OCTOBER MAGGIE VALLEY SWARM

This weekend was our last swarm for 2010....we won't be having another one until the early spring of 2011. What a great time we had again this month.

Originally there were only 3 people in the group coming so I brought my hubby to cook for us! The food was wonderful and the company was fabulous. Below is a photo of me and my husband (pardon my bad hair, this photo was taken around 10pm!).

On Friday night we had a pasta dish my husband made in his pressure cooker! It was fabulous. On Saturday morning we had waffles and a breakfast casserole. And Saturday night we had Roast with potatoes and carrots, again made in my husbands pressure cooker! There was lots of candy, cupcakes and homemade bread too.


This is a group photo of everyone that came. From left to right is Brenda, Trish, me, Laura & Shyra. Brenda also brought her mom but she was already in bed and didn't come down for the photo. My husband took the picture for us. It is a little bit blurry, sorry!

This is a photo of the main room with the fireplace and tables. I had just received my new Imagine the day before I came and I didn't even open the box until I got to the cabin on Friday! I haven't attempted the upgrade yet but will work on that when I'm confident the bugs are out.

There was another table upstairs in the loft and even though we can't all see each other we can talk to anyone that may be in the loft area still. It has been a wonderful place to get together and oh so relaxing!

This will be our last swarm until the spring because the weather up here is too unpredictable and with the holidays coming we decided to wait until March for our next swarm. So if any of you are interested in joining our group, there is room to spare, so come join us! The fee includes room and board. You can email me at coggie4556@bellsouth.net if you are interested.

MY WEEKEND RETREAT

I went to a weekend retreat in Maggie Valley, NC this weekend. I didn't know any of the women there but boy did we make friends fast! We had a wonderful time. Laura is the organizer, she is in the front row. Brenda is just behind her and Shyra is behind Brenda on your right and I'm on the left and at the top of the stairs is Judy!

I cannot tell you how fortunate I feel to have found this little group. The cabin is absolutely beautiful and it was only about an hour and 45 minutes away from where I live.

Of course I packed too much but I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

This is a photo of the workspace that Laura created. She moved the sofa and chairs against the wall and put the wooden coffee table on the covered porch. She put 4 tables together to create a large workspace for each of us. There was a 5th table in front of the stairs.

I debated all week, prior to my trip, whether to risk taking my Imagine. I decided to wrap it in bubble wrap and buckle it into the seat and it worked extremely well. I took a picture for inspiration for others. When I got to the cabin and set the machine up I was fully prepared to recalibrate but it was not necessary.

I worked on 2 double layouts and I made a lovely party banner for my sweet 3 year old grand-daughters birthday in a couple of weeks.

Laura made sure there was plenty of food, drinks and snacks. She cooked a home made lasagna that we baked Friday night, a breakfast caserole Saturday morning and chilli in the crockpot Saturday night.

There will be another retreat in October (I can't wait) and then there won't be another one until March, 2011. If any of you live near Maggie Valley, NC and are interested in attending this swarm, you can find details at www.borntoscrapbook.blogspot.com.

ATLANTA SWARM III

Hi everyone! I went to Atlanta this past weekend for the Atlanta Swarm III. What a great time we had. I have never been to a swarm so the entire weekend was a big experience for me. We all brought items from our stashes to donate as door prizes and I was fortunate enough to win some wonder tape, a solutions cartridge (Summer Vacation), and some embellishments.

One of the ladies made us all cricut bug heads that she had covered with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). They are so darn cute and so easy to make. She showed us how she made them and I know that I will be using this technique a lot in the very near future. She also showed us how to use glazing pens with Outline stickers! Another great technique that I will be using.

We all brought a layout kit with embellishments and a short journaling about ourselves and one of the organizers took our photo and then we swapped layouts and someone else actually put our layouts together. This was a lot of fun, but boy was I out of my league. Most of the women at the swarm have been scrapping for a long time and they were all so very talented. It was a great learning experience for me though.

Dinner was provided for us Saturday night and lunch was provided Sunday. I chose to go back to my hotel and spend the evening with my hubby who was nice enough to hang out at the hotel Saturday and Sunday while I scrapped all day.

Most of the women got a lot accomplished while they were there.....for me I guess I did too. I finished a 2 page spread with the girls and Cinderella. At this rate it will take me a couple of years to finish our Disney trip from May.

I still had a great time and I can't wait to do it again! There are a couple of swarms coming up in Maggie Valley that I want to attend. One at the end of September and one at the end of October! I'm definitely going to one of them!

I will post my layout pages later on this week. Today was my first day back at work and I didn't get home until after 7:30 so I am dog tired and will be turning in early tonight!