Bella Sneaky Peeks and Agenda.....

It's almost time! Are you ready? Me, I'm ready to hop on the plane without my bags, swaps, supplies, and PJ's... but that wouldn't be all that smart, now would it? I can't believe how fast this fall has swept by. I am still working on my last swap, and pennants have mostly come in for my Vintage Sparkle Winter Banner swap I'm hosting. The Bella Board is swarming with flurry about this and that. Everyone is soooo excited... including me!

Well, if your just tuning in.... Here's a little of what I'll be doing this coming week....
Monday and Tuesday will be spent tying up ends at the church for curriculum, so I hopefully I don't leave Lauren with any holes! ;) Along with packing, packing, packing- or figuring out the Silver Bella Packing Puzzle! Every time this year, the Bella board is buzzing with questions relating to how to pack for the event... ;) This is my third year, I'm not sure I have it down yet!

I will fly out Wednesday with Valita, Heather, Alisa, Joanna, and Marie. I'm not sure what Wednesday will be like, but probably settling in, a quick lunch, and maybe a little downtown shopping, with an evening of last minute swap preparations. It's time to catch-up with my Bella friends that I haven't seen since June.

Thursday, Miss Jessi Nagy has rented us a BIG Bella bus to take us on tour to the Brass Armadillo, Hobby Lobby, Archivers, and a fabulous lunch! She's quite a Bella girl- Love that Jessi!
Thursday afternoon/evening we check in at the register table to get our classroom assignments and name tags (the ticket to Friday's 100 Aprons Vendor Market!) and meet and greet with the rest of the Bellas coming in on Thursday... Then that evening we meet with ALL 150+ Bellas for dinner and class taught by Stephenie Hamen. And the night won't end there. It will be time for some Bella Swappin'! There were SO MANY swaps this year! I wanted to join in every one of them, but alas, there's just not enough time.

Friday starts classes.... I will be taking Kaari Meng's Vintage Rosary Necklace, Jennifer Murphy's Snowman Clip Ornament, and Rebecca's Cigar Box Assemblage classes- a full day leading right into the long-awaited evening event: 100 Aprons Bella Market Faire. The doors for the Faire are open (then quickly closed again) for us Vintage Bellas at 6:30, while the public eagerly awaits the doors to open for them at 7:00 pm. You will never see so much glitter, glam, and sparkle anywhere!

Then, bright and early Saturday morning, after not much sleep Friday night, classes resume with Pam Garrison's Holly-Days Countdown wreath class, and finishing off the fabulous time with the stars ;) I spend time again with Kaari Meng and make a Vintage Charm Bracelet. We will all meet again for the luncheon and get to meet guest speaker Jo Packham, the creator and Editor in Chief of Where Women Create! Oh, I simply cannot wait!

Saturday night is always a big ending to the weekend with a dinner, most likely at the Upstream Brewery Co., downtown Omaha. It's a favorite among many Bellas. The atmosphere is fun and energetic (what we need after two days of straight creating), yet is warm and cozy with a great Nebraska corn-fed beef steak. It's our last "hurrah" before saying our good-byes to good friends (old and new).

Then it'll be back to reality without all the glitter and sparkles (unless you track some home with you) on Sunday, but not until all of us figure out how we'll get all that Bella goodness back home on the plane with us! (Last year, I had to undo my luggage AT THE AIRPORT to take out/rearrange jeans, shoes or something to keep it from spilling over the weight limit!) Course, there were other bellas (and I won't mention any names-you know who you are), who had to take out the 5LBS OF CHOCOLATE they packed! LOL

Even if we leave behind a glitter trail all the way from Omaha, we will have brought back glittered pieces from swaps and classes and sparkles of memories of time spent with some really great girls who love vintage art, jewelry, paper & sewing just as much as I do! See you when I get back....

Here's a couple sneaky peeks for ya.... and I'll post more of the event when I return. It's time for some Bella Bliss...

Happy Halloweeen!

Soul Sisters in the Fall...

Oh...... I can't tell you how excited I am over a new ladies group (to me anyways) and bible study that I have just started attending.
Soul Sisters is the name of the group... It's sorta new to me because I had known about the group in our church that meets on Thursdays (I almost started going a couple years ago, but then didn't)... And I kinda forgot about it... til now!

Our group "leader", the lovely Pastor Laura, is the sweetest and kindest lady. She makes you feel sooo welcome. The group is all about Soul Sisters in Christ and as a dedicated close friend-kind-of thing.

The bible study we are doing is "Discerning the Voice of God" by Priscilla Shirer, which can be found here. The jist is, how to recognize when God speaks to you. So far it's been totally wonderful. I was thrilled and passionate about this study because, well, I've come to wonder sometimes if God is talking to me or is it ME thinking this or that.... and to tell you the truth- the study has just supported my belief that He most definitely is talking to me! I can look back on periods in my life where I thought, yes, this has got to be God BUT (as doubt sets in)... and only two weeks into the study I KNOW at times it definitely was... God is so truly amazing! I am really so excited about this... ;)

If you are in the Flower Mound, TX area and are needing some time "Discerning the voice of God"... you might just check it out! You can read more about it HERE.

On a different note.... what are your thoughts on this weather??? (for those of you in north Texas) Oui! I know many are getting really sick of the rain, but for me, it's been kinda nice for a change of scenery. I don't like that it's made a muck of flooded areas for many.... but for today, since it hasn't been too rainy (in Lewisville), and warmer feeling... I just get the feeling of FALL sitting here looking out the window. And I REALLY enjoy that feeling! Fall IS here, and I L-O-V-E fall!
How about you?

Prayers for a Friend....

I am posting today in hopes that those of you that may not know yet, and to those of you that are willing will bend down and lift your hearts in prayer... A sweet friend, Tina Wright - head cowgirl of the Paper Cowgirl art event is need of good thoughts and prayers right now. She has recently found out she has cancer. Please pray for her, the doctors & specialists, as well as her family and close friends. It is going to be a rough road ahead for all, and I will be praying for her all the way. I hope you will join me, as well. If you hop on over to the PC blog, Mendy and Lisa are putting together a book with pages made from friends. If you are interested, go check it out here.

I'm praying God's healing miracle for ya, T!

Where oh where have I gone?

Oh yes, I'm still around... just very busy, since I started working up at the church, summer activities, and vacations! So sorry. I am missing all of you in the blogging world! I hope to catch up sometime soon..... Hope your summer is cooler than mine right now! (as I type this in my 86 degree room.... something is definitely going on with the air conditioner!)

Hugs!

A Couple of Shout Outs!

Oh yes, busy as ever around here.... pink eye and ear infections top the list for this week! ;P But before April slips by with the least amount of posts ever, I thought I'd give a shout out to a couple of gals...

First one is for the infamous Teresa McFayden... Oh, a few posts ago on her blog, she posted a "new" kind of Chicken and Rice Casserole recipe. I thought it sounded different, and the ingredients sounded all yummy to me, AND I hadn't fixed chicken and rice casserole in a l-o-o-o-n-g time. So I thought I'd give it a try. Holy CHICKEN AND RICE! Let me just say, it's by far, hands down, THE BEST chicken and rice casserole EVER!!! You simply must try it sometime. Go HERE for the recipe. Mmmmm..... good. Thank you, T!

For the next one, I want to give a shout out for a new bloggin' friend, Celita. She is a part of the Christian Paper Artists group I belong to. She is celebrating her 1 Year Paper-Cutting Art, and is hosting a little give-away on her BLOG, "Days Ease" to celebrate. Go check it out, she is quite the paper-cutting artist! I love her creativity in the themes of her art. Simply amazing and fascinating!

So there ya go. I haven't been very crafty lately... too many outside things going on at this time of year, as well as another (part-time) job. Paper Cowgirl is right around the corner though.... so there's bound to be some "Rootin' Tootin' Cowgirl Fun" involved!
Stay tuned....

Silver Bella Excitement....

It's going to be another fabulous year!

Are you going?
;)