Craft Napa - a Remarkable Experience

Craft Napa started out with a trip to St. Helena for some shopping and lunch.  I tried on this great hat.  It sets the tone for the days ahead.

After Pokey's welcome to the students and introducing the teachers, we were all given swag bags full of wonderful treasures.  One was this white apron with hexagons and icons for this mixed media retreat.  We ALL headed to the bar to color with Crayola fabric markers and make the aprons our own.  Brilliant idea and fun to have the opportunity to chat with the attendees and teachers!

My schedule.  Day off, take a class as a student and teach a class as a teacher.  Perfect.  On the first day I sat in the main room of the Embassy Suites, where Craft Napa was taking place.  I had a lovely day painting with watercolors, and chatting with students and teachers on their breaks.

Craft Napa offered a wine blending night.  We were separated into five groups, with 1-2 teachers at each table.  We learned the in's and out's of wine blending - cliff note style.  Each table made their own blend.  It was great fun.  A judge from each table sat at the tasting table to taste each wine.  The winning team got to have their blend bottled and we were each given one the next day. It was such a hilarious, fun and delicious event.  I learned alot about the process.  Our wine came in 2nd.  I haven't opened the bottle of wine yet.

Here is Barbie who looks like me in the class that I took on advanced free motion quilting with Jenny K. Lyon.  What a great class and I learned so much.  I needed to find some more motifs to add to what I already use.  She is an amazing teacher and she draws - gotta love that.

  The Art Haus.  I provided pre-fused with Mistyfuse fabrics from Hoffman Fabrics.  Sizzix provided two Fabi (big shot) die cutting machines and dies. The house is made up of geometric shapes and stacked onto one another to create an 'Art Haus.'  Each student made a house that was uniquely their own, with a hexagon background made with blue Batiks and screen prints. My students were gracious, generous and totally fun. The time flew by.

Student work - isn't it amazing?  Hexi's all cut on a Sizzix machine.

This one has a flag and a walk-way - so whimsical!

Look at those fun elements!

Some really fun elements here - love the flowers and all of the windows

This was a horizontal format.  So fun.  I want to live there!

A short little movie with everyone sharing their work!  I was just bowled over at the creativity of my students.

A reunion of sorts, bringing back together me, Judy Coates Perez, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Pokey Bolton, Melly Testa and Jane La Fazio who in this picture were working in the first MIU at Festival in Long Beach, CA in 2008, and then reunited at Craft Napa in 2016

All of the teachers at Craft Napa at Pokey's Art Barn for a night of celebrating after classes were over. Such an incredible experience and I am still smiling over it all. Thank you Pokey Bolton for bringing us altogether to share, play, laugh and get to know each other on a more personal level.  If you are on Facebook, be sure to LIKE the Crafting a Life page for the latest up to date details of what is to come. Yay! Onward and upward!