On my way to Paper Crown for the final day of Glitter Retreat, I just had to make a quick stop at an estate sale. More on that in a later post!
I arrived at Paper Crown in time for a yummy breakfast before our first class with Angie. We made a fun little spring decor piece and learned quite a few techniques in the process. This was my first class with Angie. She was bursting with energy, smart, and funny.
This little bloomin' wagon has a chipboard piece on the front that, after following Angie's instruction, looks just like leather. The "bloom" is under distressed beveled glass. The flowers are made from marbled foil-backed paper that Angie pre-cut and we layered and shaped to create 3-D blossoms. The little banner reads "everything is blooming most recklessly." Fun! Wish I had a better photo of it, but this was the best I've been able to do.
We had lunch upstairs in the Paper Attic. We were again treated to wonderful decorations throughout the room. Each table had a cute rubber boot filled with flowers and greenery.
At each place there were personalized flower buckets filled with lots of crafting goodies and flower seeds.
Here are just some of the treats packed in my bucket.
On the wall was another gigantic floral creation - this time in bright glittery colors. I can't decide if I loved the white one from Day Two or this one more.
After lunch we had our final swap - the Altered Spoon swap. I used a spoon I'd made earlier and added a bit more rhinestone bling. I also made a gift bag for this swap using a vintage napkin, lace applique and a tiny spoon charm someone had gifted me from an earlier swap. Perfect!
I received a beautiful spoon from Michelle, who flew in from California for the Glitter Retreat. She used a very pretty sterling silver spoon from her collection, adding a tiny little bird (I love anything with birds) sitting in a leafy nest. Pearls dangle from one side, and there's a curly hook for hanging. Thank you, Michelle! I love it!
After lunch we had our final class with the adorable Lesa Dailey. Lesa was at Paper Crown in November and I so wanted to take her class then but was preparing for Glitter Market the following day and knew I'd be rushed. I'm so glad she and her sweet daughter returned.
Our class kits for this darling Bon Bon bunny came in cute burlap bags that Lesa made.
Isn't she precious? She has lots of vintage elements and a little secret - her top lifts off to reveal a little cache for candy or what have you. Such a fun class!
Following this last class we had the chance to shop in the Paper Attic. Jackie and Lesa both had some of their creations available to purchase - a little sneak peak for this fall's Glitter Market.
I truly enjoyed my first Glitter Retreat. A big thank you to Cindy, Amy, Jackie, Medeah, Angie and Lesa for such a wonderful event!
If you'd like to see more photos of Day Three, visit Jackie's blog here and here. My two previous posts were also about Glitter Retreat.
I'm being my usual slow self completing my Glitter Retreat posts, but hopefully you'll hang with me for this and one more.
We started Day 2 with a mixed media class with Medeah. At each place was a class kit, a personalized metal pitcher holding more supplies, and a Glitter Retreat apron. I tied on my cute apron first thing so it's not in the photo.
I've taken a couple of classes with Medeah before and loved them, and this one was great, too. You leave her classes with not only a wonderful creation, but lots of techniques you can use for other projects. Here's my final piece.
Lunch was going to be a picnic in a nearby park but the weather didn't cooperate, so we moved to a space next door for a picnic on the floor, complete with blankets and decorations. The food was wonderful! It definitely made us look forward to the rest of the retreat meals prepared by Val, a friend of one of the instructors.
After lunch we took a field trip to Jan's Jewelry Supplies. They do a lot of online business so you can shop with them no matter where you are. They have an amazing selection of beads, charms, chain, and more. I managed to work in a quick stop at a nearby estate sale on the way. It wouldn't be the weekend without an estate sale!
Jackie's Sacred Heart class was on the afternoon schedule. I was so looking forward to this class and it didn't disappoint. Jackie had pretty kits on the tables for us along with her always awesome name tags.
This looked like a truly complicated project, but Jackie had things well prepared and helped us through all the steps. I truly enjoyed it.
She also showed us ways to display our pieces - in covered cigar boxes, on clipboards, and more. I haven't decided yet just how I want to display mine.
We had dinner upstairs in the Paper Attic - more delicious food! I'll give a link below so you can see more photos, but here are the few I took.
The white paper flowers were huge, and so pretty!
Each place setting had a tiny glittered trophy and beautiful hydrangeas and roses were displayed in vintage silver loving cups.
The final event for Day Two was the Junque in the Trunk swap. Each participant completed a survey ahead of time to give their partner some clues about things they wanted or needed. I used a vintage basket to hold the junque for my partner Tami but, sadly, I was stuffing things in up until the night before and forgot to take a photo of the basket and much of the contents. The next two photos show some of the items I had gathered early on.
The napkin is wrapped around some vintage fabrics, and the paper roll underneath is full of various chains and necklaces for her to use in her jewelry creations.
I included some random found metal objects, vintage beads, vintage ribbon, and a good selection of vintage papers.
Tami made a beautiful box to contain the junque she gifted me. This box is really lovely and is now displayed in my craft room. Wish you could see it in person!
In my survey I indicated I could use some purple items for a journal project, and talked about my obsession with washi tape. Tami found lots of fun purple items, including unusual fabrics and three rolls of purple patterned washi tape, that I can incorporate. She put in vintage trims, some of her beautiful handmade flowers, ribbon, lace, and more - lots of everything I love!
I'll try to get Day Three posted in the next few days. For more photos from Day Two, visit Jackie's blog here.
Various things kept me from signing up for any out-of-state retreats this year, but that allowed me to attend Paper Crown's Glitter Retreat April 23-25. It was a perfect weekend, with talented teachers and great classes, shopping, eating and art swapping.
We started on Thursday evening with a group dinner at a new restaurant, Pizzeria Gusto, in OKC. Great pizza! The DH and I will be going there in the near future. After dinner we headed to Cindy's beautiful home (Cindy is the owner of Paper Crown) for dessert, a group painting project, and the first swap of the weekend - The Flower Pin Swap. This was my first ever swap to host, and although there were only a few of us, everyone did a great job. I made little flower-themed treat bags for the participants.
Here's the pin I received from Suzy. Love it, and it's perfect for me as my wardrobe is at least 75% gray and I love anything with a watch face and bling. It came in a really cute bag Suzy decorated, but I forgot to take a pic of the bag. I'll add it in when the sun comes out.
The pin I made went to Debbie.
I made it convertible as I didn't know who the recipient would be and some people don't like to wear pins with all the streamers. There's a pin on the back of the smaller flower, but also Velcro so you can attach it to the larger backing and streamers. There's a pin back on the larger piece, too, so it can be worn either way.
Part of the swap was presentation, so I made a little bag for the pin. This was something I'd wanted to try since Tami gave me a pretty bag at Birdsong last year. The cross stitch dresser scarf was purchased at an estate sale last fall. I stitched the two ends together, sewed the bottom seam, added embellishments...and now I'm addicted!
You can see the swappers and more photos of the Day One action on Jackie's blog here. I'm always thankful for Jackie as she takes great photos and lots of them - certainly not MY strong suit!
Hope you'll check back later for more Glitter Retreat fun!
