I hope you're not tired of hearing about Silver Bella, because I have so much more I want to tell you about the event!
Everything was beautiful, and well-planned, and I felt spoiled and lucky at every turn: with the selection of classes, the venue, the food: all of it!
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| Dessert - complete with chocolate top hat - on closing night |
But the best part of Silver Bella was the other women who attended. They were
my people. There I stood alongside gals who wouldn't furrow their eyebrows if I started talking about old fabric, or tattered paper, or vintage seam binding. Some of them probably owned more buttons and lace than I do. And, a few of these ladies had made special trips to another state
just to buy old wallpaper.
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| My Vendor Fair Night hat -- embellished with my studio button |
Silver Bella is the only place I've ever felt comfortable wearing my rhinestone crown brooches; it was also the only occasion that could have convinced me to wear a fantastic hat, in public.
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| Amy Powers | | | | |
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I introduced myself to some of my blog heroines...
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| Karla Nathan and me |
I said "hello" to a gal who looked like she had come alone (she had) and invited her to join us for happy hour. I gushed at my class instructors, and had my photo taken with some of them.
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| Charlotte Lyons and me |
While in class, many of us remarked on how much fun we were having at that moment. "I'm in heaven" we'd murmur, elbow deep in ribbonry, and everyone else would nod in agreement.
If someone had forgotten thread, it was offered. Do you need a tea cup? Some glue? Gorgeous old papers were handed out freely; embellishments were tossed around. There was such a spirit of generosity and sharing -- it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.
Just look at the piles of things I was handed in the goodie bag we received on the first night...
And then later on by passing Bellas, in class and otherwise.
One gal was handing out frozen Charlottes to everyone in her classes. Another was sharing wallpaper scraps with her classmates. And take a look at all these other gifts that individual attendees brought to share, in friendship (above)!
The beautiful pendant on the left was a gift to all of us from
Hope Ellington! That's Suzanne's gift in the middle, and the initial charm I received from Nora during the Silver Bells swap.
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| "Ticket to Creativity" by Elizabeth Shea |
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| a gothic romance collage! |
Here's a gift I was presented from one of my Colorado Bella friends, Suzanne Wingfield:
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| A lovely vintage purse, embellished with a silver vintage Christmas ornament... |
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| FULL of beautiful vintage things (and chocolate!) |
Do you remember the quote from one of my favorite films,
Breakfast at Tiffany's, where Holly Golightly is trying to explain to "Fred" why she likes to go to the jewelry store, and how it makes her feel?
She says, "
If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!"
Holly Golightly would have felt that way at Silver Bella. And so do I.
Now I know how she feels. If only I could find a real-life place in my town that made me feel like
Tiffany's Silver Bella, so I could feel that way all the time...
and Audrey Hepburn was definitely a Bella!
Everything was beautiful, and well-planned, and I felt spoiled and lucky at every turn: with the selection of classes, the venue, the food: all of it!
If someone had forgotten thread, it was offered. Do you need a tea cup? Some glue? Gorgeous old papers were handed out freely; embellishments were tossed around. There was such a spirit of generosity and sharing -- it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.
And then later on by passing Bellas, in class and otherwise.
The beautiful pendant on the left was a gift to all of us from Hope Ellington! That's Suzanne's gift in the middle, and the initial charm I received from Nora during the Silver Bells swap.
She says, "If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!"
Holly Golightly would have felt that way at Silver Bella. And so do I.
Comments
Hugs,
Suz
And I love the Holly Golightly references - one of my absolute fav movies!