Rewinding the Unwind Retreat

I wish I COULD rewind the retreat this past weekend.

We had SO much fun - it was even better than I imagined.

We started with my team event on Friday. I bought my team members the Tin of Cards kit and the matching stamp set to celebrate their awesomeness. And they are awesome. Here we are working on it after a team lunch my celebrity chef (center) - Melanie Hopes - prepared.

At each place at our team dinner, she placed a little easel with these GORGEOUS art canvas and palette cookies:

They were as delicious as they were beautiful.

Here they all are together at dinner - HOW AWESOME IS THIS??

The next day, before the public portion of the retreat began, we went about a half a mile from the retreat center where the most severe flood devastation in Wimberley happened. The photos do not convey the scale of this disaster. We felt like ants. The tallest trees we saw had debris at the very top of them - where the water had crested. It was frightening and humbling.

This used to be a bridge. The big trees all down in the direction the water was flowing was pretty scary.

This house was completely swept away.

People there - including the owner of the retreat center - were spending every weekend and every spare moment on assisting their neighbors in the cleanup - Wimberley is a great little town.

One of the surprises I had for the retreat guests was another celebrity guest - the inventor of the MISTI - Iliana Myska. Here she is with me and my teammate - Katherine.

And how cool was it that my guests got to get personal tips and tricks from her? Here she is with Ann Conn.

We did 8 classes, each class with 2 or 3 projects over the two days, and it was just a blast. We did encounter some Hill Country wildlife for the entertainment of our out of state guests.

We took a field trip to an adorable little scrapbooking store in downtown Wimberley - they were fantastic. It's called the Sassy Scrapper if you're ever out that way.

Mel spoiled us with more beautiful cookies and amazing meals throughout the weekend.

She also made these GORGEOUS MISTI bags, with custom pockets for ink pads and grid paper. One lucky person won one in a raffle, one was won in a silent auction, and the rest were for sale.

We gave away DOZENS of stamp sets, embossing folders, dies, punches and a Silhouette Cameo.

I loaned a few people - 7 or 8 -  who didn't have a MISTI one of my loaners that I use for my classes, and then surprised them all by telling them they could keep them. There's a small chance some of them peed :).

Iliana brought a laser-etched MISTI that we gave away in the raffle as well - Marci Payne won that one.

Sunday afternoon, sadly, everyone had to return to reality, but Mel and Katherine and I came back to Austin together and got a few more days of laughing in. Alas, even that came to an end yesterday.

Sigh.

I could retreat all day every day. Who wants to give me a million dollars so I can do that?

On Katherine's last night here - she accidentally bought herself a #bonusday by missing her flight - we went to the movies and then stamped thank you cards - I needed some for my customer orders - with the new A World of Thanks set. We used the MISTI to stamp it first in Smoky Slate on the new Thick Whisper White cardstock (did you know we sell heavy WW now?) and then colored one word with a Basic Black marker and stamped that on top of the original image. Perfectly, MISTI style.

So cute and clean - I love it.

Gracias to EVERYONE involved in the retreat - I had so much fun with all of you - it really was a magical weekend. Thanks for all the giggles.

I am having another retreat in October - I will announce details soon - but it's the 16th, 17th and 18th.

The workspace is not as large, but the retreat house is AMAZING. Here's a peek.

I will decide soon if I'm going to do 1st come, 1st served for registration or do a lottery, because I'm fairly certain it will sell out quickly.

In the meantime - don't forget - I have a special present for some of you. Anyone who places a qualifying order in my store this month will receive via email, a project sheet with detailed instructions and photos for the three cards I'll be making in my monthly card class this weekend.

I never post these online, so I thought it would be a fun reward for all of you who place orders in my store, using hostess code RPZFP7AY before June 30th.

And also don't forget - you can buy yourself a discount with a starter kit this month and get a BONUS of any two free stamp sets from the catalog. Then you can come to my fun retreats and join our lively Facebook chat group for tips, projects, and lots of laughs. Bonus sets are only available through June 30th. You have no obligation to sell or hold events, and if you do want to, I have lots of tips for you.

Now it's time to get to work on my convention retreat and happy hour - have you registered?

If so - I'll see you in a few weeks!!

LoveyameanitIneedanapbye.