I LOVE Living THE GILDED LIFE!

Last weekend I was VERY BLESSED to again live large with Debbie Murray & her beautiful daughter Shea Fragoso. These two gals are amazingly talented & so much fun. Where did this Art Event take place? In their home which USED TO BE a church.

Yes, a real church that Shea, her husband Robert & Debbie all worked together to make into their home & studio. I have been to 3 Art Events there this year & it is truly a blessing to be in this inspiring magical place. Below is Debbie & Shea (thank you Jessi for letting me borrow this photo because I never caught them together for a photo shoot) holding our first project which was a beautiful CROWN!

The attention to detail these gals put into one of these events is amazing. Below is one of the 5 tables set for us. BEAUTIFUL doesn’t begin to describe.

And a close up of one of the table arrangements shows the beauty.

And you didn’t go hungry I can assure you.

There’s Heather putting the finishing touches to this amazing Brunch they served.

And remember I told you my Precious SANDY was coming to town for the event? Well here she is getting a cup of coffee & there’s Susie (one of our tablemates) as well as SWEET Tisha (from California too) talking to Debbie (behind that coffee pot).

And I had to share one of my favorite photos of the weekend. Sandy darlin I LOVE YOU!

Speaking of our table… I borrowed this shot from Jessi too. Thanks Jessi

At our table on Friday was Sandy & I with our NEW friend Cindy Cane. This was Cindy’s first Art Event like this but, I think she’s HOOKED! And then there is Susie, Gail & Valetta Now onto the projects… Day One was the crown being held by Debbie & Shea in the photo above. Day Two was the Crowndalier shown below. Mine is not finished but, I am going to get it done this week & will post a finished photo. The crowndalier is much larger than the first crown & is meant to hang with LOTS of goodies hanging from it. There was a LOT of construction in both crowns.

Day Three was a soldered necklace. I have soldered for almost 3 years now & this class even made me say a few bad words(My sweet friend Charlotte said the same thing & she too is a very experienced solder artist). I LOVE the way the piece turned out but, using THREE layers of glass made things TRICKY! Below is the class sample. Shea had this on display for us during the entire event & on Saturday night the sample went MISSING. We were searching high & low. I had remembered seeing her son Nico running around with his “Treasure Bag” (as well as seeing his toy gun laying on the table where they had been selling some extra supplies)& suggested she ask him if he knew where the necklace was. Sure enough… in his “Treasure Bag” was the necklace, some yards of crystal trim & $50. Yepppppppppp I know little boys!

And let’s look at a few of the Crowndalier’s made in class. Here is a table full of crowns (The one with the feathers is Sandy’s) & then there are some of Day One’s class projects waiting to be claimed as well as another Crowndalier .

Lisa & her ADORABLE Christmas Crowndalier! If anyone reading this knows Lisa’s Blog… please send me the link!

And Rita with her gorgeous finished piece with that amazing gold beaded fringe on the bottom. LOVE IT!!!! Each one was so different & unique.

And let’s not forget Jessi & her wonder. Jessi is a HUGE FAN of Barbie & she made hers Barbie Bling to the MAX! Isn’t that cute of her showing Charlotte her prize? And the other photo is of it finished hanging in her studio (another photo loan)

As promised below is my finished crown from Day One’s Class. The first photo is a close up of it sitting on a lamp on top of my piano in my entryway. I chose a black & gold paper as opposed to Sandy’s choice of light paper. It really changed the whole look & feel of the crown.

And a few close up details.

I hope you enjoyed today's glimpse of A GILDED LIFE! It’s GOOD to be a GILDED GIRL! I hope you’ll come back to see a tour of Debbie & Shea’s amazing studio coming soon in another post. Have a great week.

HUGS! Charlene