England Grand Tour, Leg IX ~ Swindon Craft Retreat

Greetings, my friends!

I hope you don't mind, but I have two more posts to finish up my amazing adventure in England. Thank you to those of you who have journeyed along with me every step of the way as I write this photo diary on my blog!

You might want to grab an epic beverage as this one is especially epic in length!

The next day dawned like this:

One of the ladies attending Kylie's Happy Little Stampers Retreat in Swindon was my friend Carol. And my good fortune continued because Carol lives very near Knutsford, so she kindly gave me a ride down to Swindon for the Retreat, saving me a train ride. Thank you, Carol!

Most of the happy little stampers arrived Friday afternoon and checked in. I had made arrangements to meet with another bloggie friend Amanda that afternoon before the Retreat started. She lives nearby, but she hadn't heard about the Retreat until after it was filled. Here we are:

Thank you, Amanda, for popping in and bringing me a delish treats bag! It was a pleasure to meet you!

~~~

After cocktails, we all went to our rooms to freshen up for dinner. I came down fashionably late in order to make a proper entrance as Miss USA!

My talented American friend Kim made me the Miss USA sash! I borrowed the gloves and tiara from the Mister. Stop it now, settle down, that's a joke! I felt this attention-seeking moment had to be done as I was the only one coming all the way from the States. (As it happens, I was not literally the only American at the Retreat because Melissa is also from the USA, but she currently resides in Germany and she and her family came from there to the Retreat.) 

I couldn't resist passing my tiara around the table for photo ops and since you are all no doubt sick of seeing my mug in the photos with each lady I've met, these are sans me!

I will list each name (linked to their blog if they have one) row by row, starting in the top row left:

Anita Bowden (Neet & Crafty), Anne Ray (Stargroves), Carol Steedman (Inky Fingers), Chrissie Stokes (Simply One-of-a-Kind), Sarah Platt (Sazzle Dazzle Crafts), Debbie Morgan (Ribbon Dreams), Dianne Stewart, Julie Beech (Crafted by Jules), Kathy Kirby (Purple Princess Diaries) [you'd think, being a princess, that she'd be better at wearing a tiara!], Kylie Purtell (Kylie is Addicted to Stamps) [the Retreat Founder and Head Mistress!], Lilian Beazer (Lilian's Crafting Blog), Maree Hillery [Kylie's Mum], Melissa (Honeybee Lane) [wearing the full regalia!], Marina Mode (My Perfect Life), Monika Skinner (Tinker Cards Designs), Sue Jones, and Val Nolan (Canonbury Creations).  (Let me know if any names/blogs are incorrect or the links aren't working.)

These ladies are just as talented and sweet in real life as I imagined them to be! And don't they all look so fetching in a tiara!!

The hotel facilities, food, and grounds were sensational!

~~~

We all turned in at a reasonable hour, anxious to get up the next morning and get crafty!

We were each given generous goody bags, including Brushos, and Kylie was a marvelous teacher!

I had actually given away a set of Brushos earlier this year after having them sit on Mt. NBUS for over a year, so I was bemused by the irony of the workshop materials and lesson. In truth, I felt like I already had enough backgrounds to last my lifetime, but I have to say I really enjoyed using the Brushos and I'm glad I now have a set again! I was also surprised by how easy it is to use them in a small controlled space for CAS cards and stencil work so I know I will be using them often.

Having said that, you can see below that I couldn't wait to have a sprawled-out go at them as soon as I could yesterday!

~~~

But I digest. Back to the workshop, here we are hamstering away with the Brushos, our work laid out on the floor to dry, at lunch, cards from the Aussie Christmas card challenge, and Hammy saying hello:

Several of us made ATCs (Artist Trading Cards [like baseball cards]) to swap:

While we were swapping, we played a couple of games of Twister!

~~~

Before I left on my adventure, I thought about what I could bring as a gift to all the lovely women I was meeting along the way. Since I was making ATCs for the Retreat attendees, I decided to make one for everyone I was meeting in England.

Here you can see that "everyone" turned out to be 60 women so that's how many ATCs I made!

It wasn't much as gifts go, but it was perfect for not taking up too much room in the suitcase and everyone now has a little pimento of my visit. On the back I put the date that I "met" them online (most of them dating back to early 2012) and the date we met for reals. Here is a closeup:

(Don't tell Hammy, but the image is actually a Stamping Bella mouse stamp which I, erm, had to perform a wee operation on!)

~~~

Midafternoon Saturday, I had another bloggie friend stop by to meet me. Please met the darling Samantha Elliott of Hettiecraft, who drove all the way to Swindon from Wales!

Sam is a sweetheart and guess what she gave me? An adorable for-real hamster stamp from Deep Red, so now I'm set when I need to make ATCs for my next adventure! Thank you for driving all that way to meet me IRL, Sam! And thank you for the stamp and scarf! Kisses to my namesake henny girl!

~~~

On Sunday morning, Carol gave us all a fantastic lesson on masking. Her talent is phenomenal and we all learned so much from her! Also, we all immediately went online to purchase everything she touched in her demonstrations! (Don't tell our husbands!)

It was a fabulous Retreat and weekend! Here is a photo of the beautiful cards and Brusho art we all made:

Some little imp photo-bombed the image. More from him soon!

Thank you so much, Kylie! I am still in awe that you managed to arrange this Retreat from Australia, which went off without a hitch that I could see. If it weren't for your bravery going for it, I wouldn't have been brave enough to use the Retreat as my launching point to go on my solo adventure around England! Mwah! I can't wait to hear where next year's retreat will be!

~~~

Okay, diary-wise I'm off to London next and that will be the last installment. (Hey, I heard that huge sigh of relief back there!)

I found out we had incredibly hot days while I was away which was very hard on some of the garden. Some of the succulents, on the other hand, LOVED the heat. This one hasn't bloomed in the three years I've had it and what a showy magnificent bloom it is!

~~~

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!

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