Anonymous
The lovely, serene Lynn, another of my friends, demonstrated the Cricut at the Retreat and did some Make and takes using the' Sweet Treats' Cartridge

Here are a few examples that she made.

The Cherry Cake card


Boxes of Cakes


The Cup Cake Card


Lynn teaching the Cricut Make and Take

Anonymous
At the Retreat Linda demonstrated the Cuttlebug Machine. She used the Cuttlebug  Butterfly Cutting and Embossing die and each person made a card using the machine. Linda made some examples to show what could be done and here are some ofthe pretty cards that she made.  



Anonymous
Those of you who didn't attend our retreat will have missed out on one of Anita's Make and Takes. I think everyone was absolutely enthralled with them and the smiles that I saw when they were being made were testimony to Anita's skill in putting colours together. Or maybe you didn't get chance to take part because of class committments.



This was the Bag Charm Make and Take. I have a few examples for you to see below and if you did miss out, or even if you didn't and would like some more, Anita sells them, and extremely reasonably priced in my opinion. They make wonderful stocking fillers, tree presents, or maybe a different gift for the teacher at the end of term. You can hang them on your bag, phone, purse, or anywhere that has a suitable attachment. You can contact Anita through her blog http://inkyblossom.blogspot.com/ if you would like to know what charms she has to offer :) (oooh that sounds cheeky doesn't it) The larger one was a gift from Anita that I have hanging on my handbag.


 



Anonymous
Goodness how quickly the time flew. Everyone was so nice and I have had some lovely comments. At the bottom of this I will post an email I received today from Debbie.The photos are not in any particular order as I still haven't come to terms with this new computer.

Now for the Oscars:

I would just like to thank my helpers Anita, Lynn and Linda who were invaluable throughout the weekend and put such a lot of effort into making the event  run as smoothly as possible. Also the teachers who made the workshops fun, Sarah-Jane, Laura, mad Zoe, daughter Angie who cut her teaching teeth on the Karen Burniston Pop Up Purse Mini Album, and Jane. Also thanks to a visitor from the US, Marj Marion, who volunteered to demonstrate the Dream weaver Stencils.

But most of all thank you to all of you lovely ladies who put your faith in me and paid your hard earned cash to a new and untried Retreat


This was taken with the Bandstand in the background


This was in one of the workshop rooms

The evening meal


The old fashioned lift together with old fashioned couple


Linda was the very worthy winner of the Cricut raffle



Everyone has put up a picture of the pier and this one is mine


Richard desperately tried to control everyone and in the end just took some pictures. As you can see this is with the pier in the background

This is the email from Debbie:

Hi Jill

I just wanted to write to say a big thank you for the weekend retreat.  Firstly, I owe you an apology as I got your name wrong a couple of times over the weekend but I will just put that down to excitement and the fact that I was trying to remember lots of names!  Sorry.

This was my first retreat but what a retreat to cut my teeth on.  It can only be described as superb.  I had the best time and there was nothing I could fault on the content of the crafting.  The only problem was that, once I saw what was being made in classes, I wanted to do them all!  The make and takes were as good as the lessons and the things we made on them were amazing.  Anita was a fantastic teacher as were SJ, Angela, Laura and the lady who made the flowers for the cards.  I will never look at faux roses in the same way now I have learnt how to make them.  I am amazed when I look at the card we made with the roses and can't believe I made them myself.

The little touches were appreciated and having things like plenty of rubbish bags, sweeties in the rooms (what a gorgeous touch) and having everything we needed in our bags just made things perfect. 

The hotel was a little tatty but was mostly clean and tidy and served the purpose.  It was handy having the rooms for different classes and having the scrapping room where the make and takes took place.

Would you please pass on my thanks to everyone who taught on this retreat as they did a sterling job.  They were all lovely and I felt that nothing was too much trouble for them.  I was never made to feel as though I was slow or silly whatever I asked or at whatever pace I went.  Whatever was requested was there within minutes and I can only imagine what feat of organisation it took as the whole weekend went smoothly without any hitches (unless it was rather like a swan where you see it fly off gracefully but their little legs are working like a piston engine under the water!!).

Please take this as my written intent to attend next year (just thought I had better get that in quickly after looking on the UKS thread) and I am thoroughly looking forward to it. 

Please apologise to poor Anita as I badgered her so much over the weekend to run another jewellery class so I could make my brad earrings - I promise not to do so next time (mind you - it depends on what she is making next time!!!!).

A massive THANK YOU Jill for all your efforts and work towards making it the best weekend I have had for some time.

Debbie
Anonymous
Tomorrow is the day of the Retreat. This has been in the planning stages since February but now the time is upon us I am just so nervous.

The hotel rang yesterday with a few problems which I have to sort out tomorrow at 9 am. Cutting it a bit fine isn't it.

Still hopefully the weather will hold and we will have a happy weekend.

I have seen a couple of the workshop projects and I am sure that you will love them when you see them too.

So to everyone who is coming along  let's get loaded and on our way

Here's to a good weekend.