stamping retreat

I just spent a fabulous weekend with some of my favorite stamping friends at White's Wildwood Retreat in Chippewa Falls, WI. This is the 3rd year that we have held our retreat there and we love it. When you walk in the door it feels like home. There is so much friendship, laughter, and even tears (good tears!) We are so lucky to have this group of friends. We come from all parts of the country and the retreat is our time to be together!

 

Carol (HB) is my partner in crime for planning the retreat. She does the food and whatever else I need. I couldn't have done it without her! This is my last year coordinating the retreat because of other obligations and trying to balance life, but you can bet I will be there next year when my friends Kendra, MY, and Robin take the wheel.

 

One of the best parts of the retreat for me was having the dates coordinate with the release of my first stamp set, Rustic Branches! I had arranged for everyone at the retreat to get a set (as a surprise) and the screaming was just like being on the Oprah show! It was such a special thing to be able to share this night with all of my friends who have been supporting and cheering me on!

We spent the rest of the weekend, stamping, learning new things, and just hanging out and spending time together. There's nothing better! We all learned how to solder this weekend, which I will share more about later on.

Bethie taught us about digital scrapbooking. She has some definite talent and I hope I can remember the cool stuff I learned about making brushes and patterns when I have time to sit down and work on some more digital scrapping.

Ang showed us how to take our photos to the next level in Photoshop to take them from drab to fab! Her tips, tricks, and examples were awesome!

HB, the food was INCREDIBLE! I think I was full the whole time...

The Milwaukee crew from our group organized a stamping olympics for one of the evenings. We had a stamp off, card creation contest, and ribbon bow tying competition! It was a blast!

Here are some of the medalists from the card contest!

It was a fabulous weekend and even though I am still recovering and unpacking, I am smiling about the happy memories that we made. I can't wait until next year!