My trip to New Zealand and The Great Welly Paper Caper!

THE GREAT WELLY PAPER CAPER 😍

A few months ago a friend of mine posted an advert for a retreat her and a mate were holding.

As soon as I saw the advert I was going!

Paula Dobson and Sharlene Meyers 

certainly know how to hold an event!.

I will share some pics of the event with you plus some 'Holiday' snaps too 😊

I arrived Thursday afternoon to the Wellington Airport, so VERY excited. 

The fabulously gorgeous and talented Paula Dobson was waiting for me at the airport. 

After a quick hug and SOME hello's we then drove into Wellington and around Oriental Bay to the Copthorne hotel. 

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

 I was in awe of the size of Wellington! And how the houses were tucked into the hills.

That's something that has to be seen to be believed!

There were even stairs leading up from roads below to houses above along the highway! 

I didn't get a picture of that, sorry. But WOW there must be some fit peeps living in those homes!!

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

WOW .... What stunning views from the Copthorne! The pic on the bottom left has a yellow building with a green torch shape on the front is the Te Papa Museum. I hope to visit there next time around!

I did get to see a little of the area on foot when we went out for dinner on Courtney Place. We found a lovely Chinese restaurant called the Majestic Cuisine...My Goodness the food was delicious!

The next morning we again walked to Courtney Place to another little eatery for breakfast.

We chose Sweet Mothers Kitchen to enjoy the morning in.

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

What a fantastic choice this was! Gorgeous laid back atmosphere with some cool bluesy tunes playing in the background. Food was great and the coffee was even better!

Then we were off to pick up the Guest tutor for the weekend the ever so talented Susan Wong from  Auckland. Susan is a past Artisan member and I really enjoy her CAS style and creativity.

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

Paula had her Chauffers cap and Chalk Board ready lol, so Susan could find us. There was quite a humorous reaction. You can't see in the pics but another group were also holding a sign that said Welcome To Wellington. It all worked quite well together actually lol.

Then we were off to the Silver Stream Retreat.

Sharlene had already started setting up by the time we arrived, but we all hopped in setting up tables and display boards and got everything organised in a jiffy ready for the rest of the ladies arrivals.

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

The room all set up. 

Top pic is of the 'TREATS' table, Sharlene does such a gorgeous job of creating this area, from the buntings to the flower arrangement and food. 

Middle pic is of all the tables set up and ready to go and the bottom pic is where Sharlene & Paula bring along samples for everyone to admire and be inspired by.

There were three classes held over the two days of the event with lots of free time in between to create our own designs plus perfect what we had learnt during classes. 

Each project from these classes were just gorgeous. the classes were a mix of projects, cards and 3D items. I have been wanting to create more 3D items for a while and me being me just procrastinated about it hahaha. So needless to say, I was over the moon!

First up Saturday morning was Susan Wong with a sweet and pretty Mini Album. (I will share the album I created in another blog all set out with pics from my trip)

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Then later in the afternoon we had Paula teaching how to create her stunning card design with a matching note pad cover.

And on the last day, Sunday morning, we had Sharlene (MagpieCreative) with a beautifully striking card and box design.

Each project used the Lots of Lovely Stamp set along with some of the DSP from the suite too.

Loads of techniques were included, such as fussy cutting, embossing, following instructions lol and building 3D items, layering plus a cool trick of how to stick Dazzling Diamonds to a card front using Adhesive sheets.

Then it was finally home time for all of us.

We packed our belongings and headed off to our homes and for myself and Susan, towards the airport.

Paula took Susan and myself to the airport, along the way we took a diversion to the Peter Jackson Digital studios in Wellington and the WETA Cave where all of the props are displayed that were used for the Lord Of The Rings movies.

I quickly snapped a few pics outside the building as we didn't have alot of time.

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

I spent an hour or so with Susan Wong at the airport before we went our separate ways where I found even more bits and pieces from the LOTR movies.

SMAUG!

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

I had a fabulous little holiday mixed with a crafting retreat and met some gorgeous ladies along the way. 

I made new friendships and a learnt little bit about New Zealand and the lovely and talented people living there.

#greatwellypapercaper #magpiecreates #stampinantics #stampingsusan #KOCreationscards

 I can't wait for the Great Welly Paper Caper 2018!

Like what you see? Do you want to go next year? Then you must contact Paula Dobson or Sharlene Meyers to find out all details! 

I had a blast 😊