Spring 2011 Retreat - Done!

Well, the Spring 2011 Retreat has all been boxed up and put away. We'll rest a bit, and then start preparing for our Fall 2011 Retreat.* (*More news about that retreat in a separate post). We had a wonderful week-end, with 43 people in attendance! We had croppers from Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and, of course, Arkansas! Mary Ellen created name tags in the shape of the state to represent each cropper. It was fun to see where everyone traveled from. As usual, we gave away lots of fun prizes, and free goodies! Dora taught a class on a 'waterfall' technique that was used on the free layout kit. I demoed how to stamp on your pictures, a technique that was used in the Early Bird layout kit. We also gave each cropper a mini magnetic bulletin board kit, and a test tube candy holder kit. 2Katies, a local design team, came on Saturday afternoon and taught a beautiful 2-page layout class. This was an optional, extra, class that people could purchase if they wanted. Saturday night we had our layout contest. We had 27 entries - lots of layouts and a few cards, mini-books, etc. All of the entries were awesome, but the winners were truly works of art! We'll post those in a separate, photo-heavy, post. Sunday comes awfully fast! All too soon it was time to give away the last round of door prizes, the grand prize, and then the "big" grand prize! :) At this Retreat, we gave away an Ott lite - many people have been asking about them, so we gave away a small one that can be used for travel - like coming to a crop! Our "big" grand prize is always a "free ride" on the next Croppin' Train. This time, Dana Reed, a first-time attendee, won the free ride. Dana - we look forward to seeing you again in the Fall! We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and that you got a few things accomplished, too! All of us at Croppin' Train truly appreciate your attendance at any Croppin' Train event, and hope to see each of you again soon! Thanks for riding with us!! Pat