My Inaugural Retreat

On December 1st I geld my first ever day retreat.  15 ladies booked in for a day of crafting fun.  I had a fun time getting it all ready - I love getting these types of events organised.

I booked a room in a local hotel.

This was on each person's table when they arrived.

My brother in law had made these beautiful wooden card stands for each attendee and I made the name cards.

 Each lady had their own table although next time I'll be adding a bit more room for them to put their 'stuff' on.

I took along spare cardstock, inks, stamps and embossing folders and dies for the ladies to use.

And I had several displays to inspire them.

Plus a raffle of fun goodies.

Everyone received a box of goodies which they used to make their make and takes.

The make and takes are on the left and then I had samples of the same layout on the right as inspiration.

I had a couple of optional classes/demos throughout the day.

Otherwise we spent the day crafting and chatting together!

Here's a quick sampling of some of the projects that were underway.

The ladies went home at the end of the day with lots of projects completed and a swag of goodies and pillow gifts.

The mini pizza box was the gift at the end of the day!  I had cookies made by a local lady.

Specially made, apple shaped cookies saying "Thanks for stamping with me".

I had a fantastic day and the attendees did too!  I hope they got plenty of jobs ticked off.

I will definitely be planning another for next year.

Thanks to everyone who came!

Nifty Gifts

Here are the projects from my most recent class.  We always do a gifts class in the lead up to Christmas and it's fun seeking out things to package.

Using our Clear Tiny Treat Boxes and the Delicate Lace Dies we created these Lindt Chocolate Ball holders.  A thin strip of Silver Glimmer paper added some Christmas sparkle.

Y'all know I am a Mini Pizza Box fan and these are in the Holiday Catalogue.  We decorated them with Wrapped in Plaid DSP from the Holiday catalogue.

I showed the ladies that it's easy to create a custom sized box for a small gift by measuring it up on your grid paper.  This box is designed to hold a Baileys, a Whittakers Chocolate bar, a coffee stick and a hot chocolate sachet.

Our Copper Tea Tins come in a pack of four and work our at about $6.50 each.  We decorated these with the Brightly Gleaming DSP (because it has copper accents!!) and the Christmas Gleaming stamp set.

And this cute little project is specially measured to hold four Merci chocolates from Aldi. It's such a cute little gift and very inexpensive to put together.  There is an instruction video on YouTube by Barb Reed which you can watch by clicking HERE. 

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are interested in my classes, I run them in Burleigh Waters, Queensland, Australia.  I would love you to come along.

Anna

'Fun'raising and 'Fund'raising

Every year we run a fundraising event to raise money for our Hospital Programs.  I join with a fellow demonstrator Bec, to design a set of projects suitable for a day of crafting.  The projects are fundraising are offered by 7 different demonstrators in 7 different venues.

We were very fortunate to be joined by Mel, one of our demonstrators, who works at Toowoomba Base Hospital.  She spoke to us about what they offer for mothers and fathers who have babies 'born sleeping' and how our footprint cards will be greatly received.

 Here's my team ready to rumble! Well craft, at least.

All up we had 45 ladies crafting up a storm.

Our projects were designed using the Perfectly Plaid stamp set and Brightly Gleaming DSP.

Stampin' Up! generously donates to us, a box of retired product which we raffle off - always a popular amongst the customers.

We raised a total of $840 at our venue.  Thanks to all who bought tickets and donated money. 

Altogether there were 7 events in Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts raising a total of $4814!

Thanks to everyone who came along and helped to make the day a success.

Anna