workshops@home

So exciting..

We have some great sponsors lined up already (and more we hope will come on board as the weeks unfold) who are providing some lovely prize packs and goodies for all of the@Home|Away participants! Over the next few weeks I will start introducing our sponsors so stay tuned for that.

I'm THRILLED to announce two incredibly talented designers - Elsie Flannigan and our own Kate Mason have both come on board to support the retreat and supply some WONDERFUL prizes for us!!! I know already that Kate will be creating a very special mixed media babushka little lady collage canvas especially for us. Thank you Kate!!! More details about how YOU can be in the running to win Kate's creation at the retreat will be revealed soon...

And Elsie is very generously going to send us some lovely prizes and products too....very exciting.

So..do you know anyone - small business, craftsperson, artist, manufacturer or designer who might like to join us as a sponsor?? We would love to hear from them. You can email me for a Sponsor Info Pack if you or anyone you know may be interested in coming onboard:) Thanks so much.

And because a post is much more interesting with a photo...here's a picture of one of Kate's gorgeous artworks...

It's July 1

It's the first of the month.

And with the new month starting we have had to redesign our payment plan as the existing one expired yesterday, 30 June '09.

So, we are thrilled to announce we have an exciting new payment plan for the @Home|Away Weekend Retreat - effective immediately.. Just $167.00 deposit will now secure you your place at the retreat followed by THREE monthly installments of $116.00 due mid August, September and October 2009. Total weekend retreat = $515.00

For our local girls we have the DAY PACKAGE still available.

The payment plan offer expires 15 August 2009. Any questions please don't hesitate to email me directly at kim@kimarcher.com.au

To SECURE YOUR SPOT <click here>.

Room mates!

Looking for a room mate?

If you don't have a travelling buddy or room mate for the @Home|Away Retreat, let us organise that for you. We have several girls coming along to the retreat by themselves and we can team you all up with a room mate (or mates). And by the end of the weekend you will have plenty of new buddies - we're a friendly bunch.

For those already booked in, if you haven't let me know who your room mate is OR you need me to team you up with someone, email me so we can work it out:)

kim@kimarcher.com.au

139 days until the @Home|Away Retreat!!

Resort Tour

Well bookings are continuing to come in for the retreat which is fabulous - have you booked your place yet??? Spaces are filling up very nicely indeed.

In the meantime, I would like to start off some regular posts I intend to add in here as we head toward November 6 by taking you firstly, on a tour of the resort.

Now, I have had the idea for a luxury weekend retreat in my head for a number of years and have even taken the steps to find a suitable venue over the years BUT until now, I hadn't found any place I loved. And then after heading home from NZ and seeing the GORGEOUS venue Nic and Lucy had used I knew I had to find something as beautiful here in Australia.

And this place is perfect. And the front entrance gives nothing away as to how FABULOUS it is inside.

I have a soft spot for Port Stephens.  It's about an hours drive from our place and we have spent many a Summer up there at Little Beach and Shoal Bay. I would LOVE to buy a weekender up there one of these days!

I didn't even know this resort at Salamander Bay existed until I found it on the web by chance and I instantly knew this WAS THE PLACE! I have visited my Functions Manager several times now and taken some photos - but only on my iphone..my Canon sadly ran out of battery after only one or two shots!

So let's take a little tour....firstly..an official, straight off the website photo which puts my iphone photos to shame,.....ahhh, doesn't all that blue make you want to go on holidays!!!!

The resort is built around a sweeping and curving lagoon style pool - some rooms have access to the pool straight out the back door. Jump in and swim the whole perimeter of the resort if you so desire.  Hey, just swimming around to meet friends in room 701..be back soon. LOL

ALL rooms have views of the lagoon pool. We have booked mostly the lagoon twin share rooms. Mum and I inspected one of these rooms and it was so light, airy and modern! the resort isn't very old so everything felt nice and new.

We've also booked a few of the 2 bedroom apartments but they are booking out fast so if you have a group of FOUR and would like one of these apartments, make sure you let me know ASAP.

The 2 bedroom duel key apartments are very spacious and are on the 1st floor, overlooking the pool and they have their own balcony plus a full kitchen..and a main bathroom with a spa plus another bathroom for the second bedroom.

 

So what else...there's a gym for those fit and healthy people (um, not me)..a day spa place for facials and massages and things..tennis courts, indoor pool and spas...etc etc..LOTS of stuff.

I took some photos as Mum and I wandered around the place...photos aren't great and the weather was overcast.. but I wanted to share these photos anyway..

I loved the coffee shop. It has a small indoor area and an expansive alfresco area..and we had a hot choc and coffee and soaked in the atmosphere...

 

 

and the lagoon just goes on and on forever.apparently the longest man-made pool/lagoon in the Southern Hemisphere...

 

 

 

and there's little bridges everywhere to get you across the lagoon and to your rooms..

 

 

and beautifully landscaped gardens..

 

and that's all for now..I have other show and tell as our plans come together...stay tuned.

An @Home|Away Update

Well it's been all quiet on the blogging front BUT crazy busy behind the scenes with registrations for the retreat flying in. In fact, I have reached and passed my initial goal I set for myself for bookings for the first week - which is fantastic. I haven't really started advertising yet so it's been amazing so many people have booked in so far. THANK YOU to everyone who has booked in so far. Excellent.

And we have girls from all over the place joining us - QLD, SA, VIC, ACT and some local Newcastle and NSW girls!!!

I'm also growing our list of SPONSORS and have started to list them along the right hand side there. I have a few more to add in and will continue adding them as I secure more companies who want to come on board!

IF you are a manufacturer or small business or know someone who is and would like to sponsor our event - we would LOVE to hear from you. You can email info@kimarcher.com.au to discuss sponsorship details.

Over the next few weeks I will introduce you to some of our sponsors as well as share lots of sneak peeks and info about the retreat!! Lots of exciting things planned.

This afternoon I will take you on a tour of the resort - a beautiful venue!!

@HOME|AWAY WEEKEND RETREAT

Registration for the @Home|Away Weekend Retreat is now open. (Yay)
BOOK IN HERE.

Keep you eye on THIS blog for updates, sponsor details, sneak peeks and all @Home|Away Retreat info.

I *think* I am ready!!!

Whoa. What a day! This is hard stuff getting ALL the information together and making sure everything reads correctly and that I haven't left anything out and that all my costings are worked out.

I still have to add the "retreat" to the shop area so REGISTRATION will officially kick off Saturday morning - 6 June 2009.

In the meantime, you can read all about the retreat here.

You can read all about the resort and accommodation etc here and while your link hopping, take a look at the video tour of the resort here.

I will be back tomorrow to let you know WHEN rego is opening.

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE @Home site..we celebrate our 2nd year this week!!!!! Yipppeee.

Another update...

I'm sorry it's taking a little longer than anticipated to coordinate all the information to appear on the blog and the website and in my shop area for the retreat.

I will be working hard first thing tomorrow to check it all and make sure everything is right and to check I have included all the details and the links and everything before making everything live.

For those who have emailed me about flights...(all this will be on the site tomorrow but just in case you want to look into some flights in the meantime) - the resort is about 20 mins North of Newcastle airport at Williamtown. And we are about 2.5hours North of Sydney.

Thanks so much for the interest - I didn't anticipate so many enquiries and emails and things before we opened registration - it's been brilliant!!!

A Quick Update

Wow. Girls!! My inbox is overflowing with emails already from so many of you keen to come along to the retreat. it's fantastic to see the response our announcement has had!! Excellent.

Just a quick note to say that registration hasn't open just yet (despite what the ad says!!) and that I need to finalise a few little things with the resort this morning (I am on my way up there) and then I hope to announce cost details etc by this afternoon. I am also preparing the website with all the details as well.

All announcements will be via the blog, the website and I will also send out a newsletter also so I think I have all bases covered.

Thank you again!

The BIG news

So the news is out. Did you work out the puzzle??

YES! It's time to get out there and meet the people who have supported and enabled me to grow the @Home site over the past two years. I am THRILLED to announce the very first ever @Home|Away retreat. I wanted a retreat that was fun. That was packed with inspiring workshops, innovative make and takes, mini classes, challenges, giveaways and with lots of personal touches and with a welcoming and friendly atmosphere.. I wanted a retreat with a market stall. I wanted a weekend away somewhere beautiful. In a lovely resort, with delicious meals and beautiful surroundings.

And so..with GREAT excitement....the Support Team and myself would love to invite you to some along to the 2009 @Home|Away weekend retreat..

Ken and Janelle have been on at me for about two years to organise a retreat but until now the time just wasn't right. And then I found the perfect venue! And everything just started to fall into place. It's become an all consuming project and I have SO many ideas and things I want to do with this retreat.

We have a great weekend package on offer and I am still getting the website ready with all the registration details and retreat information. I will let you all know ASAP when that information is ready.

Yippeeeee. The news is out...

Can you work it out?

We need just a liiitttle bit more time to get everything sorted before the reveal. In the meantime..here's a little sneak hint.

Can you work out the puzzle?

Other puzzle pieces will start popping up here, here, here and here over the next day or so...keep checking in...SO exciting. I CANNOT wait to share!! Can you work out the puzzle....

Thanks so much for stopping by. My stats have gone way up over the past few days!

What's happening?

There's nothing like a MAJOR project to get your creativity working on overdrive. And I am in the midst of one such project. Something B-I-G. A project that is all consuming and occupying a LOT of my mind at the moment.

And the song Something's Coming from West Side Story keeps playing in my head - hence the blog banner.... Over and over.

There's been a BIG buzz behind the scenes here and the Girls and I can't WAIT to share the news and finally get this all out there. I am hoping to be able to reveal a sneak peek and some info in the next day or so...

So stay tuned to THIS blog. Book mark it. Or add it to Bloglines or your favourites. This will be THE place to be to stay up to date with our news.

So exciting.

Handmade Cards

I always have great intentions to set up a production line one afternoon (you know, the afternoon where you have a nice block of uninterrupted, no children hovering around or other family commitments hanging over your head time -which rarely exists in this house) and make a stockpile of hand made cards ready for ANY occasion.

Of course in my perfect world, I would sashay over to my beautifully crafted stack of cards and rummage around and find a card just right for gift giving without the need to head to the shops and pay a fortune for a commercially made card.

Of course, that's in my perfect world. Which doesn't exist.

And the reality is, I am often caught short without ANY card to go with the present. And usually with only five minutes to spare. Generally I do only create with whatever scraps are sitting on my desk. So I get all sorts of different shaped cards depending on the size of the scraps I can find.

Plus the card has to be quick. I never have the time to sit and design and deliberate and fluff over any card. It's chop it. Stick it. And whack it down.

 

and use up scraps and supplies already sitting there on the desk...

Although, this card was an exception.

I wanted to make a poppet card for my cousin Trudi's baby shower get together.

I chose the photo and the shape of the body sort of came together after a series of sketches and a lot of screwed up paper thrown at the waste paper basket! Eventually, the body line worked and I started to cut out my pieces, choose the clothing and pulled it all together.

And it's the little detail that helps to gel this card together. The handstitching and machine stitching. The mix of fabrics, felt and patterned paper and the quirky look on Trudi's face!

Adding a photo always makes the card nice and personal. And it's fun to use teeny, tiny photos in your projects.

 

Here's another quick and easy, use up your scraps and whack on some photos type card...This was for my cousin and his wife welcoming their new baby Ella. And it was one of those, quick I have five minutes to make a card type card!

Happy card making.

LIFE SNIPPETS - APRIL

Snippets is BACK again this month! We are loving building our Snippet's albums for 2009 and this is proving to be a really popular series of classes. Join us each month or pick and choose the months you would like to participate in. Lots of samples. Ideas. Projects. Loads of fun. Read more here.

PAPER QUILTING WORKSHOP

Well what a few days the @Home site has had. I had great intentions of uploading and releasing a brand new class over the Easter period but unfortunately my plans didn't go quite as I would have liked them to.

The @Home site was SO SLOW over the weekend and we had a few technical difficulties but my web guys were onto it and have everything is now all fixed and working beautifully again. Phew.

And I am thrilled to introduce another new class over at the site. PAPER QUILTS.

Here's some of the class blurb..

Grab your paper scraps, a button or two, photos, a sewing needle and you’re set to create a fun scrappy paper quilted background for your layout.Join Kim as she guides you step by step through the process of creating a 12x12inch layout with a versatile paper quilted background. This project is a great excuse to use up your offcut, scrappy pieces and you will be tearing, sanding, distressing, painting, stitching and layering in this instant online workshop.

We will make a 12x12inch layout PLUS there's a bonus layout too. Lots of fun. lots of tips and ideas. Purchase the class here:

March Snippets

I am loving running these Snippet's classes each month over at the site. I am building up quite a nice little pile of layouts celebrating each month and it's a great way to remember what we did, where we went and who we saw each month. So the class is forcing me to get my photos in order that's for sure!

This week, on Wednesday morning we officially kick off our March projects. We have a double layout to share plus a single step by step and a bonus calendar page to share as well...want to see a sneaky peek???

Here's a quick glimpse at our double layout...

 

and here's a quick peek at our single layout...

Now, you don't HAVE to participate in each and every Snippets class each and every month. You can pick and choose which months you want to come along to. PLUS you don't HAVE to follow our snippets theme..the layout projects are versatile enough for ANY theme.

So, come along and join in...lots to see and do...BUY HERE:

SIMPLY STITCHED NOTEBOOKS

Perfect for gift giving and with Mother’s Day coming up what could be better than these gorgeous little notebooks of loveliness from Janelle. Delightful!

Janelle has been a busy little stitcher and created a fresh new gorgeous workshop for us over at the @Home site. Called SIMPLY STITCHED NOTEBOOKS, Janelle guides you through the process of creating a basic felt notebook.

With a few simple items such as a needle and thread, felt strips and a button or two, you are on your way to stitching Janelle's basic notebook. Janelle then kicks it up a notch and shares a selection of more detailed samples to delight and inspire.


For more information or to sign up for this class, click here:

Reminder...

Thank you for the huge response to our CREATE TO RECREATE FUNDRAISER WORKSHOP. We have had SO many people supporting the fundraiser from here in Australia and around the world. THANK YOU THANK YOU from me and from Jane for your generosity and willingness to be involved.

The class itself closes for REGISTRATIONS ONLY on Tuesday 31 March '09 BUT the classroom will remain open for existing participants for a further few weeks to allow you enough time to access the downloads and view all of the samples. So there's still time to book in and support our fundraiser. Read more by clicking the link below.

Here's one of my projects using one of the tags..much more to see in the classroom...

Workshops update

WORKSHOP NAME: WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE

Tutor: Yvette Adams

I love nostalgia and recently I got to thinking that my six year old daughter Tasmyn might like to read a little about my life at her age. I know I would love to study a similar layout about my mum (hey, there's an idea!). And I was keen to record a selection of photos and memories about my life as a six year old.

And so my WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE workshop was born.

Thrilled to announce a NEW class...

Yes, exciting times here @Home..the lovely Mardi Winen makes her @Home debut with a GLORIOUSLY FUN AND FRESH workshop called SCRAPBOOK COOKING WITH MARDI.

In this workshop Mardi shows you how to make your own kit using supplies you already have on hand. Together you will then create FOUR layouts using your little custom designed kit. Mardi has lots of ideas, tips and things to share with you during this class.

A great idea and innovative workshop - wonderful for using up that scrapbook stash that you have!!

SIGN UP HERE! Class is open for registrations now and officially kicks off 4 March. Don't miss our early bird pricing special. Read more here.

This class runs from 4-7 March '09 with lots of interaction, chatting, sharing and full step by step instructions plus downloadable handout for each project. Mardi will be available to answer any questions, the chat room is there to allow you to connect with other class participants and we have a classroom gallery for sharing your work.

I am so excited about this one - I am doing some support samples for Mardi (yes the tables have turned!!) and I LOVE the projects and can't wait to dive into the samples. I just know you will LOVE the projects too.