July at The Makerie, a one-day retreat

Have you heard of The Makerie? It's a creative event where you make things, meet fun people, and eat great food. Typically, The Makerie event is a 4 day retreat held in Boulder, Colorado but this summer they offered one day retreats.

I signed up for the July retreat entitled For a Gathering. We met at the Lyons Farmette in Lyons, Colorado--just north of Boulder, Colorado.

I chose to take the jewelry-making class and the letterpress workshop. The other classes that were offered were: how to make a leather clutch, a pajaki paper chandelier, and flower arranging.

Daisy Chain Jewelry Making

I've made jewelry before using beads, string, wire, jump rings. This class taught us how to saw, file, stamp, and polish our flower pieces. So much fun!

Our class was held on a bridge over a stream. A beautiful and peaceful setting for creating! I truly enjoyed this class because I learned something new! Our teacher was the lovely Shannon Sunderland of Swoon Jewelry Studios.

My finished daisy chain necklace!

Lunch

Photo by Teryn & Kate

We had a delicious boxed-lunch picnic on the lawn of the Farmette. 

It was prepared by Eat.

Letterpress Invitational

In the afternoon we went over to the studio of Birddog Press to learn about using a letterpress. We made a set of letterpressed cards. I chose to print a set of cards that say "Sew". Since I only have a dozen, they will be used for oh-sew-special occasions!

Cocktail Hour

After all the learning and creating, we mingled and had appetizers during the cocktail hour. Pizza appetizers were prepared by Crust (cooked in an amazing mobile oven) and Whole Foods sponsored a cocktail crafting class.

Dinner

For dinner, we gathered at a beautiful farm-style table. Our delicious meal was prepared by Eat and Crust using veggies from the Farmette and locally grown meat.

(I have no pictures of our meal because I was too busy socializing and eating.)

This experience was very renewing for me. I was able to learn and make things in a beautiful setting. As a mother and homemaker, getting time to myself (a whole day!) does not happen often. I'm thankful for the experience and recommend you check out The Makerie!

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