Home Again...

I arrived home on Monday night from Esperance having just had the 2nd annual Condingup Retreat (65km east of Esperance). I was busy last week packing up class kits and ship loads of stock so no time to scrap except for finishing off projects for the retreat. It was a hugely successful weekend all round. I had been prepared enough and hadn't forgotten to do or bring anything major, only minor things. Numbers were down but it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better and we had many laughs together and of course there was lots of scrapbooking getting done too. The Condy girls put on a feast on Friday night that would have fed 50, but there were only 15 of us! It was a great spread and so were the rest of the meals. It was a bit chilly but we had wood fires burning and endless cuppa's to keep us warm enough to work. I think it was a welcome distraction for the locals who are having a tough season, to say the least.

Can you believe this ditsy die-hard scrapper (me) forgot to take any photos over the weekend? I regret it but hopefully the girls have got some they can share with me to post at a later date. I can show the class layouts I prepared for the weekend now. The girls laid their finished pages out and there ended up being a huge spread of layouts that were very striking and also diverse.

Here are mine...firstly, my quick and easy '10 or more photos to a page' tips...

Then, the Tim Holtz alcohol inks techniques which were messy but amazing...

And then the Making Memories multiple tool class, using grommets, curling tags and metal rims...

I gathered that the girls enjoyed all the layouts as they were well prepared for the classes and steamed through them often completing more than one layout per class. It seems that the ideas sparked their creativity and off they went.

Matt gave me the go-ahead to hold more events like this which is great, to have his support and the passion I have for the art I hope to do more retreats and/or day classes whenever I can.

Thank you to the Condy girls who were amazing hosts, to Rose for giving me a comfortable bed to lay my head, and to all the other girls who helped and attended the retreat...it was so much fun!

I have a few days to recover, then I'm off to Newdegate for classes on Friday and Ravensthorpe on Saturday so I'm repacking and preparing again...loving what I do, having the best job and wonderful friends which make it all the better. I'll be back once I've photographed a handbag and mini album I prepared also for the Condy retreat. Toodle pip!