ART SAVES . . .

Is Jenny Doh’s montra for her new venture, Crescendoh.  What a wonderful and oh so true statement.  I attended Jenny’s launch party last Friday night with about 200 of her fans, followers and partners in art.  We were greeted at the door with a complimentary glass of wine and these cool name tags.

Once inside, this incredible art quilt was on display complete with Sharpies for everyone to add their own thoughts and well wishes.

The venue was staged in a lounge vibe with sofas, cocktail tables, handmade centerpieces (of course) and mood lighting.  The tunes were spun by one of my friends, the FabUlous DJ Wanda.

 

There was a yummy buffet, make ‘n takes and speeches by Jenny, Suzi Blu and Melody Ross

 

Then the viewing of this truly inspirational video . . .

The event was just oozing with creativity.  Take a look at how Crescendoh design team member,  Tracy Schultz, used one of their canvas panels on a corset – simply FabUlous! 

Of course, there were photo opps; here I am with Melody Ross & my BFF, Lia.

At the end of the evening we were all presented with a goodie bag filled with lots of really cool products courtesy of the event sponsors.  Thanks Jenny for your inspiration and true devotion to ART.

A Tropical Charm Swap at the Island

A few weeks ago some of the local scrapbook girls gathered at Jackie’s beautiful home, better know as Hyland’s Island, for a tropical-themed charm swap.  We had great friends, yummy cocktails & food, FabUlous charms and even a few party crashers (the girls in the front of the pic are neighbors who heard a party going on and came on over!).

We started with a twist on the traditional white elephant gift and made one FabUlous charm that was plain-wrapped and set at the base of our Fire Goddess mascot. 

We proceeded to “steal” charms from one another until the last charm was opened.   Then we got down to some serious bracelet-making.  Take a look at this cool bracelet holder . . .

Since we had a small group, a lot of ladies made more than one charm so our bracelets were really full when we finished.  We also got a sweet surprise from Karen, owner of Scrapbook Oasis.  She dropped by and presented each of us with a cute gift bag containing 4 more charms!  Here’s some of the the finished masterpieces . . .

Before the night was over, there was talk of another swap.  Can’t wait!

Hey Ya’ll!

March just flew by and so did I!  I spent the first couple of weeks getting ready for a trip to New Orleans for a very special birthday celebration.  A dear family friend and the closest person I have to my mom, celebrated her 39th birthday on March 19.  We have an agreement, I’m 36 & she’s 39 ALWAYS!!  So I headed to New Orleans for an entire week of FabUlousness.  She lives every day to the fullest and I can only hope that I am as FabUlous as she is when I reach her age.  I’ve been to New Orleans many times as my mom was born there, but never by myself.  I went prepared with Yahoo maps & directions for all of the important points of interest. 

So after waiting for what seemed like forever for my bright blue Toyota Matrix with Colorado license plates rental car, I was off on the I10 with  my trusty maps in hand only to find that my exit was closed!  WHAT???  It’s late & dark and I have no idea where I am other than I’m NOT on the right offramp!   I was on the Causeway?  WHAT??  So after driving back and forth on that for about half an hour I decided to stop & ask for directions at a gas station convenience store.  At least the girls behind the counter were honest and told me they really didn’t know where I was trying to go.  I did call my friend, but since I didn’t know where I was, she couldn’t help me!  Ahhhhhhhh!  So I got back in my Matrix and drove past the on ramp that had a police car with flashing lights parked right at the entrance.  As I drove by, I could have sworn I saw cars getting on.  Hmmm, I’m gonna turn around AGAIN and see if I can get back on the I10 and there ya have it; I got on and my exit was the very next one and was at my friend’s house in about 5 minutes.  In the light of day, I saw that I was seriously down the street from her house the whole time!

We did a lot of “running around” as she doesn’t venture too far from home and of course, you can’t go to New Orleans without eating and boy, did we eat!  I had the muffuletta I’d been craving forever; actually I had two while I was there!  Click here for more info on this amazing sandwich.

We ate at Acme Oyster House which has been in business since 1910 twice, and we ate at Shogun, a sushi/tepan grill restaurant where we had a crawfish roll – how cool is that!

We went down in the French Quarter on St. Patrick’s Day in the afternoon so it wasn’t too crazy.  She lives about 15 minutes from the Quarter, but hadn’t been there in years.  If you’ve never been, it’s a lot of narrow, one-way streets some of which are blocked off so you can’t drive down them at all.  The entire area is off of Canal Street and looks a bit like a movie set when you’re approaching it.  They were actually filming an episode for a cable TV show on one of the streets – pretty cool!  I scored a great parking spot by the French Market and with a little help from a local (driving a Hummer), was able to figure out the new fangled parking meters they’ve installed.  Seemed sort of odd for these digital machines to be installed in such a historic area, but the city needs all the help it can get.  We had a great time walking around.  Most of the souvenir stores were decorated for the holiday but the real treat was all of the chandeliers – OMG!

 

And we found the most amazing store called Rendezvous in Jackson Square (bummer, no website).  Take a look a their chandelier and all of FabUlous goodies in the cases . . .

  

On March 19, we drove to Biloxi, Mississippi to the Beau Rivage Casino.  It’s part of the MGM/Mirage group and is very much like a Vegas casino.  It was only an hour and a half way, so it was like driving to work for me!  LOL  It’s located right on the Mississippi coast and there were still quite a few empty lots along the coast left from Katrina’s wrath.  We ate at the buffet where it was seafood night and then we had tickets to see Hair Spray; what a great show.  After the show, we decided to go wild and play some slot machines.  Here’s the big birthday winner herself; Miss Leah . . .

Yup, she won a whole dollar on this Kitty Glitter penny machine!  And here we are, the two 30 something girls!  She’s just the cutest thing; I love her to pieces!

My next adventure was to Grand Coteau, to meet up with a new friend I met at Silver Bella last year, Jodie.  When I told her I was coming to New Orleans, she told me about the famous 7 mile yard sale in Grand Coteau and I knew I had to go.  So, I headed out in the Matrix with Yahoo maps in hand at 6am on Saturday morning.  This place is past Baton Rouge AND Layfayette and many, many miles of bridge over swamps - yikes!!! 

If you read Jodie’s post, then you already know that the sale was a bust, but the day was the best.  Jodie met me at a truck stop where I parked the Matrix and got in a real car, Jodie’s Suburban!  LOL   She had a few friends with her, Sandi and Sarah.  She made each of us one of these FabUlous goddie bags (d0 you recognize the chenille?  It’s from another one of her comforter purchases!)  and she did actually find me a few things before I met up with them.  The shoes are just for the rhinestones; not to wear.  LOL

I wanted to bring her a little something from California and didn’t want it to be too “touristy” so what better than some sand from Orange County in a tiny vile with a few beads & a little bling.  Jodie is a FabUlous photographer & got a much better pic than me so I’m lifting this one and the ones of her & Sarah; thx Jodie!

 

                         Me and Jodie                                                                 Me & Sarah

We went to Jodie’s secret place for vintage velvet ribbon.  It was like walking into a time warp; like a Woolworth or Newberry’s.  They only take cash and the register is a crank-type – so cool!

Then we went to Rayne, the frog capital of the world, for lunch at Chef Roy’s Frog City Cafe.  No, I did not have frog legs, but the Cajun shrimp was FabUlous!  They have this huge metal frog statue as you go down the main road off the highway.  Sorry the pic is fuzzy, it’s from the Internet cuz I didn’t get one of my own.

And of course, we made a visit to the local Hobby Lobby and ya know I had coupons ready to go!  And why don’t we have them in So Cal???

On my last day in the Big Easy, unbeknownst to me, they were having a parade on the main street where I need to get on the I10; what is it with that I10??  Geeze!  So, I had to change my route to get on and lucky for me, I’d been on that main street so many times, I knew my way around and made it the rental drop to return the Matrix while eating my last muffuletta.  She did her job, got me all over Louisiana & Mississippi with Colorado plates and no tickets!

It’s good to be home ya’ll!

Oh and P.S. . . This post was published using Windows Live Writer.  Check out Jodie’s how-to post here.

I have been Gilded!

My weekend in Dallas was heavenly FabUlous! When I said this was going to be THE event that I attend in 2010, I wasn’t kidding.

On Friday, our FabUlous friend Heather picked up Cheryl and me at DFW and we were off for a Texas style mexican lunch and then on to Red Shed Antiques in Grapevine where we were greeted with a big Texas welcome.

Last stop for the evening was Hotel Palomar where we had a pre-event dinner at Central 214. The food was amazing and chef Bylthe Beck of Naughty Kitchen fame came out to visit with us. She is such a hoot and even posed with us.

Now, imagine 2 entire days, each one with an amazing project where new techniques were learned and talent & inspiration enveloped you the moment you were welcomed into the former church, now home of A Gilded Life.

Saturday started with lovely fresh fruit, muffins, coffee cake, made to order mocha coffee and mimosas for all. Before the first project we were presented with a beautiful heart necklace from Debbie and Shea. Everyone also received a goodie bag from event sponsor Where Women Create filled with FabUlous things from, Beacon Adhesives, Excel craft knives & DMC floss just to name a few. Each place setting at the work table, which accommodates about 20, was set for a day of jewelry making taught by the FabUlous Lonnie & Natalie. I will never look at soldering the same way – so cool!



They had the bar set up with extra chain & tools for our use as well as some of their one-of-a-kind pieces for inspiration. We also had a FabUlous soldering station where we leaned some really cool, or should I say "hot" techniques.

Before lunch we took a break to do our swaps. Mine was a one-on-one called Cupid’s Toy Box. We were given a completed questionnaire from another participant and were to fill a box of goodies for them that they would enjoy and would provide inspiration. My Cupid was Marie Jenkins and what a sweetheart she is. Take a look at the goodies inside.

I was Heather’s Cupid and this is my box to her. I was very pleased with the way it turned out and she loved it too.

We had a light lunch and then more jewelry making. Class was paused for a break so that prizes could be given out. The first was this one-of-a-kind necklace made by a collaboration of Debbie, Shea, Lonnie & Natalie and I WON it. Sorry, just a tad excited about that!

The jewelry making continued and here are my completed neckalces . . .

Dinner was from Macaroni Grill with dessert provided by one of the attendees, Shannon. Did I mention how FabUlous this entire event was – and this is just the first day!

Day two started with a lovely brunch and the selection of our lampshade frame and fabric color. This class was taught by Debbie & Shea and is such a FabUlous idea. I will never look at lampshades the same either! LOL The bar was set up buffet-style with tons of lovelies like vintage chandelier crystals, and glass glitter to add to our creations.

We took a break for a make-your-own taco bar lunch and then more prizes were handed out. Everyone had received something by the end of the event. Each one of us completed an amazing creation just as unique as it’s creater. I was determined to get mine home on the plan even if it meant I’d have to wear it as a hat! Luckily, I was able to squeeze her under the seat & she made it home with all lights in tact – phew! Here she is after adding some FabUlousness from my stash.

The event came to a close with a tour of this heavenly 16,000 (yes thousand) s.f. home. Debbie and Shea (and Robert, Shea’s husband) opened their home and their hearts to us all and I will never forget the wonderful time we had. I saw old friends, made new ones and look forward to attending many more of their events. My HeART is truly full.

Me & my roomie, Cheryl and me & my new friend Charlene.