Thailand Achiever's Blog Hop - FANTASTIC Thailand!

My Dearest Friends

Any of you who follow me on Facebook will have already seen a TON of pictures from when was on the Stampin' Up! Incentive trip in Thailand.  Stampin' Up! lavishes attention on us and rewards our hard work with a fantastic, all-expense paid trip for two to somewhere spectacular.  For 2017, the trip was to Phuket, Thailand and let me tell you - this was the type of vacation that dreams are made of!!

Probably my favourite part of any incentive trip, is getting to reconnect with demonstrator friends that I have made all over the world. This trip was no exception. Beginning with a day-visit in Sydney Australia, with my beautiful and talented friend, Louise Sharp (an unexpected blessing since I didn't get the opportunity to see her in Thailand), from there I got to share fun and laughter with a bevvy of friends in Thailand. 
Be patient with me - when I take a selfie, it has nothing to do with me looking good. In fact, most of the time I look goofy. Because the picture isn't about "me". It's all about documenting the wonderful places I got to go and the fantastic people I got to be with. So here are a few pictures of me sharing some giggles and laughs with just a few of my fantastic friends from all over the world. Thank you Stampin' Up! for letting me meet so many wonderful friends!

When Stampin Up sends us on these trips, they spare no expense to show us how much they love us. From 5-star resorts with gorgeous pools and fine dining, right down to the linen , we are treated like royalty.  And in a world where we spend so much of our time caring for the needs of others, it feels awfully nice sometimes to be on the receiving end of some of the pampering. Thanks Stampin Up!

And just so you know...Thailand has always been a bucket list destination for me. One I never dreamed I would actually get to visit!  It is a tropical oasis absolutely covered with beautiful and exotic flora and I have to admit, that was one of the things that had me most captivated.  Orchids grow like weeds there!  Honestly, there are 1500 varieties in Thailand and they grow, literally, everywhere!! It was such a beautiful experience to be able to step out of our room each day and walk to the pool, and every pathway was lined with beauty and stunning plant life. I wish I could capture the panoply of colour and the aromatic spectrum that greeted all our senses while we were there.

I never would have gotten to experience these without Stampin' Up!  Thanks again SU!

Stampin' Up! is very, VERY gracious to us in allowing us to see beautiful things whenever we visit these exotic destinations.  They gifted us with several excursions and treats that allowed us to broaden our horizons and truly experience something "different".  Between a boat ride to visit the floating village, and taking us on an adventurous canoe trip through stalactite encrusted caves, to visiting James Bond island and beautiful beaches, capped off by an elegant dinner at the famous Blue Elephant restaurant.....well, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times....NO ONE does presentation like Stampin' Up! does.  

But honestly? My favourite part about the incentive trips... Are the Stampin' Up! goodies. I received a sneak peek copy of the NEW HOLIDAY CATALOGUE and when I tell you that you are going to love it, I really mean it!  (Sorry I've had to blot out the cover design.  It is still under wraps until it is officially revealed in a few short weeks.  But even though I cannot show you what the catalogue looks like yet...trust me, it is heavenly!)

I also was gifted with a bunch of new stamp sets and framelits and designer paper from the catalogue.  Be still my heart.  *Squeal*  None of these will be available to customers until September 1. Receiving these excites me more than anything else because let's face it, the reason I earned this trip is because of my love of all things Stampin' Up!

I hope you visit everyone else's blog too so you will have a chance to see all sorts of things that I didn't have space to show you. So many of us were blessed in countless ways by being able to participate. When Stampin' Up! wants to bless you with your dream vacation they go all out, and give you a reason to want to earn the next one. 

What about you? Would you like to earn the next dream vacation?  If you live anywhere in Canada you can join my team and we can start to make that happen.  Until the end of July (just a few more days!) you will get a TON of extra goodies when you order a Starter Kit.  Not to mention a FREE Christmas Stamp set from the new Holiday Catalogue.  Details can be found HERE.  

While you are visiting me today, I wanted you to experience some of the trip through my eyes.  I tried to pick a brief collection of shots to give you a good overview of just how wonderful the trip was. 

I know if I don't stop talking you may never get a chance to see some of the other blogs in this lineup.  Please do continue along to see what my friends have in store for you today.  But also please remember - YOU TOO CAN EARN an incentive trip from Stampin' Up!  And I would love to have you join me for the experience.  Feel free to contact me to find out how.  And don't forget to join my team so we can make that next journey together.

Enjoy the rest of your hopping.  And have a wonderful day my friends.   God Bless,       
~Cynthia    <><

Thailand Achievers Blog Hop - Last Call For Sale-A-Bration!

Hello Friends

There are only 10 more days for you to get your Sale-A-Bration freebies so this is your LAST CALL.  And of all the items available, the Avant Garden stamp set is my favourite by far.....

Sweet Sugarplum and Mint Macaron

You may be starting at my blog - Cynthia Millan - or perhaps you've already hopped around?  Either way, make sure you check the list at the bottom of this post and visit all of the blogs.  

And if you live ANYWHERE in Canada and want to order to get your FREE Sale-A-Bration goodies, then contact me or visit my online store.  I would love to help you get your hands on these fabulous goodies!

Place a Sale-A-Bration order with me before March 31 and you'll get your choice of any one of these cards!!  E-mail me to tell me which colour you prefer!  

Elegant Eggplant and Calypso Coral

The Avant Garden stamp set is gorgeous any way you look at it and makes beautiful cards.  But I think it is particularly lovely (and pretty easy too) when you use the "Emboss-resist" technique.  It's a fast and easy technique - just stamp your image with versamark then apply embossing powder over the image (I used white).  

Soft Sky and Smoky Slate

Once you have heated the powder to melt it, you can sponge over top of it using the same colour of ink as the cardstock.   The embossed image seems to absolutely pop off the card when you sponge just a bit of tone-on-tone ink around it.  Aren't the results absolutely gorgeous?!?

Crumb Cake and So Saffron

Whether its Sweet Sugarplum ink sponged on Sweet Sugarplum cardstock,  Calypso Coral ink on Calypso Coral cardstock, Slate on Slate, Indigo on Indigo, Saffron on Saffron or ....well.... you get the idea....it doesn't matter what colour you use.  Whether bright or subtle, colourful or neutral, thay all turn out absolutely gorgeous!  don't you think so?

They're all beautiful, but tell me, which one is your favourite??

Island Indigo and Melon Mambo

I'm not certain how easy it is for you to see, but the stamped piece of cardstock (whose edges have all been sponged with the same colour of ink) has been layered onto a card base that has been embossed with one of various patterns.  For today's cards I used any one of Petal Burst, Boho Chic or the Elegant Dots embossing folders.  And, fun fact, I used the debossed side in all cases.  That means the raised pattern is facing AWAY from the front of the card.  I thought it gave them all a "softer" look.

Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder

 
You really don't want to miss out on all the wonderful Sale-A-Bration items that you could get for FREE.  One item for every $60 you spend.  You only have until March 31 so contact me today and place your order (or visit my online store HERE, and if your order is less than $200, please use this hostess code at Checkout   YKYHPPFD)

Thanks for stopping by. Have an absolutely fantastic rest-of-the-week.   Enjoy all the great projects you see as you hop through our blog hop.  And remember - you need to place your order by March 31 in order to get a FREE Sale-A-Bration item.  Hurry!!  You don't want to miss out!
 
 God Bless you all, ~Cynthia <>< 

List of blog hop participants:

Thailand Blog Hop - October - Inspired By Nature

Hello my Friends.

Welcome to the first Thailand Achiever's blog hop.
(You may be starting at my blog - Cynthia Millan - or maybe you've already been hopping around?  Whichever is the case, make certain you check the list at the bottom and visit everyone's blog.  You don't want to miss any of the great projects!)

Today we decided to focus on being "Inspired By Nature".  And anyone who has ever been to Canada in the Fall knows that you cannot *help* but be inspired by nature at this time of year!  The Autumn colours are in their full glory and I couldn't not make a card to try to show you what I mean.

"Sheltering Tree" is the perfect stamp set to create a gorgeous Autumn tree with the ever-present leaf pile below it.  My family did their fair share of raking this Sunday so this card is particularly relevant to our recent weekend!  

As glorious as the display of colours is, the raking seems to be never-ending at this time of year, so I liked the idea of using the sentiment from the stamp set, "In the Meadow", at the top of the card.  Sort of a play on words on the outside, although the inside has the Thankful for you sentiment from Sheltering Tree.

This "In the Meadow" sentiment says it all....

Burlap Ribbon with most of the horizontal strands removed

Did you see the cool embellishment across the bottom of the card?  I cut a 1/4" strip from our 5/8" burlap ribbon, then pulled the horizontal strands from it to leave only two at the bottom edge.  This left me with series of vertical wisps that reminded me of a fence.  

And the burlap strands that I removed?  Twist a few into a coil and fasten to the card with a glue dot.  I love when we can alter our existing fabulous products to come up with more variations, don't you?


Now for those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting Canada, and might doubt how glorious our landscape is right now, I wanted to ensure you that I am not making any of this gorgeousness up.  

View across the street

View from my driveway

These are 2 views taken from my driveway.  Honestly, if little old non-photographer me can take shots this gorgeous using a phone, think how inspiring these views must be in real life,

right?

So although I realize the idea for this card design might be one you have seen before, honestly, you'll understand why I was "inspired by Nature" to reproduce this sort of scene for today's blog hop.  How could I not?

I am looking forward to hopping around to see the projects that have been created by my fellow Thailand achievers.  Hope you like my card and are enjoying the rest of the Blog hop too.  If you are anywhere in Canada, you can contact me HERE and I will be happy to place your orders for you (or you can place your own order online HERE.  If your order is less than $200, please use the hostess code TG3RR66Z when you check out

Thanks for stopping by.  
Have an absolutely fantastic rest-of-your-week. 
God Bless you all,    ~Cynthia   <><

List of blog hop participants: 


Product List

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set [137163]	In The Meadow Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140754]	5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon [141487]	Stamping Sponges [141337]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944]	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966]	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945]	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad [126973]	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978]
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119683]	Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119685]	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318]