An album retreat is one of the most fun events we get to host at Close To My Heart! Over the span of a few days, we create the pages of a beautiful scrapbook album alongside a community of crafters who share a love and passion for this style of memory keeping. What could be more fun than a bunch of crafty ladies from all over the country (and globe!) getting together for days of welcomed artistic instruction and conversation? (In our books, not much! 
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Our very first Album Retreat for 2024 is coming up in early March. Members of our Home Office team—and a couple of special guest hosts—will go through the step-by-step process of creating the layouts of an entire scrapbook album. That’s 11 two-page 12″ x 12″ layouts, a total of 22 pages, over the course of three days!
We pride ourselves in making all our Album Retreats chock-full of artistic techniques for our participants, and March’s artwork is no exception! Every layout of our upcoming Album Retreat showcases at least one stamping, paper cutting, paper embellishing, ink blending, or interactive-element-building technique!
To join us this March, simply purchase the March 2024 Album Retreat Bundle, which includes the papers, stickers, exclusive stamp sets, Thin Cuts dies, embossing folders, and additional embellishments needed to create the album. There is no separate registration fee!
As we get closer to the event, everyone who purchased a bundle will be emailed an invitation to join a private Facebook group where the retreat will be hosted virtually.
One of the perks to hosting a retreat virtually is that once the feed is no longer live, Facebook saves the videos so you can return to watch them repeatedly at your own pace and at your convenience!
The retreat will be live March 6–8, from 2:00 pm to approximately 8:30 pm (MST) each day. (That’s 7–9 March, 6:00 am–12:30 pm AEST for our friends in Australia and New Zealand.)
The last day to order the retreat bundle is February 7, and that day is coming up fast! Mark your calendars if you haven’t ordered your bundle already!
Get a closer look at March’s Album Retreat artwork by clicking through the individual thumbnails below.
As you look through the artwork, you may recognize a couple of faces in the photos that we haven’t seen in a while. We are excited to have Jill Broadbent and Kristina Livingstone join us, once again, as guest hosts at this upcoming retreat! We have missed having them as regular contributors to our live events and look forward to catching up with them as they help guide us through this incredible album. After all, spending time crafting with friends is one of the many reasons we love events like Album Retreat!
We want everyone to have a chance to participate, so we are doing something extra special today and giving away one FREE Album Retreat product bundle! That means that the lucky winner will not only get a bundle of select and exclusive products, but they will also have access to the private virtual retreat hosted on Facebook in March!!
For an entry into this contest, there are two requirements: First, you must be subscribed to this blog (Yes, we will check!). Second, share this post on Facebook with the hashtag #ctmhlivinginthemoment. That’s it! You have from now until 3 pm (MST) on January 31 (7 am (AEST) on 1 February) to enter to win. The winner will be notified via email on February 1.
If you’re reading this and have already purchased an Album Retreat bundle, try to win the retreat for a friend! These types of events are a great way to invite others to learn about and fall in love with the art of scrapbooking!
