Strength and hope

Hello there, I know you must have missed me and I have left you guessing what the fourth day in Prague brought. We got up early to see off all our friends that were having early flights back. Our departure time was not till 2pm that day and myself, Jules, Jerome and Valerie decided to visit the Jewish Quarter  before having some lunch. I haven’t got any photos from this day as you were not supposed to take any (I did do before I saw the signs and I got told off of course which was very embarrassing, oops!!  so I immediately deleted them all I felt very upset to think I was considered disrespectful).  The museum was very moving and the children drawings reduced me to tears, which was a bit embarrassing for my fellow companions (I am not good at concealing my emotions sadly).
 After some lunch we headed back up to the hotel enjoyed a nice cup of coffee said goodbye to the two lovely Kellie's (Events team for SU) and set of for the airport. Just as we arrived the heavens open and I have never seen rain like, but we were safe and dry inside the airport and before we knew it we were on our way to Dusseldorf. Our connecting flight went smoothly this time round and we were soon on British soil again. 
As I have come down to Earth from this amazing experience I am counting my blessings for being able to experience such lovely trips shared with such lovely and warm  people that make my life better. I love this Company for the way they listen to their demonstrators and the way they reward hard work. I have the best job out there and I LOVE IT beyond words. If you would like to start your own adventure with Stampin’Up! ask me how, I would love to share with you what I have learned in the last 3 years of being a successful demonstrator, contact me at telemech01@aoldotcom.
This last week was very full work wise and I have done an awful lot of planning, we also received some sad news in our small community. A lovely man lost his life on Saturday in a tragic bike accident, he was only 48.  I had to make a card

I have used River Rock, Whisper White and Basic Black. I tend to use this combo a lot when I think Sympathy Cards. The stamp set used is Strength and Hope  and the sentiment from the Hopeful Thoughts stamp set.

I have added some rhinestones but not to many, the flutter was cut and popped onto dimensionals and the motif was stamped twice using River Rock ink.
I find sympathy cards so hard to make it took me nearly two hours to arrive to this very simple design, you wouldn’t think it would you looking at it ?
Anyway thank you for stopping I hope to see you sooner next time, I want to thank you all for your amazing comments regarding my trip, thank each and every customer that supported me as well as my fabulous team of Passionettes that worked so hard to promote YOU ARE ALL FAB!!!!
Till next time big hugs Monica xxx

European Stampin’Up! Incentive Trip Prague 2011-Day 3

Hello I am back with Day 3 of our adventure and the best by far. We started off with a yummy  and leisurely breakfast I had salmon creamed scrambled eggs with chives on toast followed by fresh fruit (the watermelon was so sweet).
Next it was straight down to the Hospitality Room for sugar, coffee and one last adrenaline rush  from spinning the wheel, we each got one spin/day and the prizes were out of this world. We also got a +One gift each time and I loved this, currently we run a global promotion called +One where we are each encouraged to add one extra small thing to our businesses in order to make a big difference collectively, it was fun to see it applied to our treats as well, I love this company!!

This was a free day which meant we could do a bit of shopping and sightseeing on our own. Before we set off we took a photo of the whole UK group, Natalie organized us all and Paula kindly took photos on all our cameras, she is such a sweetie and we are lucky to have her, is like she’s one of us on these trips I love it.
What a great photo although I cannot believe that I was the second shortest !! I was wearing very flat flats that must be why lol.
We decided to stick together on this last day and we headed for the Church of Our lady Victorious to see the Infant  Jesus of Prague a small wax effigy 400 years old that is supposed to have protected the city for centuries. He is also renowned for his many costumes donated by celebrities over the years.

The baby was tiny, we joked about his face being no bigger that 1 3/8”circle punch from Stampin’Up! We did spend a bit of time in there but we couldn’t keep quiet for too long so before long we were outside heading towards the river for a boat trip down Vltava.
Before we left I had a picture taken with both my downlines that shared the trip with me. I love them both dearly, my two shiny stars, Bekka and Jules.
The next thing we found ourselves on this boat and we were cruising down the river chatting and enjoying the leisure time, none of us took any notice of the on board commentary I think we were all happy to just chill and enjoy each other’s company.
Top left, Amanda Fowler and Paula Gorry, below Frank Manu loving my wasabi peanuts the label said perfect day and we all agreed it was, bottom Michelle Last myself and lovely Jo Dumbleton enjoying a glass of wine, the lovely Natalie O S’hea who’s bartering skills come in handy organizing a great deal for the tour, top right lovely Jules who looks stunning in every photo you take of her and below right a picture of Jo’s Bar we found earlier.
As we left they were playing the Titanic song, what a hoot LOL !!!
After the boat trip I had one thing left to do on my agenda. The day before while trying to find our hotel we came across this gorgeous shop, it was a homeware shop with lots of gorgeous pretty things, and both myself and Michelle  needed to return to it and make some purchases. So the group split and myself Amanda and Michelle went in search of the pretty shop, thank God for Amanda’s excellent map reading skills, we found the shop in record time.  We then stopped for something to eat before returning to the hotel. We had one hour to get ourselves dolled up for our gala dinner.
I had a hard time buying a dress this year and finally settled on a dress from a Scottish designer, however I feared that I would look a bit overdressed in it. Well I needn't have worried as our final dinner location blew me and the others away. The  building below is the Archbishop of Prague’s residence and WE were having dinner inside these walls. It was so very hard to believe this was happening to me, all I did to deserve this was sell stamps !!! really good stamps !!!

Unbelievable as this place is not open to the public and you need special permission to go inside it never mind to have dinner there. Ivana our tour guide told us later that in all the 17 years working as a guide this was only her second time inside the residence. This is where the Pope stops when he visits!!!  And as soon as we entered it was WOW!! everything from the opulent decor all gilded, the waiters offering refreshments and yummy canapés was just to overwhelming. We started taking pictures of every little detail, it was magical.
All the groups were busy taking some shots and we all had a laugh when the French girls gathered around their manager to have a fun shot. The French girls looked Tres Chic !!

Next thing we know our own sex symbol Frank Manu took Jerome’s place in that chair with all of us round him trying to recreate the same shot. It was so funny to see.

Of course it was Axel turn next and all the  German trip achievers.
The German girls were so much fun as well on this trip, they are extremely talented and I am so grateful to them for speaking very good English, I was able to get to know them a bit better.
The UK group with our sweetheart Paula Gorry , how glam do we  look? such a great bunch of girls !!

All together now for the *pout or pose shot*….so funny I love Shelli’s and Sterling’s poses  and Pam Morgan cracks me up
All the formal shots got a bit to much and when it came to have a shot with my sweet friend Vanou we decided it was time to goof around, I love this girl!!

And not long after this it was time to go inside and take our seats for dinner, what came next silenced me and stopped me in my tracks.

The table looked stunning all red and gold with shimmering lights/candles. And it took all of us at least 10 minutes to realise that the backs of the chairs were not red n white in fact that was yet another gift, a beautiful cherry cobbler scarf for each of us. 
A few amazing details
Top left- wonderful favours (they had yummy chocolate), middle top-beautiful silver cloches service, top right-the menu showcased in a very fitting gold ornate frame, lower down- the main course (my favourite course), bottom left - view of the table, centre- our crab salad starter, below- the place setting, across middle-the musicians wearing period costumes, bottom right our fish course.
Michelle captured a snippet of that magic around the table in this short video I hope she won’t mind me sharing it with you.

It was truly a treat and one I enjoyed immensely,  when will I dine in a state home again? the answer is probably never!!
Talk about feeling spoilt and appreciated, SU truly are the best!!  I kept thinking all I did to deserve all this was share what I love most with others. And I was grateful more than ever to the lovely lady that started it all, Shelli Gardner.

We had some coffee and pralines after dinner and then it was time to go back to the hotel. There was still too much excitement in the air and we planned to have a quiet drink in Julie’s room, and at midnight I had  a little rendezvous planned with my French friends. And we had one last gift waiting for us and * OH-EM-GE !!* I couldn’t believe my eyes

A doctor’s bag for the Big Shot!! With Prague logo on and the tag read *Just in Time*, I think the excitement is evident we were jumping up and down in my bed modelling the big shot bag. I did tell the girls I would try and sleep in it that night but of course I didn’t fit in it,  the closest I come to it was to wear it as a hat !!! what  a fabulous hat though love it!! By this point I just couldn’t take any more.
We chatted some more and we eat gorgeous chocolates that my sweet friend Poupette brought and by the time I was alone in the room my phone said it was 2.13 am.
How very exciting that the room phone displayed my name and room number ?

As I was getting ready for bed I realised that there was one thing missing, my card forecast for the next day, we had one each night but not this night. They knew I was going home next day . Anyway by this point it was time for the magic spray again..
I want to thank Vanou and all my demo friends for letting me use some of their fabulous photos to illustrate my story. Mine and Jules adventure was not finished as we still had a morning to spend in this beautiful city. Thank you for joining me till next time big hugs.
If you want to follow the whole story find day 1 HERE and day 2 HERE .

Stampin’Up! European Incentive Trip Prague 2011-Day 2

Hello and thank you for following this amazing journey with me, I am a bit late today as we had team training straight after work. I loved reading all your comments thank you.
Day 2 started with a yummy breakfast, I had fresh fruit and granola with yummy yoghurt, I still felt full from the night’s before dinner. The agenda was revealed and we were heading for the Castle, but we were not going to get up there by foot Oh No!! With Stampin’Up! you always travel in style. We had a Vintage Tram all to ourselves for a nice tour of the city before we climbed towards the castle. This city is amazing!! There is history at every turn and the mix of architecture and styles is unbelievable, this is what makes this place special , unique and eclectic for sure.

The tram ride was like stepping back in time and a little bouncy at times .
Ivana our guide (standing at the back of the top picture) was a wonderful guide, she was extremely passionate about her job you could tell and gave use a full and detailed account of each historic site, it was fascinating but also very tiring as after a while my brain could simply not process any more information, is been an awful long time since I finished school and that's my excuse. Once we toured the city we found ourselves at the castle.

From the outside it looked impressive and from the inside even more fabulous!!

A fab experience, it was simply stunning at every turn. And then when we lost concentration we found ways to amuse ourselves.
Queen for the day? You betcha !!!

Vanou my sweet friend from France, Julie my cute downline and myself looking rather tired.
After exploring a while longer it was time for lunch.

From left the beautiful decorated menu, next we have desert which was yum pancakes with strawberry jam and vanilla ice cream( I could not eat this I only managed half of one),  right hand side shot the beautiful Michelle she really is beautiful inside and out, the only thing that’s against her is that she’s not that funny(love you honey ),  middle photo of the beautiful Villa Richter overlooking the town, our dining place. Check out the gorgeous structure and the wonderful glass grapes dangling down, it was so pretty, very light and very warm. Below left the main course, it was salmon and it was yum yum, middle the beautiful details on the menus ( we were frantic within 20 seconds of entering that room.. I so wish !!!), and below right the best Cesar Salad ever!! We enjoyed chatting and sharing and the day was pretty much perfect by this point, but shortly the time for us to leave came. As we had the afternoon off to do as we wished a few of us went back to town and explored a bit more, there was a market there as well and after a stop for some refreshments it was time to head back to the hotel, trouble is we lost our way and it took us a few hours. It was so funny when we realised after a long while just how far we wondered, we had a good laugh about it.
Next it was time to have a shower slip into our comfy pyjamas and head down to the hospitality room for our make n take night. We met 15 minutes early before the doors opened and we all swapped, WOW the swaps were all fabulous  and i will share them very soon they deserve a post of their own. I made some of these to swap and my dad helped me with packaging HE LOVES the big shot !! The funniest thing for me that night was watching the incredulous staff , what they made of all those grown women all dressed in pyjamas ooohing and ahhhing over little bright pieces of card God only knows!! bet they have never had anyone like our group in their beautiful hotel, and I cannot not mention the staff, I have very rarely  experienced service like it. The staff at this hotel made my stay from fabulous to incredible they were very good. By now demos were making their way inside the room and just when I thought we couldn’t possibly get any louder WE DID!!
As we entered  the room all you could hear were loud squeals of excitement, oh God I wish I could translate a fraction of that glorious atmosphere for you here but sadly I can’t.

as we entered the first thing we found on the chairs was an apron with our names embroidered on them as well as the beautiful Prague artwork.(middle and bottom right), top left my lovely downline Bekka and our country manager Paula Gorry, centre picture the UK group( I wish I could photoshop the other two missing girls in this photo I really missed them), top and middle right the most exciting lunch bag I have ever received, it had patent detail and it was filled with NEW product from the upcoming catalogue OMG!! pee your panties time for sure, unfortunately we cannot breath a word about it, it was tough at team training tonight but I didn’t budge *smile*, the tag this time read GOOD TIMES!! Oh yeah good times indeedy!! Bottom left shot Jules, the lovely Shelli and myself.
There were tasty treats as well

And where there’s treats there’s Monica too!!! there were sweets in tall and pretty jars, cakes galore and I can confirm that I have tried everything, Shelli wanted to try as many as she could as well and we decided to share one of everything between us , it worked well and they were divine. In the picture below left you can see my sweet friend Poupette Valerie, Jeanette and Carola very sweet girlies. There was fabulous and very expensive chocolates as well that the French country manager Jerome brought for us all. Talking about Jerome, he is the most stylish individual you will meet. Last year he even made  pyjamas look stylish, well I creased myself laughing(excuse the pun !!) when he appeared wearing the most crumpled pyjamas you have ever seen to our make n take, they even had a tear in them, he did it on purpose of course and all the attention was on him and his sorry state pj’s, look at the state of them

Heee heee so funny!! I have to say they did look better after wearing them for the night I should have taken  a photo of them when he arrived, deffo no tres chic !!
We carried on and chatted, crafted, laughed, eat and drank and before we knew it the time to say goodbye came again. We went up to our rooms with our arms filled with goodies but I was to excited and hyped to sleep straight away, so I looked at my new goodies once again, checked all my beautiful swaps and took a picture of my feet layin in bed.

Yiikes they’re not pretty !! I knew I had to use that spray again and not long after I was gone. Sleep tight I will see you tomorrow with more, hugs xxx

Stampin’Up! European Incentive Trip Prague 2011- DAY 1

Helloooo there…. WOW!! I am back from one of the best breaks ever !!! I never believed that they would be able to top last year’s trip but boy oh boy how wrong was I? And the best thing about it all was that it was all free courtesy of Stampin’Up!
 Now while the trip was an all expenses paid trip I need to say that I did worked hard to earn it, and my biggest thanks goes to each and every one of my customers that supported me plus my wonderful team of demonstrators who promoted, without you all I would have never have been able to experience any of this, so THANK YOU ALL !!
I started my adventure on Wednesday night. After finishing work I left for Manchester picking up my downline Jules on the way. Hubs dropped us both off at the Bewleys hotel and the adventure began, I was a bit sad to see him go back home while I was looking forward to this wonderful trip but I consoled myself with the thought that next year he will be able to join me.
We went to bed but we were to excited and chatted for ages before finally dropping off to sleep ready for our early departure the next day.
Alarm went off at 4.30 am and by 5.15 we were on the shuttle bus on our way to the airport. We boarded our first flight in time and as we were getting ready for the take off the captain announced a 30 min. delay, this instantly panicked us and the worst did happen as we missed our connecting flight to Prague, it was a low point at that time but most flights into Frankfurt ended up being delayed that morning.
The next flight was in an hour’s time but the waiting list was huge already so we never made that one either, but after 4 boarding passes and 6 hours later than expected we finally arrived in Prague. Ivana our Stampin'Up! representative and tour guide escorted us to our posh Mercedes car and before we knew it we were on our way to one of the most luxurious hotels I have ever stayed in, The Mandarin Oriental an old monastery situated only 5 minutes walk from Charles Bridge. While we checked in they served us the nicest jasmine ice tea I was soo grateful I nearly asked for another LOL.
On the way up to my room I told myself that there was no time to take any photos of the room or to jump on my huge bed and try it out as I only had 30 minutes to get ready for our welcome dinner, I was shattered as well, it has been a long day indeed. But while I was waiting for my suitcase to be brought up I couldn’t  stop myself taking pictures of the first pillow gift which was waiting for me on the bed.  At this point the journey was behind me the adrenaline kicked in and I was giddy with excitement.

The theme was time and the tags using the Sense of time stamp set were simply gorgeous.

This tag spelt the write time and inside the cute shopping bag was this gorgeous decorated journal. The bag by the way had the cutest pattern from our Springtime Vintage designer paper.
After the quickest shower ever (I am sure I never washed behind my ears)  the high heels went on and I was soon ready to join the others.
As me and Julie entered the room the first surprise revealed itself, apart from Shelli and Sterling our other US representative was Pam Morgan, that really made my Incentive Trip there and then!!  we all adore Pam, she is one of the nicest, warm and genuine  lady you will get to meet plus very funny to, I loved spending lots of time with her on this trip, I feel I got to know her a bit better. Next it was one quick canapé a lovely hug from Shelli and it was photo time, here is the UK group all dressed up, I love these girls, each one of them lovely and I was looking forward spending some time with them.

from left Amanda Fowler, Michelle Last, Julie Kettlewell(my downline), Frank Manu our Incentive Trip mascot perched on Julei’s shoulder, Natalie O’Shea, Bekka Prideaux (my downline), Jo Dumbleton, myself and Paula our Country manager. It was lovely to have Bekka and Jo there as first time achievers of the trip and I need to point out that there were two more lovely girls that achieved the trip in the UK but for personal reasons couldn’t attend, it was Jenny Moors and Dawn Silver. We all missed them and their names were often mentioned as we reminisced about last year’s adventure in Monacco.
We then quickly made it inside the room where our lovely 3 course dinner was served.
It  was very evident that the building was a monastery in this lovely room and the food served was gorgeous. As we were tucking into our starter we each had to share a favourite childhood memory, it was such a lovely way to start the journey and learn a bit about each other.
After a quick night cap it was time to get back to our rooms and I was ready for it. Before dinner Kellie gave me the folder which contained my name badge which was gorgeous and my Spin the wheel tickets, how fabulous do they look? oh and the message spelt… time to spin !! I know is all about the little details...
As I slipped into my pyjamas I noticed the turn down service has been and when I looked closer I found that there were some goodies left on my bedside table.

I let out a little squeal when I discovered the Sleep Spray(top left) it was a delicious lavender scented spray that you could spray over the pillow.  Well I have never had that (Travelodge really do need to take notes) it was a very nice little touch I thought. They also left a bottle of water every night, below bathrobe, slippers and weighing scales put in there to help us weigh our suitcases before departure I am sure, (at least that’s all I have used them for ).
Next the bathroom, it was stunning all marble with a TV in it,  oh and I wish I took a photo of the toiletries they were gorgeous!! I smuggled them all in my case every day, the rooms all had fresh flowers and fruit in and mine had this gorgeous orchid, next the bed OH WOW it was so dreamy and I loved to spread out as far as I could what a treat!!, and last a very nice welcome card hand signed by the hotel manager, I loved that the envelope that said In residence, hee hee is the little things isn’t it?
I took that little bottle sprayed it all around me and my pillow before I jumped into bed and all I remember was breathing in once, I was fast asleep before I could say Sleep Spray.
Come back tomorrow for my second day, what a treat!!! till then big hugs xx