The things I learnt from the Creativity Escape!!

I know that this was a weekend where everyone had high hopes for the classes I had designed but I didn't expect that I come away having learned a few things myself. It was a really fun few days where there was so much laughter that a a few points I genuinely had tears streaming down my face (particularly at Sunday lunch while re-telling an experience Dave & I had in Paris years ago!).  The classes all went off without a hitch and we all discovered the joys (or not) of playing with beeswax, sprays and teeny, tiny pieces of watches - thankfully not on the same projects though.

We were blessed with sunshine the entire weekend which always keeps spirits high and being the only group using the venue we really could kick back and relax which was just what the doctor ordered.  We had two absolutely new scrapbookers on the weekend and I know it must have taken such a lot to dive into this sort of event but by the end of play on Sunday they were converted to the dark side and even talking about the next one!! Crazy chicks!!

Ok, so what did I learn........?

From Helena..... I learned that I'm not the only Harry Hill fan out there and that "Everybody loves Amanda Lamb!"

From Sarah......I learned that encouraging more dimensional scrapbooking can go too far - a 6 month baby is NOT an appropriate embellishment!! (Jane T's grandson Teddy popped in for a visit).

From Carolyn.....I learned that wine boxes seem to be bottomless but we gave it a blooming good go!

From Tracey.....I learned that there are other fairies in existence apart from the ones that visit our house - her one cleans all your Sizzix dies and in return she got a visit from the craft fairies who helped out with her Tim Holtz project!

From Wendy.....I learned that a husband's week Florida does NOT equal a weekend in Essex and so the credit card can legitimately be used in an effort to attempt to balance universal harmony!

From Mum.....I learned that 4.30 in the morning is absolutely a reasonable time to start drinking Jack Daniels and eating Cadburys buttons (she MADE me do it!!).

From Claire.....I learned that you need to get your priorities right - you fill the car to the brim with your craft stuff and cram your clothes etc for the weekend into a 10"x6" bag!!

From Marie.....I learned that Norfolk must have its own tropical micro climate because its apparently MUCH warmer there than in Essex!!

From Margaret.....I learned that South Shields is NOT Newcastle-upon-Tyne (I'll never make that mistake again despite the accent sounding exactly the same!!).

From Jane T.....I learned that "I love the way you moo" is now on my list of adverts you can't stop singing in your head!

From Jane L.....I learned exactly what teachers get up to when they are on strike!

From Sharon.....I learned not to be terrified of the prospect of having grandchildren at some distant point in time as her excitement over the arrival due in September was infectious!

From Cathy.....I leanred exactly how many bandages to apply to Helena's cut finger in order to make it stop spraying blood all over her work!

The staff at the venue learned that scrapbookers can also create amazing cards (thank you Claire for making that stunning card for the member of staff who was leaving) and thanks also to Sarah, Helena and Cathy for my gorgeous dimensional dress form card.

Everyone else learned from me that 1/2 a bottle of Evian and a few baby wipes are not sufficient to clean off chocolate sauce!! They also learned that I'm not really an early riser (I barely made breakfast both mornings!), that I can switch from chilled out and laid back to strict school mistress when I mix painkillers and wine and also that your projects sometimes have to go through a scary phase where they look really awful but they will come out the other side and look fab - honestly!!

If you weren't there this all must sound like madness but trust me it was so much fun that I didn't notice just how quickly it all flew by and before I knew it we were packing up.  The venue, food and accommodation were all great as usual and I was really happy with all of the five classes I had designed for the weekend. 

I'll just finish this post by saying thank you to a few people who worked behind the scenes to make this such a great event; Amber packed the kits and did such a great job we didn't have a single error with them; Dave put up with a house full of boxes of kits and shop stock in the past week and a crazy, stressed out wife who he didn't see too much of; Jack prepped some of the kit items for us and helped out with the boring domestic stuff which freed me up to concentrate on the retreat and finally our fabulous suppliers who stepped in to sort out problems with our orders so that we had them in time and also donated lovely things as gifts for everyone (they know who they are).

The Creativity Escape was so much fun I'm already thinking about doing it all over again ........ September anyone??