It seems like every year summer vacation goes by a little bit faster. It’s back to school planning time already and before you know it fall and Christmas will be right around the corner. Before time gets away from you how about spending a weekend working on those scrapbook pages from last school year? Or maybe you want to get a jump start on those Christmas card for this year and not have to do them last minute again!

Our August Hosted Weekend Retreat on the 22nd - 24th still has plenty of room. Come and spend time doing what you love before summer slips away! You don’t even have to make meals… I do it all for you!! Stay up as late as you want without any interruptions. Leave everything out and don’t worry about the kids getting into your things. Try out a few new tools or look at a new idea book. Or maybe just take some time to relax in the great northwoods. Don’t forget the great craft shopping in the area either!

Look here for more details on our currently scheduled Hosted Weekends and other specials.

The September 12th - 13th Hosted Weekend has room for two more yet. If you’re thinking about it contact me soon!

If you are interested in a different weekend in September, remember we are offering 30% off our regular weekend rates. You only need a minimum of three people to book your own weekend retreat. You may have the retreat to yourselves or be sharing with another small group.

Now is the time to take a look at your calendars and see what dates work for you. Before you know it, life gets too busy and you aren’t able to schedule your own getaway weekend. Book something now and have a weekend at the retreat to look forward to this fall!

Here is a fun group picture taken on the deck.

Some of the gals have already booked for the August and September weekends as well!

If you are thinking about reserving your spot for September 12 - 14th you better hurry! I only have four spots left. August is another option also, it’s the 22 - 24th. I’m sure that one will be just as popular. For more information please visit the What’s New page of our site.

I have more pictures as promised!

This is our new sign!! It’s on the corner of the driveway on Walck Road.

The grass has been really growing and filling in nice.

We planted a few small shrubs in front of the house.

The lawn is coming along really well in the backyard. This is the lower driveway where you can unload into the craftroom.

The deer and squirrels like to come through back here looking for acorns.

The deck is shaded for a good portion of the day, making it great for taking a break or eating meals at.

Fall will be here before you know it. Will you have your Christmas projects, gifts or cards finished in time?? Stay with us for a fall weekend getaway and have plenty of uninterrupted time to get them completed! Contact me for your reservations soon as fall weekends are very popular.

Have a great week!

I know it’s been awhile. Summer months keep everyone so busy and the same goes for us. There have been some changes at the retreat. We now have the landscaping completed!! I’ll share a few pictures of the work in progress at the end of this post. The wireless internet is also up and running!

Tomorrow I’ll be heading up to the retreat for the first Hosted Weekend. I’m really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces and a few new ones too! We only have space for 5 more people at our September weekend so if you are interested please reserve your spot soon.

Because of the great response to our Hosted Weekends we are adding another one this summer!

August 22rd - 24th    $100/person plus taxes ($25 deposit)

Check in Friday at 1:00 Check out on Sunday at 1:00

Registration Form

On our Hosted Weekends I do all the cooking and clean up!! Which gives you more time to craft, who doesn’t want that!  You’ll be treated to homecooked meals, snacks, coffee, milk and bottled water. Feel free to bring along anything else you wish! I hope to meet more of you then!

Now for some new pictures.

Stump grinding, that was cool to watch!

Spreading some piles of black dirt.

Raking in the grass seed.

Spreading straw over everything, what a mess.

Almost finished with the backyard.

Finishing along the driveway.

Now I have a couple of pictures of someone we saw snooping around one morning…

Dale saw a turkey last week too! 

Next week I’ll post pictures of our new green grass. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get some rain!)

Have a great weekend!

We have added two galleries full of pictures of the retreat. You can find them on our Home Page. The Retreat gallery has many pictures of what the place looks like now that it’s finished. We also have a Crafting gallery that shows the retreat in use.

Please take a few minutes and take a look.

Also, I have updated our What’s New page with our current smoking hot summer specials! You don’t want to miss out on our great introductory rentals this summer.

If you are interested in attending a hosted weekend you are in luck to. The weekends of July 11th-13th and Sept 12th-14th will reserved for a hosted weekend. This is a great way to come and try us out.

You will be treated to wonderful home cooked meals and snacks. No need to take time out of your stay to cook or clean up! Meals include Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and Sunday brunch.

I hope to see you soon at Tall Oaks Retreat.

WOW!! We had a wonderful group of people for our Open House!! 

I am so thankfull for everyone who stopped in to take a look and those who crafted with us for the weekend. I had a great time showing everyone around and talking with you all. I was able to meet so many new people and got a chance to do a little crafting myself, too!

Here is our Saturday group.

We had several different groups all staying together over the weekend. It was so much fun to see all the different styles, paper and tool preferences and how much some of us pack for a day of scrapping. Being able to unload right into the craftroom was great.

Everyone was hard at work. They did stop to take a break and grab a snack or drink once in awhile though!

Here is our computer corner with all in one printer/scanner/photo printer.

Everyone was hard at work doing a variety of projects. Lots of scrapping, some beading and stamping too.

We also had some delicious meals and munchies.

Before everyone had to leave on Sunday we had our prize drawing. Congrats to Stephanie from Wausau for winning a free weekend stay!!

Here are some of the things people had to say after the weekend.

"Thank you for a wonderful stay. The home is beautiful and very comfortable. I look forward to my next visit!"

Marilyn - Green Bay

"Simply put the Retreat ROCKS! Everything this die hard scrapper could ask for and so much more."

Kari - Wausau

"The house is beautiful. This was my first time at an overnight retreat, and it won’t be my last. I can’t wait to come back!"

Kim- Schofield

"You have thought of everything- all details were taken care of. I wish you every sucess with this venture & hope to bring back a big group!"

Lee- DePere

 I want to thank Amy from A Page In Time  for donating some really awesome page kits for prizes. I also want to say thanks to Jeanne and Sandy from The Scrapbook Studio in Wausau and Lynne from The Baker’s Wife scrapbook store for giving us such a warm welcome to the Northwoods.

Thank you all for coming and sharing in our Open House. I hope to see you all again soon!

Well our Open House is coming up fast!! I still have a few openings for anyone interested in staying overnight with us either Friday or Saturday night. Just email or call and I can get you signed up!!

If you will be in the area and just want to stop by and say Hi that’s great too! Stop in between 11:00 and 3:00 and sign up for our prize drawing, take a look at our facility and grab a snack, too! If you need directions click on our Contact Us page.

We have been hard at work getting everything ready. The furniture and appliance have all arrived, the craftroom is all set up, and the rooms are ready!! Our landscaping will just have to wait for a few weeks yet. We had a hard frost just this last weekend!! The weather for this weekend looks pretty good right now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way. The deck and patio are all complete so I hope we get a chance to enjoy them.

If you aren’t able to join us next weekend, please come back here and take a look at the pictures from the Open House. I’ll be sure to take a bunch to share with you!

Also I want to remind everyone of our Grand Opening Special.  I hope you will be able to take advantage of that great rate.

Now on to the update.

Things have been moving along quite nicely.

Not much has changed on the outside that you can see, but we hope to get the concrete poured by the end of next week. Keeping our fingers crossed that it all works out. Then we can get the driveway gravelled too.

This the front door and corner of the greatroom. The flooring is all in now along with the cabinets. I really like how the hickory looks.

This is a better look at the kitchen area. The island will have seating for three. We have two counter height dining tables that each seat eight people too. The granite counter will be installed the end of next week and the appliances soon after. I can’t wait to see it all together!

This is the other side of the greatroom. The stairs to the craftroom are behind the halfwall and the hallway leads to the three upper bedrooms and baths.

This is the view back down the hall.

The craftroom is in the lower level and has a small wet bar area. There will be a fridge there also. All of the craft tables are from Ikea (Vika Amon 5′) and waiting to be assembled. The leather office chairs are in too! They will be very comfortable and adjustable.

Another view of the craftroom. The corner by the window will have the computer desk and printer.

There are three windows and a set of French doors in addition to the fluorescent and can lights. There will be plenty of light for all crafts.

The last picture is of one of the lower bedrooms. The Walnut room.

That  is all I have to share for now!! Please stop by for our Open House if you are in the area!

We are pleased to invite you to our

After months of planning and construction we are

getting ready to open our doors!

        We welcome you to stay with us either Friday May 30th or Saturday May 31st and experience all that we have to offer, for FREE! Overnight space is limited so please call and reserve your spot soon! All you need to bring are your projects to work on and your personal items, we will take care of the rest! Or if you are short on time, stop by during our open house hours from 11 am - 3 pm Fri. Sat. or Sun. and check us out.

~ Call now to reserve your spot for our Open House Weekend ~

I have some new pictures to share!!

The garage doors are finally up and they are putting the second coat of stain on the siding.

 The kitchen is really looking nice! The painter will be finished this week then start on staining the windows next week.

 This is a view of the master bathroom. I love this nice sage green wall color!

I know it’s been awhile since I have updated you all on the progress… the last three weeks the drywallers have been working. When they are there, not much else goes on until that process is complete. And it is!! Yeah!!

Thursday the painter started working on the walls and today the vinyl in the bathrooms was put in. The finish carpenters have also started putting in all the cabinets and the pine ceiling in the greatroom. It’s been a few weeks since I was able to get up there, but Saturday I’ll be there taking pictures of all the new stuff and I’ll share those with you as soon as I can!!

Have you checked out our What’s New page?? You really should!! (Hint Hint) I think you might like it!

Plans for the Open House are going well. It’s May 30 - June 1st! I have a few more details to work out before posting all the information on that. For now, just keep that weekend available if you are interested in coming and checking out everything we have been working on so hard for you.

I have gotten a few more tools in also. First off, a new Dell computer and monitor are here for the craftroom. I still need to get the printer, that is next on the list.

    The Curvy Cutter and glass cutting mat are in. We have the round, oval and rounded square templates.

The Tonic 12" guillotine paper trimmer!!

  I’m sure I’ll be adding in a few more things here and there as we go. But I wanted to share with you the major items that will be available for your use.

TGIF!!

Hope you have a great weekend!