We are back from the 10th Annual Crafty Chica Cruise! I think this was the best cruise yet. 50 of us left out of San Pedro, California and spent seven nights and eight days cruising, crafting, shopping, eating, dancing, and sipping cocktails! Some of us even did yoga, ziplined, swam with dolphins, cliff dived and more. Some of us ended up on a cattle wagon attached to a tractor to get to the beach (more on that later!).
I’m so happy I decided to do these art cruises again. It always turns out to be the highlight of my year. I love seeing the returning cruisers and catching up with them, and meeting the new cruisers and getting to hang out and share creativity. I love hearing each cruiser’s story about how they found out about the event. Some from my site, others from a random friend. Some people come to have a vacay with a long distance friend, some it’s even a last wish/bucket list goal. Some come on behalf of a loved one who can’t make it. Others it’s about self-discovery, taking a break away from daily life to pamper themselves. They come from all over the world! This is the exact reason I keep the cruise at 50 people, it allows me to connect with each and every person.
Check out (L-R) Ann, Corky, and Alisa. They were on the very first Crafty Chica Cruise and they have been coming ever since, give or take a cruise or two. It blows my mind that so many of us have become friends, wait, not just friends, but amigas. All for our love for crafting.
Corky has become a family member to everyone on every cruise she attends. She told me she found about about the cruise in 2006 when I had placed an ad in Somerset Studio Magazine. At that time, we had no budget, I shaved off grocery money from our weekly budget in order to pay the $200 for the ad, hoping we’d get enough people to make it happen. She said she did a double take when she read “Crafty Chica Creativity Cruise” and Latino crafts. I’m so happy she saw the ad, because look!
I love these chicas dearly!
Here’s how it all happens: I work with my travel agent to pick the ports, length and cruiseline. The deciding factor is where we can secure the conference room for the duration of the trip. The conference room becomes our crafty headquarters, our home base. Then I set up the price, the discounts. I then wait until January at the CHA convention (craft and hobby trade show) to scout out the awesome new craft products. I work with the manufacturers to sponsor the workshops and swag bags. It’s a win/win for everyone, I love to promote the brands I love!. And I’ve found the cruisers are very appreciative and supportive of the companies. Then I come up with the workshops, some are project-based, others technique. I have a supply coordinator and two volunteers to help facilitate everything. I have to send in a detailed list of supplies to the cruise line and then the day of sailing, we drive all the boxes to the port, label them and pray as they get loaded on the ship. Then I hold my breath and walk to the conference room to configure the space, line the floor with plastic and tape, set up the tables and tablecloths, trash cans, you name it! It’s all worth it once people arrive and I see their faces light up!
Giveaway – one of the treats of the cruise is the amazing Crafty Chica Art Cruise Prize Pack! I have THREE to give away! They not only come with the goodies in the bag, but also some supplies from each workshop. You can enter at the bottom of the post! Giveaway ends May 12th, 2016. US residents only.
This is what the supply storage looked like before we started. Lizzy from Inspira served as project manage of all these goodies!
One of the traditions that started organically is that the cruisers made little welcome gifts to trade. Here are a few of them!
And the awesome team from J3CustomPrints sponsored the Crafty Chica Art Cruise T-shirts! The cruisers ended up coloring, glittering and even embroidering these! I highly recommend their services, we sent in the artwork and they had the shirts done in two days! The ink was evenly screened, bright and crisp designs!
Origami Owl sent each cruiser a chain, a locket and a charm!
OttLite sent an array of lamps to give as prizes, including this biggie!
This was exciting! A new company actually launched while we were on the cruise and they sent each cruiser a sample item! It’s a perfume subscription service called PhlyrtBox.com!
Gorgeous sacred hearts from Relics and Artifacts by Sandra Evertson!
Clearsnap sent these beautiful and bright inkpads!
Bisque Imports sponsored a mosaic class!
I’ll post my pictures from Mexico in another post, as well as each tutorial with all the other sponsors!
I couldn’t do this cruise if it weren’t for the product sponsors, everyone was so gracious! I’ll have a tutorial for each workshop, so stay tuned!
Relics & Artifacts – http://sandraevertson.com
Bisque Imports – bisqueimports.com
Canvas Corps – canvascorpbrands.com
Clearsnap – clearsnap.com
Darice – Darice.com or ConsumerCrafts.com
DecoArt – decoart.com
Fiskars – http://fiskars.com #fiskars
Fuchila Fresheners – fuchilafresheners.com
HP – myprintly.com
HSN – http://www.hsn.com/products/project-life-salsa-bundle/10070655
iLoveToCreate – ilovetocreate.com
J3 Custom Prints – J3CustomPrints.com
JesseJamesBeads – jessejamesbeads.com/
Latina Strong – latinastrong.org
Michaels Stores – michaels.com
Neutrogena – neutrogena.com #ChooseSkinHealth
Phlyrt Box http://phlyrtbox.com/
Plaid Enterprises- plaidcrafts.com
Origami Owl – origamiowl.com
Ott Lite – https://www.facebook.com/OttLite/
Papel n Co – http://papeplnco.com
Project Life – http://beckyhiggins.com/project-life/
Royal Brush – art.royalbrush.com
Sabor Papel – saborpapel.com
Sizzix – sizzix.com
Social Artworking – http://social-artworking.com/designs
The Crafter’s Workshop – thecraftersworkshop.com
Tombow – tombowusa.com
Walnut Hollow – walnuthollow.com
Workman Publishing – workman.com
ENTER BELOW: Note – if you have trouble with the Rafflecopter app, simply leave a comment below and I’ll count that as an entry. Just mentioned that you followed the prompts. Thanks!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I soo wish I could have gone! I will be on the next one….your are going to do more, right!???? Miss all of you!
Barbara Shrum
I am almost drooling with envy!! What a great trip! If wishes were horses….
What a great, inspired post! I went right over to sizzix to order the dies but see they are not available till Sept!!!!!!!! Put my name on the wish list.
Wow! I am adding your cruise to my bucket list!
Gosh, and I missed this!?
Oh my gosh what a blast!
what a great and creative trip!
Hi Kathy, remember when you guys screenprinted the t-shirts in your craft room?! Good times…LOL! Thank you for another wonderful cruise!!!
Wow that looks amazing & how generous of all those people. But then you are the BEST! Someday I want to come & play.
Corky is a dear friend of my family’s. My mom & her mom were best friends. She told me about you years ago and have been following you ever since. It has been a dream of mine to take my best friend on your cruise. Maybe one day when I win the lotto ;-). Thank you for being you.
Looking forward to your next cruise as I would love to join.
Sorry but I do not tweet, my bones creak a little when I walk but I don’t tweet yet.
I want to go on the next one!
not sure the other worked, so here’s my message. I love the range of products. Would love to try them.