Ruffles in Round Top

My Texas BFF, Charlene, came across this image which just happened to look a lot like mini me's of her, Cindy and I all dolled up for Round Top.  Even though I made the "no room mate gifts" declaration, I couldn't resist doing something with this image of the redhead, brunette and blonde.  So, I came up with a ruffled cuff adorned with our very own horseshoe and the image transferred onto a vintage brass charm blank.

It’s all hand-stitched with touches of pearls and rhinestones, of course!  I actually used some vintage lace and doilies I had purchased last year at Round Top.  We got lots of compliments on them as we wore them throughout our adventure and I’m pretty sure the horseshoes brought us some FabUlous good luck.

And so the adventure began . . .

After checking into our hotel, we hit the fields late Saturday afternoon.  I had showed Charlene & Cindy the FabUlous vintage velvet and lace top I had gotten from Paris Montana in California (I posted about it here) and as we were driving by her Round Top trailer I spotted them on display inside!  Cindy yelled out “I’ll pay for parking!” and the shopping began.  We made a quick stop for Cindy to make quite a nice purchase and walked some of the fields in the heat of the late afternoon breeze.  Yup, it was SO hot the entire time we were there but we didn’t let a little thing like heat or even tornados interfere with our shopping cuz we were on a mission, baby!

Next stop, a private Picnic dinner on the Prairie hosted by the lovely ladies of Petticoats on the Prairie, better known as the Rodeo Queens.  It was held at a private residence that is now a B&B off the main road and into the fields a bit.  When we arrived, they had picnic tables set up in the back yard which just happened to have it own stream!  OMG!  What a magical setting to meet new friends.  They made us all adorable name tags and boxed dinners with sandwiches, chips and dessert - an apple with THE most amazing caramel sauce I’ve ever had.  I licked that mason jar clean – slurp!
 
And that was just our first day!  Next up more FabUlous shopping and Theresa Cano’s blog party.

New Orleans

Well, the dust is finally settling after being back home and at work for 2 weeks already!  This year my New Orleans rental car was a Chevy Cruise with Tennessee plates!  Seems that I just can’t get a rental car with plates from the same state I’m driving in!  LOL  That little Cruise took us from one end of Louisiana to the other.  We ate tons of seafood and of course, my beloved muffaletta, shopped til we dropped and proved that we ARE true Maxxinistas!  We had great weather in the mid 80’s with the standard Southern humidity, but not to fear . . . I packed the vacation hair so I was good to go!

Here are some of the sights of this great city. . .

Jackson  Square / A quiet morning in the French Quarter

FabUlous chandeliers in Royal Street antique stores   

We just happened on this little band in the French Quarter.  You’ll need to turn off my tunes at the bottom of this page in order to full enjoy them!

We were so busy running around and checking things off the “to do list”  that I almost forgot to get a photo with the birthday girl!  Took a couple of tries but I got a pretty good one with my phone.   Happy 39th, Leah!

The week flew by way too fast and before I knew it I was off to my next stop, Round Top Baby!

Classes, Creating FabUlous Jewelry, Shopping and more Classes!

I've been a little busy lately . . . In February, I headed up to Pismo Beach with Joy for a FabUlous 2-day class taught by Diana Frey and Riki Schumacher, A Charming Romance. 

           
We stopped in Carpenteria for some quick vintage shopping, had a delicious lunch at The Enterprise Fish Company in Santa Barbara and then made a beeline to Lina G's in Morro Bay for a vintage trim fix before scooping up Charlene at the SLO airport.

Our class was at Riki's beautiful beach home where we got to see her to-die-for studio in person. You can see a video tour on her blog.  We also had our class mascot, the adorable Miss Maddie, watching over our every move.  She even managed to get some chocolate out of Charlene's kit box; not enough to cause concern, but she was definitely part of the class. 
 
This was a technique class where we created charms with silver PMC (precious metal clay), did some brass etching and learned to use some seriously cool tools!  Then after our charms were fired, tumbled, patinaed and polished we (OK, Joy) attached our charms to our bracelets for a truly inspiring project.  We had a great group of talented students who made some FabUlous charms.  How cute is that little elephant made completely by hand by a 16-yr old!  Of mine, my personal fave is the textured bead caps at the top of the pic - love them!


Diana is teaching at Art is You in Petaluma this September and we were honored to be able to see the two projects she's teaching in person.  The Madame Bijoux Boxes are to-die-for and the Twisted Sistah cuff is the matching piece to the necklace in my header and ya know how I feel about that!  If you have a chance to take either or both of these classes, do it!  You will love every minute of it.  Diana also shared samples of her next studio class, A Queen's Ransom.  Needless to say, we lost our minds when she took those babies out and we've already booked our spots.  If you think the pictures are stunning, you'll be agasp when you see them in person - OMG!!  Check out Diana's blog for her upcoming online classes and tutorials, they’re all just as FabUlous as she is.


Joy was wearing a necklace made by Hope Ellington that I had eyed but didn’t purchase way back in 2009 at Silver Bella vendor night.  That necklace has been in the back my mind ever since and there it was!  I had kicked myself for not buying it and now I had the opportunity to see it again up close and personal; how cool is that!  So, when I got home, I tried my version and I absolutely love it!

This past weekend was packed with shopping and another FabUlous class by Riki Schumacher.  First stop, The Vintage Marketplace where I met up with my shopping buddy, Cynthia.  As always, the vendors did not disappoint; there was vintage FabUlousness everywhere you looked and we had an absolute blast.  The venue is the perfect size; you can make it around a couple of times just in case you might have missed something.

 
I really blew the budget this time but it was so worth it!  Here's my haul . . .


The FabUlous top is from Paris Montana.  This was Heidi's first time at The Vintage Marketplace and she fit right in with her textural vintage luxe style.  Her things are over-the-top-FabUlous, so ya know I was totally in!  The pink chandelier crystals (oh so hard to come by) are from the adorable Trisha of Vintage Bliss.  She & Heidi are traveling buddies and I'll see them again at the end of the month in Texas for Round Top - YEE HAW!  The flower pin with vintage rhinestone clip center is from Sherry of Glamarella Junk, the pearls and some of the bling are from Sara of Sweet Magnolia's Farm.  She is just the nicest person and brought a FabUlous selection just for me!   The pearls still have the original tag on them - so cool!

After the Vintage Marketplace, we made a stop at TJ Maxx cuz ya know we ARE Maxxinistas!  Cynthia made a quick sweep of the entire store with a full load so she checked out quickly, dropped her purchases in the trunk and came back in only to end up with a second full load at the check out!  LOL  And, of course ya can't be in the same shopping center as Hobby Lobby and not go in so we made sure we got our HL fix too.  We were on a roll and quite the shopping Divas.

My weekend ended with Riki Schumacher's Birds in Flight class at the home of the owner of Gilding the Lily in Fullerton.  We had a great group of talented students and learned Riki's techniques for flooding solder over prepared, hand cut copper, soldering rhinestones with a butane torch (do ya see that flame?), drilling and setting eyelets and wire wrapping.  What a great class and a little birdie told me she may be back for future classes so check their class schedule for more FabUlousness from Riki.  She's also teaching online for Artful Gathering this summer and has some awesome tutorials for purchase as well.  You can find all the info on her blog.


I found just the right vintage piece for the finishing touch on my necklace when I got home and I love the way it turned out . . .


My next adventure will be my annual trip to New Orleans to see my dear family friend for her birthday.  I had to push back my trip a week this year as Round Top changed their dates and I always fly from New Orleans to Texas to meet up with my Texas gal pals.  So we'll be celebrating Miss Leah's bday a week late, but she doesn't mind as long as I get there.  So, I'll catch up with ya'll in April when the dust settles a bit.

My Vintage Bling Bracelets have been published!

What a pleasant surprise to find all my hard work on these babies published in Jenny Doh’s new book, Creative Pilgrimage, on page 123. 

 

And this is only part of them; I think there were 20 in all.  That  was 400 jump rings, oh my!  These were and still are one of my favorite jewelry designs.  There’s a close-up of the original and 2 other versions on the my right side bar.  If you’re interested in a one-of-a-kind Vintage Bling Bracelet of your own, please email me at smndesigns@yahoo.com.   Bling it on!

Happy New Year!

2011 was another year filled with FabUlous friends and creative adventures. 

 
Wishing you a happy, healthy and FabUlous 2012!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Pumpkin is totally wiped out after yesterday’s festivities.  We hope everyone had a FabUlous Christmas with family and friends.

Vintage Marketplace and Matilda’s Mouse Weekend!

It only happens once or twice a year where you can hit both of these FabUlous places in one weekend and last weekend was it!  The winds cooperated and while it was a bit cold for us spoiled California girls, my friend Cynthia and I were on a vintage holiday mission.

 
The Vintage Marketplace had this FabUlous photo op vignette set up as you walked through the garden arches to welcome you to vintage holiday wonderland.  There were aluminum trees, feather trees, pink trees and even lampshade trees.  And, of course, a ton of bling everywhere!

This is Sweet Magnolia’s Farm’s Booth

Close ups inside the doorway . . .

And this wreath is made of a ton of their FabUlous handmade, German glass glitter-edged roses – to die for!

 
Since it was quite cold, I decided to wear “Muffy” and while I was strolling the Marketplace, Muffy found her man!  Take a look at this masterpiece created by Denise Chafin of White Horse Relics.  He’s part Viking, part knight and totally FabUlous!  Denise and her partner,  Ashley Adams, are regular vendors and create a one-0f-kind mannequin for each Marketplace.  And they are all over the top FabUlous.  I think I have a matching jacket at home!  LOL

Next stop, Matilda’s Mouse Antiques.  They are a bit farther south and a tad inland from the Vintage Marketplace but totally worth the trip.  Matilda is a Wire Hair Fox Terrier and is the mascot for the shop.  Is she just not the cutest thing ever!  Her mom got a much better picture than I did, so I borrowed this one from their blog.

 
Matilda is wearing the color theme of this year’s winter event.  As you enter, everything was icy white, silver and a gorgeous turquoise.

There was even snow on the floor!
   
The flowers on this tree are made from vintage pattern tissue.

I know quite a few ladies who would die for this FabUlous carriage – OMG!

 
Thanks for coming along on this FabUlous vintage winter wonderland of a weekend.  If you get a chance to visit either of these venues, you will not be disappointed.

Happy Vintage Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 
Wishing everyone a wonderful day of thanks for good health, family and FabUlous friends.