Handmade U - Seventh Semester Day 2 of Classes

Hi Again,

Day 2 of Handmade U this past October was all about ephemera and journal making with our own Hold Dear owner Michelle Geller!

She came true to form armed with the most adorable kits, lettered with our names in her fun handwriting!

She demo'd a fun technique to create the cover.

She then showed how to use vintage postcards as pages adding ephemera as collage material.

We broke for lunch and the sun warmed us up a bit!

I had searched for vintage metal lunch boxes to house the students lunches and am so happy with what I found.  The Ladies got a kick out of them too!  I am on the lookout for more to add to the collection for our 31 girls in April!

We had such a cold snap this weekend and we appreciated the girls bundling up and being patient with us as my husband went out and bought 6 heaters!  Always fun with Nebraska weather :)  

Next up I'll share the swaps that happened!  Each semester they just get better and better!

Now go be crafty,

Rach

Handmade U Semester Seven - Welcome Night and Day 1 of Classes

When we started looking for property outside of town we kept our eye out for a home that would allow us to host Handmade U on site.  No more hotel conference rooms, no more schlepping supplies and decorations down and having a small window to hang things up, and no more concern about whether the tape would hold things up on the walls - and no more Hotel lunches and dinners!  YEA!

Well it was kinda hard not to envision some amazing Handmade U craft weekends in this barn when we saw it.  The loft was gorgeous on its own, and with a few lights, banners, and tables we could be in craft weekend heaven.

Fast forward to moving into our new home July 19th.  We decided a Fall Semester could be possible, it would be tight, a lot of work needed to be done, but we had faith we could find the help we needed and we did.

This is what we came up with....

Thanks to my husband for #1 supporting all the work that was done on the barn to get prepared for Handmade U, #2 tirelessly shopping with me at all the local antique malls and piling all these tables in the trailer to bring up to the loft, #3 feeding us all weekend and cleaning up!

Thanks to my Mom for sewing all of these fun oilcloth banners and making all the gift bags for the girls, and thanks to my Dad for helping hang up all of the banners, and especially for power-washing all the floors to get ready and helping with moving the furniture!

Also thanks to the amazing group of women that came from all over the US to be our guinea pigs for the 1st Handmade U in the Red Art Barn.  We had many "peaters" come back again to be 2-peaters, 3-peaters, even 7-peaters (meaning they've been to EVERY SEMESTER!).  We had our freshmen too, and I always love that the freshmen fall right into the classes just like the 'peaters!

Welcome Night

Thursday evening is our welcome night.  The girls started arriving around 6pm.

 There was a chill in the air, but pretty comfortable to be outside for a grill-out.  Omaha Steak Burgers and Grilled Chicken were on the menu thanks to Grill-master Jim.

We had a special guest Thursday night for dinner, Declan, he is a 1-peater now!

After dinner we set up an enjoyed Vendor night.  All the girls that come to Handmade U are encouraged to bring goodies to sell, whether it be vintage supplies or handmade items like jewelry or journals.  We had quite a bit of fun stuff to choose from.

Thanks to Michelle Geller for the below shot of some of the girls getting their first glance up at the loft ceiling.

Everyone was welcomed into the barn with a personalized Swag bag full of fun sponsor treats along with the official Handmade U t-shirt.

My talented Mom made the below bags with a picture of the barn on the front for everyone.  

Class Day 1

I got up early to set up the tables for my half day class.  I taught a few fun techniques to marble paper. We were able to use some of what we made in our journals with Michelle on Day 2 of classes.

The flowers were picked early that morning from around our house, the mini pumpkins were a must since it was October, and a water mug with their names on them.

As everyone arrived we had Jim take our group photo before he went off to work.  Fridays are Handmade U T-shirt days.  These t-shirts are my favorite of any semester, though I love our logo ones, these are so SOFT!  I got a couple extras, and a sweatshirt...let's just say I wear them a lot around the homestead.

What a fun group of ladies!

I rang the big bell atop of the barn to start class...it is a cool bell....I'll have to share the pics of our carpenter and the 40 foot ladder he used to get it unstuck the week before....but that's for another time.

Class was in session.  

 

The first technique is my favorite, and super easy.  We used shaving cream and food coloring.  The kit I provided included all different types of papers and tags to marble.  

The ladies enjoyed this one, we got a little inky, but it's food coloring and washed out easily.  This technique is fun with your kids, and a couple school teachers in the room were thinking of teaching it to their kids.  Jayne did it with her grandkids a few weeks ago!  Fun for the whole family!

Jennifer was really having fun!

Proof of good times....

Papers laid out to dry we used the paper marbling inks you can buy at Dick Blicks as well as Sumi Black Ink to try a couple other techniques as well.

With our papers marbled we moved on to lunch next door at our local restaurant.  The meal was light and beautifully presented.  The salad was made with our apples which was a surprise, they tasted delicious.

Michelle and Jan

Kim and Jennifer

Me and Jayne

Julie and I took a glance outside at the neighbors' lake.

We then went shopping.  After semesters where I didn't really have shopping time built in, but we always squeezed it in here or there, I learned and made time for it!  We stopped at the first antique mall, it's a nice one, some would say the perfect one since it had a bar in it for snacks and drinks for those who finished shopping as others shopped on!

We stopped at one other antique mall, lots of fun was had and special finds made.  Back to the homestead we went to get ready for our Cream Can Dinner.

We had hoped for a nice fall night to sit outside by our new firepit and cook smore's but Nebraska weather wasn't our friend as Friday evening came so did the chillier weather.  We decided it'd be best to eat in the loft at the tables.  We enjoyed standing near the burners for a little warmth while the dinner cooked.  

A Cream Can dinner is made in the old cans as you see below.  You line them with corn cobs, still with husks on.... (thanks to our farmer neighbor who brought the last of his sweet corn over in a bucket earlier in the day - how's that for friendly!)  Then you add sausages, brats, potatoes, carrots and some purple cabbage, fill it up with beer and steam away!  It is good, so yummy.

If we make a small Cream Can we typically dump it out on some newspapers on the picnic table, but since we were eating in the barn, the big galvanized tub worked great lined with some brown paper.

We all ate the warm meal heartily. I heated up some apple cider as well made from the trees right outside of the barn.  It was a fun night.

The girls went back to Lincoln to their hotel with a quick stop at the local Lincoln Makers Market that is on the First Friday of every month.

I sat outside by the fire with Jim to wind the evening down.  Michelle was busy with her class set up....wait until you see my next post on what she had to come!

-Rach

Packing Up and Moving On Out - Exciting Change

Hi Everyone!!

Hope Summer is going great for you!  Our summer is flying by with lots of exciting things happening....not the least of which is a move in 2 days!!

We began looking at acreages last year to find a space outside of town with a little more room to breathe, a place to have our Airstream onsite, some land for a puppy to run, and if possible a barn to host Handmade U Art Retreats.

We immediately fell in love with a property,  a well-maintained Historic Registered house built in 1895 with an outbuilding for our cars and Airstream, and an AMAZING Red Barn.  We looked at it 3 or 4 times, dreamed about it, worked the numbers over and over, and made an offer.  After our initial offers were declined, we gave up and started looking elsewhere.

We searched and searched the surrounding areas, even Iowa for something even close to our original #1 choice, but to no avail.  We waited out the winter and towards the end of Spring the sellers of the our #1 property came to us and said they were going to lower the price and would we be interested in making another offer.

We visited the house again and knew we would not find anything that would surpass this in our eyes, so we went all in and our offer was accepted!  We quickly got our house ready and put it on the market, and within a day of showing sold it!  We felt elated that after our prior two individual houses were such bears to sell we made up for it with this one.

So we have been knee deep in all the "FUN" stuff of a move like inspections, appraisals, negotiations, packing, calling movers, utilities, etc.  It is all going to have to be done soon as we give up our current house Friday morning, and close on our new home right after!!

This will be our first home we buy together which is really exciting!  We are looking forward to the beautiful land, peace and quiet, a neighboring organic farm and restaurant, hosting Handmade U onsite in the loft of this beautiful barn, and just making all kinds of new memories here.

So if you are wondering where we are in the next week or two, we'll most likely be taking a much deserved break right there on the front porch swing.

Hope to see you this Fall at Handmade U.  Sign-ups will begin soon.  Watch all the moving action on Instagram @rjmcgough

Wish us Luck!

Rach

Third Semester Handmade U - First Night

Hi Everyone,

Did your Fall fly by like mine?  I can't believe Thanksgiving is over and we are headed full force right at Christmas!

The other event that I feel is coming quicker than I realize is Handmade U Fourth Semester Spring 2013!!

I feel like we just had our amazing Third Semester which I am going to share about here!  Spring will be here before we know it, and I have secured two AMAZING teachers for two SUPER FUN classes!!  As Handmade U evolves we try new things and keep the fun things you'll remember from all semesters past.  Handmade U will be held at a downtown Omaha hotel this next semester!!  That means just a few blocks walk to the Old Market full of shopping and restaurants!  A quick free shuttle from the airport, and just a fun atmosphere!


I am buttoning up the details and will be sharing the goods with you soon!!  Be sure to write your letter to Santa including your desire to come to Handmade U Spring 2013!!

(L to R: Shelley, Michelle, Hope, Me, and Liesel)

So Thankful for these ladies that helped make Handmade U Fall 2012 so wonderful!!


Now let's remember all the fun we had at Handmade U Fall 2012!  This was our biggest event yet.

Our Welcome dinner Thursday night after our afternoon of Shopping began with Goodies!!  Goodies included a bag of snacks, water, Omaha tourist info for students' stay.  The official Handmade U t-shirt!  A small tote bag embroidered with the student's name on one side and the Handmade U embroidered logo on the other with a fun ruffle at the top (made with much love by my Mom Sara.  Also a Yoyo button name pin!  Of course I must mention the total bag was full of sponsor goodies!!  So much love was shared with our students!!  They appreciated it all so much!

Everyone was excited for the much anticipated classes of our instructors Liesel Lund and Hope Wallace Karney!

  

I was thrilled that Liesel came all the way from Seattle to be with us, and Hope came from Maryland!  Not to mention that this was Hope's first in-person class to teach!  Both did such a great job!  More to come on the classes....

First Dessert....

YUM.  Nothing Bundt Cakes!!  So good.

Next we had Make and Take's.  My 3rd semester Alum and some of my favorite people helped out with the evening activities.

Michelle Geller, a two time Handmade U Instructor herself, taught a cute little journal that some of the girls used to track the weekend fun.  

At the next table over Shelley Overholt, a girl of many talents, showed us how to make her favorite Hexi's.  

Such a cute little bracelet!  This one takes a bit of patience and time, but well worth it!!  

Off to Bed for our students, and onto decorating the Class Room for me and a few elves ;)

More to come on the weekend.....

Be Inspired,

Rach

Handmade U - Coming down from the HIGH!

Wow.

I don't even know how to begin to talk about the amazing weekend I just experienced. I knew most of the ladies coming to Handmade U's First Semester, and I knew we'd have an amazing time hanging out. I just didn't know HOW AMAZING it would be.

The weekend really began Wednesday afternoon when my parents came up to help pack up their car with as much as we could fit in, as well as mine. We also did our grocery store runs to load up on food. You just never know how much food you will need to keep this many ladies energized for a weekend of heavy crafting!! I erred on the side of LOTS of food!

In the evening Michelle Geller flew in. We stopped to get her a snack, and lo and behold, we just happened to be right next to Dick Blick's, so of course we had to stop.

Then a nice mexican dinner with Michelle and my fiance Jim helped get us psyched for the next day and to work on the few last touches late into the night.

Thursday morning came early as we packed up the few last things and headed to Minglewood Lodge. After getting the keys we brought everything in and started getting organized.

We set up the tables for the ladies! My Mom made these cute totes with the fabrics I found for each of the girls. She even embroidered each name on the bags! And the file folders I fell in love with...Anthropologie of course! The name badges were painted with chalkboard paint and written on with Chalkboard pens which are fun! I brought a bunch of candies too to share with the girls throughout the weekend. A bit' o honey treat in a glassine bag was put on each bed the first night. My fiance Jim helped package all of those up prior to the weekend. Thanks Jim!

Each tote held the wonderful giveaways from all our sponsors and I added a fun wooden ruler, and packets of these Handmade U pencils!!

We added some special touches to the lodge, which was already gorgeously decorated.

I added some fun crayons, papers, and ribbons on this wreath.

I had name plates on each bed to show where everyone was staying. We put their Handmade U t-shirts on their beds along with a little treat.

I've been loving these typewriters for so long!! Well Handmade U was a great excuse to buy one for everyone to use!

We worked til lunchtime and grabbed a Subway. My Dad was off to make the first airport run to gather up Pam, Hope and Stephanie. When they arrived we were all ready to welcome them to Handmade U! We chatted and anxiously awaited all the other Freshmen students. The lodge was filled with smells of Smoked Chicken that my Dad made, and my Mom's AMAZING Baked Beans. YUM...I think a few girls talked about sneaking more beans for breakfast!

When everyone arrived we had the most delicious meal, topped off with pieces of Chocolate Cake the size of your head!

The evening activity was creating small SLAM BOOKS as an ice-breaker get to know you project. It was more fun than I expected. The fun part was coming up with all the questions to go on each page with everyone, then filling in your own. After that we started passing each book around so everyone could put their answers in each person's book.

Throughout the weekend we filled each book in, we each decorated the books in our own unique styles, and had a little treasure to go home with!

We did take a break for what we all love to do at Art Retreats - SHOPPING! I brought all my fun French finds which I was excited to share with everyone. I will hopefully be able to add items into my etsy shop sometime soon!!

Michelle brought her ephemera goodies, double-sided tapes, and of course the very popular WASHI TAPE!!

Friday morning began by making tasty breakfast sandwiches for each woman as they came downstairs. I'm not a morning person, we probably only had a couple in the group (we love you Hope and Shelley!) but it was nice to leisurely get up and eat breakfast, with class starting at 10am. No rushing at Handmade U! No packing up and going from here to there, just come down, relax as if you were at Home.

Michelle started her Handmade Inspiration Journal class once we were all done with Breakfast. Can I just say, I knew Michelle was uber talented, I have loved all her journals that I've seen on Hold Dear and in person, but she went ALL OUT. This was her first major teaching event, an all day class, and she WAS AWESOME! The kits she laid out on each person's table were OVER THE TOP!! I think I could have just looked at all the goodies, papers, ephemera all day long and been happy not even creating the journal. However I did work on my journal, and wow it was FUN.

Michelle broke down the class into really manageable steps so no one got overwhelmed. We each created a fun cover, then varnished it!!

OK I think I have probably said before I LOVE MOD PODGE....and I do, but I hope Mod Podge doesn't get jealous when I say I LOVE LOVE LOVE VARNISH!! I may just start varnishing everything. It puts such a fun shiny gloss on everything. I think there is room in my heart for both Mod Podge and varnish, that's just the kind of crafter I am.

After creating the covers we sewed on the binding and threaded the sari ribbons that would be our way to attach our pages.

Then onto our pages. This was so much fun. Michelle had given us so much to choose from it took some time to plan out what each page would look like.

Friday night was PIZZA night, which was a nice and easy meal so we could get back to our pages and working on the journals! We did find time for a little piece of Carrot Cake, yum.

Here are all the journals nearly done!

Saturday we woke, had muffins, yogurt and fruit and prepared for Quilt Art with Sundries. Each person received a 12x12 art canvas and I had an industrial size bottle of mod podge to share!

I put together a pack of ephemera using papers from my recent France trips. Also my 6th Sponsor was MODA Fabrics!

They sent small charm packs of Kaari Meng's new French General line of fabric. Many of the ladies used those in their designs along with papers from our journaling kit too.

I had lot so paints to choose from and tons of embroidery flosses to add the stitching to the canvases.

I was so proud of all the girls' canvases! You really could look at each one and know who designed and created it, each was so personal. I taught some basic quilt pattern designs, mod podge techniques, and some painting ideas, and away they went.

Michelle Early did a cool block based on the Gee's Bend Quilts.

Pam created this beauty using the quilt block featured on my Mom's business card for Acorn Ridge Quilting. The red polka dots are from one of our napkins! She also showed us a little preview of here "doodling" skillz. We are hoping she shared more at Handmade U Second Semester in the Spring! If you want to see more of what she has to offer, hurry over here to purchase her doodling sets for digital download!

Here is Lisa working on her beautiful canvas!

We decided to put all the "quilt blocks" together into one Quilt Art!

During Saturday afternoon some of the girls were needing a little pick-me-up. The Minglewood Mocha was born. Coffee with a little hot chocolate made these girls very happy!

Happy Michelle!

As some of the girls were wrapping up their Art Quilts, I introduced another new technique to them. I handed out a hard-bound 9x12 journal to everyone and we decorated the covers with different tissue papers,

Well...this I just don't know how I can explain it....

Dinner Saturday night was a special treat. More on this later!