We Did It (Part 3)
The Retreat That Changed Everything
If you had asked me years ago where I did my scrapbooking, I would have proudly answered...
"My kitchen table."
It wasn't glamorous.
In fact, it was complete chaos.
I'd spread paper across every available inch of the table. Photos would migrate to the countertops. Adhesive runners somehow found their way onto the floor. Every chair in the house seemed to collect stacks of cardstock, and I'd settle in with the same comfort movies playing in the background while I worked for hours.
Sometimes days.
I'm fairly certain my husband, Chris, learned to cook around scrapbook supplies.
To his credit, he never complained very much.
Eventually he simply looked at me one day and said, "I think you need your own scrapbook room."
He was right.
Having my own room was wonderful.
I thought I'd reached scrapbook heaven.
I hadn't.
Not even close.
Escaping to the Mountains
Long before Outcrop Manor was ever a dream, Chris and I had a little tradition.
Whenever life became busy, we'd escape to the mountains.
Sometimes it was for my birthday.
Sometimes Mother's Day.
Sometimes we didn't need an excuse at all.
We'd head to Avon for a long weekend, I'd load up my scrapbook supplies, spread everything across the dining table, and happily disappear into my projects while the mountains worked their quiet magic outside the windows.
I honestly thought I had invented the perfect getaway.
A vacation...
where you scrapbook.
What could possibly be better?
Then someone mentioned something called a home retreat.
I'd already been to hotel retreats, and I enjoyed them, but staying in an actual house with a group of scrapbookers?
That sounded completely different.
And if I'm being honest...
There was one tiny little detail that almost kept me from saying yes.
My Biggest Fear Wasn't the Crafting
It was sleeping.
Specifically...
Sleeping next to someone I didn't know.
Now before you judge me, hear me out.
I've always been a ridiculously light sleeper.
And apparently...
I'm also a cuddler.
Somewhere during the night, I always manage to migrate toward Chris. Sometimes I'm curled up against him before I even realize I'm awake.
So when someone casually mentioned that some retreats involved sharing beds with another guest...
Absolute panic.
My imagination immediately went into overdrive.
What if I rolled over in the middle of the night?
What if I accidentally wrapped my arm around a complete stranger?
What if this poor woman woke up wondering why some random scrapbooker was spooning her?
I was horrified.
I can laugh about it now, but at the time it genuinely made me hesitate.
Thankfully, the retreat host explained that we'd each have our own bed, just in the same room, and that the woman I'd be staying with kept very different hours than I did.
Problem solved.
I signed up.
I Packed Enough Supplies for Six Months
If you've ever been on your very first scrapbook retreat...
You know exactly what happened next.
I packed...
Everything.
Every paper collection.
Every punch.
Every embellishment.
Every tool.
Every adhesive.
Every sticker.
Every album.
Every "just in case" item I owned.
I loaded enough supplies into my car to survive what looked like a small crafting apocalypse.
Then I arrived.
And discovered...
I had exactly four feet of table space.
Four.
Feet.
Some of you reading this are laughing because you've done exactly the same thing.
There I was trying to squeeze what looked like an entire Michaels store onto one little table while the experienced ladies around me unpacked with the confidence of people who knew exactly what they needed.
Lesson learned.
Well...
Sort of.
Let's just say I still tend to overpack.
Some habits never die.
Then Something Unexpected Happened
The crafting was wonderful.
The house was beautiful.
The projects were fun.
But none of those things were what changed my life.
The people did.
For the first time, I wasn't scrapbooking by myself.
I wasn't waiting until someone happened to be available.
I wasn't trying to convince friends to come over and crop for a few hours.
I was surrounded by women who had chosen to spend an entire weekend doing exactly what I loved.
No one apologized for spending six hours on one layout.
No one thought it was strange to debate paper choices.
No one wondered why you'd bring six pairs of scissors.
Everyone understood.
And somehow...
That made me better.
Not because anyone was judging me.
Quite the opposite.
Because creativity grows when you're around creative people.
Someone would show me a new technique.
Someone else would demonstrate a different adhesive.
Across the room another woman had a title I'd never thought to make.
Someone had layered paper in a way I'd never seen before.
Ideas bounced around the room like conversations.
No one guarded them.
Everyone shared.
I left that weekend inspired in a way I'd never experienced before.
Finding My Scrapbooking Person
Not long after that retreat, I found someone who became my scrapbook buddy.
If you've scrapbooked for any length of time, you probably know what I mean.
That person who gets just as excited as you do when a new paper collection comes out.
The one who understands why buying "just one more" tool is completely reasonable.
The one who will happily spend an hour talking about album organization.
Until then, I'd struggled to find people who wanted to scrapbook the way I did.
Many of my friends enjoyed it.
Few of them wanted to spend entire weekends immersed in it.
I wanted someone who pushed me creatively.
Someone who inspired me.
Someone who made me leave every crop thinking,
"I want to try that."
Finding that friendship changed everything.
Because inspiration isn't something you force.
It's something you're surrounded by.
Suddenly... My World Exploded
I started watching YouTube.
One video became ten.
Ten became a hundred.
I discovered scrapbook creators I'd never heard of.
I found techniques I didn't know existed.
Then came the products.
Graphic 45.
49 and Market.
Collections that looked more like artwork than scrapbook paper.
I discovered cutting machines.
Title techniques.
Mixed media.
Layering.
Interactive pages.
Albums I'd never imagined.
Then someone introduced me to Scrapbook Expo.
I honestly couldn't believe it.
An entire convention...
Dedicated to this hobby?
How had I been scrapbooking for years and never known this existed?
How had my world been limited to Michaels and Walmart for so long?
It felt like every month another door opened.
Every retreat introduced another friend.
Every friend introduced another idea.
Every idea made me fall in love with this hobby all over again.
Looking Back From Outcrop Manor
As I write this today, sitting inside the event center at Outcrop Manor, I smile thinking about that first retreat.
Back then, I thought I was signing up for a fun weekend.
I had no idea I was stepping into a community that would shape the next chapter of my life.
Those weekends weren't just about making scrapbook pages.
They were about encouragement.
Learning.
Laughing until midnight.
Sharing snacks.
Helping someone finish a project.
Celebrating someone's completed album.
Meeting women from completely different walks of life who somehow felt like old friends within hours.
That's what stayed with me.
Not the paper.
Not the punches.
Not the newest tools.
The feeling.
That feeling became the blueprint for everything I wanted Outcrop Manor to be.
Yes, I wanted comfortable chairs.
Six-foot tables.
Great lighting.
Power at every seat.
Beautiful bedrooms.
Wonderful food.
A place where you could spread out and truly create.
But more than any of those things...
I wanted to build a place where people feel the way I felt walking into that first home retreat.
A place where strangers become lifelong friends.
Where ideas are freely shared.
Where you're encouraged to try something new.
Where creativity isn't judged—it is celebrated.
Because if a single weekend could change my life...
Just imagine what this place might do for someone else.
(Continue to the final part)
