KC Willis's Workshop ROCKED!!!!

 {the fabric table, I took that top piece}

Really....I mean REALLY Friends???

Is this what an Art Retreat is like?

Is this what I've been missing ALL my life??

 Yesterday, I spent the entire day with KC Willis of Lipstick Ranch & some of the
most delightful, talented & creative women you could ever meet.

 We gathered at a Community Room in Huntington Beach, California.

I got there a little early as they were setting up tables of fabric, paper,

sewing machines, baubles & buttons. It was a FEAST for the eyes!

KC had brought some absolutely AMAZING pieces of her original

fabric collages & had them set up for us all to look at & fall in LOVE with,

I LOVED them ALL!

Now, I'll tell you a secret...

 I'm a little bit of a KC Willis groupie, all though she wouldn't know that.

I have been following her work & her on-line workshops for years &

quietly coveting her work.

 Not only does the textures & layers & time worn images of her work appeal to me,

but her STRONG WOMEN & their SAYIN's & QUOTES, have captured my heart!

"Inside Every Woman a Gypsy Girl Dances by the Fire."

KC Willis also had these fabric collage envelopes that were pieces of art themselves,

filled with three CD's of workshops & demonstrations on how to create

some of her most popular techniques & art work...pretty cool right!

You can find these HERE if your interested.  ;)

A stack of some of her yummy goodness!!!

I wish I could have gone back today because she was teaching how to make

these awesome Mixed Media Collage Books.

Here's a couple inside pages she had at the workshop as an example...

aren't they FABULOUS!!!

This flag is to die for, it's spectacular with all it's vintage fabrics, red ticking stripes

& multiple vintage image transfers...loving EVERYTHING about it & you can get it in a kit!!!

So what can I say about KC?
She is a spirit filled with light & it's contagious.
Her mantra is 'Give it ALL Away'...you will get back more then you could ever imagine.
She reminds me of one of the Strong Women in her artwork...
she's funny & sassy & I adored her!
{check out her ministry work at The Pine Ridge Reservation on South Dakota}

She holds nothing back, she teaches you ever little technique she uses to create her Magic...

and as we all started our own creations, KC's Magic filled the room & we took FLIGHT!

This being my very FIRST workshop, I can see how you could get addicted to the process,
being surrounded by so many creative & generous women was a delight.

Friends, I had SOOOOOO much fun working on my own creation!  ;)
I learned how to be brave sewing with layers of  fabrics, fibers & papers,
I learned to embrace the accidental mistakes that happen when creating
& I learned that Aleene's Tacky Glue can hold almost ANYTHING in place!! lol

{Marilou & KC Willis}
But best of all, I was able to hang with some of my bloggie friends in person & have the
sincere pleasure of meeting KC Willis the artist, the humanitarian, the 'SPITFIRE'!
It was an AWESOME day!!!!

Driving the 1 1/2 hours home from Huntington Beach, I reflected on the perfect day
& as I made my way up my mountain, I looked in the rear view mirror & saw this.
I pulled into a turn out, grabbed my camera & as I caught the sky's last bit of color
I thought how very Blessed I am & once again,
there's NOTHIN like a Western Sky!!!  ;)
{stick around, my creation reveal will be my next post}

XOXO
vintagesusie

KC Willis Workshops are in So Cal & I'm Going!!

Happy Wednesday Sweetest of Hearts...

Y'all know about the Amazing artist KC Willis & Lipstick Ranch, right!

I have been loving this girls work for years.

Her fabric collages are filled with layers of textures & vintage elements,

cool phrases & fabulous vintage images. Their richness & time worn

quality, make them look like family heirlooms that have

been treasured for years.

I ADORE them!!!

Sooooo, I am very excited that KC Willis & her Workshop is going to be here in

southern California at the end of October offering 2 workshops.
October 29th is her Mixed Media Book Workshop in LA at The French General,

October 30th is her Collage Camp with Hand Tinted Photos in Huntington Beach &

October 31st she is offering her Mixed Media Book Workshop also in Huntington Beach.

I wish I could take both of these fabulous classes, but I will be taking the Collage Camp workshop

on Sunday from 10 ~ 4pm & I can't WAIT!! Yippppeeeee....finally, my very 1st workshop!

I know there are a couple of spaces still available for these classes, so if you're interested

head on over to KC Studio Retreats & sign-up & maybe I'll see you there!!  ;)

I also have to tell you all just one more thing...

I have always been a big fan of KC & her art,

but since I have been following her on Facebook

I have become a HUGE fan of KC the person!

She is one of the most selfless people I have had the pleasure to get to know.

She is endlessly working to end poverty on her local Indian Reservation.

She gathers coats & shoes for the children to keep them warm,

backpacks, books & school supplies to make sure they get an education.

She puts out a call for help to all her friends & her requests are answered by

other selfless people. It's a community of LOVE & I LOVE watching her

Change the World

one child, one person at a time.

Again, I am so excited...not only to take my workshop, but to meet this woman

who quietly & consistently moves mountains!

XOXO

vintagesusie

Anybody Hungry? It's Time for Some BEAD SOUP!

Happy Saturday Sweeties!

The weekend is here & today is a day many of us SOUPER'S have been waiting for...

it's finally BEAD SOUP Reveal Day!!!

Yipppppeeee.....are you hungry for more?

Here's how it works...

Our fabulous hostess with the mostest, Miss Lori Anderson of Pretty Things blog,

had over 300 jewelry designers from all over the world sign-up this summer to

participate in her much anticipated event. She then paired us up into partners,

with each of us sending our partner a batch of BEAD SOUP.

My partner is Malin de Koning from Sweden & I couldn't have been more pleased

when my ingredients arrived! They were stunning, I LOVED the colors & textures

she included & knew from the moment I saw my soup, I'd be using the glorious

blue ceramic focal & frayed sari silk in my design!

This earthy necklace almost made it's self! Malin had included this fabulous

chunky, wooden button which I knew I HAD to use, so instead of using the clasp she

sent along with the soup, I made a large loop at one end of the sari silk & threaded the

other end through the button tying it off in back. I love the raw & rustic look it created.

I had so many amazing beads to choose from, one of my favorites being

these thick, rough, glass rondelles the color of Root Beer, I decided to

make two pairs of earrings to match my necklace.

All the elements of my design are from Malin's

generous soup ingredients, the only things I added were the keys

& the vintage rosary charm on the necklace.

I ADORE my SOUP & couldn't be more thrilled with the end result.

I want to THANK Malin for sending me such glorious elements,

I want to THANK Lori for working so hard to organizing this Enormous Event

& I want to THANK you, for taking the time to stop by & see what we have all

been up to this summer!

I hope you're all still HUNGRY, cuz there's 364 more SOUPS to visit!

Just click HERE friends, to start your Bead Soup Blog Hop...

I'm grabbing a Starbucks Venti Mocha Frappicino,

that should get me through the 1st 100 or so.

Then I'll have some Chai Tea, a Hazelnut Coffee,

an Espresso, a Latte, some Earl Grey....lol!  ;)

XOXO

vintagesusie

FLYIN to The Junk Gypsy's & Round Top

 

Yeah...it's the HUMP Day & the weekend is almost here!!!

Just had to share with you my finished creations for the

Fabulous Junk Gypsy's!

 

 

Right now, as we speak, these SPOONIN necklaces are flyin over clouds & fields...

 

 

over mountains & streams & longhorn steer,

makin their way to one of my FAVORITEST places on Earth...

 

 

Round Top, Texas!

I would love to be a tiny fairy & slip effortlessly into the parcel & make this

journey with them. Oh, to see the JG's face when I popped out & grew to full size...

what a GREAT Surprise I'd make!

 

 

But alas, I am not a fairy & can only dream that it is so,

unless you have some Fairy Dust handy!!

Do You my Sweet Hearts???  ;)

XOXO

vintagesusie

A Vintage Daycation in Palm Springs

Growing up in Southern California definitely had it's plus's &

one of them has always been Palm Springs.

In high school on a beautiful sun filled day, it would not be unusual for me &

my girlfriends to decide to have a ditch day. I'd wear my bikini under my clothes,

throw a towel in my back pack & when my girlfriend came to pick me up, instead

of heading towards school, we would giddily point the car towards Palm Springs.

{ps:I NEVER had the car, lol}

Our game plan was this:

We would park the car at a big, fancy hotel...

we would take our clothes off in the parking lot, grab our towels & then, as if we

belonged there, stroll casually to the pool gate. The gate was ALWAYS the scary part!

If we could be brave enough to open the gate, we knew we were in.

When the gate slammed behind us, with hearts pounding, we would jump into the

pool as quickly as possible trying not to look too obvious. We always figured once

we were wet, we'd look like we belonged there.  ;)

Silly Girls!

Palm Springs holds a lot of memories for me.

I hadn't thought about how many for years, until hubby & I decided to spend the day

there yesterday. In some ways the landscape has changed with the times. Now,

windmills cover the desert coming into town, like sprinkles on a cupcake. 

And yet Palm Springs has embraced it's history & golden era of the 50's & 60's,

when it was a hideaway for Hollywood Stars & amazing architect's like Donald Wexler

created the indoor/outdoor style of design which would come to be known as Desert Modern.

The Palm Springs Visitor Center is housed in what use to be an old Gas Station

as you come into town, right at the entrance to the tram.

Inside, we were delighted to find a wonderful collection of Vintage Palm Springs.

From vintage postcard collections to ashtrays from various hotels long ago closed,

this building was filled with memorabilia & I LOVED looking at ALL of it!

We got a map for another day trip that shows the location of Frank Sinatra,

Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Lucy & Desi, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley & many more stars,

Desert Modern vacation homes...I can't WAIT to share that with y'all!!

Looking towards the San Jacinto Mountains, we decided to head up towards

The Palm Springs Aerial Tram.

I haven't taken this Tram ride since I was in high school,

but it's a spectacular ride from the desert floor to the mountain top peak of 8,500'.

Here is the Tram Station which is at about 2,000'. The tempatures will vary

about 30 degrees from the valley floor to the Tram's drop off.

If you look to the center of this pic, you can see the Tram's support structure

& cables...

here it is just a little bit closer.

No, we didn't go up the Tram on this particular day...awwweeee. It's an all day event,

but what it did do is spark my imagination into thinking this might be the perfect

surprise anniversary getaway for me & hubby at the beginning of October.

It will be gorgeous down in the valley & cool & crisp & clear on the mountain top.

They have an excellent restaurant & we could spend the evening having a glass of wine,

a wonderful meal & watching a spectacular sunset...how romantic!

Well Sweeties, off for now...more Palm Springs to come I promise. This little

adventure was just what I needed to remind me that sometimes the greatest

adventures of all can be found right in your own backyard!!

XOXO

vintagesusie