I spent my long weekend at a cross stitch retreat—Thursday through Sunday—and knew I couldn’t go that long without building something. I wanted something small and portable, so I grabbed two Rolife kits: the Muse Bookshop and the Aromatic Coffee Cart.
I finished the Muse Bookshop Friday morning, and it was such a hit. There were about 30 people at the retreat, and honestly, I think every single person came up to my table at some point to look at it. I’d work on my cross stitch for a bit, then look over and see someone admiring the kit. It was so cool to see everyone mesmerized by such a small build.
Friday afternoon, I started the Aromatic Coffee Cart and wrapped it up by Friday evening into Saturday morning. I left both kits sitting out on my table for the rest of the weekend, and the interest didn’t stop. People kept coming back to look at them, ask questions, and just enjoy how they turned out.
The funny thing about packing light? I didn’t bring all my usual tools and supplies from home. I made do with scissors that weren’t ideal and only packed one type of glue—because I honestly didn’t think these kits would need glue. Spoiler alert: everything needs glue. Thankfully, I didn’t break any pieces in the process, and both builds came out beautifully.
Both kits traveled home safely. The builds inspired a couple of retreat attendees to sign up for my first ambassador meetup in May. Combined with word-of-mouth, friends, and people who found my Eventbrite post, I’m now at 13 of 18 spots registered. I’m really hoping most of them will actually show up! This whole experience has me thinking—weekend miniature kit building events would be such a fun way to bring people together around the hobby too.
@Kim_Kieffer thats fab more people have signed up im sure its going to be great ! I enjoyed the muse bookshop its a nice little build ! Xx:smiling_face_with_three_hearts:
I used to enjoy needlepoint work as well. What a fun little retreat! I am so happy that your event is almost full. I will be looking forward to seeing your pictures of the event later.
I have 4 a year I regularly attend, but this year my daughter and I scored spots at StitchCon so will be attending 5 in 2026. It was super nice to see all the people.
Wow~ It really, really catches the eye, and you’ve chosen such a lovely kit for the long weekend . You also reminded me that my cross-stitch is only halfway finished and currently sitting frozen in my craft box
What a fantastic way to combine your love for cross stitch and building Rolife kits. The Muse Bookshop must have been quite the conversation starter among your retreat friends. Kudos for finishing the Aromatic Coffee Cart so quickly, your portable builds clearly brought joy and admiration to everyone around you.
Your builds look amazing despite lack of tools @Kim_Kieffer
And I didn’t know there’s such retreats. Do you get to sleep together with fellow hobbyist? Was there a fee? I’m curious. We don’t get those kind of retreats in our country.
@Jill_Francisco this particular retreat the group rented out a youth camp that’s can normally hold 30 kids. It had a large common area which is where we set up and did our crafting or ate our meals and then it had a dozen very tiny little rooms with a few bunk beds in them. My daughter went with me so we shared a room and we got brunch and dinner as part of our package. yes there definitely is a fee -usually to cover the food and or lodging.
It’s so nice that through simple builds, we can connect to others even on strangers. I’m happy to know that a lot of people had registered on your first meetup event.
It really, really catches the eye, and you’ve chosen such a lovely kit for the long weekend 
. You also reminded me that my cross-stitch is only halfway finished and currently sitting frozen in my craft box 