Self Hosted Scrapbooking Retreats

Setting up a retreat for you and your friends allows you to customize the type of atmosphere you want. How many people, how much space you want to provide for each of your friends to crop and what type of tools you have to share. When planning know how much you want to spend per person.

Location for your size group will be important. Will the location meet your groups needs. Are there enough rooms, beds and restrooms to accommodate your group. Are there ameneties that apeal to everyone? Does driving distance matter? If your crafting how much workspace do you want for each person? Are the chairs comfortable?

Meals and Snacks always make a great party. Do you want space that will allow you to set up meals in the crop room or just snacks? Would you like another quiet place for you to be able to escape and have a nice meal? Is a retreat for you and your friends a place you would like to be pampered and enjoy a home cooked buffet or meal? Meals can be easily planned by everyone and brought to the location. We often ask each person to contribute to one meal during our retreat. Another way is making a Costco or Sam's Club run and having everyone chip in money for food.

These are just a few of the things you need to keep in mind when hosting your own retreat. Most of all make sure that everyone helps in the planning and jobs are shared among the group.You will also want a cleaning list. This will enable everyone to have an enjoyable time and get as many pages or projects completed during your scrapbooking getaway!

Father's Day Memories

To all of the wonderful men and father's in my life. Happy Father's Day. The wonderful thing about pictures is being able to look back at wonderful memories. These pictures are being put into special albums so that I can keep the memories alive. I have been fortunate to have great male role models in my life. My dad, Ray, always, strong, kind, helpful and giving. Even today in his retirement he helps make wooden toys for children during Christmas. Plays classical guitar with a group of men at nursing homes and is always around to give me and our kids great advise. Another great man in my life is my husband Paul. Always willing to help each of our kids with their goals. Working on cars, helping to keep the Bear Den South a wonderful retreat for friends, family and guest. When you cross over the walkway to our front door know that it was rebuilt with a lot of care and love for our guest. He also works with a great group of managers at Cincinnati Container to keep our health care and other benefits for our employees reasonable and strong. Other great father's in my life are my brothers Graham and Stuart, my brother-in-law Chris all great role models for my kids before they themselves became fathers. Now each one works endlessly for their own family. A father is someone who is strong, loving and caring. Someone who is always their for you to look up to for guidance and wisdom. We are very fortunate to have these men in our lives. I look forward to capturing even more memories as my family continues to grow. Don't forget to tell someone in your life what a great father they are on father's day.