Invitation: Bloggers' Crafting Weekend in November!

Dear Blog Friends,

For such a long time, we have all been blogging, following each others' blogs, chatting, e-mailing - even phoning each other, or occasionally meeting one or other of our "Blog Friends" when we happen to be nearby... 
But, wouldn't it be great, if we could all meet up some time?  Now, it may not be practical for those on the other side of the Atlantic, or "Down Under", to make it to the UK, but for anyone who's a bit closer and may be able to find a spare weekend....

Jo and I would like to invite you to a Bloggers' Crafting Weekend.
 
Where/When?

It will be held at the YHA hostel in Coalport, Ironbridge, Shropshire. 

The dates are Friday 25th November (around lunchtime), to Sunday 27th November (till tea-time if you want!). 

The Basics

We can offer you a comfy, clean bed at the hostel, for the Friday and Saturday nights, in 4-bedded rooms, shared with others from our group.  We would use the hostel's general showers and loos - from experience, YHA hostels are always kept clean!

The hostel will provide us with Friday and Saturday's Dinners and our breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday.  The meals are supposed to be very nice and dinner is 3 courses.  (My personal experience of YHA catering is that it was really quite good, though I've never stayed at Coalport hostel).

We will have our own Craft Room (aka the hostel's classroom), for the three days, from Friday to Sunday, where we can meet up, do some crafting stuff - bring your own pet projects, maybe have a bookbinding mini-workshop, chat, drink tea/coffee, eat cake... just have a good time together. 

Extra Info

Afternoon Out
We thought it might be nice to arrange a trip out, to a local museum or other attraction(s), since we'll be at Ironbridge and also right next to all the old potteries etc.  Crafting 24/7 might be a bit much, so perhaps a change of scenery would be fun?  We can look at possibilities and make more plans on this a bit closer to the weekend. If anyone has a favourite, feel free to let us know!

Lunches
We will probably ask each person to contribute something towards our lunches, since we're not asking the hostel to do these (they would give us packed lunches - I think we could enjoy a "bring-and-share" type of lunch each day, or even get our lunch out on Saturday... anyway, we can do better than a "packed lunch"!).

The Money and Stuff

How do you organise your "place" at this amazing weekend? And won't it cost a lot of money?

Well, I contacted the hostel and have provisionally made a booking, for 6 - 8 people, plus the classroom.  This is being held for me until next Friday (23rd September), when I will need to Pay for It!!
I'm happy to pay up-front initially, but would obviously like to recoup my costs (no profit will be made by me!). 

Price
The cost of 2 nights, half-board - as above - with use of our Craft Room from Friday lunchtime, will be £63.40. 
If you are a YHA Member, please take your Membership Card with you, so that you can show it when you check in... 
Non-Members will pay a £3 per night supplement (meaning you will need to give the hostel an additional £6 when you check in).  This seems the easiest way to deal with the issue of who is/is not a member. 

Any Extra Costs?
The only additional costs would be for trips out, extra meals, shopping etc...  Also, if you would like to join in with a bookbinding session (if I can set it up), I'd ask for the cost price of any materials I supplied you (again, no profit for me, but I'd like to cover my costs). 

* * *

Hopefully you will all think this is amazingly great and brilliant value, for a whole weekend of Meeting Friends, Gossip, Fun and potential Scrapping and Crafting Opportunities!  

It would be great if I needed to ask the hostel for another room, when I call on Friday to confirm our booking! 

What Now?

To Reserve Your Place, please e-mail either me (lizziemade /at/ aol/ dot/ com), or Jo (josowerby / at/ yahoo / dot/ co/ dot/ uk), with your personal details (your "real name", address, phone no  - in case of queries/emergency), also your Paypal account e-mail, if you want me to invoice you from Paypal; otherwise I will contact you to tell you where to post a cheque. 

I'm afraid full payment will be needed up-front - £63.40 - as I will pay for the whole "block" booking at once (which will be around £380-£400 for me). 

* * *

Also, if you think you might fancy some sort of mini-workshop on Bookbinding, please say so - and whether there's something you'd especially like to learn. If I can, I will organise something - and if you want to join in, then you'd be welcome.

* * *
When you e-mail - or later on, if you want - you could give us some idea of how you will travel to Coalport. 

• If you come by car, there is parking available for you at the hostel.
• If you are using public transport, there's a rail station and a bus/coach station at Telford, which is nearby - we may be able to arrange some sort of "Group Taxi" to meet folks arriving at Telford on the Friday.  Otherwise, the hostel website gives details of local transport facilities.
• And if you're coming by car and think you can pick up a blog-friend on your way, please mention it - they may be happy to lift-share!!  

This is not essential, especially right now, but if you would like a lift from Telford, it would be good to know in advance, so we can see if we can help.

* * *

Well, I think that covers it.... Shout if I missed anything essential!  Do feel free to e-mail, if you have any queries at all. 

Lizzie and Jo!