Retreat Memories

Happy Friday - Ron from Club Scrap here to say that I'm a very lucky guy! This year, I got to attend both Club Scrap Retreats - and I got to teach a workshop! As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't get much better than that :)

If you went to either the August or October retreats this year, you know it was great, but I'm afraid I really can't offer any real spoilers quite yet. Since the Retreat in Box boxes shipment left the Clubhouse yesterday, we've still gotta let the RIAB-ers be surprised when those beauties show up! But I can show you a photo of just how much fun some of us were having on Friday night:

(I did crop the photo a bit to remove a tiny spoiler.)

Compared to many Club Scrap members, I'm still a Retreat newbie - I got Retreat in a Box in 2009 and went to Wisconsin in October for the 2010 and 2011 Retreats. The projects, gifts, and entire retreat experience were all amazing. But I gotta tell you, this year blew me away. The projects are uber-cool, and the gifts are so great (I can't tell you what KnitterPam did when she saw one of them, but let's just say she got REALLY, REALLY excited!) And I loved seeing old friends and making new ones. But this year's retreat had something about it that made it extra-special.

The retreat workshop schedule changed a bit and as a result, things seemed more relaxed. Everyone had some free time to socialize, shop, or even nap on both Friday and Saturday afternoon. Many of the attendees commented on how laid back and stress-free the weekend was. Many took some of that free time to finish projects that they weren't able to finish in class. Folks were able to be creative, learn some new things AND re-charge their batteries - isn't that what retreat is supposed to be all about?

I'm confident that next year's retreat will be just as much fun and relaxed as this year's. And just in case you hadn't heard, dates have been announced for the 2013 retreats: August 8-11 and October 17-20. Mark your calendar and start saving your pennies (and nickels and dimes) because you won't want to miss it. I'm planning on going to both events, so I'll see you there!