Seaside Sessions 2026 Recap: Departure Day (Sunday)

Seaside Sessions Sundays are departure days, filled with the flurry of packing, fond farewells, promises to stay in touch, and last walks along the seashore. We always marvel at the closeness developed over such a short time together; the sharing of knowledge, creative goodness, and the absolute joy fostered within our circle of like-minded women. Thank you to each of our Creative Explorers who made this 5th occurrence of Seaside Sessions so memorable.

We especially want to thank our photo documentarian and “Kitchen Maven Extaordinaire” Virginia Coleman for her cheerful and able assistance before, during, and after; always ready to lend a hand, an ear, or a chopping knife (!)
...she helped make the magic happen and we couldn’t have done it without her!

As we said our last goodbyes, we gave each Creative Explorer a ‘go bag’ chock full of goodies for the road, along with their copy of the group photo magnet from the eventful (occasionally hilarious) photo shoot of the day before. This year’s bags matched the iridescence of the tote bags—year 5 swag was truly shiny & bright!

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…and just like that, it was all over. But what a time we had! From beginning to end, this extended weekend was loaded with surprises and discovery. It’s amazing how quiet this big ol’ house gets once everyone has taken their leave,

Michelle & I enjoyed a fruity beverage and a few minutes on the deck to look back at an incredible weekend. As evidenced by my “toasty complexion,” a few minutes may have lasted a little while. After which, it was time to return the house to its “pre-retreat” condition…. It nearly seems a different place!

After a good run at packing up, moving furniture, and stacking things for removal we were ready for some good dinner (that none of us had a hand in making!). A quick visit to VK Pho and we were well set to finish the work of preparing for our own departure.

One last sunrise, the removal of all of our winged decor, one last load down in the elevator, heading home with less than we brought with us, and finally our traditional “leaving photo.” As Michelle has done, I too want to thank the infinitely generous and helpful hands of Virginia Coleman. Her contributions to this event are too many to name and we are ever grateful for each of them.

With that we will leave you. We are thankful for those who have filled the circle once again and hope that our creative paths cross again soon. Our sights have already turned toward Seaside Sessions 2027 and beyond (!) - we will have news to share on that front shortly. For just a moment more, let’s linger with the memories that we made this year….

Until next time,
Michelle & Penny

Seaside Sessions 2026 Recap: Arrival, Preparation, and Opening Night Arty Party

It’s hard to believe that just one month ago, we welcomed ten Creative Explorers to our haven by the sea. In this next series of blog posts, we’ll highlight some of the magic moments we shared during our 5th anniversary Seaside Sessions retreat.
Of course, getting to our beloved oceanfront house takes months of planning, preparation, and packing—here’s just some of what was packed into my car (I’m amazed at all it can hold!).

Upon arrival, we gazed out onto the ocean, and were rewarded with the briefest rainbow: we heralded it as a good omen for a wonderful time ahead for sure.

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny, albeit a bit chilly (it warmed up each of the following days, which was wonderful). As the Creative Explorers began to arrive in the afternoon, there were excited shouts of welcome, warm hugs, introductions, as well as oohs and aahs over our spectacular ocean view. After everyone had settled in, we assembled for our first gathering which featured two reveals: this year’s handmade book project, and the presentation of a secret gift to commemorate our 5th anniversary!
Unbeknownst to Penny, I had been working on a special project: a photo album filled with pictures taken at all of our Seaside Sessions retreats from 2020 to 2025. Thanks to Virginia Coleman and Jill Trescott, I was able to include images of many special and memorable moments from those years. Of course, I had to find just the right album (had to be square format, had to be blue, had to have a cut out on the cover so our logo could be inserted), and the search ended successfully in an English Etsy seller’s store!
The photo album was a great surprise, and we all enjoyed looking, exclaiming, and reminiscing about creative adventures past.

Then, it was on to our Bohemian Feast! Penny raised a glass to toast us all at the start of our “Big Artventure”. As we dined on a variety of healthy and savory treats we talked about ideas to make our books personal, and caught up with our lives since we’d last seen each other.

After the feast, Penny demonstrated how to assemble the unusual but versatile substrate for our books: folded brown paper bags! I confess that when she suggested this last fall, I was initially doubtful. Our Creative Explorers were probably a bit skeptical too, but by the end of the week, they were believers…but that’s getting ahead of our story. For the rest of the evening everyone searched for images, patterns, textures, and words in books and magazines, resulting in some surprising and wonderful finds to get them started on what would become an amazing bookmaking journey.

The creative journey would continue the next day, and to get ready, we all welcomed a good night’s rest, lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of the sea…

Next up, Penny will share the creative magic and merriment that were her Thursday Studio Sessions!

Stay tuned.
Until next time,
Michelle

Another Great Time Was Had By All (pt. 4)

As our time together was winding down, our final day was dedicated to our newest tradition (est. 2023) The Saturday Salon. During this deep dive into the business side of art, Michelle and Penny answer any and all questions on myriad subjects related to the aspects of art beyond its initial creation: marketing, sourcing materials, pricing, website creation, online sales, in person sales, and more…. Questions are addressed in a round-table manner, allowing everyone to benefit from the experiences of their fellow Creative Explorers as well as their Hosts. Another way in which we are able to be in community with one another and expand our circles.

V. Coleman shares with fellow Creative Explorers

After a final lunch (another beloved tradition: Leftover-palooza), thoughts turned to finishing up our various projects and a final round of creative “what-ifs.” Women, many of whom had only just met three days ago, chatted and worked alongside one another as old friends while music provided a background to laughter and conversation.

A quiet moment

As the night wound down and projects wrapped up, our thoughts turned to the next days departure…

…and on Sunday morning, we said farewell. Bags were packed with snacks for travel and final mementos of our time together. We sent our Creative Explorers homeward with new techniques to make their own, new friendships to treasure, and new memories to savor.

Seaside Sessions Class of 2024

Until next time….

…and just like they say in the movies: That’s a wrap! We cherish the opportunity to be surrounded by such incredible women for 4 days each March. While we revel in the memories of every year, we constantly have an eye toward “what’s next?” If you are wondering the same thing, stay tuned!

Now that we have had a chance to look back at 2024, we are full-steam-ahead toward 2025 - and it will be here before we know it. Stick around for some behind-the-scenes looks at what we have in store for Seaside Sessions 2025. We’ll be back soon with that and a few more surprise announcements. Remember: space is limited at our haven by the sea, only 7 spots remain. You can snag yours by visiting the Our Events tab (above) & registering today!

Join us for mixed media magic, memory making, and treasure seeking in Surf City, NC - March 19-23, 2025!

Seaside Sessions 2024: Another Great Time Was Had by All! (pt. 2)

On our 1st full day, we rose shortly after the sun to enjoy coffee and breakfast together before spending the day with Penny and the wonders of gel plate mono-printing toward the goal of creating Flag Books. In addition to the desired beautiful weather, it would appear that the dolphins got the memo, too - treating us to a show as they too enjoyed breakfast & frolicking to begin the day.

After a glorious morning and afternoon of creating with wild abandon, our Creative Explorers then assembled their various prints and tags into a colorful and kinetic Flag Book - a veritable (Mini) Encyclopedia of Gel Printing Techniques. Revelatory exclamations ensued. Our good times continued through the evening with a delicious dinner and Open Studio time into the night. Music and laughter filled our lovely (albeit temporary) home by the sea….

A Circle of Happy Makers and Their Creations

Join us again tomorrow for a look back at Day 3 and our 2nd full day of Studio Session fun with Michelle as our self proclaimed “Year of the Gel Plate” continues!