5.02.2013

PART ONE: Craft Liberation -a weekend getaway #1... A COMPLETE SUCCESS!

WE DID IT!
with God's help, laurie, i,
and our two daughters
pulled off the 
#1 ever Craft Liberation: a-weekend getaway!

months of planning, countless hours of research, phone calls, nerves, tears, and a TON of heart and inspiration (you must click that inspiration link!) have come down to this:14 women, 2 helpers, 14 sponsors, 1 luxury cabin, 3 days, crafts, food, laughs, tears, worship and lifetime friendships built. THIS is what i've been waiting for. i cannot tell you the beauty that unfolded this past weekend. i will be forever grateful to God for this amazing experience, and humbled that He is allowing me to do it again- and again. 

in the next week, i'll be posting about all our amazing sponsors who donated SWAG: (stuff we all get... isn't that so cute? ;) and goods for our giveaways. right now, i still have no words for how amazing this experience was for all of the women who attended, including me, so i am just going to post pics to tell the story. these are just some teasers up until the point of people arriving. i can't WAIT to share photos of the women crafting and letting their creativity run wild. i was so proud of each and every one, for their courage to try something new, and for tapping into the creativity God gave them to make beautiful things. 

the response to this has been amazing and i've decided to book more weekends! this is my passion- and i'm so honored to have the chance to do it again! you can click on the ''craft liberation'' tab at the top of my page to get more info on how to sign up for a future Craft Liberation Weekend Getaway. there are already more booked, so message me to get on the list!

all loaded up and ready to head to Nashville Indiana; to our beautiful cabin in the woods.
 
upon arrival, my sweet daughter ellie, who has a gift for serving, and melanie, laurie's daughter, who is just downright the sweetest thing EVER, got right to work in the kitchen... unpacking and preparing veggies for Friday's dinner. they worked hard taking care of food and the women of CL, Friday evening and Saturday morning, before they headed back home. i'm so blessed to be able to have planned this whole event with ellie by my side... she's a mean list maker!




this AMAZING MOMMA OF 6, my beautiful friend laurie, was AMAZING and WONDERFUL and i couldn't have done it without her! here's she's finishing up covering the box of paint with cute fabric- she's so stinkin smart! 


she spent much of that evening doing THIS: 'cause she had a lot of her super cute paper stars to hang...no frustration involved here... at all. ;)


her house is LOADED with these bad boys... and you walk in and feel INSTA-HAPPY!

  
supplies waiting to be dug through



the machines... oh the machines. you served us well! (except for the one in the back corner...stinkin' bobbin!) and those nametags there: laurie was a rosette making machine, and i, the painter of the names. i heart these.


views from the balcony: 
 

the size of this room, well... kinda hard to capture in pictures. monstrosity has a nice ring to it. the scrappy lights were made by our girls... and kinda were a hit. i think i'll start making these to sell. FOR SURE supes cute when strung up.


and for your reading pleasure: oh, just some of my all time FAVE fabic desiners, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, you know.. the youge. and... well... just MELISSA VERINOS, of thee YUMMY GOODS, who just happened to have sent a TON of fabric yardage, an original paining (that my sis won!!!), her cutesy notebooks (WITH a unicorn on them. EEK!) and a special gift for me; a necklace she made from a vintage button! SWOON!!! LITERALLY! (see fabric salvage below!) her next book may just be in the running for next CL's SWAG! (i would just die!)


each of the women had their name on their door: handstamped (by ellie) on bunting i made. i have this stuff all over my house! just can't get enough bunting...i have a problem.

we left these adorbs berry-baskets-of-love for each women on their bed as a welcome treat... choc full of special chocolate and candy. nothin' says fun like old fashion candy sticks! nestled in on top there, you'll see a yellow ticket. there were LOTS of prizes. these tickets were so great.


i put this bag of surpirses together for ellie and melanie to open upon their return home.... just some fun stuff to remind them of how much we appreciated all their help. gifts are always fun! (there's even silly putty in that puppy ;)



the drink bar was ready to go! (the girls didn't know that THIS was one of the crafts we were going to do- chalkboards! wait until you see what the girls did with theirs- i was SO impressed! (and they think i'm talented- geesh!) laurie made HOMEMADE SWEET CREAM! who does that??? yep- she did. and does. and i'm about to call her over here to make me a batch.


SNACK BAR... with LEMON DROPS!
no explanation needed here.


the ''lemon... dime... '' GET IT? great idea by my daughter here. it took a couple hours of swapping machine parts, painting and repainting... even had to replace the glass on this after ellie took a whack at the fudge stripe cookies she was crushing for the cheesecake crust, and missed just slightly. the thing exploded!


all set up and ready! had to get a pic of my sweet ellie- see me in the reflection? i am so proud of her!!! look out world; this girl is on a mission! 


and finally... the first guests arrive! little did i know that this beginning would end so breathtakingly beautiful. (my beautiful sister, Keri, on the right brought me the most AMAZING necklace. i will take pics soon and share this thoughtful gift with you all. THEE best gift EVER! THANK YOU KERI! i love you so much and so blessed that you were there with me for this big moment. btw, do you believe me now? ;)



this is JUST the beginning of lots more eye candy- the sponsors, the crafts, the outtakes... all coming soon! i will be ''off the grid'' for the next 4 days. keep a lookout for the next post coming soon. thank you for taking the time to come here and spend some time. PLEASE leave me a comment, follow me here, on FB, instagram... whatevs... just know you are appreciated and loved!

to all the girls of CL #1: i LOVE you all, appreciate you more than you know- and SO STINKIN' PROUD OF YOU ALL! i can't wait for next years' reunion!!! <3

interested in coming? got friends who would love this? wanna send swag? here's more info!

to be continued: 

4 comments:

Laurie and company said...

Wow! Whatta post!!

Andrea Moberly said...

um sorta made me weepy again. I don't know if I can handle reliving it again in your next posts!

{Happy Homes} said...

Awesome-ness!!!!!!!! More please!! Always leave them wanting MORE!!!! I wannnntttt moreee, pppleease!?! ;)

Dana - Old Red Barn Co. said...

Oh man. That sounds (and looks) like an amazing time! And though it took lots of work to pull off I'm sure, I bet you had fun every step of the way. Kinda envious . . .

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