Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Jeez more jewellery and retreat

On July 18-20 I went on a craft retreat to Jarrahdale - don't have any pics as I'm waiting for the girls to send me some!!!! it's a VERY small town about half an hour from me but it's surrounded by bush aka Jarrah trees ie Jarrahdale LOL, as it used to be a sawmill town way back when. All the mill workers cottages are still lived in today, probably by offspring of millworkers families so it's a pretty tight place but so very pretty - need those pics! we stayed in what was the nurses accommodation, there was a small hospital which operated from 1914 to 1957. All that is left is the nurses house - weatherboard and the Dr's house now a private residence - needless to say the Dr's house is quite decorative ie stainglass etc but the nurses is plain but nice. 15 foot ceilings, at least! it boasts a large common room, bedrooms, kitchen/pantry, laundry, bathroom and toilet. It was a lovely space for a retreat as the light in the common room was great and we looked out onto the trees. It was very cold! down to 2C but we had a big gas fire in the cm room and we were decked out in the right gear for sleeping. And the water was hot in the showers! Two minutes away was the General Store which did the best coffee/food/service and we also had a meal down at the tavern - which is now an irish pub! We had a huge weekend of laughing/creating/eating/drinking - actually didn't get to much on the juice as we were busy! We had a lovely variety of quilters/scapbooking/cardmaking/jewellery/and Nikki who did a bit of everything! talk about productive. Whilst only a short distance from home (for me) it felt like we were a million miles from away. Can't wait for the next one! it was truly bliss to think of nothing but what I was creating and sharing laughs and solving world problems.
Whilst away I made four necklaces (one to finish off), pair of earrings and played with some polymer clay. The book I was hoping to take with me turned up a couple of days after camp! and I have made a couple of bits from that - wire brooch and wire bag of beads.


4 comments:

France said...

great array of stuff!! Also what a tempting description of the retreat!!! :) sounds like you had a great time!

Ev said...

Love the work, I especially like the wire and sticks (broach ?) You should take some to one of the local galleries and see if they will sell them for you on commission - Ro Bruhn does that as well as selling on etsy.

Dawnie said...

Such treasures here Carmel and hard to pick a fav as they all look AMAZING ! The pod with the beads looks cool and love the polymer work. Your certainly showing original flair with your designs, so keep that ROCKIN !!!

Catch ya soon gal pal and will answer your emails soon.

ME xxx

Genevieve said...

What a feast for the eyes! Lovely work here Carmel.

Cheers!