Maigirlz Madness

Fried Thighs and Other Stuff....

Spent last weekend in Phoenix where the temperature was around 115 and the skies were so sunny!!  On Friday night my first Bestie in AZ, Lisa, and Ron were married!

Right after the Nuptuals we went out for Happy Hour ....

The next day we checked into the Arizona Grand, met up with the newlyweds and spent the day with their blended family of 8 at the water park at the resort.  That's where the Fried Thighs come in....you know the way your bathing suit scrunches up a bit during the day?  After you have applied sun screen? That was me.  I'm sparing you the photos of my lumpy thighs....

 

And while in Phoenix, I made a stop at Trader Joe's where I loaded up on Pepper Milss, Salt Mills, Soft and Juicy Mango and this new product....

Will be seriously good on Hot Chocolate or cupcakes.....

Moving on, some photos to catch up.

3 ATC sized fabric collages I made in Ruth Rae's  class at Art Unraveled:

And in Diane Cook's class:

The first stage....etching:

And my finished cuff:

And the previous weekend, Al and I went to a comedy show in Downtown Littleton at the local theater where we are season ticket holders:

And we followed up with a chocolate martini and John Daley at a bar across the street before taking the light rail home:

It's cooling off here so I pulled out my cowboys boots to wear....I bought these Nocona boots about 22 years ago!!

I just got this journal back from my friend Heather Simpson Bluhm.  She submitted it to Somerset last year and it was published!  Thank you Heather!!  And thanks to Mary Ann Moss for teaching the BEST online classes!! 

 

 

As a hair followup, here it is, nice and dark....

All is well with the "girls", Scout and Harper:

And I've been spending a lot of time here:

Coming Unraveled......

Here are some goodies I got at Art Unraveled and some that came in the mail....

In the mail....this beautiful skirt by Deb Hodge @ Breathing Beside Us!  I also have to photograph the shirt and jacket that Deb made to go with it!!

AU- beautiful earrings created by Ruth Rae with a garnet nestled in and etched cup!

 

This arrived like any other plain brown box in the mail, but I opened the first flap and look what I saw:

My girlfriend Tanya artfully packaged up all these goodies for my birthday!

And when I opened it, there was the theme of crowns, which I adore:

And I have to throw in my new favorite summer wine, New Age.  Pour it over ice with a slice of lime and yummy!!

This beautiful stuff bag created by the Canadian fabric Queen, Martha:

Hammered bronze Boho earrings from Art Unraveled vendor day, crafted by my friend Deryn Mentock!

You guessed it- birthday beauties from my darling Pilar Pollack!

A beautiful scarf that will be perfect to help me transition through the Colorado seasons!

 

And look at that brooch!  The card it is attached to was even collaged by Pilar!!

 

My Birthday Treat

I invested in a piece of Ruth Rae's jewlery and I am delighted!!  Every piece Ruth makes is a labor of love and so very unique.  This is a double strand bracelet....

A close up of the etched piece:

"Hope is the dream of a soul awake"..this is a recurring theme in Ruth's work, the second piece I own with this phrase.

In the dangles is this lovely assortment of bits:

Splendor In The Grass:

Harper, 3 months old.  Scout is LOVING her!!

More to come.....

Art Unraveled....The Players

I have been attending Art Unraveled in Phoenix for as long as Linda and Chuck Young have been putting it on.  Perhaps 8 years?  That was the first time I stepped into the world of Mixed Media.  My very first 2 classes were taught by Kelly Kilmer!  It has been a wonderful journey and I have met the most talented women in the world!!

I arrived in Phoenix last Friday, August 4th and immediately caught up with my roomies:

Ruth, me, Martha

It was good to be reunited with my Canadian girl:

Martha and me

And of course we had to do the annual My Big Fat Greek Restaurant dinner of Greek fries and Honey Balls (and Margaritas):

Ruth and Martha

On Friday night Martha and I took Ruth's class where I got to meet my long time blogger friend for the first time In Real Life....Joanna Pierotti!!

Joanna & me

And the obligatory group photo with teacher....

Joanna, Ruth, me and Martha

What made meeting Joanna IRL extra special was that we have been in the Adorn Christmas Swap together for the last 5 years and 4 out of 13 of us were together at the same place!!

Joanna, me, Deryn and Ruth

photo courtesty of Joanna

But before class, there was Happy Hour in the hotel lobby!  I got to see my friend Deryn Mentock whom I haven't seen for a few years:

Deryn and me

Photo courtesy of Diane Cook

And I got to meet some more awesome online friends:

Deryn, me, Diane Cook and Dianna Frey!!

On Sunday when I took Diane's class, we had fun....

On Saturday I got to see even more friends for the Vendor Sale:

Ms. Bling Baby, Lisa Loria and the Mosaic Queen, Michelle Legler!

And as always, my girl Tricia Vintage Bliss was there:

On Saturday afternoon I got to catch up with my bestie Lisa:

Photo from 5/2011, iPhone, night of drinking....

I'm heading back to Phoenix at the end of the month to visit with Lisa again for a weekend.

And on Sunday, I had lunch with my other bestie, Earleen:

Photo taken in the early Spring

 

My next post will be about the stuff I made in class!!