Monday, March 15, 2010

One Last ADORN ME Post

Meet the artist night kicked off ADORN ME the first night. Diana Frey & Melissa Manley set up next to each other at this event & became fast friends. As you know Diana is my friend & mentor from California & I couldn't wait to hug her neck. And I was BLESSED to have Melissa as my roommate. When I signed up for this event I knew I would be driving down by myself & I did not have anyone to share a room with. I put up a message on the Yahoo Message Board that I was looking for a roomy. For over a month no one contacted me (most girls went with friends & had roommates already). Then one day I got an inquiry about sharing a room. I didn't know this person... she lived in North Carolina & she was an instructor. Enter Melissa Manley & a friendship that was almost like a sisterhood ensued. And I am sure it won't end here (also, I have a forever roomy for future events). We are both Gemini's & have so much in common. LOVE YA GIRLFRIEND! Here is Riki & Diane at Diane's table. Sorry for the grainy photos!!!!! The lighting STUNK in this hotel.
And sweet Rice I told you about(wish my computer would put those TWO dots over your name like it's supposed to grrrrrr). She & Earl were everywhere taking pictures & getting info for the new book. Notice her shirt... she dyes her own fabrics & does all the bead work (and there are thousands of beads hand sewn on this tunic) on all her clothes.
Tuesday after classes we all met in the lobby bar for a free Happy Hour provided by the hotel. That was an evening event so everyone could socialize & meet other artists.
Tuesday night I took a Resin Paper class from Deryn Mentock. It was a fascinating class & again, I feel very blessed because Deryn & I just sort of bonded & we have promised to keep up with each other & try to do a few things together since we live fairly close to each other. Deryn lives in the Houston area & teaches at many events all over the country. She is teaching in Salado, TX at an event called Shady Ladies in April. Click HERE to visit her website & get more details. Come on Texas girls let's support these art events here so we get MORE closer to home. Anyway, here is Deryn & some of the girls mixing resin.
After we had our resin mixed we sponged it onto our papers. Sorry about the glaring YELLOW plastic sheets laid everywhere but, RESIN IS MESSY & we had to protect our work areas & have a place for all of this to dry overnight. Below you can see Rice watching as some of the girls are working.
Here are my pieces drying. A big piece of sheet music, a blue & white piece of tissue paper (that when dry is transparent) as well as a napkin with a bird nest, egg & feather.
Here is a necklace that Deryn had as an example. The oak leaf is made of resin paper. And the acorns are actual acorn caps while the nut part is a bead that she used when making this wonderful piece. I loved the natural elements used!
The next few photos show the class example. The necklace used the resin paper in the flower as well as the leaves on the sides.
The flower part has a cone of resin paper wrapped inside the cone that sari silk is spun around. Deryn buys these & then puts the colorful kits together with sari silk & packages them up to become these beautiful floral centerpieces. I bought an extra so I would have another one to use in a different necklace.
I also wanted to share Deryn's AMAZING ART JOURNAL with you. She made this beauty for herself & it is a working artists journal. It is bound in a vintage book.
With an interesting technique for the spine. I love all the area this gives her to add wonderful trinkets & finds.
An inside page showing some resin papers that she had colored(with descriptions so she would remember what she had used to achieve those colors) & some design sketches Deryn had done! BEAUTIFUL JOB MY FRIEND!
Now, let's move to Vendor Night. Oh my goodness there were so many wonderful things to see & buy. The public showed up in droves! I will warn you the photos are not the greatest because the lighting in the ballroom was terrible. But, let's step in & see a few of the tables.
Here's my precious roommate Melissa. I told you she was into big time metal work. She is a teacher at a college in Wilmington, North Carolina. For vendor night she had made a tray (the long black piece in the center) of rings. Each one was so different & unusual. People loved them.
And below is her Ocean Talisman Necklace (she taught this class at ADORN ME). Inside the mesh was a couple of beautiful shells & attached to many of the ribbons there were shells also.
Next is Deryn Mentock standing next to her beautiful Santos. I loved the Santos & she really made a statement on Deryn's table. Sadly she only gets to accompany Deryn to events held in Texas because she is so difficult to transport.
Another shot of Deryn's table shows her fabulous VINTAGE velvet jewelry box full of some of her treasures she stocked for Vendor Night.
And her is sweet Diane at her table full of goodies. Love the old travel case Diane! This gal has a knack for displaying!
And here is a shot of Diana's table before the masses came in & scooped up her wares. And I do mean masses. When the doors opened her students RUSHED to buy the pieces they had coveted during class. Diana left with very little to pack (but I did notice she just listed a few of the remaining piece on her Etsy Shop so rush over HERE to scoop one up or just see some better closeups).
A shot of Riki's lovely table & all her goodies. That beautiful silver candelabra was a prop Diane brought from her favorite Antique Store in Katy, TX. It was a perfect piece for Riki's necklaces to hang off of.
Here we are LATE in the evening. The hot lights had curled Deryn & my bangs, the lights were glaring off Diana & my glasses but, it had been a busy night with lots of sales & these girls were happy!
OK, I warned you the lights were horrible & Photoshop can only fix so much girls. SORRY! This is the end of the ADORN ME photos. I wanted you to feel like you got to see my classes & teachers as well as meet some new friends. Please click on each person's name & go visit their blogs. You will see some interesting things & meet some amazing artists. Please tell them Charlene sent you to see them. Now I am back to trying to catch up after being gone for a week. WOW those invoices sure can pile up on a girls desk while she is away having fun. Have a wonderful week. HUGS!

22 comments:

Marianne said...

Those art get togethers are so wonderful. I wish we had something like that in Europe.
Looks like you had a great time.

DeeDee said...

wow...looks like such a splended time...nice friends to make to..with like minds....crafters are just nice people...thanks for sharing the fun..

Diane said...

Charlene!
I love the pictures! You put together a great post, once again! You are a great friend, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
Miss you~
diane
xoxox

Hearts Turned said...

Oh, what fun you had, Charlene! Love the resin class--looks messy and FUN!

So glad I wasn't there for the vendor night--I would have gotten into a HUGE amount of trouble from the looks of it!

So glad you're sharing your time there with us--so fun to see it all!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Bunnym said...

Isn't is wonderful that you have so many friends with the same interest as you. Looks like a barrel of fun Charlene. Have a good one!

tootles,
bunny

FILIGREE MOON said...

Charlene, it would be really difficult to top the week you got to spend with so many lovely and talented friends! Looks so inspiring and FUN! Thank you for taking us on the tour. ~ Angela

Pat @ My Tattered Elegance said...

Thanks for taking us on a visit to your Adorn Me classes. It was so nice to see all the things you did and see the girls and artists. I am so glad you are getting to go to all these wonderful classes and learning so much about making beautiful jewelery. You are doing great, keep it up and I want to see all of the beautiful things you dream up and make.
Hugs, Pat

Riki Schumacher said...

What a fun post Charlene! You did such a great job of telling what a wonderful time we all had. It was fast and furious, but we have to start planning for next year, YIKES!! Thanks for the pics my friend, love them. Hugs, Riki

Auntie Cake said...

Looks like you all had so much fun together as well as creating beautiful pieces!
Kate

Melissa Manley said...

Oh how great! your pictures are great! What a wonderful time we had I was BLESSED to have you there Charlene! You swept and took care of us all so well! Thank you thank you!!!

Ricë said...

hey, sweetie! miss you--wish you were going to be at artfest. brrrr, though, for us texans!

peggy aplSEEDS said...

great post! what fun to be with crafters and play! i loved the resin paper jewelry and hope i can try making it someday.

Inspired-Simplicity said...

Charlene,
Great blog. Looks like a great time for all. The pieces are beautiful.
Blessings,
Carolyn

Unknown said...

It looks like a wonderful time. I've never been to anything like this, but what a great way to meet new friends and learn new things.

My Shabby Streamside Studio said...

Now that is true creativity and art!

Warmly,

Sandy @ My Shabby Streamside Studio
http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com/

Inspired-Simplicity said...

Charlene,
Please sign up as a follower on my new blog.
Thanks,
Carolyn

Lisa said...

What a great adventure you had! Interesting techniuqes you learned, I love working with resin, sewing on those resin papers is tons of fun too! I can tell you've made some amazing new friends too! See you soon. Lisa

BellaRosa said...

Hi Charlene, Thank you for visiting my lil blog and leaving such a sweet comment. I have so enjoyed visiting your lovely blog and seeing all your beautiful creations. I am so sorry about the loss of your beautiful Reba, You can see in your posts that she was truly loved. From visiting you, I learned you are a dear friend of my new friend Lisa of Tarnished & Tattered...it figures she would know an amazing artist like you...then again, look at her beautiful artistic heart :) Hope you visit me again, I know I will be back to your blog many times :) Besos, Rose

Monica said...

Fabulous Charlene! I wish I could participate too.
Many thanks for what you said about the china with violets, you're a darling!! Sorry if I am late in responding, but headache killed me over the past days :((
Hugs and love, my dear, always remembering your Princess,
Monicaxx.

The French Bear said...

Charlene, what fabulous pictures, looks like you had a wonderful time and met so many great friends!!!! I just love to hear about your classes and see the photos!!! I am sure it was the best time ever!!!
Hugs,
Margaret B

Devon Smith-Breidel said...

Thank you Charlene for leaving your comment and for visiting. Adorn Me will definitely be on my list for the future (and Karen will be by my side). All those women are so talented and amazing. I was lucky enough to be at Art & Soul last year in Portland, so I know what you mean. I was crafting with Karen the night you posted about Reba and Karen answered the door sniffling. Such an impact your blogs have. Take care.

Lorena Angulo said...

Hola Charlene !
Great post !!
I had a great time too at Adorn Me!
It was very nice to meet you.

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