Hi ladies!

I'm enjoying some time with my hubby in Arizona until Monday, but I thought I'd quickly post an update here...

If you've signed up to reserve your spot in next years Creative Retreat, you may have noticed that it came to $107.50. It was supposed to be $100, but I didn't catch the $7.50 shipping charge that's on my Paypal for my Etsy orders. So just to clarify, the total amount of $107.50 will be credited towards either your full payment or 1st payment (on the payment plan) on October 15th when registration payment is taken and the registration forms are sent to you.

Sorry for any confusion on that!

And for those who haven't reserved your spot and want to join Teresa Collins, Jeanne Oliver and myself next summer in Italy, the event is about 1/2 full! So don't wait to long!

We'd LOVE to have you join us on this AMAZING adventure in Italy!!

Hugs,

Laura

It's TIME TO ANNOUNCE!!  

Are you ready for the 2nd Annual Women’s CREATIVE RETREAT in Italy??

Well I know I am!  All the planning and preparation for this years event went into creating an INCREDIBLE WEEK that was a DREAM come true for me, and I know all of the ladies had a GREAT time in Italy too! We just got back from our 1st Creative Retreat in Italy and I can’t tell you how AMAZING it was to spend a week in the breathtaking Lake Como region of Italy with 20 ladies! We enjoyed creating new inspiring projects with wonderful teachers, we took in the unbelievable sites around Lake Como and we just relaxed in the BEAUTY of Italy!  

SO today I am excited to REVEAL that next years CREATIVE RETREAT in Bellagio, Italy will be held the week of June 22nd - 29th, 2013!

We will have another FUN-FILLED week of classes with some of the Top Artists in the industry, AMAZING excursions around Lake Como, RELAXING time by the pool or lakeshore and BREATHTAKING views of this beautiful region of Italy as we enjoy local foods and the annual San Giovanni Festival!

So do you want to know who the TEACHERS will be for next year???

How about the SUPER TALENTED and BEAUTIFUL...

Teresa Collins

And the AMAZING MIXED MEDIA ARTIST...

Jeanne Oliver

And the girl organizing this event... Me  

Laura McCollough

I can't tell you how EXCITED I am to have these girls teach at my event!!!  Teresa and Jeanne are not only FABULOUS ARTISTS AND TEACHERS, they are two ladies who I feel SO blessed to call friends!  These two ladies will be joining us in Italy and enjoying a week with all of us as they INSPIRE US as we take in the sights and sounds of Lake Como, Italy!

You can find out more about them and follow each artist on their blogs, just click on their names for the links!

You can also find out EVERYTHING you need to know about this event here on the blog, over on the right side.  Have a look at the “Registration” Page, the “Accomodations” Page and don’t forget to look at the “FAQ’s” Page.  It will give you all kinds of information to help make your decision to join us next June in Italy!

But, I wouldn’t wait long!!  I can only take 20 students on this AMAZING trip to Italy!  So, if you want to join us, all the paperwork to sign will be ready on October 15th.  BUT, you can reserve your spot NOW for a $100 deposit TODAY! (details below)

Here’s a look into some of what’s included in the week we have planned for you!

~ The San Giovanni Festival with a torchlight procession through town

~ A week of INSPIRATION with Teresa Collins, Jeanne Oliver & Laura McCollough

~ 3 Excursions in the breathtaking surroundings of Italy, including a boat and villa tour

~ 5 Lunches and 5 Dinners in beautiful locations around Lake Como

~ 7 nights lodging at the GHVS Apartments or La Lemonera Apartments

~ Live music in the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni’s Music Room

~ Crop time, demo’s and make-n-takes

~ Goody bags, raffles and surprises

~ Plus time to relax by the pool or sit at the waters edge

~ Time to stroll the streets, enjoy some gelato or shop the cobblestone streets

~ An UNFORGETTABLE experience you will carry with you forever!

SO....Don’t miss out, Sign up on October 15th for this incredible Creative Retreat!  OR, RESERVE YOUR SPOT RIGHT NOW!

This is a $100 deposit you can make RIGHT NOW,  TODAY, that will hold your spot until the15th when all the paperwork will be ready to fully sign up and start making payments.  There is a VERY  limited amount of sign-ups available for this event, so this deposit will SECURE your spot!

The cost for the week long event is $3,150* and payment plans are available.  For all the details of this event and everything that is included in the price, you can go to:  http://akissonthechic.blogspot.com 

Feel free to email me at  laura@akissonthechic.com with any questions.  And don’t forget to sign up on Facebook or follow along at:  A Kiss on the Chic’s Creative Retreats.

*Discount on price is available depending on apartment choice and/or triple occupancy.

Day 2 ~

Some times things change... for the BETTER.   I had originally planned for Sunday of the Creative Retreat to be a day of rest.  I know traveling so far to Italy can be exhausting and I wanted to the ladies to have the next day to relax by the pool, sleep in or just walk the town.

BUT... when something "reveals" itself to you, you have to make changes.  Now I know how I am when I find out some special event is going on when I'm on vacation.  I get EXCITED!  And that's just what happened when I started looking into the Antique Markets in Italy!  These don't happen everywhere and they don't happen very often.  Sure, there are LOTS of markets all over Italy, but Antique Markets are quite rare.  So when I found out that there happened to be one on the ONE Sunday of the month that WE happened to be on our Retreat I just KNEW I had to see about taking the ladies!

It was in Bergamo, an ancient walled city on a hill about 1 1/2 hours away from Bellagio.

Well, once I mentioned this Antique Market to the ladies on our Yahoo Group, there was NO napping going to happen on Sunday!  lol...  EVERY lady wanted to go shopping instead!

So we got on a private bus for 20 people and headed to Bergamo on Sunday morning!  And, as with any trip to Italy, unexpected things come up...  Like a BIG parade of local musicians in their authentic dress from days gone past!

So instead of driving down this street, we had to stop the bus for about 20 minutes and wait.  Which just made it a fun adventure getting to Bergamo...and a GREAT photo op!  :)

So, after the parade cleared, we headed to the "city on the hill" of Bergamo.  You can just barely make it out in the far back of the photo above.

Once we finally arrived, the ladies were LOVING Bergamo and the unique little streets and piazzas!  

The Piazza the Antique Market was in had been totally transformed into a garden for some weekend garden expo.  But the Antique Market was still there and my nightmare the night before was unfounded... (I dreamt we got here and NO Antique Market)

The market is small, but FILLED with goodies.  Here's just a few things that were fun to look at:

Some of the ladies found a treasure box of little "finds" at this booth.  It's where I had found quite a few treasures this past summer when I scoped this market out with Rebecca.  They decided to use some of these "finds" on their shadow box class with Lisa Pace!  But take a look at some of the antique shadow boxes AT the market:

The architecture of this city and this square was beautiful enough to not even need the Antique Market for a reason to explore this city.  I know the ladies LOVED looking around this square, seeing the beautiful churches and buildings here, the people and the lovely shops.

We even had a bit of the parade follow us up to the ancient part of the city and serenade us!  :)

We finished the day with a wonderful lunch at Il Fornaio and a few photos on the city wall.

It was a wonderful day and I know the ladies would go back in a heartbeat to this beautiful city!

We still got back in time to enjoy the rest of the day in Bellagio and take in the sights and sounds of Lake Como.  Dinner that night was at Princess Bellagio, a little restaurant tucked away on one of the cobblestone streets of Bellagio.  It has beautiful decor in white and black with Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe AND has the most amazing "pink angel" that you'll have to order if you come with me next summer!  

Speaking of which...

I will be REVEALING the details of next years event THIS NEXT MONDAY!!

So come back here Monday to get more information on this AMAZING retreat and how to sign up for next years Creative Retreat!!

Ciao,

Laura

When you have a DREAM and it takes root and starts materializing... and then it becomes a REALITY, it is SO hard to describe it!   I don't even know where to begin.

But I'm going to try...

In 2009 when I first came to Lake Como, Italy for my 20th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, I cried when I took it all in.  Bellagio, the lake, the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, the architecture, the flowers, and being in Italy!   Every single element that is "BEAUTY" to me is somehow made perfect here.  It to me is my idea of perfection, or "heaven on earth."

So right then in 2009 an idea took shape.

I have been back to Lake Como every year since and in 2011 I finally decided that I would DREAM BIG and begin to organize this "idea" into a Women's Retreat at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni!

I can not express how fulfilling it was to see this dream come true and it was with the most WONDERFUL group of ladies I could have hoped for!

We had 19 ladies all together and the first night we had a great time getting to know each other on the beautiful pergola by the lake.

The sun was setting, we had a nice light dinner, we got to meet everyone and just enjoy the beauty that we were all taking in together!  It was a great beginning to the week ahead of us in beautiful Bellagio!

We then went into the meeting room and had a quick class with Stayce DeWid and her new line of products, Art Anthology.

It was the perfect beginning and it got us excited for the week ahead!  But it was off to bed for everyone soon afterward so we could be ready for a wonderful day the next morning as we headed to Bergamo for an Antique Market in this ancient city on a hill.  

More to come in the next post...

You may have been waiting patiently for me to post on here as we enjoy our time in Italy.

Unfortunately, I have tried to upload some beautiful pictures from our journey here and Italy is a bit behind on technology so it hasn't been possible to show you all of them...

We leave tomorrow for Milan (we are in Venice right now) and once I get back home, I will be posting like a CRAZY woman about the MOST AMAZING week in Bellagio that us ladies had together!!

Ciao for now...

Laura

I can NOT believe that in less than two weeks I will be getting on a plane for Italy!!!

A years worth of work and preparation have ALL been worth it and I'm just OVERJOYED that this dream of mine is becoming a REALITY.

I cannot express how THANKFUL I am to all of YOU who have supported my dream, who have cheered me on, who have helped me, who have listened to me go on and on... and who now I am asking to PRAY for this event.  Please just pray for safety, for great weather and for this event to be used to BLESS these ladies, to RESTORE these ladies and to INSPIRE them!!

I have been having SO much fun getting the last minute goodies together for the ladies, wrapping little presents, making some handmade pretties and finalizing everything...

Let me just say...

You will NOT want to miss NEXT YEARS!!

I will have more details AFTER this years event, but to get on the INTERESTED LIST, just send me an email and I can keep you up to date.

Also, be SURE to check back HERE for updates FROM our event!  I will be trying to share pictures from the event so all of you who have cheered this event on can be a part of it too!

FYI, there ARE going to be some CLASS KITS AVAILABLE AFTER THE EVENT!  So look for those because it will only be a FEW.

Thanks AGAIN to everyone!

Hugs,

Laura

Hello,

I've been traveling SO much lately, that I'm sorry to say this blog has been sorely neglected!

I am in Michigan this week for a retreat for my middle daughter... Then next week I'm in Montana for a retreat for my husbands work!  whew... life is crazy.

BUT...I have a BIG BIT OF NEWS!

The way the apartments are set up for THIS years event, I ended up having ONE MORE SPOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS SEPTEMBER!!!!  

SOOOOOOO....

If ANY of you that were thinking about it for THIS YEAR but didn't get on it, and still want to come...   ONE SPOT IS OPEN FOR YOU!!   

It's the week of September 15-22nd and the rates for airfare are REALLY good right now, so if you're a "spur of the moment" person and want to join our group... We'd LOVE to have you!!!  Just email me in the next week or two and YOU TOO could be joining us THIS SEPTEMBER!!   Pretty cool huh??


Now, I did want to update everyone on the 2013 Retreat in Italy NEXT JUNE as well.

I have decided that I need to hold off taking SIGN UPS until AFTER this retreat.  Because time is getting away from me before THIS years event AND because I'm gone so much this month and don't have the time to devote to starting sign ups...  I need to wait.

I also feel that I will have a MUCH better idea of the cost of things and the logistics of an event like this, so far from home.

So bear with me... I WILL have more updates and even PHOTO's from THIS YEARS EVENT on this blog coming soon!  So check back here for those, it will give you some idea of how it's going to be NEXT YEAR if YOU sign up!

What I invasion happening is after I get back around the 26th of September I will get things ready for an October 1st REVEAL for next years event.  I'll be opening it up to only 20 ladies total and then it will be SOLD OUT.  I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I think that's the best group number for this area of Italy.  The roads are small, the restaurants are small and having a smaller group that can all fit in one bus and the same restaurant each night will make it much easier and a more enjoyable experience for all...

So if you are NOT on the INTEREST LIST, get on it NOW.  I think I have close to 20 ladies on the list now and even though they probably won't ALL sign up,  this event is getting talked about and growing in interest daily!  (Thank YOU for that :)  Just email me to get on the list.  laura@akissonthechic.com

Have a GREAT weekend,

Laura