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photo courtesy of Jonnyfez (flickr)
Well, my swaps and gifties are done, packaged and packed with my supplies, ready for my second annual trip to Silver Bella in Omaha, Nebraska. I have two more days of work before I will be "winging" my way to the heartland of America to meet all the girlies for the ultimate "girl's weekend"!!! I can't wait. I'll share a couple of sneak peeks of my swap packages and gifties, but, you'll have to wait for the full reveal when I return!
Although my girls are now grown and out on their own, I wanted to share a couple of favorite Halloween pictures from past years with you.
Shannon and Allison - Halloween 1990ish....
This was one of my favorite costumes...Shannon and her best friend, Melinda, were a pair of dice!
Allison, the Scarecrow and Shannon, as a bag of M & M's.
Wishing you and your family a safe, but fun Halloween! I know my husband and I will be cheering on the USC Trojans as they battle Oregon tonight. Fight on, Trojans!!!
(photo courtesy of Holly Stinnett)
What a wonderful surprise, when my friends, Kim and Jessi gave me this gorgeous Pillow for my birthday, created by the fabulous Holly Stinnett. What a treasure...it is breathtaking and matches my colors in my living room perfectly (of course, as Kim knew exactly what to do!). I was really touched that they would take the time to commission this pillow to be made for little 'ol me! Thank you again, Kim & Jessi...I am truly blessed to have you two girls in my life! Let me share just a couple of pics from our fun day at Rogers Gardens, Sprinkles and Fashion Island.
Girls gone wild...shopping style!
I apologize for being such a "bad" blogger, but, life seems to just happen and before you know it, its been weeks since your last blog post. I've been busy prepping my swaps and gifts for Silver Bella. As of this morning, swaps are DONE, wrapped and ready to go! Whew...that's a relief! Our youngest daughter will be coming home from New York soon, so I am trying to get things in order around here...its amazing how I have taken over her walk in closet AND her dresser. I guess I'd better clear things out before she gets here in just over a week! Bye!
Last week on the anniversary of my birth (aka, My Birthday), I made the daily trek to the mailbox (which is actually just one house away), and, what a surprise!! There was an advance copy of Somerset Life Fall 09 issue waiting for me. Now, anyone that has been published in any of the Stampington magazines knows that an advance copy means......you have something published in there. Now, this is a first for me and it is just a little wrapping item I did, but I was SO excited to see it in print AND it has its own page! So, when you pickup your issue that comes out on October 1st, check out page 32 for little 'ol me! Not only was that exciting, but my dear friend Kim has a full article on her Artistic Affaire event AND another page dedicated to one of her adorable burlap projects. Thank you so much for putting up with this shamelous self promotion, but you have no idea how thrilling this was for me. :)
Sweet Sherry was the hostess for the Thankfulness Fabric Collage swap in which I participated. She made each of the swap participants this gorgeous canvas book, so that we could put the book together with the 4x4 squares that we all made. I've started my book and I'll share photos, but keep in mind that I will be finishing embellishing the pages at a later date....
Above (on the right) is the square Sherry made.
Michelle Geller's square (again on the right).
My square (all squares on the right)
Maija Lepore's
Sandy Camarda's
Colleen Jew's sweet grandbaby, Ella.
Marsi Bennett's
Arlene Schwab's
and last, but certainly NOT least, Earleen Coburn's.
Thank you Sherry for hosting this wonderful swap and thank you to all the ladies that participated. I will cherish this book!
Just when I thought that she could not possibly "outdo" the last event, I have to say that this one was my favorite! The weekend started out Friday night with a vendor fair, to top ALL vendor fairs! Let me share pictures of some of the tables overflowing with gorgeous creations just waiting to find their way into your heart (and home).
This was Holly and Amy's table.
Next we have Candice's fun table.
Then, there is Jamie's table overflowing with sparkly baubles.
The adorable Kristen Robinson was there with her halloween jewelry, laces, etc. Other vendors included Christine Rose Elle (Dollybelle's Peepshow), Julie Haymaker Thompson, Ruth Rae, Analiese of Sugar, Sugar and Kim Hesson of Miss Alaneya. It was Kim Caldwell's birthday, so a few ladies got together and brought adorable cupcakes and beverages to celebrate!
It was so relaxing to shop, chat and relax with everyone the evening before the "big event"!
Saturday morning we all arrived, tool kits in hand, ready to spend a full day creating under the direction of these three talented artists...
Julie Haymaker Thompson, Kim Allistair Caldwell, Lisa Kettel and Ruth Rae. We started the day with Lisa Kettel. She is a hoot! I just adore her and her sense of humor. Not only does she crack me up, but she is SO talented. Here is a picture of her sample project and my doll. I still have to finish up my stage/box.
I know, I am a "bad" blogger, but time just seems to be slippin' by! Today was one of those gorgeous Southern CA days. Sunny, slight breeze, warm, but not too hot! I had planned on spending the day working on swaps that I need to get completed, but it was just too pretty outside, not to spend a good share of the day enjoying our new fountain in the backyard. I just LOVE sitting outside, hearing the sound of water trickling down....and of course, I had to carefully listen to each and every fountain before choosing this one. The water sound reminds me of rain, which we don't get enough of lately!
Anyway, thank you for allowing to share my new water feature. I'll try to get a picture later at nightime, as it is breathtaking at night with the lights coming from inside the bowl! Well, I did manage to finish up and package two swaps. One for Kim Caldwell's event this next weekend and the Winter Banner for Silver Bella. I can't show you the complete projects, but here are a couple of sneak peeks!
For those of you Design Star fans, I was a little disappointed that Dan didn't win tonight, but Antonio is definitely "one of a kind" and will probably be very successful with his new show. He kind of reminds me of Guy Fierre of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.
I'm very much looking forward to Michelle's visit this coming weekend....she will be staying with me at Chateau Stoneham while we both attend the upcoming Artistic Affaire L'Automne. Stay tuned next week for pictures from the weekend!
What does the title post mean? "French Countryside Apron," which is the name given to my gorgeous, one of a kind apron created for just for me by the talented Holly Stinette.
Since the theme of Silver Bella's vendor night is "Aprons, Aprons", I commissioned Holly to create a special apron that I could wear for the event. Since I am not a real "pink, lacy" girl, I asked her if she could make something a little different using a Fleur de Lis, black and whatever else popped into that enormously creative brain of hers, and VOILA, here it is! Isn't it just beautiful!
Holly, I can't thank you enough! I adore my apron and can't wait to get to wear it!
I also wanted to share with you a cute little surprise I received in the mail yesterday. We all know how Anthropologie is so dang creative....well, look what I received for my birthday...
How clever is that? Too cute! Thank you, Anthropoligie....Can't wait to go shopping!
Friday night, Jackie was kind enough to invite a group of us that regularly crop together here, to her lovely home for a little happy hour/get together. Jackie and her private, best in Orange County, bartender/hubby, Rich, greeted us with Blue Hawaiians, cosmos and beer. Not wanting to hurt their feelings (lol), I graciously accepted a Blue Hawaiian. Yum!
We had such a great night of friendship, laughter, delicious pupu's (hor d'oeuvres for those of you that don't speak Hawaiian) and we even had a "vintage" scrapbook supply/white elephant swap and when I mean vintage, we are talking Mrs. Grossman's stickers, deckle scissors, paper piecing, etc. Let me share some pictures with you...
Georgette & Annette
Lia and Sandy
The two Julie's and Theresa
Rebecca, Jackie, Karen and myself
Annette & Cheryl
Our lovely hostess was brave enough to make sure that the rum was "safe" for us! (lol)
Sandy models her "die cuts" she received in the supply swap! FABULOUS, Sandy!
I can't leave out "Gracie" who was there to greet us. I missed getting a pic of Gracie with her hawaiian lei, but she is the sweetest thing!
The group.....Now, I did not share "all the pictures" as a few had to be censored, but I would like to thank Jackie and Rich for being the ultimate hostess and host and Rich, let's here another round of "revelry" (which denotes the "end" of happy hour at Hyland's Island.)
Salute!
Thank Goodness it was Friday, because that meant I got to spend the evening with my sweet friend, Michelle. Michelle and her wonderful hubby, Glen, flew into town so that Michelle could attend Judy Wilkenfield's weekend class. I had the pleasure of picking up this adorable couple so that we could all attend Judy's trunk show at GIlding the Lily. Of course, when one of our "art" buddies come into town, we HAVE to make an event of it! So, we met up with Kim, Holly and Cynthia (who needs to get her blog up and running! hee hee) for dinner.
What a fun evening. We enjoyed chatting over dinner and then, what would an evening be without a little shopping....Nancy at Gilding the Lily did not disappoint, with all of her vintage treasures. Speaking of vintage treasures, Michelle was so kind and brought me a goodie package of some of her treasured finds. Thanks, Michelle...I can't wait to play with these!
Michelle will be coming back to Southern California in September, as my houseguest, while she attends THIS event. As I understand, there are still a few spaces left for this coveted event...won't you join us?
