As I talked about HERE, I recently went to my annual scrapbook retreat with friends. I had a complete blast, as I always do. This retreat weekend is something I look forward to all year. Daily life is so busy – family, work, home – that I rarely get to scrapbook at home. That’s why I enjoy and look forward to crops and retreats so much.
I worked extra hard all week so that I’d be ahead on my work come Friday, and was able to head up to the lake retreat house first thing in the morning. I was the first to arrive {that NEVER happens! LOL} and quickly got to unloading my heavily-packed car. Personal stuff went into a downstairs bedroom and scrappy stuff upstairs to the main part of the house.
Since I was there first, I was able to take some photos of the house empty. You can see how super cool it is and perfectly set up for a scrapbooking crew like us. Starting at the left of the photo: Crop tables with Ott lights; living room with big comfy couches, TV, and fireplace; 2 more scrapping’ tables where me and my mom sat; large kitchen; and big dining room table.
This is the view from the front deck toward the lake. Because of our drought, the water is very low this year and you can barely see it there in the background :(
Here’s my table with all my scrap-crap unloaded but before getting organized. All the stuff in the back row was already there – printer, lamp, Iris drawers, etc.
Here’s me all set up and ready to scrap the long weekend away! Epson PictureMate
This was my table on Day 3. Ahhhh . . . coffee and scrapbooking. My idea of heaven.
This is one reason I love my Project Life storage solution so much. {If you haven’t read my post about it, they’re just plastic shoeboxes from Michaels with all my 3×4 and 4×6 cards divided by brand and line with simple labels}. See how I put them on top of the existing Iris drawers? It was so easy to pull down the box I needed, flip the lid off, and go to town. If I’d had a large case with an attached lid, where would I have even put it? And so heavy! If I’d used one of the those fancy divided cubby units that I so admire when I see them on Pinterest {ha!}, how would I have transported it to the retreat without all the cards falling out and getting mixed up?
“Scrabpook Obsession, you can love your Project Life storage system. Just don’t LOOOOOOOOVE your Project Life storage system.” {10 points if you can name the movie I’m referencing!}
Anyhoo, I worked solely on pocket pages with my goal being to get 2013 photos completely done including Project Life. Welllll . . . that didn’t happen, LOL! More like February, March, and October to December 2013. Oh well. Best laid plans and all that. I did get 20 pocket pages scrapped. I just counted how many photos:
One hundred and five. Bladow.
105 photos and lots of handwritten journaling, capturing memories, reliving our fun year = what a blessing. Wish I could go on a retreat every month. I dare say I’d be totally ‘caught up.’ Which will never happen in reality but it’s fun to dream about, yeah? If I’d done traditional layouts, I predict I would’ve scrapped about 20 photos.
I even got some organizing done while I was there. I made more labeled dividers for my PL storage {yikes! I’ve collected even MORE cards since I showed you my storage system HERE}. And I got a lot of my divided page protectors out of their packaging and into a 12×12 ring binder, divided up into the various pocket configurations. Made it much easier to find the specific type I was looking for instead of digging into a mixed up multi-pack each time.
I’ll close with this photo of some beautiful deer. I was standing on the front patio early in the evening, talking to one of my kids on the phone, when these deer just walked right up to me. Aren’t they amazing?
Yes, of course, I took a ton of photos and now these darlings will have a pocket page spread of their own. Anyone know a good “deer” line?? :D
Do you go on scrapbook retreats? Do you get a lot done or is it more of a social thing?
8 Comments
Wow! You go girl! I can’t believe how organized and productive you are!! I wish!!! I am so distracted at crops, I rarely go to them unless I have some kits put together first with a sketch and everything. Even PL requires too much of my brain power to do at a crop. I have to be alone and in a quiet place. This was a great post!
Hi, I used to go with a friend for a week each year. Haven’t been for about four years now. Used to love it. Miss it a lot. Used to get so much done – it’s not like that now. Your desk area looks great and organised. The PL shoe boxes work well!
Comment number two from me – I got an email today about a weekend retreat (2 nights, I think) and I thought maybe I could go. Saw it cost $300 and deleted the post. Too much. Happy to pay for food and accommodation, but not a class or a goody bag full of stuff that I don’t want (it’s all built into the price). Have organised quite a few weekend retreats at my own house for mum, sister and friends, but a lot of them don’t scrap anymore, so not an option. Stay-at-home scrapping it is for me then!
I go to weekend crops all the time. Even throw day crops from time to time. I am just as unproductive at home as I am away HA! I like going to crops to be around other crafters. It is fun to be in a room full of people who get it. The poster above me…300 for a weekend retreat is a steal around here. Single for a weekend is over $500 bucks most crops.
Oh so envious. I love intimate crops like that. All I can find around here anymore is weekend crops held at hotels. Too many people, too much chaos. I have a wonderful, fully stocked, scrap room. I am actually pretty productive. But creatively it works wonders for me to go with a small group of ladies to an wonderful vacation home in a beautiful location. Erika, thanks for sharing your wonderful retreat, glad you had such a great time and same away with a feeling of accomplishment.
Where is this place? Is it someplace that others can book too? We are looking for a retreat spot??
I loved going to Archivers for their crops but seeing as they are going to be no longer…on to Plan B! I went to my first weekend crop this past October and it was AWESOME!! I went to scrapbook…and scrapbooking I did! I completed 42 12×12 pages that weekend! I was so proud of myself and had a great time doing it! I’m going back to the same retreat in March…can’t wait!
It looks like a lovely place for a crop. I try to get to a crop once or twice a year – lately it has been Creating Keepsakes conventions and I enjoy a few classes as well as the scrap time and shop time. Getting away, even if not the most productive time, does recharge my scrapping battery.