Handmade University....Second Semester

I am so excited to be traveling to Omaha, NE again this spring. I will be staying in the little town of Gretna at the Minglewood Lodge for the Second Semester of Handmade U hosted by the lovely....and newly wed Rachel (velder) McGough. My travel buddy is the lovely Stephanie Oyler of Crowns & Pearls and we can't wait.

This is Minglewood Lodge....or the giant living & work space at the lodge. It is awesome and is actually a quilting retreat. Check out the little typewriter on the coffee table...I have been trying to buy one since last year. All the girls had such fun with it typing little notes for their journals. It was a blast from the past since that is the kind of typewriter we all learned to type on. When I graduated from high school....I got an electric typewriter and you would have thought my grandmother hung the moon when she gave me that gift. That is Stephanie, Me, Michelle Geller, & Pam Keravuouri. Michelle was our teacher last year, Pam just a student....but we all begged her to graduate and become a teacher for this semester....she is just so talented. She is teaching this year!!

This is the journal that Michelle of Hold Dear will teach us to make. Her journals are just so immensely awesome. The class is called Stitched and Stashed so my guess is that this journal will have tons of little places to hide treasures and cool stuff. It is a one-needle Coptic binding technique and then we will have the afternoon to decorate the pages using papers and ephemera from her stash and stuff that we have brought. Her stuff is way over the top....I can't wait to see what she brings. Last year Stephanie & I fell in LOVE with the Wasi tape. Her Japanese masking tape. I think we bought every color that she brought. It is so neat.

This is the class that Pam Keravuouri will teach call Doodle Ink. Pam sat right in front of us last year and Stephanie & I begged for tidbits on her techniques on doodling. Not that we thought we could learn it....but then Pam said there were definite techniques. NOW.....we are just so excited she is going to teach....because Pam is just the bomb. I love to just listen to her talk. I think I even said I wished she was my mother....(sorry Mom...if you are reading this.....but that is how cooooooool Pam is!!! and I just love her to death) So....I guess what I am trying to say....Pam is awesome....and I am happy she is a teacher at Handmade U this semester.

Just look at her doodles.....aren't they just so cheerful??? She is the artist that does all the cute stuff for Amy Powers in her ezine Inspired Ideas. I just can't wait for her tips & technique. We are going to create a mini practice journal so we can create some wonderful doodles of our own! Well that will remain to be seen....but I am optimistic!!???

Then....Rachel will instruct us on making a prize ribbon. I am all about prize ribbons. I collect vintage horse show ribbons. I love to make ribbons.....and I am really excited to make ribbons taught by Rachel because she traveled to France....and we get to use ribbon she purchased there. Hey....I thought I bought it all??? She must have stashed some away...because I bought the most gorgeous velvet ribbons from Rachel last year & I have been using them in my new felted cuffs! The ribbon is just yummy! So I am really excited to make all the awesome projects at Handmade U this semester. I can't wait to see all the returning students. I hope we get to have Jerry's Cream Can dinner again. It's just a really fun weekend. Very restful. Very creative. Very intimate. I really like the atmosphere at Handmade U. So....are you going to any art retreats soon....if so let me know....I would love to hear about them. Do you like a big retreat or a more intimate gathering? Please let me know your thoughts....and blessings for an artfully creative day!