Gobble Gobble

Hope you have a FabUlous holiday with family and friends.

I am in AWE! (Silver Bella part 2)

After the opening dinner, the much anticipated swaps began and there were 32 of them! It was like Christmas. I tried to see as many as possible, but it was pretty much a zoo. First were the group swaps and then very late in the evening were the one-on-one swaps and we stayed up for all of them. I particpated in the Holiday Fabric Fat Book hosted by the FabUlous Michelle Geller. Here's the finished masterpiece and my page . . .



There were receipe book swaps, embroidery swaps, apron swaps and crown swaps just to mention a few. The ooo's and ahh's, smiles and tears of joy continued for hours. There just aren't enough words to express the talent of these amazing women.

We also gave out hostess & roommate gifts as well. I made personalized gifts for my peeps by starting with a pearl initial and created a charm dangle with a Tim Holtz fragment with each girls' blog banner and coordinating beads. Michelle took a much better photo of hers . . .



Friday started 2 full days of classes and my favorite was Rebecca Sower's cigar box. I brought my own photos to use as a tribute to my mom & grandmother. It's still a work in progress, but here's a close up of the photo collage. . .

Friday night was vendor night and night of 100 aprons. So many yummy things to choose from.

I think eveyone had on an apron of some type, but not me . . . Honey, I don't do aprons! So, I made myself a hostess skirt in true Lucy fashion! It ties in the front with a big double black satin bow and I added a huge vintage rhinestone buckle I found at the Brass Armadillo - perfect!

More classes on Saturday and a closing lunch where Jo Packman of Where Women Create gave a truly touching and motivating speech. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. She also made eveyone a bookmark that was wrapped and waiting for us at each table setting.

I met so many wonderful women . . .

Michelle, Cheryl & Me

Karla


Mendy from Texas

Take a good look at that "mum corsage" she's wearing; it was incredible! The Texas Bellas did a pre-bella swap and wore them for all of us to see. I so want that one, Mendy! Think I'm going to have to make my own cuz I don't she's gonna give hers up!

Chantal and her mom, Maryse - such lovely women

Lastly, here's a pic of some of my Silver Bella goodies. Can't wait til next year!

I am in AWE! (Silver Bella part 1)

Silver Bella women are beyond amazing! I was agasp with utter and complete awe the entire event. I have so much to share; where to start . . .

Here are the So. Cal girls arriving in Omaha, ready to hit the ground glittering.

Kim, Valerie, Joy, me, Gina (bending over) Rebecca, Cheryl & Jenny. Maija (our AZ girl) forgot her camera but got this great shot with her iPhone.

We checked into the hotel and headed out for a FabUlous dinner at Upstream. Ok, can I just say, Omaha rocks! It didn't matter where we ate, at the event, sit down restaurants or fast food, ALL the food was delicious! These people know how to eat!

We had all planned to come in a day early and do some shopping on our own and then the FabUlous Scrappy Jessi offered a day-long bus trip for 60 of us and ya know we were all on that bus, baby! The first stop was Brass Armadillo, a huge antique mall where I found a few baubles & struck a Scrappy Jessi pose.

Next stop was St. Peffer's Italian restaurant where we had the whole place to ourselves for a delicious buffet lunch. Before chowing down, Tiffany took this great photo.

But, we didn't linger over lunch because Hobby Lobby was just across the parking lot and for those of us who don't have one in our state, we were on a mission.

Next stop, Archiever's (another store the So Cal/AZ girls don't have; whatz up w/that?). I had a list from 2 of my BFF's who were not attending Silver Bella and was able to get it all, baby!

Jessi thought of everything. She was our official tour guide, gave each of us a prize, a goodie bag with store coupons, copies of the current sales, snacks, a bottle of water and most importantly shipping tags to ID our purchases at each stop and when all was said and done, the overhead AND under storage on the bus was packed!

We made it back to the hotel in time to freshen up and find a table at the opening dinner. I had the best roomies, Cheryl and Rebecca.

There's still so much more to share. I don't want to leave anything out, so I'll post more soon.

Is it November already?

Yikes! Where has the time gone? I've been jammed with classes, projects and swaps and now I'm headed to Silver Bella next week. Good thing bags fly free on Southwest cuz if this is what I look like on the way there, who knows if you'll even be able to find me on the way home!



I think I have everything packed but I'll be double checking this weekend. As a first timer, I only signed up for one swap knowing that it had to be over the top FabUlous and I'm must say I'm quite proud of myself. Its called a "Holiday Fat Book" and it's made up of 6x6 double-sided decorated fabric pages. I can't wait to see all the beautiful glitz and glittered creations that Silver Bellas are known for. I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back.