AE Scrapbooking retreats

Welcome!

Welcome to the AE Scrapbooking Retreats website. 
Please scroll past this intro for the latest post if this is not your first visit.

AE Retreats have become one of New Zealand's most talked about scrapbooking events with a large group of regular attendees anticipating each event.  AE Retreats are run by two friends -  Nic & Lucy  - who have combined their love of the scrapbooking industry and experience in the hospitality feilds to create something amazing. 

If you'd like to know more about the AE events (Spring or Autumn), classes, tutors, or other people behind the scenes, please click the links above. 

If you'd like to be kept up to date with small event updates, photos and general happenings for our next event, please check back regularly!

Enjoy browsing and please feel free to contact us with any questions about our retreats!

Nic & Lucy

Introducing Natalie May, Spring Edition tutor...

Hands up who requested an experienced teacher with lots of pizazz and numerous layout ideas?  Hands up who wanted a teacher that can bring three enirely different layout classes to the retreat, completing our line up of EIGHT different amazing classes?

We have the perfect teacher to join Nic Howard and Paula Cheney as the Spring Edition tutor team and we know you are going to love her. 

Introducing Natalie May, from Adelaide, Australia!

Natalie's bio is below.  Notice that Nat is an experienced teacher with many, many classes under her belt.  We are working very closely with Nat to make sure that the 3 layout classes she will offer will be designed around YOUR needs.  We've taken the feedback forms, the facebook ideas, the outlines for the other classes being offered at Spring Edition and we are forming a great class line-up with as many bases covered as possible - we look forward to releasing details in a few weeks!  Thanks for welcoming her to the team!

My name is Natalie May. I am a 37 year old mum to a gorgeous 9 year old daughter, Jessica and a wife to a very supportive hubby.
I am a full time paper crafter, working in Adelaide's best Scrapbooking shop, Seriously Scrapbooking, I’m an experienced teacher - teaching around 15 classes a month instore as well as visiting various retreats and tradeshows throughout the year.  I am also a Certified Copic Designer and am about to undertake my Intermediate training as well.
I have been a card maker for about 16 years and discovered Scrapbooking late 2006. It’s such a brilliant creative outlet, with no restrictions as to what you can do and VERY addictive! {but hey ... you already knew that!}.  I don’t believe have a particular style - I let the paper guide me. I love to experiment and try new things ... and I create what my students are asking for too!
I love using a variety of techniques on my pages from dry and wet embossing, stamping & masking, GlimmerMist, inking and more recently I have become addicted to my Cuttlebug again. I like to experiment with Gesso and Texture Paste and I have a very soft spot for chipboard.
I have been published in all 3 Australian Scrapbooking magazines and have recently been part of several chipboard design teams as well as being involved in Once Upon A Sketch and Blue Bazaar. 

I love this industry … the opportunity to teach a new technique…. Meeting so many amazing people…..and to be able to CREATE every day is quite a blessing.
You can find out more about me here www.happydaks.blogspot.com

AE Spring Edition

It's true... AE is holding a 'Spring Edition' each year.  Autumn Escape was busting at the seams, selling out 10 months in advance each year.  People were missing out and things were gettin HUGE!   We've opted to open up two events each year... come to one, come to both, we'd love to see you!

Registrations for AE Spring Edition are going well...just what we wanted.  Email Lucy at lucy.tom@xtra.co.nz for a registration form and we'll see you there!  Info below!

The final countdown...

The class kits are packed.  Stock for the shop is packed.  There are boxes of demo items, example layouts, goodies to giveaway, things to show and things to create.  We are done.

My hubby is looking forward to being able to get into his wine cupboard again.  These are only about 1/3 of the boxes.  The rest form a castle-like shape, threatening to collapse on anyone that needs to get a bottle of wine after a hard day at work.  It's Ok Paul.  We'll move them tomorrow.  We are on our way to Taupo.

A working bee...

Just a few pictures to show you what we got up to this past weekend...

One of about 3 dozen pics that we had taken - trying to get a nice one of me & Lucy and Tana as well - poor girl got coerced into helping, she thought she was in Auckland for the Taylor Swift concert... oooooh nooo we had better ideas.

WE had trouble getting a nice pic.

There was the "what is that on my head?  A spider out of the trees? Wait. Could it be a hand?" moments...

then there was the moments where there just wasn't a hope of getting anything like a nice pic.  Don't ask what happened here...

Anyway, we had a great time.  LOTS of little jobs got done - lots of creating - making *stuff* for Autumn Escape....

And then of course anything we had problems with, we just referred to the too hard basket.

Good weekend - another one coming up, no doubt.  Still lots to be done!

Happy mail day today....

Thank you to our latest sponsor BoBunny for their incredibly generous gift for everyone attending Autumn Escape this year... just a little sneak peek to give you a clue!

And the t-shirt was created....

Those of you that attend Autumn Escape know that Lucy and I are full of ideas.  You could easily debate whether they are all good ideas, but there is no denying we are full of them.  So it's no surprise that last Sunday while we were discussing the most important of Autumn Escape stuff, *someone* came up with the idea that Autumn Escape needed a t-shirt. 

One of us says to the other, "We should totally get a t-shirt designed".  The other one (actually that was me) says "Totally.  I wish we knew an amazing graphic artist with a t-shirt printing business". 

All of this within ear-shot of Lucy's amazing hubby, who IS a graphic artist and whaddya-know, does have a t-shirt printing business.  What a coincidence. 

Anyway... a few hours later, a little coercing and a few don't-ya-know-it's-Sunday-can't-a-man-catch-a-break looks, and look what we ended up with.  It's the most amazing silver, white and pink creation EVAH.

And then.  Then.  We tried to get a photo of us wearing our shirts. 
There was this pic, the one where I am laughing so hard, I had to turn around to avoid Lucy's hubby taking one of those pics where I have the goofy-moose like look on my face.

And then there was this one where Lucy decided that while I was peeing myself laughing that at least she could show off the back of our shirts....

And then there was a few more - most of them of those ugly laughing too hard faces, but we did manage to get these ones.  Ha, Lucy, you can totally tell we've both just wiped the laughter tears from our faces.

But don't ya love our shirts?!!!!
Laters,
nic

Happy mail at AE Central...

The boxes have started to roll in - we get a lot of happy mail here at AE Central and this was one of my favourites from the last week.  It's full of chipboard gorgeousness, just waiting for attention... 

Playtime coming up for the AE crew!