See the laughter and the sincere smiles? We had fun! A LOT of fun!
A week later, but still very fresh in my mind. What a wonderful time I had at Silver Bella! For me, it was all about the friendships and the social gathering of so many creative, kind and wonderful women under the same roof. I finally met the friends I feel like I had already known for so long. I met customers and was so happy to put faces with their names. I met fellow bloggers and artists who have inspired me with their creativity. I really can't quite think of words to describe how much fun we all had. But, I'll give it a try.....
First, I must say a big thank you to the hostess with the mostest, Teresa McFayden! Without her this whole thing would never have happened. She pulled off a BIG event in style, and we all had a ball!! Here we are posing for the camera in her class that I took.
Below is a picture of me and my roommates Heather Kowalski and Natasha Burns {all the way from Australia!}. I couldn't have asked for better roomies. Our room was a disaster area, but we just stepped over the boxes of ribbon and luggage and other junk, and had so much fun. {I miss you guys!} The three of us were so proud of our embroidered birdie ornaments from the group workshop on Thursday night, we had to show them off.
Before I knew it, it was Friday and time for classes to begin. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy trying to finish my projects {which didn't quite happen anyway, but I've been working on them here at home. Will post soon!}
My first class was actually my very favorite one, although I enjoyed them all. We made fabric cuff bracelets with Rebecca Sower. SO inspiring, she is. I could have stayed and listened to her stories all day. I remembered how much I love to hand stitch. It's been a while, but now I'm looking forward to doing some stitching this winter.
Next I took Teresa's fun class and cut, glued, altered and embellished a book. Very cool techniques! {see pictures below}
These were the happy & creative girls I shared a table with in Teresa's class. {L to R: Danielle Muller, Alisa Noble, Amanda Wiley, Julie Baxley and Heidi Woodruff.}
Natasha and I showing our {almost finished} projects from the class:
Then I had a class with Pam Garrison. Loved this one too! My project is half done. I think I talk too much in class. And I know I think too much. I just sit and stare at my project thinking of just the right ribbon or color or paper to use. Well, 3 hours flies by when you do that! But I will finish this week and post about it.
Later that night was the Prom and the Bella Vendor Faire. All I can say is we were all busy, busy, busy! Thank goodness Hope was my faithful assistant so I could take a break, eat a little something and browse some of the other tables full of goodies toward the end of the night. Here are some pictures of my table. I tried to brighten up the photos as best I could, but you get the idea.
I love the look of it all piled in there.
A little price sign flag I made at the last minute.
Here's Jessi doing some shopping at my table. I tell ya, it is impossible for her to take a bad picture. A beautiful person, inside and out!
Toward the end of the night, this picture was taken of all of the Bellas who dressed up vintage Prom-style. The dresses were amazing, and there was no shortage of pastel tulle in the room!
More pretty sherbet gowns. {From L to R: Jennifer Hayslip, Rosanna, me, Cheryl Dack and Natasha Burns.}
Somewhere in the middle of the fun-filled evening, I was named Prom Queen. Totally caught off guard by that, but honored! Seriously, I don't think we stopped smiling all night long. Everyone had such a great time.
Amy Powers was the Prom Sweetheart and Jessi Nagy was Miss Congeniality. {both very fitting awards for these two sweet girls, don't ya think?}
This is my dear friend Holly and me at the Prom {standing in front of Holly's table}. By the end of the night, the shoes were off, the makeup was about gone, and the hairdo had had it! Holly is still looking fresh-faced though! We had tables right next to each other, which was fun because we could chat in between sales. Miss you Holly!
And my sweet friend Heather's table was on the other side of mine. All 3 friends in a row. We couldn't have planned it better ourselves. Here I am with Heather.
My friends Cheryl and Jenn.... I miss you guys, all of you! {Geez, I miss everyone, don't I? I really do!} A weekend was just not quite long enough, was it girls? They had 2 of the prettiest dresses there!
Natasha and I helped each other with these crazy gowns. Zippers and laces and bows and pins. The things we do to look good! It's hard to be in a bad mood around Natasha. She is one of those wonderful people who sort of radiates happiness. And I must say, not many people can wear yellow well, but she looked gorgeous in this yellow gown! It was perfect.
More Prom night pictures....Tiffany and me. This girl is one super nice, generous and funny person. So glad I met her. {Thank you for all of your help, Tiffany!}
And here is Analise behind her table. Another wonderful friend I got to meet. She's such a sweetheart through and through. Her tables were amazing, and I managed to sneak away from mine and buy a few things from her before the night was over.
We all crashed into our beds after Prom night, and the alarm went off far too soon. There were more classes to take and more fun to have, so we dragged ourselves out of bed and started the next day.
On Saturday, I took a class with Charlotte Lyons and a class with Sally Jean. Both wonderful instructors and fun projects. {again, I'll have pictures later, when I finish them...}
And then, we had a luncheon with guest speaker Mary Engelbreit. She's so very down-to-Earth and humble. Those are 2 of the best qualities a person can have, in my opinion.
She spoke about her life, her business, her art, and she told us that there is no such thing as balance. You just kind of take it as it comes. Put one foot in front of the other, I guess, and make it happen. Well, I was sitting at a table of friends, women just like me....young mothers with growing businesses who are trying to juggle everything. I think when we heard from Mary Engelbreit that there is no such thing as balance, we could ALL relate and before we knew it, the tears were flowing. It seems hard to explain here in a blog post, but we all understood what the others were feeling at that moment. Even though it was tears, that was one of the strongest moments of the weekend for me. That connection. I am not alone. I am not the only one who struggles on a daily basis to make this crazy life run smoothly. That's good to know.....LOL...
Anyway......more pictures.....
Heather, Analise and her very sweet mom, Jan. I thought that was the coolest thing that they came together. She was just one of the girls.
This picture of Tiffany Kirchner, Karla Nathan, Jennifer Hayslip, and Debby Schuh was taken at the Glitter Lounge Party that Karla and Carol Spinski hosted in their room. Glitter was everywhere {edible glitter, that is} and champagne was flowing. Thank you both for hosting such a fun soiree!
This is me with Rosanna, who came all the way from Italy. How great that we got the chance to meet!
Rosanna and Cheryl, with the incredible sewn book Cheryl made for her. Everyone signed it for Rosanna, and she will always have a very special memory book of her time at Silver Bella 2008. Such a great idea for a keepsake.
Mary Smilove, me and Amy Powers. Mary is the queen of vintage style. Her coat, her purse, her supplies, all vintage! Love that! And Amy and I live so close yet had to travel all the way to Omaha to finally meet. Funny how life works sometimes. Can't wait to get together again soon, Amy!
There were so many more pictures I wish I had taken. I don't have pictures of them, but I was thrilled to meet Suzanne, Kim, Janice, Cammy, Kelli, Natalea, Heidi, Pam, Rebecca, Carolyn, Sadie, Kim, Carol, Cari, Jenni and so many more I'm sure I'm forgetting. This post is already way too long, so I'll go now. But I just had to blog all of this because it really was a magical weekend in so many ways!
