Creative Art Camp - Mukwonago Wisconsin - October 2011

I just returned last night from 5 Wonderful days in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. Several months ago, 7 of us started planning a small art retreat and the day finally came. Chrissy hosted the camp at her home with her husband Bob. 3 other Wisconsin friends came...Maggi, Sweatpea and Mary. I flew in from California as did Bev, and Carol flew in from Washington state. We were all So Excited to get together and Play. :-)

 Chrissy and Bob have a Beautiful house on Phantom Lake. They are Such Welcoming hosts, they make us feel at Home. This is a view from the house overlooking the lake, and below a picture of the house from the lake.

Carol, Bev and I on the deck.

The weather was beautiful the day we arrived, so the first night Bob and Chrissy took us for a pontoon boat ride around the lake. It was Beautiful as I remembered. Bev and I were fortunate to have stayed here a few years ago when we flew in for Raevn's Nest retreat in Cedarburg.

Our gracious host, bartender and special events coordinator during the visit, Bob. :-)

Maggi and Bev, enjoying the ride.

A beautiful sunset beginning.

Both of our wonderful hosts, Bob and Chrissy!

The next day we travelled about an hour to Jan Hoefler's house for a class she taught.  I will post my projects next. This was a vintage valise journal ala Tim.  We were also able to buy lots of supplies.  I've known Jan through yahoo art swap groups for years and was Thrilled to get a chance to meet her.  Here is her website: http://www.redrubberpaperandink.com/

And even though I just told a mutual friend, Beth, that Bev & I were staying Out of Trouble this trip.........look what Bev found!! LOL

When we returned, Bob had a Wonderful big bonfire going outside.  It was chilly out, but Not around the Fire!  

Another night we formed our own pizza dough (that stuff is Stretchy!!!  They were all Different).  Bob then grilled one side, brought those in, we added whatever toppings we wanted to the grilled side, then he grilled the other side & the toppings warmed & melted at the same time.  Wonderful Barbequed Pizzas!  Dave & I are going to try that!

The next 3 days, we worked on various projects around the table.  Thursday morning we made glimmer mist papers that we would later tear to journal size & bind.  That afternoon we made fabric beads embellished with fibers, wire and other beads.  Saturday morning we tore our glimmer mist papers and stamped on them if we wanted and bound the journals.  That afternoon we made charms using Tim Holtz's acrylic charms, papers, etc.  Saturday morning we chose between a domino collage or a canvas.  We all chose the domino collage and although it appeared it wouldn't take too much time at first, once we started wrapping wire & adding beads to it, it took most of the day and was Much Fun!  We also made some molds from Silpak's Sil Putty.  Chrissy went wild in the afternoon, making lots of molds for all of us!  We actually used some air dry clay in them and it worked Great!  I can't wait to pour some of the eurethane I have into them also.  We accomplished a LOT.  Photos to come.

As Saturday evening was approaching, we were a little quieter, a little slower and I think fatigue was setting in.

I'm SURE Fatigue was setting in!!!

It was a Wonderful few days of Visiting, Creating and Sharing.  We all hope we will be able to do this again next year and in the future.  Maybe California next time, then back to Wisconsin.  We'll see what we all can come up with. :-)  The pictures below are just some of the Color that was still very much around.  The peak of fall color might have passed, but it still was Very Pretty!

Back on Land - One final day & night in Cocoa Beach

We are off the ship on Sunday morning and took a shuttle to the Embassy Suites at the Orlando Airport. We decided to stay one more night so we weren't rushed with packing, getting our flight on time. Which was Great as we both needed to repack our suitcases at the hotel from what we just jammed in on the ship! We had a Lot of Stuff to bring back with all of the gifts from Tim and the projects!

We also got a chance to loung around the pool Sunday afternoon & just kick back. We didn't do too much just laying around on the cruise! Lots to see & do! :-)

And I don't know HOW we did it, but we went out to lunch at Sonny's Barbeque Sunday (Great Food!!) Here is Bev with a Real Ice Tea for the first time since we left.

HOW could I have eated this whole rack of ribs after all of that food on the ship!!!??? I guess it was the ribs I missed in St. Maarten. ;-) A Diet starts soon.....

Sunday night we met Lonnie & Marilyn at the Bonefish Grill (I think this was the BEST meal I have Ever had in my life! We found there is one of these in San Francisco & hope to get there Soon!)

Well, I've looked forward to this event for a year. And now it has come & gone. And despite a few little glitches here & there with scooters and jetskis.....it was a Wonderful time filled with new friends & many memories.
Since this was the last "big" cruise Tim is doing, I'm feeling sad to have no new plans to be back on a ship and on the sea. As is Bev. SO, Monday morning before we separated to our respective airlines & flights, we both decided to Probably sign up for the ScrapMap Mixed Media cruise in November 2012! It won't be a Tim cruise. :-( But it will be something different to look forward to for the next year, as well as being on my 4th Royal Caribbean ship! Now to convince our families that we should be going away on Thanksgiving weekend! ;-)

Tim Holtz Caribbean Cruise - Days 6 & 7 - At Sea

The final 2 days are at sea. I have classes on Friday 9 - 12 and Saturday 1 - 4. The rest of the time I spent at the pools, (with a Berry Pina Colada....my only fun drink during the day!), and lunch at Johnny Rockets which is always fun. They didn't sing YMCA though...........they did the Twist. Not nearly as much fun as YMCA, but love those burgers, fries & milkshakes!

Just a random picture of the dining room.

A picture of me with Christie Hund who has a video showing how to make her charms on her blog. Bev & I will be in Wisconsin in 2 weeks for a small art get together & we plan on making these charms. Was fun to meet Christie since it was one of the Wisconsin girls who found her blog before the cruise. :-)

And the Project........A Configuration Box! This is Tims that he actually put together On the Ship! He had the basic coverings done before, but he collected and added all of his elements on the cruise! Fun new things like the shaker box with sand and the flip photo album space. Wish I had looked for a Ship!!!! Hmmm, there's always Google. Might just do that today. LOL

Bev & I at our usual spot. Picture taken by Tim.

And here is My box...............Very Much lacking in elements!!! As Soon as I finish one more blog post & finish the cruise, I am going to add some things to that box! As well as the journal!

Unfortunately, my pictures of the final night cocktail party didn't come out well. I think it was juggling all of my tickets for the drawing, a drink, the camera and my still hurting ribs! I'm going to check out all of the other blogs from other cruisers & see if maybe someone else got some good ones.

Tim Holtz Caribbean Cruise - Day 5 - Project #3

After a Full day on St. Maarten, another Wonderful dinner with our tablemates, and a couple of glasses of wine & the shot of the day (!!), we had class from 9:30 - 10:30 PM. I was wondering if after the day, I would stay awake for class, but as Always, Tim keeps things exciting and Fun. No problem at All staying awake. :-)

We made watch case necklaces. Pictures of mine below:

Tim Holtz Caribbean Cruise - Day 5 - September 29, 2011 - St. Maarten, Dutch & French West Indies

Day 5 we docked at St. Maarten at 8 AM. Early enough I Forgot to take pictures of shore from the ship. :-( I did however, take several pictures of the ship From shore:

Bev was feeling enough less sore & was able to go ashore, at least for a short while. Bev with the sign, then me with the sign.

Phillipsburg was quite pretty (below), however without having signed up for any excursions, I decided to head straight to Marigot to see the French capitol first.

I did get a chance to shop around in this Marigot flea market. Bought a couple of cover ups. Soon, it began to rain. Then it RAINED!!!! And Amazing Downpour for about 20 minutes! The flea market vendors covered up their wares. I went to the West Indies Mall across the street & found some fun items for our class project the next day. Although, we have no idea what the project yet is going to be......

The skies cleared & back to being a beautiful day. I ate at a small little local food stand which was located next to Wendy's. LOL I had a Johnnycake filled with fresh fish and hot sauce. I had hoped to have some local food and had read about Johhnycakes. Not sure if I liked it or not, but it was fun to Finally find a local food stand & be able to try some local food. I Wanted to go to Grand Case and a "Lo-Lo" as I had read about. Not sure that was really accurate in the travel books. It was supposed to mean Locally owned, Locally operated. However, one cab driver told me there was One restauraunt there Called LoLo's. But cab service to that area was limited, so I did not get the barbeque ribs on the beach from a local Lo Lo that I had hoped for. This weekend back at home however, Dave is going to smoke some ribs. So I'll just get them at home. :-)

I took a cab from Marigot to Orient Beach which was my Goal on this island........to.......you Guessed it! Rent a Jetski!!! LOL When I got there, There they Were........pretty jetskis all ready to go. I am Hurting from the fall yesterday, so I decided to get in the water first & see how my ribs felt. OUCH!!! SO, I just bobbed around in the pretty water, & looked longingly at the jetskis and people out on them. I need to come back here! ;-)

I spent about 2 hours at Orient Beach, walking on the beach and just enjoying the water. Then I took a cab back to Phillipsburg to look around a bit. I hadn't realized there was a Beautiful beach right there off the ship! With Jetskis!! In my research on the availability of jetskis on these islands, I never found that! Next time. :-) The shops along the walkway there were fun too. I didn't have much time left, so no shopping. Probably a Good thing.

And I'm just Sure I can use This sign in some art project! ;-)

I would Love to come back to St. Maarten someday. There is a Lot to explore there. One day was not enough. But I made the Most out of that day. :-)