Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Tuesdays With Ande



Last weekend Ande and I went to a scrapbooking retreat in Monroe, Washington.  We had a grand time.  Instead of paragraphing you through our weekend, I'll picture you through it.

Back Row:  Ande, Donna, Anita, me, Jill, Jenny, Tracy, Amanda, Deb
Front Row:  Sonja, Nicole, Sandy
Not pictured:  Susan, Cali

This is who we went with.  This group of friends has evolved from the original friendship of Deb and Donna.  Deb and Donna met each other as consultants for a home-party based business nearly twenty five years ago.  And even though Donna lives on one side of the mountain and Deb on the other, their friendship has outlasted the snowstorms.  One by one, Deb and Donna have added more people to the friendship until now there are over a dozen of us who get together (once, or twice, or several times a year) to scrapbook and work on projects.  Because we spend the time scrapbooking family pictures and memories, by default we also know each other's families.

Sandy, Donna, Nicole, and Sonja organized everything and assigned the meals, coordinated little gifts, and warmed and heated peppermint-scented washcloths for us in the evening.  (Donna's mantra is "it's all in the packaging"  and she skillfully lives it.)

Four different ways to serve a s'more

Harry Potter fun

Sandy serving warm washcloths

Ande at the sprinkles table

Cali brought Levin up Friday afternoon to meet everyone.  He went from one mother and one grandmother to a dozen in a moment.  Everyone was excited for Cali and Ray and immediately welcomed Levin to the scrapbook club.

Ande and Levin

Ande worked on several projects while we were there -- she put together frames, a memory box, and made a birthday present for me.


She started and finished this gift within an hour:




(It now hangs on our dining room wall and looks wonderful.  I love it.  She chose to paint my favorite flower:  a carnation.  She also made Idaho Spud cupcakes for my birthday.  They were really good.  I ate six before it was over.)

I was walking around the scrapbook room enjoying everyone's work and projects when we got to the retreat.  I stopped to admire Sandy's jar of wooden spools on her work table.  I oohed and ahhed, looked closely at them, and told her what a great idea it was and that I wanted to duplicate it.  I went back to my scrapbook table and opened a package from my sister Rachel that I had picked up at the mailbox on my way to the retreat, but hadn't yet opened.  I opened up the box to a jar of wooden spools.  Serendipity!  



I got 50 cards made, nearly 30 pages scrapbooked, and finished a few small projects at the retreat.  Several of us went to a craft store and flea market while we were there, too.  I found a few great deals and will post them as well as a couple of the projects tomorrow in a Homemaking Tips post.

The retreat was more than flea market deals, cards, pages, or projects, it was spending the time with Ande and also visiting with friends.  And laughing.  That group laughs so easily.  We had a grand time.

9 comments:

Kathy’s Korner said...

I love the carnations. Happy Birthday! What fun. You do know how to have fun. I need to learn!

Rebecca said...

I just scrolled through all the pictures of the blog and have to say two things-what a cute tiny baby!! and how creative can Andy get? You go girl!

Deanna/Mimi said...

Looks like so much fun!! What a fantastic time you must have had. I am sure those attending are always happy to see you in attendance as you bring sunshine to everyone's life. Levin is adorable and seeing him look at his mommy like that brought back wonderful memories and feelings. Miss those precious days. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Tyler - Danielle - Emree said...

How fun! I love Ande's gift. SO cute and so thoughtful.

Haley Krumblis said...

Ugh! I'm jealous! I need a retreat! How about a family retreat to get projects done?! My projects keep piling up. Oh and I call Levin for at least the first hour before I share. Come on, who's in?!

Michelle said...

looks like fun - I miss the retreats and seeing you!

michelle said...

It looks like a grand time!

I love the painting on the book page. I love anything involving book pages.

Anonymous said...

Oh, love that picture frame. Wish I could paint like that.

Lynn

Jill said...

Oh this looks so fun! I used to be a big time scrapbooker before I started blogging and used to enjoy these kind of gatherings.

Ande's gift is so cool!