Thursday, October 2, 2014

Stampin' Up! Washington DC Trip (Installment 2)

I'm back with a few more photos from the Stampin' Up! Washington DC Getaway Incentive Trip that I was fortunate enough to earn thanks to all of you.

Day Three found us brave enough to travel by Metro. 

Question:  How many times can you go the wrong direction on the Metro?
Answer:  More times than I will admit to.

I honestly don't know how people who live there can do this every day.  I'm sure after awhile it becomes second nature, but for a newbie it sure was confusing.  There were 6 different lines to get you around the city...Orange, Blue, Silver, Red, Green and Yellow and some of them rode the same rails.  You had to make darned sure you caught the right color train.    

We went to several of the Smithsonian Museums on Day Three.  This photo is the Smithsonian Castle and is the resting place of Englishman James Smithson who funded these wonderful museums. 

James Smithson died in 1829 and although he had never traveled to the US he left an inheritance of $500,000+ to the American government.  President Polk established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust and the establishment of the museums started.  Smithson's remains were moved from Genoa Italy to the Smithsonian Castle in 1904.

It's kind of a strange story, but we should all be very grateful to him for this legacy. 

Here are a few more pictures from our Smithsonian travels.....

This is the Hope Diamond.  Can I have just one of the surrounding diamonds please?

 
This is a modern art piece just outside the original Star Spangled Banner display.
 

This place was where we ate dinner on Friday evening with Chad Richards (from Stampin' Up! home office) and 3 other demos: Rhonda Wade, Jan McClurg and Christine Miller.  It was so nice meeting these ladies and I hope to see them again in January at Leadership. 
 
And this is what I had for dinner.  Chicken Pot Pie and it was awesome!!!! 
 
That's all for today.  Thanks for coming back and reading about my travels.  See you soon.
     

Posted by Susan at 12:00 PM
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Stampin' Up! Washington DC Trip

Thanks to all of you I was able to earn the Stampin' Up! Getaway Incentive Trip to Washington DC this year.  I just got back on Monday afternoon and thought I would share a few photos with you.

Stampin' Up! put us up at the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue.  The hotel was proclaimed by President Truman to be the "Second Best Address" after the White House.  Upon opening in 1925, it was said the hotel had more gold leaf than any other U.S. building except the Library of Congress, and through careful preservation, these luxurious details still tell this Washington, DC hotel's history.   The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Historic Hotels of America.

This is me right after check-in on the first day.  I was sitting at the desk with a map trying to figure out a plan of attack.  We only noticed later that I was photo-bombed in the mirror.  LOL.  Love this photo!!!
 
Day One found us just walking and walking and walking around the Dupont Circle area.
 
Day Two - We took a tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  According to this chart, I found out that I'm worth about $1.5 to $1.6 million.  My husband is so excited about that news.   I was hoping for samples at the end of the tour, but my hopes were in vain.  No lovely new money was passed out to the tourists.
 
We also toured the Holocaust Museum the first day.  No photos to share on that one.  Much too depressing.
 
Day Three was spent touring most of the monuments.  Stampin' Up! provided buses for us that day.  The buses dropped you off at street corners and you walked and walked some more.  After one bus stop we decided that just wasn't for us.  So, we hired a chariot for the afternoon.  I'd like you to meet our charioteer.  This young man was wonderful...so knowledgeable about the area and all the monuments.  He served as a Marine and is a history buff so he decided to spend the summer running a pedicab.  He was fabulous and definitely not hard on the eyes. 
 
The next photo is a portion of the WWII Memorial.  I so wish my dad would have been with us to see this.  He served in WWII as a Chief Gunner's Mate.  He would have been so proud. 
 
As you all know, the final photo for today is the Washington Monument and I took this photo from the FDR Monument across the river.  Such a beautiful sight.
 
Thanks for stopping by today and sharing my travels.  I'll stop in again tomorrow with a few more photos and a little commentary.
 

Posted by Susan at 5:58 PM
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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Festival of Trees

The Stampin' Up! Festival of Trees stamp set is fabulous.  There's such a variety of trees to choose from.  There's a garland to add to the trees or, if you prefer, you can add ornaments. Since the stamps are photopolymer you can easily see exactly where to place these ornaments on your tree.  How about adding a cardinal?  Or place your tree into a pot.  The possibilities are endless.  Best of all....there's a matching tree punch.  Can you say HOORAY!!!!  I love it when things come together so easily. The cards I'm sharing today showcase two of the trees from Festival of Trees and are so simple to create. 

This first card has the stamped ornaments and a few sparkly rhinestones. 

This second card has a very simple branched tree basking in the glow of a star.

If you would like to recreate either of these cards, I used the following Stampin' Up! supplies:

Card #1
Posted by Susan at 10:47 PM
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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Blog Hop with the Jacksonville STARZ

Welcome to the Stampin' Up! Jacksonville STARZ Blog Hop.  You should have arrived here from Priscilla Thoreson's blog.


I made this card for our recent swap using new product from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog and thought I would share it with all of you. I just love the frosty look of this sentiment from Seasonally Scattered.  Kind of reminds me of those nights when the moon would glisten on the snow covered ground and on the icicles hanging from the roof.  Living in Florida now I can honestly say I often wish for snow although my husband definitely doesn't share that wish. 

If you would like to recreate this card I used the following Stampin' Up! products:
To continue on the Blog Hop just click below and you will be taken to Stampingleeyours, the blog of the extremely talented Lee Conrey.

Just in case you get lost along the way, following are all the participants:

Thanks for taking the time to Hop with us.  I hope you enjoy yourself and please come back again soon.

Posted by Susan at 7:00 AM
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Monday, August 4, 2014

Sea Street Silliness

I only have a short post for you today.

Another convention swap share...This time by Colleen Magness.  Colleen used the cute stamp set called Sea Street on page 48 of the annual catalog with the Maritime Designer Series Paper on page 187.
Today's photo share is me and Amanda Sevall from California.  Amanda is in the same group of demonstrators as me, but this is the first time we had the opportunity to meet.  We have been chatting on Facebook but there is nothing like a face-to-face meeting.  I so enjoyed meeting Amanda and hope to see her again in January at Stampin' Up! Leadership in Orlando.  I hope we get to attend Manager's Reception together there. 
 
Thanks Amanda for allowing me to pick your brain at convention!
Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog today.


Posted by Susan at 1:00 AM
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