My husband Tim & I just returned from the fabulous 2023 Stampin’ Up!® incentive trip* – a Norwegian Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas! What a wonderful time we had with fellow achieving demonstrators, their guests, and those from the home office of Stampin’ Up!

(We got sick just after arriving home on Sunday evening and have been quite tired these past couple days, so my apologies for the delay in posts. Because of this I won’t be doing a live video today. AND…I just opened my May 2023 Paper Pumpkin kit that arrived while we were away, so my apologies for the delay with posting about that as well.)

I shared the Scotland half our trip on May 21st. You can click here to read and see what we did in that week prior to the Norway Cruise. Today’s post shares the cruise-half of our 2 week European vacation.

5/20/23 Saturday

We left Edinburgh early and arrived back in London around 9 AM Saturday morning. The six of us (Jennifer, David, Sherry, Donna, Tim and I) took The Tube, London’s underground train to get to within walking distance of the Hilton Metropole where we would stay that night along with many other trip achievers. We couldn’t check in yet, so we dropped our bags off and joined Jennifer and David for lunch at The Heron, a restaurant with an English pub AND a Thai restaurant. We ate out in their back garden and the Thai food was very good!

Then we got adventurous. We took The Tube to Tower Bridge, which was quite impressive.

And then we hopped on the trains again and went to the Camden Market in Camden Town. There were popup shopping stands and TONS of people everywhere. It was colorful, diverse and loud. We didn’t stay too long, because we were quite tired by now and wanted to get back and check into our hotel rooms. But it was an adventure getting back to the hotel, as the train stations were very crowded, which tired us out even more.

That evening after getting settled into our rooms and resting, we joined Jennifer and David again and ended up at Al Balad, a Lebanese restaurant recommended to us by a hotel employee. The food was amazing!

We went back to the hotel and visited with some fellow Stampin’ Up! demonstrators before calling it a night.

5/21/23 Sunday

We had breakfast with Jennifer, David, Michelle Litwiller, Michelle’s husband Ryan, and Kylie and Bruno Bertucci that next morning.

I had “fried” my flat iron when we were in Scotland. So it didn’t work anymore. And I assumed going forward that I would be wearing my hair topper or going without with flat hair. But Anne Oshiro overheard me asking at the front desk for a hair care store that might be open on a Sunday morning. And so she loaned me hers and told me I could use it the remainder of the trip! ❤️

After curling my hair & packing up, we checked out and met up with Stampin’ Up! achievers downstairs while waiting for transportation to the pier. We were on the last bus to arrive, and quite hungry again by the time we got on the ship. So after checking out our room and grabbing the SeaPass cards,…

…we found food at the Windjammer (the all you can eat buffet) around 3:30 PM. Then it was time to explore and visit. Silvia Werner and her daughter Carolin showed us how to get our beverage cups. We also visited with a few other demonstrators from Germany including Alexandra Grape and Irene Wendlandt. We took off for dinner because we were assigned to the 5:30 time slot. You can guess we weren’t that hungry after just eating a couple hours ago. But we were curious who our table mates would be. Our actual table mates never showed up. But we were near Mary Deathridge, her husband, Amy Koenders, and her husband. So they included us in their conversation and we had a great evening sharing & learning about their Ireland adventures the week before.

Stampin’ Up!’s Welcome Reception started at 7:00 PM. Lots of people were there but it was hard to hear because the music was very loud. We chatted with Sam Hammond and her husband Chris.

We also met up and chatted with Anne Oshiro again and her two daughters.

Tim and I then found a quieter place over by the food and sat down, We were stuffed from eating so much already, but we managed to taste a few of the desserts.

We then joined Alanna, Ryan and Ethan Wharf at their table, with Karen Duke and her husband Robin, and Evelyn Wood and her husband Brent. We closed it down and had to be kicked out. Hahaha!

After chatting a bit more outside the reception area with Alanna’s family, we headed back to our room to retire for the night.

5/22/23 Monday

We moved forward into another time zone overnight. But the time didn’t change on our phones. So we woke up late and rushed off to get to Stampin’ Up!’s General Session. Anne Oshiro, her oldest daughter, Jackie Williams, and Elaine Shader joined us.

We saw sneak peeks of new products and heard the latest Stampin’ Up! news. It was also announced at the end that our 2025 incentive trip would be Disney World and we were handed Mickey Mouse rice crispy treats as gifts as we left. Too fun!!

Tim took off but I stayed and visited afterwards and then went to Stampin’ Up!’s Hospitality Room. (The Hospitality Room is where demonstrators go each day to visit with others, spin for prizes, and see stamped samples.) I turned in my swap cards. And after spinning for a prize…

…and visiting for a bit, Tim met me there, grabbed a few treats,…

…and we went to the Windjammer to eat lunch with Elaine Schader, her husband Adam, and Laurie LaRose. Afterwards I met and connected with Paper Pumpkin Advisors Alumni.

(This was an “At Sea” day, so it was filled it with a lot of Stampin’ Up! activities.)

After the alumni gathering, I left to go back to the room but got sidetracked and visited with Connie Stewart for quite awhile.

Tim napped and was there in the room when I returned.

It was formal night tonight in the dining room. So we got dressed up the best we could and joined Amy, Mary, and their husbands again in the dining room. (The risotto was fabulous!)

5/23/23 Tuesday – Haugesund, Norway

We woke up early, had breakfast in the Windjammer, then we met our tour group and set off for our Scenic Skudeneshavn excursion. The drive from Haugesund to Skudeneshavn was very pretty, and the tour guide was very talkative and animated.

We arrived at the fishing village of Skudeneshavn and took a walking tour of the town. It was a very quaint town right on the waterfront. The town seemed empty of people, though. We were told they were probably at school and work.

We toured their small museum…

…and then explored a little bit on our own. We were hoping to shop, but we couldn’t find any stores open.

After returning from our excursion, we had a late lunch at the Windjammer. We then went to the Hospitality Room so I could spin for a prize. I connected with Cindy Baughman. And while Tim went back to the room to take a nap, Cindy and I chatted for quite some time. For dinner, we were back at the Windjammer. We ate and visited with Hattie Walker Nelson. And a bit later Danny Hikade joined us.

We went back to the room, relaxed a bit, and then met David and Jennifer, Hattie and her husband Steve, and Michelle and Ryan for drinks. It was a pleasant and relaxing evening.

5/24/23 Wednesday – Geiranger, Norway

We woke up around 7:00 am and went up to the ship’s windy upper decks where we could be outside for 360 degree views of the beautiful Geiranger Fjord. We saw towering hills and cliffs, cascading waterfalls and gorgeous greenery and granite. Even though it was early, the sun had been up for hours and it would stay light out until well after 10 pm.

After taking photos of the Fjord we joined Silvia and Carolin for breakfast, then went out for more photos of the Fjord where we ran into David and Jennifer again, and Sarah Schuler and her family.

After photos and visiting we returned to the room. I left for the hospitality room and Tim stayed in the room. We had intended to go ashore to Geiringer to shop (we had no excursion booked), but the crew couldn’t get the gangway in place because of mechanical failures and high winds. The Tender boats weren’t handling the rough waters well, either. So by 2:30 we were told were wouldn’t be able to go off the boat at this port. Bummer! The Fjord was beautiful though, and we were able to take photos of the town from the boat. I visited with several demonstrators during that wait while in the Hospitality room and Tim got a good long nap.

Alanna and Ryan Wharf and their son Ethan joined us in the Windjammer for a late lunch. We visited for quite some time before returning to the room to get ready for dinner. Silvia and Carolin joined us for dinner in the dining room.

It was so nice to visit and catch up. We then went to the SeaPlex where Carolin was going to do the iFly Ripcord. We were unable to watch though. So we turned in early as we had to wake early for our Glacier excursion the next day.

5/25/23 Thursday – Olden, Norway

We woke early, skipped breakfast and showering, and went to the Royal Theatre for our excursion to the Briksdal Glacier. I found that demonstrators weren’t together and convinced the cruise staff to let us all be on one bus. We then boarded bus 4 with Lynn Feldkamp, her daughter Grace, Scot Strehlow, his wife McCall, and Mary Ann (a friend of another demonstrator). How fun it was to spend this excursion with all of them!

When we arrived, we hiked to the glacier taking several photos of the amazing scenery along the way.

Many in our group got back about 10 minutes late even though we were pretty efficient in our hiking. So there wasn’t time to shop the gift shop. But the tour also included an extra stop on the way back at a coffee house where we enjoyed coffee and desserts on fancy plates.

And outside we saw several buildings with living plants/grass on their roofs. We were told these are very insulating.

When we returned to port we shopped a bit at the gift shops near the cruise ship.

Then we got back on the boat and joined Jenni Pauli, Susie Wood and her husband, and Lorri and Dan Heiling for lunch. It was great catching up.

I went to the Hospitality Room to pick up swaps, spin for a prize, an take photos of all the swap boards.

I also visited with lots of people.

Tim joined me a little later.

That evening we had dinner in the Windjammer with Alanna and Ryan Wharf, Susan and Mike Campfield, and Brenda Nelson. The waters were rough and the ship rocked back and forth. It was fun to experience! That evening I finished up a blog post. Tim went to Vintages to join the Wharfs. And I joined them a bit later.

5/26/23 Friday – Stavanger, Norway

We awoke around 8 AM because we had no plans until 2:30 that afternoon (or so we thought). We had breakfast in the Windjammer, talked to Karen and Tim Titus,…

…and then met up with Jennifer and David Hill. We went into Stavanger with Jennifer & David and bought Hop On/Hop Off bus tickets to see the town.

After completing a loop of the town, which was very pretty, we got off the bus and hit some of the shops. We then split up and Jennifer and I continued shopping while Tim and David hit a few of the pubs.

After shopping, Jennifer led us into some interesting nooks and crannies of the town following her phone directions to get back to the boys. I was nervous because I didn’t want to be late for the lunch, but it was oh so fun to see those back streets. We found the boys at a pub not far away.

When it was time for our restaurant lunch at Tango, we said our goodbyes and proceeded to the restaurant. When we arrived, we discovered we showed up at the wrong time. We were supposed to be at the 11:30 time slot rather than the 2:30 one. Eek! But the staff was kind and fit us in. We sat with Janet & Doug Wakeland, Susan & Lance Nygaard, and Marcie Rhoades Besecker & her husband Rick.

The restaurant was fancy and the food was introduced in detail as each course was served.

We got back on the boat and Tim took a short nap while I went to the Hospitality Room. 

We had dinner in the Windjammer with Alanna, Ryan, Susan and Mike. Us girls then returned to our room to do a live video sharing swap cards. Then it was off to the Stampin Up!’s Farewell Reception.

It was nice to visit with people but sad to say goodbyes knowing we only had one more day on the boat.

Elaine brought a card game and many of us played until we were kicked out. Hahaha!

5/27/23 Saturday

Today was an “At Sea” day again. We met up with Natalie Travis and Jackie VanderSar-Boot and had breakfast in the dining room. Elaine and Adam Schader, and David, a new SU board member also joined us.

It was so nice to get a fancy gluten-free breakfast: Eggs Benedict and French Toast!

It was great conversation and it was so good to catch up a bit with Natalie and Jackie, too!

After breakfast Tim went to explore the ship and I headed over to the Hospitality Room with Elaine to spin for a prize. We visited with others and also played the card game again with Monika Davis.

We took a few photos. And then I went back and packed a bit.

Tim was still off exploring so I went to visit with Tami White, Selene Kempton, Sam Hammond, and others in the Cafe70. It was at this time that Selene performed in the finals for the Karaoke contest. She did a great job!

I connected with Tim back in the room where we rested, packed more, checked emails, and got showered and ready for dinner. Then we headed to the Windjammer around 7:30 to get coffee for Tim and say our goodbyes to the Wharfs. Alanna and Ethan decided to come with us though when we left for the dining room. (Janet Wakeland and Kylie Bertucci had invited us the evening before to dine with them and Ethan wanted their signatures.) Janet and Doug Wakeland weren’t able to make it. But we enjoyed the company of Kylie, Bruno, Marcie and Rick. Then we talked Alanna & Ethan into staying and taking Janet & Doug’s chairs. And Ryan joined us as well.

We left with the Wharfs and caught a bit of Lennon singing Karaoke. It was a fun evening. And it was sad to say our goodbyes. We went back to the room, finished packing, and set out our luggage by 10:30 PM.

5/28/23 Sunday

We woke at 5:15 thinking we were getting up at 6:15 because our clocks once again didn’t change. So we had about 5-1/2 hours of sleep total. We got some food at the Windjammer. Then we grabbed our carry-ons and left the ship by 7:15. After claiming our luggage we got on the bus and made our way to the London Heathrow airport.

The wait was quite a few hours, and coincidentally, we saw Chad Williams.

Chad works for Stampin’ Up! but he we just here in London on vacation.

The flight to JFK airport got us in an hour early. We claimed our luggage again and then went off to the next gate to rest and wait for our connecting flight to Minneapolis.

I was exhausted when we finally landed. And after an Uber ride, we made it home by about 11 PM (about 5 AM London time). We didn’t unpack much, and went straight to bed. With only 5-1/2 hours of sleep the night before and staying awake for nearly 24 hours, we fell asleep quickly.

Here are photos of the gifts I received from Stampin’ Up!

And here is a photo of a few gifts I received from others during this trip.

Here are a few more photos of me with fellow SU demonstrators.

What an amazing trip it was!

Thanks for visiting and reading!

* Earning the incentive trip is something very few Stampin’ Up! demonstrators achieve—less than 1%, in fact! I’m so excited to be among the 305 that attended this Norwegian cruise with family and friends.

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MORE ONLINE EXCLUSIVES COMING IN JULY
New products are coming to the online store* July 6, 2023! You won’t find these products in any catalog, but you can download this flyer which gives you a peek at a few of the new ones.
*this link will reveal the newer products on 7/6/23

JUNE 2023 STARTER KIT SPECIAL
June a fabulous time to join Stampin’ Up! Those who sign up/purchase the Starter Kit between June 1 and June 30 can get $125 USD  $155 USD worth of products for only $99 USD  + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up!

LAYERING LEAVES CLASS THROUGH THE MAIL
My Layering Leaves Class To Go sold out in less than 3 days with over 300 registrants! Thank you. I was blown away. And I still have many asking. So I will offer this class again with signups starting June 9th. Watch for that announcement. And thank you for the wonderful response and the kind words that have been sent my way. Visit my 4/22/23 blog post for details on the class.

JUNE 2023 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SALE
This June you can enjoy a 15% discount on select Designer Series Paper packs from our new 2023–2024 Annual Catalog and Online Exclusives! This is a great time to stock up and save on gorgeous paper so you have artistic and versatile paper designs on hand for your next projects! Click here for more details.

KITS COLLECTION: CONFETTI BIRTHDAY KIT ADDED
Shake up someone’s special day with a happy, handcrafted shaker card! The Confetti Birthday Kit comes with everything you need to quickly create confetti shaker cards—a total of 9 cards in 3 lively designs. This new kit is part of the Kits Collection and is now available. Click here and scroll down for more details.

A PEEK AT JUNE’S PAPER PUMPKIN KIT
Show hospitality to all your guests with June’s Welcome Inn Paper Pumpkin Kit! This kit includes supplies to make nine elegant and detailed cards—3 of 3 designs. Whether you’re hosting friends and family, want to invite someone over, or want to stand out as a gracious guest, this kit has what you need to create inviting and welcoming cards that any loved one is sure to appreciate. The kit perfectly coordinates with the Countryside Inn Suite Collection (item number 161474) from the 2023–2024 Annual Catalog! You can also pair this kit with a coordinating die add-on(163192)! (Available now & while supplies last. Dies, suite products & Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine sold separately). Coordinating Stampin’ Up! colors: Boho Blue, Copper Clay (also the kit’s ink color), Daffodil Delight, Moody Mauve, Mossy Meadow, Pebbled Path, Wild Wheat
If you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, I invite you to give it a try. CLICK HERE to learn more. CLICK HERE to sign up by June 10th for this next kit.

ALL STAR VIDEO CLASSES
I’m a designer with the All Stars, a group of globally recognized Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. And we are excited to share exclusively with our customers, paper crafting friends & team members our May 2023 Countryside Inn Suite Video Class Bundle which is now available. CLICK HERE for more information. Click here to get to my Tutorials/Classes for Sale page to see others that have been offered. The next one featuring the Fresh As A Daisy Suite from the 2023-34 Annual Catalog will be available June 1st.