Camp Create Fall 2016

well… another camp is in the books!
each camp brings such wonderful women to the Craft House.
there was superb crafting time.
we enjoyed meaningful time studying the bible together.
we were fed delicious food.
and so many new friendships were made.

These are all the fabulous ladies that made the magic happen each day.
And below are all the campers that made the week EPIC!

* kimberlee * rhonda * suzanne * emily * erin * donna * ruth * ashley * amanda *
* roxann * debbie * me * linda * andrea * stephanie * amy * rachel *

we had generous sponsors who sent their product for our guests.
i will post about each one separately on my next blog post with links and lots of discount codes.
AND one lucky reader will win a big package of all these goodies!

the weekend before our campers arrived we redecorated the living room at the Craft House making it more “Meg” – aka: C O L O R F U L!
i will also post about that soon too.
🙂

Our camp speaker was Ruth Simons.
each day she spoke in the morning and evening taking us through a study of The Beatitudes in Matthew 5.
i loved hearing her words and still thinking over several things she taught.
one of the very best parts about camp, in my opinion, is getting to have the time to SIT and listen to someone speak about Jesus and his love for us.
life is busy.
i love that at camp… it’s slow and calm and intentional.
🙂

while we are at camp – we make stuff all day long.
we get messy with paint, glue, glitter, fabric, ribbons and anything else we want.
it’s awesome!

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thursday started with Stephanie Ackerman leading us in a mixed media workshop.
i love how stephanie teaches!
she is enthusiastic and passionate about being creative and it’s contagious!
you should take her online class and have as much fun as we did!

Friday Ruth taught a Watercolor Painting workshop.
she is of course a great speaker but her main occupation is as a watercolor artist!
so naturally… we all wanted to learn her tricks.

since it was a basic beginner’s class Ruth had us use inexpensive product so we could learn technique with no pressure.
she’s smart!
here are links to the brushes, watercolor paint set and watercolor paper we used if you wanted to try it at home.

these were Ruth’s and everyone else’s pretty paintings of the flowers….

and i painted this!

ha ha haaaaaaaa!

Ashley Campbell taught a workshop on Lino Cut Print Making.
ashley is crafting jedi.
she can make anything and make it look easy and beautiful too.
ao she rocked at this course on saturday as i knew she would!

if you’ve never tried Lino Cutting – you need to!
it was so much fun!

we decided on our designs and then carved them into the stamp.
it’s tricky and backwards to have to think in negative space!

then we used fabric paint and stamped the design onto tea towels and canvas bags.

this was my chicken stamp i made… i used this artwork by Caren Loebel-Fried as my inspiration.
she’s got a really pretty shop!
Thanks pinterest for always helping us to find new amazing artists!!

annnnd ashley even made me my very own stamp of the amazing watercolor painting from the night before.
HA!
we laughed so much about those silly thrift store glasses all weekend.

here are links to the products we used for this project:

Lino cutting tool — Rubber Print Block — Fabric Paint  — Rubber Brayer — Inking Plate — Tea Towels

i led a project of making wood bunting with chalk board paint on one side and decoupaged fabric on the other with felt pom poms strung between.
These are SO FUN to make… but hard to photograph.

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we had guests from texas, south carolina, california, oregon, oklahoma, new mexico, georgia and kansas.
it’s pretty cool how god brings women together over creativity.


Kimberlee Jost runs the kitchen at Camp.
Her cousin Rachel came this time to be her kitchen help.
they had the best time cooking and chatting all week.  🙂

kimberlee’s meals are always such a treat!
and at night when you’re deep in the trenches of crafting… she brings you a piece of pie!
it’s THE BEST!

as always – we took a field trip out to my favorite antique shop Bearly Makin’ It.

everyone came back with treasures – everything from quilts to antlers.

so…. i get to the end of these posts and i never quite know what to say.
it’s hard to sum up the time we have together.
it is special, unique and basically just awesome.
🙂

God knew what he was doing 12 years ago when He sent craig & i to kansas from chicago to this great big old house with five little kids.
He knew that it would be a beautiful place for memories.
i thought that meant for my kids.
and we did have the best time in that house!
but He had an even grander plan all along to bring women together {{strangers!}} from all over the place to be refreshed, inspired, encouraged and loved.
and make crafts and eat cake.
i NEVER could’ve come up with that idea!
it sounds wild.
and IT IS!!!
because loving God is a totally wild adventure in every way.

He is so good to you & me.

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i am so grateful for these women, this job and the Craft House.
all the heart eyes!!!!

keep your eyes out int he next two weeks for the next camp dates in 2017.
woo-hoo!!!