the rest of Vegas

here's a pretty picture of Z overlooking Bellagio's water fountain with Paris behind her.

Pam, Z and i went to see "Love" one evening at The Mirage. what an amazing show! (the dark pics are my illegal camera use before the show. it didn't take long before i was told to stop!)

random photo shots around the event. Z and i bought souvenier Eiffel towers that held 64 oz of margarita's. yikes! they were heavy and it wasn't long before my hand was freezing from holding it like a baby!

More pics of Bellagio's garden area and fountain show when Z and i stopped by after seeing Love. (if you look closely, there is a rare photo of me wearing my glasses)

one evening, Pam and her husband, Ben, took Z and i to dinner at Bolero inside the Wynn hotel. what an incredible meal! it was such a lovely evening and then got better when we were handed free tickets to see La Reve (the dream). i had no clue what we were going to see and sort of thought we were walking into some comedy club scene (which i despise!). however, i was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a show very similar to "O". it was a beautiful show and i loved the whole aspect of their use of water. what a lucky night!

So i Gathered.....

(enameled tintype by Stepanie Rubanio)

My talented art girlfriend, Stephanie Rubanio, is having a blog giveaway. Run over to her blog, So I Gathered, to enter for a chance to win a prototype of her new enameled tintype. I'm quite lucky in that i get to see Stephanie real soon in Vegas at Artnsoul. can't wait!

Also, if you don't mind, please send thoughts out to my art friend, JoAnna. her husband Ron is quite ill again and having a shunt put in on Monday. they've been thru so much. i hope this shunt puts an end to all these unresolved health issues he has had. Joanna was the art friend that i sent the angel, "Acceptance" to over the holidays.

home from Portland

i'm back, did you miss me? i know i've gone a few days without posting - how unlike me!

considering i left on tuesday and got home on friday, i managed to pack in a lot of things to do in 3 days. my friend, Amy Hollands, picked me up from the airport and then we quickly dropped my stuff off at the hotel and picked up my bud, Pam. i only took a few pictures since i had so very little time.

we decided to eat first since i was, as usual, starving! we had a nice lunch, just in time to work up an appetite to go shopping. our first stop, was Amy new venture, Found on Fremont (no website yet). Amy use to own Poppy & Ivy, but due to economics had to make some decisions about how to proceed with her business. she and 3 other girls, went in together on renting a building (2 floors), which is working well for all of them. they can split the costs, not work all the time; giving them more flexibility and freedom. so we stopped there first and found some fun goodies. next we hit Scrap, which is such a cool place. it is all about recycling and anyone can drop off items to be recycled there - items that can be resold that is. so we picked up a few things there. next we hit a thrift store where amy found some awesome vintage Christmas table cloths and i found a darling wool jacket for my niece that i will pimp up with a cool brooch. a quick stop into Fred Meyer for a few items i needed for class and then it was back to the hotel for happy hour.

the next day i taught my spoon class and it was fun. it was really cool to watch the students being timid with the dremel, drills and then watch them transform as they got the hang of it. all the projects turned out great and what was most rewarding was their appreciation and thanks for sharing all my knowledge with them.

for lunch that day, our limo driver, Amy, returned for us so that we could hit "Noun, a persons place for things" and have cupcakes at Saint Cupcakes. talk about the most delicious cupcakes ever! pam and i were quite annoyed with ourselves for not getting more to eat later. next time we will have to hit, Voodoo donuts. i've decided Portland is the type of place that i must go to every 6 months!

that evening, Pam and i went to visit our dear friend, Allegra and her husband, Barry. Hadn't seen Allegra since last year and she hasn't been feeling well - so it was a must on the list to do. we had a lovely visit with her, chatting, snacking, chatting, chatting, some wine, more chatting, a studio tour (unbelievable is her studio!) and then more chatting! finally exhaustion caught up to me and we had to say our goodbyes. i practically dove into my bed when we got back.

the next day was my class on taking a wood heart and turning it into a piece of jewelry. we also had a great time in that class. we got the conference room with the really big comfy chairs which we thought was quite cool for us. hit happy hour again that night and then Pam and I headed over to Powell's books (a block long!) where we saw Jesse Reno upstairs hanging about. i took a pic of him, but only on my camera phone as i was trying to be discreet. jesse reno is an artist in portland and pam is taking classes with him at Artfest next spring. we had a lovely dinner at a brewery down the street and then headed back to the hotel for me to pack and get ready to leave early in the am. boo hoo!

so now i am preparing and almost ready to leave for Connecticut, Art-is-you, on Wednesday!

prototype for spoon class @ Artnsoul art retreat oct. 2009

I leave on Tuesday for Portland, Oregon where i am teaching at Artnsoul for 2 days. One of the classes that i am teaching is using old spoons and how to transform them into jewelry. since i am very visual and my other prototype is in California at Gilding the Lily (where i am teaching in February), i made another necklace to have on hand during the demos and discussions. and yes, this will be for sale after i return home.

day three

well today was an ok day. sales were quite slow (i'd say today equalled (sp?) what a typical NJ show would be like for me; lots of lookers, but not many takers). the weather held out til about 1:00 ish and then it started to drizzle. it wasn't bad and it's not like it drove the crowd out; but by 4:00, the place was dead. we got packed up really quick, thankfully as it started sprinkling again. between the 4 of us, we bought goodies to go home with, so the truck is a might fuller than we started!

i met many wonderful vendors and made new friends. loved my neighbors, William and Jan, and of course, "The Summerhouse Girls + Miss A" who were so good about booth sitting while i ran to the potty, grabbed food, etc. It was really a great experience. can't wait to show off all my pictures.

and i wanted to thank everyone that i met who raved about my art and especially to those who bought their special purchases from me. i know that $ is tight these days, so for you to spend your hard earned money on my art is a real compliment. very much appreciated. headed home tomorrow!

for those of you keeping up on my blog, you know that i am entering my "whirlwind tour of chaos" (t-shirts are on order....) in the next week. i'm feeling a bit stressed about all i have to do, but i will manage. next week i fly out to teach in Portland. Then i'll be home a week and leave to teach in Connecticut. After that i am off to Seattle to attend Journalfest!

i look forward to early November when i can relax and begin more jewelry projects since i am almost out of product.

fun news to share!

I will be teaching 2 classes at Artnsoul, Portland 2009. Another jewelry artist had to withdraw from teaching, so i'm pitching in to fill the need. it will be a quick turn and burn since i am teaching the following weekend at Art-is-You, but i am excited and really looking forward to it.

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the first class is called "Memory Evoking Spoons". you can find all the information about the class by clicking the link.

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my second class is called "My heart beats for thee".

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