Saturday, March 16, 2013

The latest info in case you accidently misplaced the email :-)

YIPEE. Not at all long until our fantastic scrapbook retreat is upon us. Yes you have fought hard to get your place to attend and now the wait is almost OVER :) We have been very busy behind the scenes organising the most fun, exciting, inspirational weekend that you can imagine. Yes perhaps our best ever retreat! Lucky YOU getting to attend!!

We are very fortunate to have 3 very big names in the Australian scrapbook industry attend as our teachers : Sharmaine Kruijver, Ebony Van Der Starre and Kim Jeffress. We know that you will join us in making them feel welcome and help them settle in in any way we can. All three girls have said that they can't wait to experience e2c with you. If you haven't already sorted out your class requirements, time is running out! Please check here for details on what you need to bring. The class attendance sizes in 2013 are the biggest we have ever had - 60 in every class!

We would appreciate you being super organised with your class requirements (maybe a zip lock bag with each of the class needs in separate ones?). As there will be almost all eyes and ears on the class teachers during the classes it would be polite and very much appreciated to keep laughter and loud chat down to a dull roar. Everyone can turn up the volume on good times as soon as the classes are over :)

The classes and workshops are scheduled as following (at this stage) Friday evening - Kim's memory file class Saturday morning - Ebony's layout class Saturday afternoon - Sharmaine's layout class

 Apologies that we say the same thing each year but again we will re- enforce some points :

 1. There will be 5 retailers attending our retreat and they will be 'onsite' for the entire weekend. DON'T FORGET YOUR MONEY / PURSE / CARD / CHEQUE BOOK! We welcome Nat May who will be bringing items to buy which are not sourced by our local shops. Nat will only be able to accept cash.

 2. If you would like an iron on transfer for your t-shirt please remember to bring a black t-shirt. Transfers will be given to all in 2013.

 3. The group photo last year looked fantastic with everyone in their black t-shirts. We are hoping most people will join in and bring a black shirt so we can have a similar 'group' appearance this year - even if you don't want a transfer. This group photo has been planned for 10.30 am on Sunday.

 4. Our e2c Masseuse Mandy sadly will be not be available. However don't be too miserable as we have found 3 (yes siree THREE) ladies to take her place. They will be available for bookings Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This year the girls will offer massages as well as pedicures, manicures (both with shellac) and facials. Booking sheets will be circulating on Friday.

 5. You will need to BYO esky and ice for your own BYO drinks (alcoholic or non) for the entire weekend. Ice will be available at the Nth Shields service station across the road to top up eskies as needed. Please note that there is no spare fridge space so personal drinks will be your own responsibility. You will also need to bring your own wine glass / cocktail glass / cocktail ingredients. Blenders will be supplied. There will be a special 'eskie cubby' for all eskies which is near to your scrap area.

 6. As always : make sure you have plenty of photos and projects to keep you busy for 2.5 entire days. Take much more than you think you could ever scrap and hopefully your creative mojo will floweth over!

 7. Tea and coffee facilities will be available all day, evening and until the wee hours. A scrummy afternoon tea will also be supplied on Friday afternoon at 3pm thanks to Carrie Speed.

8. A small selection of nibbles will also be available. If you have particular eating desires or special needs - bring them along for yourself to nibble on over the weekend.

 9. Don't forget to pack bath towel, bedding and toiletries!!

10. There are 6 - 8 beds per room - 3 or 4 bunks. The bedding situation has again been allocated in 2013. Requests were asked for months ago and we have tried very hard to please everyone. Please be aware that all rooms are full due to our attending numbers.

11. Arrival time is from 1pm on Friday the 22nd. No early callers please.

12. The retreat will wrap up around 4pm on Sunday :( This is to ensure we have enough time to finalize retailer accounts, give us time to clean rooms and remove ourselves!

13. There will be a cuttlebug, sissix and some folders plus plenty of sewing machines set up at the retreat to borrow. If you would like to print journalling there will also be a printer / laptop. Please supply own paper/cardstock.

14. Please do not bring individual blow heaters / fans. We do not think our power will cope. Last year we used extra lighting to brighten those dim corners which worked very well. We will do the same this year and we don't want to overload the electricity.

15. If you would like to bring a pillow or cushion for your sensitive buttocks please do - the seats can become very hard after sitting for so long being extremely creative!

16. The ladies travelling via planes please note that the airport is VERY close to the retreat location. (North Shields Lion's Park). If you require a pick up we do have a welcoming committee who is happy to do a pickup. Please let us know.

17. We will have a prize table again in 2013 which is full to the brim of amazing gifts and donations from around the world! We have worked very hard to bring you the best selection of prizes ever. If you see a donor at the retreat - take the time to thank them. It's their generosity that have enabled us to have such a great range. A simple'thank you' goes a long way :-)

18. We have kept a few secrets up our sleeve so be prepared and gather up some gold coins. ;-) 


We have been putting in some long hours to make this retreat AWESOME but a huge thank you must go to those who have offered to help and have taken some job or another under their wing. We have the 'awesome foursome' in the kitchen again (Mel, Kym, Leanne and Andrew), Val's a trooper organising the incidentals and breakfast shopping, Kathryn Doudle and Ali McDonald who have offered to take on the ever expanding job of providing linen for our interstate guests, and Ali again for sourcing and delivering trestles from Port Lincoln. Sue our trestle placement guru will be on hand Thursday for setup and we love seeing Michelle and Andrew walk in the door to help too. Sandra Wallace has kindly agreed to be our friendly e2c airport to retreat transfer coordinator and we thank her for taking that important, first impression, meet and greet job off our hands. Our husbands have also taken a larger workload on this year with 'decoration construction' and they are always keen to be involved with set up and pack up where we find those big man hands so helpful. Of course our shops are just amazing in their support, particularly with the class kits. All these helpers make a huge, HUGE, HUGE job so much easier. Thank you all so much. Please don't hesitate to contact us if there is any questions or concerns. We would be pleased to help in any way possible and strive to make this a great, fun time for everyone.

Meredith and Amanda

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Our Facebook site ...



If you are new to Facebook or didn't know we had a page head on over ...

http://www.facebook.com/groups/129083937124479/

we have been busy chatting about all things E2C for the 2013 retreat :-)