Ten Great Retreat Memories

It's Monday morning, and staff and attendees are all recovering from a fantastic weekend at Retreat! Here are a few of the things from the weekend that made me happy . . .

1. Food. I didn't have to wash a single dish, and the food at the hotel and convention center was delish! Now that I'm home, I'm making up for it.

2. The view. The hotel was right on the Fox River and I enjoyed watching the sunrise over the water every morning. Well, with just one eye open before I rolled over and went back to sleep.

3. Zwick's workshop. It was great having Terri Zwicker back on our teaching team this weekend. She designed and taught a super-fun workshop with a unique approach to her project interspersed with her silly sense of humor. The rest of our teaching crew did a fantastic job, too! I'm so proud and thankful for them all.

4. Newbies. What a wonderful thing it was to welcome first-time retreat attendees to the fold. They were all adopted by members who have joined us in the past, and we're pretty sure they'll come back and see us again! Pretty sure.

5. Accomplishment. Many guests approached me to say they learned so much and created things they never thought they'd be able to do. We love it when that happens.

6. Lighting. Every venue has its advantages, but I appreciated how the convention center had large, spacious classrooms with excellent lighting and helpful technology. Crafting in the dark is fun but iffy. We used cameras to project our work surface to students, which really helped clarify the techniques.

7. Matthew. We all adored the waitstaff that took care of us throughout the weekend, but Matt went above and beyond. He mentioned on Sunday morning how much enjoyed our group. He even stayed up until 1:30 am with a few late-night croppers.

8. Gifts. Our staff spends quite a bit of time selecting, wrapping and preparing gifts and surprises for the weekend. Everyone seemed to love the choices. Yay!

9. Theme parties. We had exceptional participation in our theme nights. They were easy to pack for and made great opportunities for photo ops.

10. Friends. Wow. This is the best part of all. I'm in awe of the close friendships that have been formed as a result of our time together. For me, the most incredible thing was watching the CS Staff work tirelessly in tandem to create a terrific experience for everyone. I'm so proud of each of them and blessed to have a team that is second to none. Thank you, Brenda, Karen, Jacqueline, Deb, Beth, Kay, Kristin, Ron, Julie, Mr. Scott, and Singer!

We can't wait to do it all again in October. Well, we can wait . . . we're a little tired. But we'll be ready for you when the time comes!

Tricia

P. S. We joyously welcome a new member to the Club Scrap family. Congratulations to Kristin and Mark on the arrival of their beautiful son, Elliott Mark Erdman. Kristin worked harder than all of us during retreat weekend!

Retreat in Progress

Not to make you jealous or anything, but Retreat is in full swing, and we are having a fabulous time.

I can't give away too many secrets, but here are a few photos from the activities so far.

Julie, Kay and I hosted an optional wine tasting on Wednesday at Fratello's for early arrivals. We were thrilled with the turnout.

Fratello's brews their own beer.

Wall 'o wine.

Our  enthusiastic group of 21 Retreaters.

After registration Thursday afternoon, we enjoyed cocktails and dinner by the Fox River.

Carmen, Crystal, Keri and Kim at our stunning river side location.

Tammy and Kenda gettin' their geek on.

Oops, that's about all I can share without getting into some serious trouble. Having a great time, wish you were here!

Karen

Retreat Project Review

As we prepare for the upcoming Club Scrap Retreat season, I still relish the great memories and Retreat Projects we enjoyed together last year!

"Is this really going to turn out?"

Bookbinding glue is the best!

Once the Desktop Organizer is assembled, there's a place for everything . . .

Desktop Organizer

The Magnetic Messenger is as useful as the desktop organizer, and it's available in two sizes . . . 12x12 and 8x8".

Magnetic Messenger Boards

Show off your favorite photos, organize coupons, write notes to the kids, and keep track of your grocery list with the fun messenger board.

The ever-useful Altered Composition Book was our Thursday evening workshop.

Altered Composition Notebook

Everyone at the office carries their little notebooks to weekly meetings. Mine is almost full of sketches, lists and notes.

And then there's the Clock Tower project. I made a small army few of them. It's a good thing they don't chime on the hour, or it would get a little loud around here.

2013 Retreat Clock Tower Project

There are three different sizes available.

All sizes include a clever cutapart that creates an accordion door, clock face and other tiny embellishments.

The black and white clocks are cool, but once you get your hands on some inks or acrylic paint, the creative time really starts ticking away.

Thanks for taking this walk with me down Retreat memory lane. If you haven't had the chance to participate in past Retreat workshops, keep in mind you'll receive printable instructions and a full how-to video with every project kit!

Plans are in full swing for another great batch of workshops at our upcoming Retreats. (There are a few final spots available in August. Are you in?)

Kay at Club Scrap

Retreat Pro Shop Shopping

Last week we visited the Retreat Workshops and project kits available in the Pro Shop. However, there are plenty of other fun Retreat Goodies available that weren't necessarily part of the workshops. Today is a good day to visit a few of those items!

Here is a layout featuring one of my parents' honeymoon pictures featuring the Time Of Your Life Retreat Kit.

12x12 Created with Time Of Your Life 2013 Retreat Kit

The Water Color Blossoms Collection remains available today! Check out the re-visit of this beautiful floral set featuring the original hand drawings created for the 2003 Retreat.

Water Color Blossoms Collection

The fun Safari Collection was ideal for Marilee's school Spelling Bee!

Safari Collection

Oh, and the Unmounted Rubber Stamps . . . definitely some fun ones.

I used The Time Of Your Life Part Deux for the cards below. Gotta love the featured quote and clock gears on that sheet of stamps!

I also played around and created this dimensional card using the Time Of Your Life unmounted stamps. This sheet was included right in the Retreat kit this year. If you got your hands on one, give this artwork a try!

Lastly, the Water Color Blossoms Stamp Sheet is available with tons of great card making possibilities!

Certainly there are other 2013 Retreat Pro Shop goodies to check out, so don't let me keep you.  

I must go make more stuff. It's what I do.

Enjoy your weekend!

Kay from Club Scrap

Time of Your Life Digital

Happy Thursday!

I know we spent last week blogging about all of the cool projects from Retreat, but I really didn’t have time to talk about the Retreat Digital Kit . . . until now.

I really love this year’s Retreat Kit - grunge and metal are favorites of mine for sure. So I just had to share some layouts made with the Quick Drop digital Layouts. But before I do, I have a confession to make: even though I attended both retreats this year, I didn’t take any photos! I know, just what kind of a scrapbooker am I, right?!? So the photos on all of these layouts were taken by my dear friend, Kay Williamson. Thanks, Kay!!

And lastly, here’s a digital version of the hybrid layout from Saturday night’s workshop:

Terri, Karen, & Me - just bein' silly!

I know I had the time of my life at this year’s retreat, and I'm pretty sure those that attended (or got RIAB) did, too! And don’t forget to sign up for the 2014 Retreat - you’ll be glad you did!

See you next week!

-Ron

Retreat Week Finale Linky Party!

I hope you all enjoyed "Retreat Week"! By now you've experienced all of the amazing projects offered at the 2013 Retreat. Like what you see? Why not join us for Retreat 2014? Registration for our August and October Retreat opens today and just $25 down holds your spot . . . it's gonna be a blast!

To celebrate the finale of our Retreat Week fun, we're hosting a Linky Party!

Some personal completed Retreat/Cruise projects.

The Club Scrap team shared their finished projects over the past week, so now it's your turn to share YOUR finished Retreat projects. Aw, heck, let's include Anniversary Cruise/CIAB (Cruise in a Box) and WOW (Weekend of Workshops) projects, too! Each photo linked to this post will earn you a chance at some awesome blog candy, so feel free to share as many finished pics as you like.

Linking is easy! Click HERE if you need a quick review. Projects linked on or before Saturday, November 23 will qualify for a random prize drawing for goodies from Club Scrap.

An InLinkz Link-up

Let the fun begin!

Creatively yours,
Karen

Clock Tower Workshop

It's Friday already! And it's been such a fun week of visiting the Club Scrap Retreat Workshops.

Along with it all, I've had a blast creating and instructing the Clock Tower Workshop at this years retreat, so as a follow up from last Friday's Blog, today I'm posting more about the decorating I did on many of them.

I enjoyed adorning the Large/Tall option of the tower in several different ways. On many, the first thing I did was rub acrylic paint onto the outside of the project to add color. I used the baby wipe technique as shown in this previous blog. It works like a charm!

From left to right:

Use same color acrylic paint & Club Scrap stencils to add interest .

Create a Grandfather Clock look by cutting away a 1-1/2" x 6-3/4" section from the front matte board wall. Use the two support pieces already included in the kit to serve as shelves. Fill up with fun miniature items.

Move the clock location by punching a new hole, and have the clock face serve as an "O" in the word LOVE, or you could use JOY on the shorter kit version.

Above are a couple of the medium sized clock towers that we did in class, simply rub paint onto the exterior and completely change the look!

Don't forget that the clock faces on that innovative cutapart sheet are alterable. I added a little ink for an aged look and rubber stamped on the one shown above.

This is a favorite of mine . . . an altered clock tower project. I used the small clock tower and cut a nook into an old dictionary for a drawer. The old dictionary, now complete with pull drawer, makes a cute base for the Clock Tower.

The nook cut away to make room for a pull drawer.

The drawer I made to fit inside.

As always, I'm hoping you enjoy this project as much as I do! 

I feel it's:

Happy project assemblage this weekend. I hope you have a great TIME!

Kay at Club Scrap