Over 10 years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a little gem of a place, tucked into the small town of Chesaning Michigan…Cropping Daze Retreat. At first, we used our 3 day trip to Cropping Daze for 2 reasons…to get away from our young children and the daily grind that comes along with raising kids and managing a household. And second, to cherish the early memories of those kids with photos and keepsakes to cut, paste, embellish and create archival books…the art of scrap booking. These days if you say that to some people they look at you like you have 2 heads…especially if you left out the word ‘digital’ a term that most can still accept. My first visit took a lot of planning with meals, activities, laundry and packing for a weekend away without ‘mom’. However, we enjoyed it so much and it was in such high demand that we booked in advance for 2 more years.

Over time, our 2 person adventure soon grew into so much more. We would spend a few months after our retreat laughing about our time, reminiscing and missing the high level of productivity. Then, every spring we would start anticipating the next trip. We also made new friends along the way and especially grew to love and wish success upon the owner Holly for who I admire very much. As the years passed, the children I was needing a break from grew to an age where they too could enjoy a Mother Daughter Retreat. I also became a strong advocate for Cropping Daze as I would always recommend it to anyone who was asking or looking. Fast forward to today and now I have also introduced the retreat to a new friend and her daughter too. I have my own business where I didn’t 10 years ago and can now even use my organizing skills to help bring Cropping Daze into the next phase. It’s such a warm and inviting place to be that sometimes I don’t even work on a project. I simply enjoy being with others who enjoy getting their creative juices flowing. Some still scrap book, some create ‘digital’ scrap books, others craft and some just enjoy the food and drink…all is good. For the past couple of years now I have gone twice…once for myself and the other with my girls. We enjoy being the ‘international’ guests even though we only live 2.5 hours away and share the same Great Lake between us. I have just come home from a fun filled weekend and can’t wait until I go again…maybe I should print this out and add it to my scrapbook! For those that believe scrap booking is a dying art check the video I have posted below. Cheers.

http://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs-sunday-morning/video/gL5qe1RG9QqSfUzYUan3gWCVElDmYjDK/the-love-in-scrapbooking/