Jenn's Doings: Scrapbook Retreat was a treat

This past weekend I did something I've never done. I attended a scrapbooking retreat in Lakewood Wa. This group called Scrap Gals put it on and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Turns out it was exhausting and an absolute blast!

The two women who put it on Tracie and Tiffany, are the two who started the ScrapGals several years ago. Their following is large and they are scrapbooking celebs. I was so excited to meet them both and they did not disappoint.

Bright and early, ok not so early, on Friday morning I was packed and ready to go. I laughed out loud when I realized that my scrapping bag was larger than my suitcase. And let's not forget the wine. I posted that photo on the retreat FB page and I was from then on known as "The Wine Lady". I kid you not. Soooo many people mentioned the wine to me and just called me the Wine lady.

The retreat started Friday by my picking up my scrapping pal Anandi. It was hot and the traffic to get to Lakewood was no joke. At one point we put the top up because it was just too damn hot sitting in traffic.

We hit Lakewood around 4, I think. Checked in and refreshed ourselves before going down to find the room. They had just opened it and we found our spots right up front in the classroom. I wasn't expecting there to be as many ladies here and boy was I surprised. There were 80 women. The room was packed.

Friday night was pizza night, time to set up your space and just hang out a bit. There were several free give aways throughout the weekend and the first was on Friday night. Side note, the amount of free stuff we got on this retreat was ridiculous. Totally worth the $$ to attend.

Saturday Anandi and I were up and to Starbucks to get ourselves the needed caffeine to get through the day. We had two classes and a bunch of free scrap time.

Anandi had two friends from Sacramento come up too. These two ladies were SOoo much fun. They sat right behind us and another of her friends at just next to us. All three of them had me in stitches the entire weekend.

I should mention that prior to the retreat the instructors provided us a list of photos that we should bring to use during the classes. That exercise was ridiculously complicated for me. Still I had my photos and I was ready to go. So I thought...

Our first class was from a ScrapGal named Paige. Her style and my style are not the same. The papers and embellishments we got for her class are nice, but I'm not sure I'll use them all. We'll see.

Paige and one of her designs.

After her class was lunch and then some free scrap time. I was looking forward to the free scrap time so I could get through all my Ireland photos. I staged the remaining photos and had about 25 pages to work on. I was ready to make a dent.

Later that night was our second class, Crafty Girl put on by Tracie. This was my second favorite class. It was all about scrapbooking about your hobby of scrapbooking. Hah. I found it rather ironic that we rarely, if ever, scrapbook about scrapbooking. Finally a collection of papers and what not to do just that. This class got me a bit our of my comfort zone and we had to stamp a bunch of things on a page. A list of what we love about scrapbooking. For a first time stamper I think I did OK.

After this class, I was done. I was exhausted. I did not anticipate how tired this would be. Truthfully it was a couple of reasons that I was so tired. The first is the AC wasn't working too well in the front of the class. It was toasty. I think I was sweating from the first moment I sat down until we left. On top of that, I wasn't used to sitting in the same chair for 12 straight hours. Yes I got up every now and then, but still...a lot of sitting. You'd think with all the padding on my a$$ I wouldn't have a problem. I guess not.

Sunday morning, again, off to Starbucks.

Sunday morning was the one class where the photos really threw me. It was learning how to do a Traveler Notebook (the new rage) about me. This entire class really triggered something in me. In the telling of my story.

Tiffany, the instructor, had set up the first several pages for us and walked us through how we should set them up. She's an English instructor so this class was also a lot of English training. Which was great. She told her story. Heartfelt, open, no bull type of story telling. I fell in love instantly with Travel Notebooks. I have so many plans for what I want to do with some of them. I cannot wait.

I didn't get very far on the travel notebook from Tiffany because I want to use it about my life for the first 50 years. It seems like a good time in life to check in with yourself and really look at what kind of life you've lived and what you want to live.

Lunch was delayed, significantly, so Anandi and I ran out to grab lunch. We had a bunch of scrapping time that afternoon. I was just working my way through all the pages I brought with me. Slowly at this point. One of my new Sacramento friends who was sitting behind me was teaching me all sorts of new things about the iPhone and how to take photos of the pages with ease. Super great tips.

Then the great group photo. Tracie is a drill sergeant when it comes to getting people in line. She's also very careful about placing people. I thought it was like herding cats, but she did a great job.

All in all I had a fantastic time. I met some new fantastic friends, learned some new fantastic scrapbooky type of things. And I think I may have a new found love in travel notebooks. Damn you scrapbooking industry.