Birds of a Feather – Birds of a Feather

Relaxed Retreat – 14th to 16th October 2022

Birds of a Feather is delighted to announce that our Autumn retreat in 2022 will be held in the exclusive Taylor Suite at the luxurious De Vere Staverton Estate, ideally located just a short drive from junction 18 of the M1.

Like our previous retreats, this event will be run as a ‘relaxed’ retreat, with no formal structure to the weekend. Class kits, complete with comprehensive instructions will be available to purchase.

With plenty of fun and laughter over the weekend and an abundance of ‘birds’ you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous time with many like minded, happy crafters!

And some might say better still, leave the weekend feeling renewed and revitalised…

After all, Birds of a Feather flock together…

The weekend package is available in both single and twin occupancy rooms and includes two nights full board accommodation.

Location: De Vere Staverton Estate, Staverton, Daventry, Northamptonshire. NN11 6JT.

Date: Friday 14th October to Sunday 16th October 2022 inclusive.

The price for this event is £365 for a single occupancy room and £320 for a twin room.

Please download a booking form below and return to bookings@birdsofafeather.uk.com along with your deposit or full payment to the bank details which can be found on the T&C’s.

Download Booking Form: Word doc. PDF editable doc.

Payment Structure / Terms and Conditions: Payment details

Relaxed Retreat – 25th to 27th March 2022

Birds of a Feather is delighted to announce that our Spring retreat in 2022 will be held in the exclusive Taylor Suite at the luxurious De Vere Staverton Estate, ideally located just a short drive from junction 18 of the M1.

With plenty of fun and laughter over the weekend and an abundance of ‘birds’ you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous time with many like minded, happy crafters!

And some might say better still, leave the weekend feeling renewed and revitalised…

After all, Birds of a Feather flock together…

The weekend package is available in both single and twin occupancy rooms and includes two nights full board accommodation.

Location: De Vere Staverton Estate, Staverton, Daventry, Northamptonshire. NN11 6JT.

Date: Friday 25th March to Sunday 27th March 2022 inclusive.

The price for this event is £365 for a single occupancy room and £320 for a twin room.

Please download a booking form below and return to bookings@birdsofafeather.uk.com along with your deposit or full payment to the bank details which can be found on the T&C’s.

Download Booking Form: Word doc. PDF editable doc.

Payment Structure / Terms and Conditions: Payment details

Black Friday – what have you bought?

So you would have had to be walking around with your eyes shut, not to notice that today is Black Friday!

Its origins started in America and always fell on the Friday following Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Turkey is the dish of the day, followed by Pumpkin Pie I believe?

And if you didn’t remember that our friends across the pond were celebrating, you’ve got Google to remind you!

I must admit, I’ve often thought why would you spend a day with your family ‘giving thanks’ only to go on a massive spending spree the next day!

But actually it’s no different to us on Boxing Day… so many people choose to give gifts on Christmas Day, only to raid the shops on Boxing Day and grab that bargain!

I can honestly say that I’m not a Boxing Day shopper, nor will I ever be. I think we should all boycott the shops on Boxing Day to give everyone who works in retail the chance to have two consecutive days off. After all, if we as consumers didn’t partake, then there would be no point in the shops opening!

Ok, like that’s ever going to happen!

And this Black Friday I have to be honest, admit that I too have sucummed and confess as to what I have purchased!

You can probably guess that most of it is scrapbooking related!

Temptation started last week, when Jackie mentioned that Curry’s had the Kitchen Aid at half price – an early Black Friday deal… She was having one and hoped that it would arrive in time for last weekend so she could christen it and mix her Christmas cake in it!

Guess who therefore also needed one?

Then our fabulous friends Sarah and Lianne at Hey Little Magpie launched their Black Friday sale yesterday afternoon…. So of course I indulged!

They were very fair and said that each item was limited to one per customer… a great idea. They didn’t want a repeat of some of the scenes from Asda a few years ago, where people were physically fighting over TV’s!

And then today, I happened to receive a Hobbycraft email promoting Black Friday! Since my birthday in May I have had an unspent gift voucher, so today have joined the Big Shot club!

Then lastly, I just happened upon the Black Friday sale on Sizzix site, as a Big Shot isn’t much good without some dies!

So, have you been as easily swayed as I have this Black Friday?

Leave a comment and let us know what you have bought… One lucky person will be randomly selected and a little Black Friday gift from Birds of a Feather will be sent via carrier pigeon to you!

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Vlogged memories of our Amy Tan workshop…

Whilst many of us can relate to the ‘curve balls’ that life throws us from time to time, equably many of us find that a craft is a welcome distraction!

And if you’re reading this, like us Birds of a Feather, you probably share a love of scrapbooking?

We have met some fabulous people whilst sharing the love of this hobby and I’m sure that there will be many more friendships to discover in the future.

Two such ladies who we met recently at our Amy Tan workshop were Claire and Georgia. These ladies ‘vlog’…. and if like me you’re not familiar with ‘vlogging’ the easiest way to describe it a video diary or a filmed blog!

Like scrapbooking, Claire and Georgia’s vlog styles are very different. I can’t categorically say why but they just are!

Having already watched Claires’ vlog, Georgia’s vlog is equally as great… It gives you an insight into so much more than simply the workshop, starting with a tube ride, then onto her hotel room for the night and dinner at Pizza Express, all before any filming of Amy Tan or indeed the workshop!

Why not watch it yourself and see if you agree with me?

Either way, it brings back some amazing memories…

From Amy demonstrating her wonderful talent and techniques to a reminder about just how packed full of lush stash the kit really was, not to mention the adorable Amy Tan herself… Her character is infectious, as is her laugh!

She chose to share some of her curve balls with us on that weekend, but her amazing and positively strong outlook on life gives others the feel good factor that Amy exudes so well!

Sadly for Georgia, today it is the funeral of her brother in law. He didn’t have enough ‘magic and sparkle’ in his life and felt there was no other way out…

Georgia has been crowd funding to raise money for his funeral. If you would like to make a donation, please visit his just giving page.

Think we would all benefit from a bit of Amy Tan ‘magic and sparkle’ in our lives… I know that I for one certainly felt blessed t have been in her company that weekend and can’t wait until our paths cross again!

Memories of a wonderful weekend….

It seems very hard to believe that this time last week we had arrived at Chateau Impney, were busy setting up for our Amy Tan weekend workshop.

Driving up to the Chateau still makes my skin tingle – it really is such an amazing building set in the heart of Worcestershire…

Amy really didn’t have much time in the UK at all – she flew into Heathrow on the Thursday, spent the day with Shimelle last Friday and then returned to London on Sunday and back to LA last Monday. That’s some serious travelling in such a short space of time!

The Saturday ladies…

And the Sunday ladies…

Mind you, we had plenty of time to get to know Amy, when we met her at Birmingham New Street Station last Friday! What an epic journey that was! We were mightily excited to meet Amy and had left in plenty of time. However we didn’t account for the standstill we found ourselves in the middle of in central Birmingham!

It was so bad that Sheena and Jackie resorted to jumping our of my car and walking directly around the standstill to get to New Street – crossing over a couple of roundabouts… comical now looking back!

I had managed to finally crawl to New Street station and after observing other cars do a three point turn right outside the main John Lewis New Street entrance, I threw down the gauntlet and joined in! Unlike some of the larger vehicles, ‘Betty’ my little Fiat 500 did her three point turn with very little effort!

We finally delivered a jet lagged Amy back to the Chateau at around 21.30. Fun, laughter and cocktails ensued with the fabulous Sarah and Lianne from Hey Little Magpie. They had bought their delicious ‘pop-up’ shop to the Chateau and this did not fail to disappoint causing a dent in many delegates pockets!

Still what would be a scraping workshop without copious amounts of fabulous scrapping stash?

Amy’s Hustle & Heart kit was rammed with delicious stash too, over £90 worth of goodies, so even after making four fabulous layouts and being introduced to a Travellers Notebook, there was masses of the kit left!

A truly fabulous weekend – what a memory!

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It’s Friday the 13th!

Is today your worst fear? Unless you suffer with Paraskevidekatriaphobia, today will be no different than any other day! Today is Friday 13th…

And if you suffer with a fear of the month of October, then I guess you could refer to yourself as suffering from Paraskevidekatriaphobia Shiyuephobia! Perhaps this stems from Halloween too?

Gotta love these words and embrace them. It’s like the irony of the word Dyslexic – a feat for anyone to spell, let alone anyone who suffers with the condition!

Considered unlucky by a lot of the population, some people suffer with Paraskevidekatriaphobia so badly that they won’t leave their homes today! Sounds like a good excuse to get your scrap on to me…

This fear stems from Triskaidekaphobia, which is to be afraid of the number 13.

You may notice that many hotels do not entertain a 13th floor? Hospitals avoid having rooms numbered 13. Theatres tend to miss out row number 13 as do airlines. In fact, Brussels Airlines received superstitious complaints about their logo, which used to feature 13 red dots (to save you counting them, there are now 14!)

There are thousands of phobias listed once you start looking for them and a few of them made me chuckle!

Gingerphobia is mentioned, so it seemed apt to include it, in light of Sheena’s hair colour LOL xoxo.

There is even a fear of Donald Trump’s hair!

Yes you heard that right – Trumptrichophobia is the fear of that famous combover!

Anyone who suffers with Mnemophobia should maybe consider taking up scrapbooking, as this is sadly the fear of memories…

Sadly, I can’t see how you could ever scrapbook if you suffer with Papyrophobia – the fear of paper…

And if any scrappers have ever suffered with Psalidiphobia, then I guess they don’t class a kraft knife in the same category as scissors!

Likewise, I’m sure any scrappers that suffer with Molyviphobia can always use another implement in place of a pencil…

Lastly, and I can sort of relate to this one is Koumpiphobia – the fear of buttons!

I don’t have a fear of buttons, but feel uneasy if I have to empty a can of baked beans, so most of my cans get stored in the cupboard upside down so that the juice rises to the base of the tin. Hey presto, when you open the can, they come out easily and I don’t have to use a spoon to get the last few out!

Do you have any fears? Why not share you fear, or better still why not scrapbook your fear – you never know it might help to set you on the route to being cured!

I got the ephemera tiger…

…which should be sung to the tune of the Katy Perry song “I got the eye of the tiger” LOL!

And you’re gonna hear us ROAR, because only yesterday, Amy Tan was finally able to send us an image of the kit for our forthcoming workshop with her at Chateau Impney, Worcestershire.

In case you hadn’t heard (where have you been in the world of scrapbooking?) but we have managed to secure the amazingly talented Amy to come over to the UK and teach on behalf of Birds of a Feather!

The kit image is still missing a few items but is already rammed with stash and has an RRP of over £80.

Amy is teaching four layouts as well as giving you an insight into a Travellers Notebook. And, if all goes according to plan she is also hoping to give a lesson in her iconic, hand painted script font!

Can you Adam and Eve it?

How adorable is the Hustle & Heart Ephemera?

And these 3D Stickers melt my heart – they are simply delightful!

Not to mention the Enamel Pins? What’s not to love about an enamel pineapple or typewriter…

Even the gorgeous, dinky suede effect bows are super cute – I’m guessing that there may be a few left over in the kit. I for one am totally glad about this as I would struggle to use them all up!

However, if I did I could always head straight to the Hey Little Magpie shop and buy another set!

If you didn’t know, the Hey Little Magpie shop will be on site at Chateau Impney! Such a bonus for our bank balance!

The kit so far contains:

7 patterned papers
1 gold die-cut paper
Cardstock
3D diamond wood veneer shapes
Layered sticker pack
Sticker book
Ephemera
Enamel pins
Glitter phrases
Inflated ephemera (think puffy stickers and you’re nearly there!)
Faux suede bows
Museum pins
Pom pom stickers

Reminds me of the Generation Game!

We do still have a couple of spaces left on both days, so why not come and ROAR with us?

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Is it too early to mention the C word?

Do you craft for Christmas or document your Christmas?

Have you already started getting organised?

Whilst out and about today I noticed that some Christmassy things are making their way into the shops in town! I know its September & its getting colder, but Christmas, really!!

You may not already know this but I made cards for years before turning to scrapbooking. So at this time of year, once the children were back at school I would set up shop on the kitchen table & make ALL our Christmas cards by hand. Usually making one design & reproducing it. Here are a few examples of Christmas cards I’ve made in the past. These days I only send a few to close family & friends.

More recently I’ve started making some of my Christmas gifts usually by quilting or crochet. A lot of time & love goes into them & people certainly like receiving handmade gifts. This was one of the first crochet gifts I made.

As a scrapbooker I like to record my christmases too. For many years I did my version of Journal my Christmas but since I started doing Project Life I didn’t feel the need to document our Christmases in 2 places. Here are a couple of pages from our Christmas last year. I particularly love how looking through PL brings back all the memories.

Do you make things for Christmas or document it each year? we would love to hear what you do x

Sheena x

What’s Your Crafting Journey …

Hi everyone, well this is a long with minimal photo blogpost today, I have tried to condense it the best I could, so I do hope you stay with me till the end!

We were recently contacted by a scrapbooker who was nervous about coming to one of our retreats on her own, and it got me thinking about my scrapbooking journey so far, and how it all started.

In 2006, I dipped my toe into card-making, attending a weekly workshop locally and loved my 2 hours a week crafting session. It’s at the same workshop that I met Julie, my best crafting buddy and my loveliest friend. After attending a ‘memory keeping’ class run by the lady who ran the card classes, I decided that I needed to find out more about this ‘thing’ called ‘scrapbooking’.

Sorry photograph not very good, but an early example of my card making!

So after purchasing several copies of Scrapbook Inspiration magazine and reading from cover to cover, I noticed a advert for a Retreat … a what ??? a Retreat … you mean people actually go away for a whole weekend and do pages of ‘memory keeping’ … WOW, now wouldn’t that be something …

Several chats to my hubby, and several times me saying ‘oh it’s not for me – but I really want to go’ etc., I eventually made the phone call to the organisers and booked it.

At this point, I hadn’t even done one page with any photographs on, let alone met anyone who had. So again back to the magazines to see if I could find a ‘crop’ … really ‘a crop’? I wondered what that would be like! Having found one locally to me, I went with my one packed bag, that contained everything I needed.

I went on my own not knowing what to expect, and said to myself if I don’t like it, I will stay an hour or so and come home… Honestly I could have stayed there all day and night, I loved it, and couldn’t wait till the following month to go again.

Then it was time to go to the ‘Retreat’… I was so nervous, but I knew I needed to find out what it was all about, and talk to people who had been doing ‘scrapbooking’ for a long time.

And the best of all, I would meet a designer who appeared in the Scrapbook Magazine that I was now subscribing to … I met Shimelle … what a lovely sweet person she is.

The ladies who ran this retreat were great in making me feel so welcome and then I worked out that there was a few other ladies who where there on their own as well, so we made a bee-line for each other and before long we were where chatting and laughing like we were old friends. One of these ladies was Sam, and we have been friends, crafting buddies and now business partners since that day in May 2008!

After the retreat, I decided that I needed to visit as many different crops/workshop as I could, just to see what was on offer, what others were doing, anything really, I just needed to get a ‘crafting fix’ every month. At one such crop/workshop I met Sheena. I was talking to someone about going to an upcoming retreat and Sheena said she was going to the same one. So another friendship was borne out of this crazy hobby called ‘scrapbooking’.

Photo taken in 2011 at a weekend friends retreat I’d organised in Shropshire.

Jump forward 9 years and now I’m on several design teams, I organise crafting weekend for a group of friends twice a year, and I’m a partner in a business that orgainses ‘Retreats’ … yes people actually stay in a hotel and craft all weekend … bliss.

I’ve made some amazing life long friends, some on-line friends, who I might not ever even meet as they are all around the UK and even abroad, but we all share this great love of scrapbooking.

One of my recent layouts

Its not all been plain sailing, and I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in getting this far, but I’ve kept going and I’m so glad I did.

This journey is one I’m so glad I took and looking forward to seeing where it will take me in the future.

Whats your journey?

Jackie xxxx

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Do you have these in your stash?

What is your most and least used tools?

When I first started out in scrapbooking I just armed myself with a pencil, scissors and glue and bought my 12 x 12″ paper from our local garden centre, the less said about that the better!!

But over the years I’ve amassed an array of fancy tools and gadgets designed for this hobby of ours and I have to be honest & say lots of them are now gathering dust.

Why has this happened?

Have the newer tools consigned the older ones to the scrap heap or is it more a case of out of sight, out of mind or new & shiny is the best…

If I had to list my top 5 used tools then my Silhouette Cameo would be one, two & three!! I do love the versitility of this machine and tend it use it to cut something for most of my scrapbook pages.

Also on my list would be my trusty old Big Shot. It seems to me that thin metal dies have made a come back even with so many electronic cutters on the market. I do like the crisp edges a metal die gives particularly to an intricate shape.

Also on my list would be my Guillotine for cutting 12 x 12″ paper as I like straight lines & after trying lots of trimmers, I prefer this sort of cutter.

So what do I own that I no longer use?

My fancy edged scissors have become an ornament, standing all bright & colourful in a pot! I could never get them to cut well, maybe its because I’m a left hander?

I have a gadget for binding mini books somewhere which I’m not totally sure why I bought it as I rarely make any sort of book!

When did I last set an eyelet? goodness knows & I’m not sure where I’d lay my hand on the setter tools either!

What tools do you use all the time or discarded along the way?

We’d love to hear from you x

Sheena x

This post is not sponsored by any product or manufacturer and all comments are the personal opinion of the author.

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