVINGS!!!
October only! The Stampin' Up! Starter Kit includes a FREE Big Shot OR $100 of your choice of Stampin' Up! Products. Up to $440 of products for $175 and it ships FREE
Click here for details!

You can even change out some of the products that come in your starter kit - click here for a list of what comes in the kit and what you can change.

Christmas Lane 20 Card Class

Here are the cards we will be creating at the Christmas Lane 20 Card Class on Friday, October 28th at 5:30. The cost is $25 which averages just over $1 per card - much better price than buying cards at the store and each one is handmade. If you would like to come and create these cards (and a card folio which would hold a few of the cards for a quick and simple gift), please RSVP no later than 10/22/11 to allow time to prepare materials. You will need to bring your own adhesive and scissors for this class.

Annual Christmas Gift Class

I'm so excited to finally share details about the Annual Christmas Gift Class held at United Methodist Church in Allegan. Please mark your calendar for Saturday, October 15th at 9:00.

If you have ever thought "I'd like to use my stamp supplies for more than just cards.", this is the class for you! We will create 7 one of a kind Christmas projects including an adorable lunchbox note set, a beautiful butterfly post-it notepad, a CD case desktop calendar, and more. The mission of this class is to show you that you can use your stamping hobby to create great gifts that show the people who receive them that you care enough to give a handmade gift. You can make great gifts without breaking the bank or taking a large amount of time. Please join us and bring a friend!
Here is a sneak peek at five of the projects we'll be making. I'm still working on assembling the samples for the last two projects.

If you haven't already given your RSVP, please contact me at 269-686-2349 or amyrogers1@charter.net to save your space. Space is limited to 23 participants and this is one class you don't want to miss!

Finally - A Post

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for me.

The beginning of the school year is always very busy for me, but I have the pleasure of helping a brand new teacher start her career in Kindergarten at my building.

Our personal life has also been hopping. We finished camping for the season, cleaned and closed up the camper for the season, and have spent time with family both of the past two weekends.

Best of all, I was at the hospital yesterday (very early in the morning) for the birth of my new grand nephew. Isn't he beautiful???

I will try to post at least a time or two this week, but keep in mind that it is the second week of school so I may get sidetracked again.

Countryside Girls Night Out

Mark your calendar for Friday, September 30th at 6:00. The $22 class fee includes the wonderful Countryside stamp set (clear mount), precut supplies for four coordinating masculine cards, and a light dinner. You will need to bring your own adhesive and scissors. Please RSVP by 9/16/11 to allow time to order and prepare supplies.

Button Buddies Class

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, September 21st at 5:30. The $29 class fee includes the adorable Button Buddies stamp set (clear mount) and all precut supplies for the eight cards shown above. You will need to bring your own adhesive and scissors. Please RSVP by 9/9/11 to allow time to order and prepare supplies.

Fabulous Florets Girls Night Out

Mark your calendar for Girls Night Out this month. I had to move it to Thursday, August 25th at 6:00, but it will be the same fun event as always. The $23 class fee includes Fabulous Florets in clear mount, precut supplies for four coordinating cards, and a light dinner. You will need to bring your own adhesive and scissors. Please RSVP by 8/17/11 to allow time to order and prepare supplies.

I know this is really short notice - please understand how busy my life is in August as I get ready to head back to school.

New Designer Series Paper Offer!!!

Promotion Dates: August 1-31, 2011

Promotion Details: During August, get a FREE package of Designer Series Paper when you buy three! Stock up on all your favorites, including brand-new designs from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.

Things to Remember:

• There is no limit to the number of free packages of Designer Series Paper you can earn.
• Specialty Designer Series Paper and Hostess Designer Series Paper are not part of this promotion and cannot be redeemed through this offer.

A Very Late Night

Although there are many, many, many amazing benefits of being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, one of the most exciting is the opportunity to preorder products before they become available to customers. Sunday night at 1:59am (11:59pm Stampin' Up! time), was one of those opportunities. I was so excited to order the new scoring tool (and too many other products to mention), that I stayed up to place my preorder as soon as they became available.

My faithful dog Lily stayed up with me. Well, I woke up very sleepy at 7:30 this morning (2 1/2 hours later than normal). I had to wake Lily up to go potty at 9:15 and then she just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. Now, about 6 1/2 hours later, she is still napping on the couch.

I'm very excited about the products in the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog - I can't wait to create samples and start sharing them with you. I have been saying "there is no way Stampin' Up! can top this catalog", but they keep outdoing themselves!

Back Home Again

I got home on Monday, but I have to say it is hard to break the habits I got into on vacation. I went out for lunch on Tuesday with my friend Susan. We went to Mongolian Grill. It was a fresh and delicious meal. We enjoyed talking about what we learned at Convention and what we plan to do next with our businesses based on what we learned.

Here are a few more cards to enjoy. I love the use of the flower punch for the flame on these birthday candles.

Since it is so hot here, I started thinking about Christmas cards in an attempt to cool down. Here are two beautiful examples I saw on my trip. They both use the new pennant punch!

Extra Day On Trip

Saturday night, some of our group flew home on the "red eye" so there was some major packing going on. Here is the FULL elevator with three of the girls from our group and their luggage.


When I got as far as Chicago on Sunday, the airline was looking for three volunteers to take a bump. I wouldn't ordinarily do this, but the offer was so sweet I couldn't pass it up. They offered $400 in airline vouchers, a night at the Crowne Plaza, free shuttle from and to the airport, and dinner. Since I didn't have to be home for work on Monday, I decided to go for it.

Although I was without luggage (and everything but my computer and my camera were in the luggage), I am glad I did it. Here are photos of the room and dinner I enjoyed on the airline.

Last Day of Convention

Today was the last day of Convention. Although I'm sad to see this exciting week end, I'm really tired and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night.

I went to Memento Mall with my friend Susan today and had to take advantage of the umbrella display. I snapped a few pictures of Susan - this was my favorite.

When we were leaving the building at the end of the day, I had to have someone take a picture from the other side of the door.

We went to Biaggi's for dinner tonight. My friend Diana ordered the Caprese which looked scrumptious.

I had the Farefale Alfredo - it was delicious.

After dinner, we decided to walk for a while at the outdoor mall. I was so amused by the fountains where children were running around and screaming in delight.
So here are my the rest of my favorite swaps before the WOW swap last night. I will be posting those once I return home.

Another Fun Day at Convention

It's midnight here (2:00am at home) so this has to be a quick post. I put in a lot of pictures, but the explanations have to be short.

First, here are three of my favorite swap cards (before the organized swap I was in tonight). I will take pictures and post those after I've slept and finished with Convention activities.



I was so excited to meet Renee Wright today! She was my Demonstrator Business Building Coach. When I walked up and said my name, she started talking about how much she enjoyed the Simply Adorned inserts I sent her back in January. I can't believe she remembered me and my small gift!

We went for breakfast at the hotel this morning. I couldn't finish this yummy meal, but I sure gave it a try.

We at dinner at The Blue Lemon at 5:30, but I saved room for dessert at the Marriott with Rebecca Bernzweig, Ruth Bingle, and Susan Auyer at 7:30. It was great to sit down with very successful demonstrators and learn what is working well for them in their businesses. I really enjoyed my time with them.

I picked the strawberry cheesecake. It was so fresh and summery.

However, I had "dessert envy" as soon as I saw Susan's decadent hot chocolate cake.

In the end, I still love Susan even though she didn't offer to share with me.

We rushed from dessert with these girls to second dessert with the group I've enjoyed eating with most of the week. We went back to The Bayleaf Cafe because we enjoyed it so much last night.

We drank out of Mason jars - check out the size of this water.

But, water wasn't the only refreshment enjoyed tonight. Denise was thrilled when she got carded and so was Melanie.

But, when Pat went to hand the waitress her ID, she didn't need it. We got to laughing so hard I almost wet my pants.
My second dessert of the night was Brown Betty. I'd never had it before, but I was sure glad I had ordered it. It was so delicious I almost forgot about the dessert envy earlier in the evening.

Here is a group shot outside of the restaurant. It was a late night, but it was a blast. One of the best things about convention is the time spent with old friends and making lots of new friends. I've definitely done both on this trip.

I would love to have you join me at Convention next year as a member of my team!