Thursday, May 31, 2012


Ladies, you are in for a TREAT!

We have added a new SPONSOR to our Event this September!!

American Crafts has offered to sponsor our event and will be sending us some WONDERFUL goodies for our Event in Italy!  I absolutely LOVE American Crafts!!  Don't you?  Not only do they have their own AWESOME line, they have added Studio Calico, Pebbles and Crate Paper to their company!  How exciting is that?  I LOVE all those companies and now they are all American Crafts goodness!!







So lets say THANK YOU to American Crafts and welcome them to the family!

Ladies, you are going to be SPOILED!

Getting SO excited for September...

Hugs,

Laura


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Happy News to SHARE...  I'm SO excited, I can't keep it a secret anymore!



Now that things are coming to a close on sign ups for the Women's Retreat in Bellagio THIS September,  I wanted to give you a bit of a SNEAK on a FUTURE event!

I have had a lot of ladies email or ask me about doing ANOTHER Retreat in Bellagio for 2013.  I just didn't know if this 1st one was going to work out and I didn't know if it was something that people would want to do again or if I would be able to do it again...

Well, after some thought and LOTS of prayer I can tell you that there are some things set in motion for our 2nd Annual Women's Retreat in Bellagio, Italy!

Yes!  I can't believe it but if all goes well, I am SO excited to share a this NEWS with YOU!  I don't have everything set with teachers, excursions and pricing yet, but I DO have the DATES for event in 2013.

So without further ado...

The 2nd Annual Event will be held the week of June 15th - 22nd of 2013!  This will be in the Summer for most everyone, so those who couldn't make it to our September event this year may be able to fit this one in their schedule for next year!

I'm so humbled and honored that there are people who want to join me as I travel to Italy and share my love of this beautiful country and my love of artsy fun with YOU.  It is such a blessing to be able to share these loves with people.  It truly is an amazing part of the world and creating events like this is something I love doing and have dreamt of doing for years!



SO...

If you have an interest in joining a wonderful event in beautiful Italy NEXT Summer, please email me and I will put you on the "INTEREST" list.  It will again be a "smallish" group of ladies, probably around 25 ladies, so if this is something you would like to do,  get your name on the list soon!!  I have a specific amount of apartments reserved for next Summer and because it's their peak time, they may not be able to give me any more than that.  So it's going to be a first come, first serve thing since I can only fit so many ladies in the apartments.  But I will fill you in on all the options for accommodations soon.


For now, just wanted to SHARE my excitement and get an "INTERESTED" list started!  I have so many ideas going through my head and I KNOW this 2nd Annual Event will be as GREAT as the 1st!

Hope you're as excited as I am!!

Take care and have a WONDERFUL Memorial Weekend,

Laura




So open the door to the possibility...

Monday, May 14, 2012




Hello ladies,

I hope all of you enjoyed your Mother's Day weekend and had a nice relaxing time with family and friends.  It was nice to teach a class on Saturday at my FAV Paper store and the kids cleaned daddy's offices at work, so I didn't have to!!  Yeah me.  :)

This week will be the DEADLINE for signing up for our September event ladies!  I'm wrapping up the reservations for the apartments by TOMORROW, so May 15th will be the last day to SECURE YOUR SPOT for this AMAZING week long event in Bellagio, Italy!  After the 15th, I will not have any more apartments to secure and you will have to be on a "wait list" to see if there is availability AND you will have to pay in FULL if there is an apartment that opens up.  Things need to be confirmed and plans are set in stone now, so I REALLY hope if you are on the fence, you will "JUMP OFF" and sign up.  You WON'T regret a minute in this gorgeous area of Italy, I promise!

We are SO excited to have the group of ladies that are going and I'm so thankful that enough ladies believed in my DREAM to do an event in Bellagio!  I can't tell you how absolutely THRILLED I am to be hosting this event and sharing some of my LOVE of this part of Italy with YOU!  I've been changing gears now and focusing on the dinners together, the excursions to choose from, the wonderful goodies you'll be getting and ALL the planning that goes into an event like this.  So this blog will be a bit more quiet as I work out details and if you are joining us in Italy this September, the Yahoo Group will be the more active place for information.



A few reminders before I go:

1. PLEASE make sure you get your passport soon.  They take quite a long time to get in the mail, so get that scheduled soon.  ALSO, if you are like me and HAVE a passport, CHECK IT!  I found out mine is going to expire in AUGUST!  We are headed over to Italy in July as well and I've heard that if you DO TRAVEL with an ALMOST EXPIRED PASSPORT, they may give you a hard time and I've even heard some people were not allowed into the country!  So I'm on my way to get my renewed before our Summer trip later today.

2. PLEASE look into Travel Insurance.  If you've booked your flight, you should have seen options on the website you purchased the tickets.  There are many Travel Insurance Companies like Travel Guard, Seven Corners, Access America and Travel Insured International.  Please check these companies out and do some research before you buy.

3. Look for my Questionnaire in your email box this week.  I'm going to send that out to everyone who has signed up to get an idea of your likes and dislikes, any food allergies, preferences on breakfast items that will be supplied in your apartment upon arrival, and some more fun stuff to get to know you!

4. If you are STILL waiting to sign up because of certain issues, just send me a little note so I'm aware. I know there are at least a half dozen or so ladies who are.  That's OK, I just need to make a little note on my list.  It isn't that you CAN'T come with us, it will just be IF there is a space still open for you in the apartments.  I can check the Hotel Florence as well for availability (if you have any disabilities that would make it easier for you to stay down at the water front and right next door to the meeting room facilities at the GHVS this would be THE place for you to stay) so again, just a note so I'm on top of it for you.



We have AMAZING teachers, a line up of WONDERFUL classes, FULL days of EXPLORING Italy and truly BREATHTAKING views from our Event location!

September can't come FAST ENOUGH...  :)

Have a GREAT Monday everyone!

Hugs,

Laura

**Images on this post were from my Bellagio Board on Pinterest


Friday, May 11, 2012

I wanted to send out a BIG WARM "Happy Mother's Day" to all the ladies out there!

This year has gone by SO fast, I can't believe we are already in May.  I'm excited to spend Saturday teaching a class at Paper Tales:


Then enjoying the rest of the weekend with the girls and our moms for Mother's Day~

Next week I'll be finalizing the apartments needed for our Event in September!  So now is the time to get your spot RESERVED.  What better Mother's Day present, right??  :)

The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni


is going to be the PERFECT place for a week long Women's Retreat!  So if you want to join all of us, sign up soon.  I will need to give the hotel a headcount by May 15th!  Now if you need to sign up after that date, just email me and it will be on a "if available" basis.  I'll just have to check with the hotel to see if they are any apartments left after May 15th.  There is also the option of staying next door at the Hotel Florence if they have availability as well.  Some ladies have asked about that and I know I said I'd like everyone to be in the apartments, but if you want private accommodations or need to stay there because of walking issues, that is still an option as long as they have the rooms.

Also in the next couple weeks I will be finalizing the side trip to Venice and if anyone still needs accommodations in Venice, please let me know so I can help with that booking.



Have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day everyone!

Laura