September 2023 – Darling Details

I cannot believe another Crafting Retreat with Tatiana Creative has come and gone! I am overwhelmed with gratitude after this retreat. It was the biggest one I’ve had yet and the BEST (even if I say so myself)! Thank you so much to everyone who came or participated at home! I hope that everyone who participated felt the love and good wishes that I wanted to convey in all the details of the retreat.

Location

The retreat was held over the weekend starting Friday afternoon the 8th September 2023 and concluding on Sunday 10th September 2023 at 1pm. We returned to Waters Edge in Port Macquarie with beautiful water views and plenty of light.

On arrival everyone found their Swag Bag waiting for them, along with a light up letter as a place card, personalised note pad, and mechanical pencil.

Day 1

Friday we all had time to work on your own projects and UFOs as well as exploring the contents of the swag bags. After dinner we played four rounds of Bingo! I include this in the cost of the retreat so that everyone can have a chance to win a wonderful prize. I also gave out two door prizes!

Day 2

Saturday is a full day of crafting – 13 hours of in! I open the room up at 8am and we finish off at 9pm. Today everyone gets to start the Make ‘n’ Takes. These are projects that I have designed especially for the Crafting Retreat. There were 6 in total, but one was a One Sheet Wonder creating 9 cards – so a total of 14 cards!!! Along with the Make ‘n’ Take kits, most of the supplies are in the swag bag, anything else that’s needed I provided in baskets for crafters to take to their tables. Instructions are provided both written and as videos. I’m also around to help!

There was lots of laughs and giggles across the day. From making mistakes (decorating the envelope instead of the the card base) to loosing pieces and finding them attached to a sleeve!

For lunch we had a selection of Subway sandwiches and wraps. After dinner (pizza) I ran an extra class featuring the Cheerful Daisies stamp set. Those who choose to participate made three cute daisy cards.

More Door Prizes were given out today too. Door prizes are drawn by a coloured piece of cardstock. Each crafter has a colour assigned to them and get an envelope full of cardstock in this colour. These pieces of cardstock are used to “borrow” with from the Library section as well as door prizes. It was very strange that it was all greens and blues being drawn out for the Door Prizes! First four were Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Boho Blue and Azure Afternoon!

Day 3

The weekend is going by quickly! Little Miss (my 10 year old daughter who’s my mini me) joined us today. She was so excited to be there.

Today was time to finish off any Make ‘n’ Takes as well as work on your own projects. I ran another session of the Cheerful Daisy add on class today too. Final Door Prizes were given out with the final big Door Prize of the Stampin’ Up!® Celebrate Today Magnet Board Kit. The Raffle was drawn by Little Miss. 3rd prize was a set of some Clear Blocks (you can never have enough) was won by Joan! 2nd prize was a set of Blending Brushes, Decorative Masks and Pastels. This was won by Elaine! 1st Prize was a Boho Blue Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine and it was won by a very excited Leslie! Congratulations to all the winners!

Food

There was lots of snacks available across the weekend as well as tea, coffee, and iced tea. Friday night dinner, Saturday lunch and Saturday dinner was provided too.

Stampin’ Up!® Swag and Gifts

On arrival everyone received a bag full of Stampin’ Up!® swag at their table. I found these cute floral bags which I added some heat transfer vinyl making them retreat special. Inside everyone received the Darling Details stamp set, Memories & More Note Cards & Envelopes, Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper, Loose Silver Sequins, Ribbon Duo Combo, and Linen Thread. Crafters also had the option to upgrade and also get the Darling Details Dies.

Then over the course of the weekend gifts were given out. I have to say shopping for, decorating and preparing these gifts is one of my favourite parts of the retreat.

First gifts of the weekend was a light up letter name plate decorated with flowers using the Paper Florist Dies from Stampin’ Up!®, a notebook and mechanical pencil with some Masterfully Made DSP added inside. On Friday night I presented everyone with Clear Wink of Stella. On Saturday morning everyone found a surprise bag of flower cookies on their chairs. In the evening everyone received a key ring made with the Darling Details stamp set and shrink plastic. On Sunday as a parting gift everyone received a floral candle. There were four different designs.