It's been one of those days...

Prima ArtVenture wrap-up Part 1. (pictures galore!)

This time last week I was in Taupo.  I’ve always loved that place so it’s wonderful to go back twice a year to Wairakei Thermal resort.  After 7 retreats this place is super familiar now and that adds to the charm.  It’s kinda like the Cheers theme … “where everyone knows your name”.  The barman even remembered what I drink.  I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing.

So – ArtVenture was AWESOME.  No bias, just the happiest kind of proud satisfaction that it all went as planned! (It helps when you have amazing friends helping!).  Thursday is always set-up day before the delegates arrive.  I think the little touches around the room were some of my favourites of all time.

This was one of my favourite things.   I had a vision for a vintage white chair, a backdrop and a chest of flowers and Rachel Tucker (the amazing visionary that she is!) created this beautiful photo corner with all those special little touches and vintage furniture pieces.  It was so lovely & tidy to start with.  Then this kind of thing started to happen:

Lucy playing “flower shower” with Karen.  The rules are that you got to keep what you catch.  As long as you didn’t use your hands or open up your clothing!

Then Louise Nelson & I got a little silly in the flowers.

Then it was a free-for-all, really.  Literally.   There were flower angel photos, ladies rolled in the flowers, had photos in the flowers and of course if you were stuck on that perfect embellishment for your page there was always a flower as delegates got to help themselves.

Back to the decorating though, because Rachel Tucker had more gorgeousness up her sleeve.

Our candy bar.  We’ve done this since the start, even since before candy bars were the done thing, and it’s always super popular.  All the lollies were pink/white/black, we went through about 40kg for the weekend. IS that bad?!

Then we had other pretty touches:

Vintage doilies gathered from garage sales & op shops, along with Rae Cooper designed chipboard trees.  Prima flowers set everything off beautifully.

Goodie bags for each delegate, decorated with themed ribbon & a Stampin Up stamp.

A hand-stamped bag full of fudge for everyone.  These were waiting on the bed when they went back to the room on Friday night.  (Stamp by Stampin’ Up, I’ve been asked that many times!).

Along those same lines were everyone's registration bag with a little kit to make a bag tag or name tag. Delegates always get spoiled.  Coming up with new ways to do this is always a mission.  It requires lots of Sunday afternoon brainstorming sessions.  That’s code for drinks in the sun. Someone’s gotta do it.

Another touch to the themed gift giving were these little hand-decorated packs of gum.  It’s ‘Extra’ gum.  Get it?  Extra?  We loved the idea so much we made one for everyone and left it on their desk on Saturday night, a gift for the when they arrived to the crop room on Sunday morning.

More Stampin’ Up! Stamps used here.  Love the way they design their new stamps to layer. 

So that was most of the decorating – actually there was more, the crop room and the whole resort looked so very cool.  I’ll leave it here because that’s a whole lot of pics in one post – I still have the teachers, classes, projects created, the BEST crew ever and America’s Cup sailing to go over.  Told ya it was awesome,

laters

Heading to the USA …

When my Dad was really young he went on a business trip to the USA.  He came home and told my Mum that one day when he had kids he’d take them there.  I can still picture the day, as a 12 year old, that my Mum & Dad told us they were taking us to Disneyland.  They’d saved for years for the once-in-a-lifetime trip for us all.

And so we did.  Our family went to the USA, I was 12.   My younger brother must have been 9 and my older brother was 14.  It’s about now you get to have a little giggle at the 1980’s clothes and how gawky a 12year old kid really can look.

My brothers are not going to thank me for this. 

Here’s one and my younger brother with KIT from nightrider.

That’s an A-Team brochure I’m holding.  Those were the days.

And looking back on the experience, which I can do because I kept an extensive scrapbook type diary thing, it was the best time ever.  In fact I even mentioned how sad I was leaving the USA “knowing that I was leaving a place that I would probably never ever see again in my whole life”.  Little did I know.

Check out the signatures from the flight crew of the plane.  This was back in the days where kids got to go up and have a look around the front of the plane.  Does anyone know any crew that worked for Air Pacific in the 1980s?  They were cool.  The flight engineer even wrote the flight details (how fast we were flying etc) up the top there.  Priceless stuff. I don’t know that they even have flight engineers now.

Fast forward nearly 30 years.   I’ve always wanted to do the same thing for my kids.  I’ve always wanted to take them to Disney and do all that.  We’ve never been able to afford it, paying as much off the mortgage as we can has always come first in our priorities. 

In January I was in Anaheim for CHA.  I sat in a restaurant right opposite Disneyland and planned to go there on the Wednesday night before leaving.  And then this happened, and within 12 hours I was on a plane home with Disneyland, CHA and everything left behind.  It was on that (long, sad) flight home to my family I decided that life is too short, our kids won’t stay kids forever and that even if I had to put money ON the mortgage, I was going to get us to Disneyland. 

Today I picked up the tickets.  In a few weeks the Howard family is calling in the dog-sitters and going off on the holiday of a lifetime. 

Now it’s Abby’s turn to make a little diary.  30 years on.

Sometimes priorities get changed.  Sometimes there is no time like the present.  We can’t wait.

Laters.