Matka Luovuuteen - Creative Journey

Hi to you,

Early August my long time dream came true: My dear friend Minna and I arranged an event called 'Creative Journey'; a weekend long creative retreat with workshops, happy feelings, lots of crafting, photography, and fun days among girls sharing the same passion for paper crafting and mixed media. We had a special guest, Finnabair, with us for the entire weekend, and we were so happy and honored to host her first visit to Finland. She's such a talented artist and a great teacher, and the whole group of 30 participants had the best time ever with her. In addition she's such a lovely person and a great friend - I miss you already, Finn, hope you had a nice time with us!! ♥

The venue was quite unique and inspiring: The former cruise ship M/S Bore had been converted to a hostel a few years ago, and provided us a perfect location for our creative journey. Authentic cabin accommodation made you feel that you were on a cruise, but as the ship was securely moored on the Turku harbor, no one had to worry about getting sea sick during the weekend, lol! :D
 
All classes took place in the great hall on the ground floor which was quite handy: There was no need to carry crafting supplies nor tools from one place to another.

On our weekend agenda there were 5 workshops: A canvas collage class ('Overemotional') and a paper layout class ('Colorology') by Finnabair; a photography workshop and mixed media layout class with theme 'Empowering scrapbooking' by Minna; and a mini album workshop by me. All participants followed the same class schedule which in my opinion boosted the team spirit; we all had so much fun together!

Even though Minna and I were the event organizers we decided already early on that we would take all the classes, too. And I'm so happy we did! Even if I've taken a few Finn's classes in the past she always manages to introduce me new techniques, ideas, hints, and tips to take home.

The canvas class on Saturday took 6 hours, but time really flew - it felt like just a couple of short hours! I really liked the fact that there was enough time for both Finn's workshops so that nobody fell behind nor had to rush too much.

Here's my finished canvas:

I also wanted to show you the layout I made on Minna's mixed media class. Te background is made with mists and pan pastels, and the photo is on a heavy paper panel colored with gelly plate. Loved playing with all the different medias and techniques!

I want to thank our lovely main sponsor, Fiskars, for the generous support of our event. We all loved playing with our new Intricate Shape Punches, and the AdvantEdge punches were in heavy use, too!
Many, many thanks also to Paperilla sponsor Stampendous; and to Tattered Angels, 7 Dots Studio, 3rd Eye, SODAlicious, Prima Marketing, who have supported us along our creative way. 
You all played an important role in making our weekend possible!


Many participants have published lovely travel stories in their blogs. Just follow these below links to read more about our amazing time on Bore:

Posts in English:
Riikka, Veera, Sanna

Posts in Finnish:
Minna, Lena, Taru, Ansku, Arja, Seija, Lehtipollo, Heli, Merkku, Milla, Puuhis 

And last but not least: I want to thank each journey participant of a memorable weekend. You made our dream come true. 

Hoping to see you all again soon! 
Love,