Craft Liberation #3

on the road again....

:)

      EEEK! it happened AGAIN! Craft Liberation 3 has come and gone and it was just as good as the others :) i don't know what else there is to say about craft weekend, other than, overwhelming. overwhelming in a good way of course! the prep for this sort of thing, is just short of a miracle, and when it all comes together, i just kind of can't really believe how well this thing is working out. i mean, i can, and i can't. i know that when the Lord gave me this vision, and all the little details that surrounded it's beginning, i trusted that He had His hands all over it, and if i just kept asking for wisdom and following through with what He was asking me, it would work. i just didn't expect it to work more than once! now, we have 5 craft weekends this year alone, and i think there are only 4 spots left total. so, yeah, that's overwhelmingly amazing. the women are always such a riot to hang with for the weekend, strong bonds are formed, women share pain and hope.... i am so very thankful to the Lord for all He has done through this seed He planted in me. i pray i continue to listen closely to Him for the direction for 'the lemondime' and that i will always remember that i prayed for this for a very long time. it's pretty special to me. thank you again for everyone who has supported me in ANY way- my cup runneth over...

CRAFT LIBERATON 3#

OK! here we go! drumroll.........

this is how we roll after spending HOURS prepping and preparing the cabin... Laurie's chilling with some white and her red ''X'' 

while Ellie and Melanie are doing Zentangle.

SO thankful to ALL our SPONSORS! 

starting top left 

Get Lathered (a craft lib favorite and long time sponsor) always sends soap and lip balm for the girls, but also sent extras for the giveaways (i'm obsessed with their balms!)

PICKFAIR sent these sweet 'bless your heart' prints- visit their shop (sisters, mind you!) for beautiful, one of a kind prints, pillow covers and baby blankets! (another craft lib fave 

and long time sponsor)

the lemondime (me) gave the girls each a special 'craft lib' edition mini mug necklace

Laurie Young (my sidekick) made handmade cards and mini paper stars for all the girls, and they were beautifully crafted. and those stars.... oh my, totally sweetness

JenDaisy Boutique was so sweet to send a $25 gift cert as well as earrings for the girls! this shop is on the southside of Indy and is worth a visit! i LOVE everything in there!

The paper-roSe sent along the most charming stamped bracelets... they say, ''creativity takes courage''... such a perfect reminder to us!

Cuppow (another craft lib fave and long time sponsor) give the girls each a MINT CUPPOW lid... you HAVE to get one- i'm telling you... i'm in love!

Rustic Wagon (a craft lib fave and long time sponsor) sent prints for the girls... and they are so colorful and awesome! she does unbelievable custom work... go check her out!

Swanky Artisans (not only wow'ed us with her mad kitchen skillz all weekend as our in-cabin cook) but also gave the girls these adorable upcycled pin cushion rings made from bottle caps! can you even believe how cute they are!?

 Outside the Box Papers sent that cute place-mat pack and a little chalkboard message board to give away, plus all sorts of sweet goodies for all the girls! visit their site- super cute paper goods!

The Urban Poppy Shoppe sent that TOTALLY adorable ruffle pillow! i hear she's about to open up a shop in Greenwood, IN... so stay tuned on her FB page!

Crimson Tate: Modern Quilter (thee most fab fabric shop in Indy!) sent lots of little bits of goodness! fabric hexies, a travel mug, sewing kits and a tote bag! get down to their Mass Ave shop, i dare you! inspiration awaits!

SWAG

stuff. we. all. get

happy stuff

the little 'lemondime' shop

Bullwinkle's Lodge

 Nashville, IN

breaking in three new machines!

hoping to eliminate some of the re-threading ;)

 

the lemon ''dime''

 ...get it?

what a beautiful group of women we had!

this is how i prepped for the first day.... after the dust settles and i've gotten some sleep i spend some time alone with the Lord, thanking Him for how He's guided me and completely overwhelmed me with blessing. i pray for each of the women attending by name and remind myself that it is only through Him that i have these gifts that i bring. it was a beautiful time. as always.

so happy to have Laurie join me again- she's has a servants heart,  great style, a unbelievable HUGE heart, and i just love her. not to mention i love her family too.... doing this with Laurie makes it so much more special to me.

 

here's PATTY of Swanky Artisans!!! 

she's our cook for the weekend and seriously looks like she isn't even working in there at all.

the night before, when we are setting everything up, she just out-of-the-blue, decided to make us lemon AND lime curd and blondies!!! who does that?

 she's a serious JOY and we can't imagine CL without her!

the guests start to arrive!

my beautiful daughter, Ellie... she helps out until Saturday, and it's always so hard to say goodbye. i have tears every time. there are no words to describe her heart. i love her so.

 

here's Jen... she touches everything... watch out! LOL!

hee... Teresa felt right at home. :)

i spy some mint nail polish going on Vicki's nails! good choice friend!

about to start intros and pickin at the SWAG!

this is Faith. beautiful soul... and she has hobbies. that's all i'll say about that ;)

onto the big sewing project.... LIBERATION BAGS!!! it was fun to see the returning gals get right to work on the machines and bust out their bags in lightning speed. i also always love how the girls who know how to sew step right in and help out those who don't while i'm helping cut fabric etc. community- a beautiful thing in so many ways.

serious concentration here for these ladies

Teresa ''does NOT sew.''  

yet.

Theresa, who ''does not sew'' created what she calls an 'ice flower'.... and is clearly about to make a bag to put it on.

 

meantime, Patty is teaching the girls how to make 'curd!' one of my FAVE desserty things.

LINA'S the FIRST ONE DONE!

WHOO HOOO!

the 'FLIP'!

i completely forgot to take pics of our amazing dinner, 

but the dessert.... wowee!

little fried dough puffs with lemon curd, 

whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries! 

yummmm!

a few embellishments before bed

here they all are! 

each one uniquely beautiful just like the girls who made them.

and a campfire and cocoa compliments 

of Patty the campfire girl.

oh LOOK! here's Vicki and Jen with mugs again- 

this time Sat morning before breakfast and shopping

Veronica's still sporting her SWAG from CL #2! her little pouch from Boris Loved Natasha! have you seen her work? get to her Etsy shop right away- oh my.

Patty is ready in her favorite... yellow!

a few girls headed over to Columbus to the Antique Mall, while the rest of us wandered around Nashville. it's one of my favorite times, just to hang as friends and shop.

LOOK AT THOSE BAGS!

Laurie's other kids came to pic up Melanie and Ellie and take them back to Indy. it's always good to see the Young Fam. the whole crew just rocks! look at those hugs!

after shopping it was back to the cabin for eats and sharing our finds! i won't even explain the spread... it was delish! 

Patty's Momma came to help that day- she's a sweetie, and i feel horrible i never even got 

a picture of her for this post. :(

onto the next craft led by Laurie this time! i LOVED this wrapped yarn wreath... even if the girls were a bit hesitant, the black and white base and touch of color... each one turned out so great!

and look at this special one:

aren't those wreaths SO FUN?

and....break for mexican and margaritas!!!

next it was onto another special teacher... JONEE of Rusic Wagon taught us how to paint and collage a block of wood. even Laurie and I got to do this craft!!! it was fun to sit in on a craft for once! she did an excellent job guiding us how to make each one special. 

it was a weekend favorite i think, and i'm so grateful 

she agreed to lead this.

as the girls finished up, i showed them how to 

paint and distress ball jars

LOOK! LOOK! LOOK! 

i can't get over these blocks, still! 

what CREATIVITY these girls have!!!

after the blocks and jars were finished, we had a little time left to make wire headbands! for some reason, the ONLY picture i have of anyone's finished headband is Patty's, and we laughed SO hard, 'cause it was just a TAD too long.... look:

watch out for the BULL!

after our lemon bars, that my mother-in-law makes for us each time, and really are the BEST lemon bars i've EVER tasted, everyone heads to bed, and Laurie and I stay up and pack a little bit to ease the strain on us the next day. many of you know that we had some really severe weather coming in this night, and were expecting some ice. sure enough, waking up finding lots of ice on the ground and knowing the hill outside was treacherous, some of the women found it hard to realize we were kinda stuck there for awhile. the BEST thing for our weary minds that morning was our Sunday morning devotion time, watching Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts Video Series, Lesson One. as the Lord spoke to us and through us, to trust Him, we all were able to sigh relief. the sharing time was emotional, beautiful and much needed. i think as women, we tend to hold things together for those around us, and it's at these times, we find comfort in community. some of us come as strangers and leave as friends.... some of us close friends. 

i just LOVE how God wrapped up our weekend. 

lean into Him friends.... he sticks closer than a brother.

 THANK YOU to everyone who has attended a Craft Liberation weekend getaway. i will never be able to tell you or show you how much you all enrich my life.

 as i always say, 

my cup runneth over.

if you are interested in a future Craft Liberation, 

please click on the middle tab at the top of the page for more information. you can also email me at

thelemondime@yahoo.com 

***there are only a 3-4 spots open for the rest of the YEAR! 

please contact me asap for dates, or if you would like 

to reserve one of those spots.***

next up: April 25.... Craft Lib #1 REUNION!