Chapter 5: The Big Day ~ Creating at Ford Plantation

photo courtesy of Shabbyscraps

~ Petticoats and Parasols ~

hosted by the Queen of the South...

the one and only Jennifer Hayslip.

Teachers included:

Tiffany of Shabbyscraps and Christine of Dollybelle

Guest Speaker:

Jo Packham of Where Women Create

*****

Well friends, it's here...the moment you've been waiting for!

~ Final Day of the Event ~

Even the rain couldn't dull our excitement as we arrived by trolley for the big day!!!

No way!!!

Jenn was sooooo cute as she looked like a little doll standing there in the massive front entrance of the beautiful Ford Plantation.

She was pretending to be crying and wiping her eyes because of the rain and yucky weather. 

There was a sweet, but somber sound of "awwwwwe, poor Jenn" throughout the whole trolley when we saw her and as soon as it stopped, we ran up the up the steps as fast as we could and assured her that the rain was NOT going to ruin OUR par-tay!!!

No way!!!

Making our way through the house and again through the back door, this was our view...(sigh)...

And to the right of this sensational pool was the white tent on the beautiful lawn next to the Savannah River which was to be our creative nest until dusk!

We took three classes throughout the day.

The first was the Peekaboo Petticoat taught by Christine aka Dollybelle...

This was an AWESOME class as we covered and embellished a paper mache' dress form, Southern Belle Style!

Our supply kit from Christine was a treat in itself and those of you who know me, I really had a hard time opening the pretty package...but I did!  ;)

Presentation! Presentation! Presentation!

Christine sewed the precious little bags above that held our kit supplies which included detailed instructions, a paper mache' dress form, a painted and distressed candle holder (for the base) and a cute little bag of embellishments (not shown) below...

Christine had a few gorgeous "models" already made to guide us through. As you can see below, she is so talented in SO many ways!!!!!

This is what a typical creative table looked like in the first fifteen minutes of the event...

A beautiful mess :)

And this is what the area of the typical floor space looked like...

Another beautiful mess :)

Let me present to you my "Mini-Me" (as Tiffany calls her), but please note that she's not finished...she still needs some shaping up a little here and there...

I took a break and walked around with my camera. I really didn't neeeed a break...I was just being my typical nosey self and of course, I wanted to take you along with me ;)

Everyone was having fun fun fun! Here we have

Rhonda...

Sylvia...

Shelley...

and Nicole...

By this time my tummy was growling and it was almost lunch.

Before you and I head to the dining room...let me not forget to show you another sweet little detail from Jenn...

These cue-tees were hung from each of our chairs as a keepsake to take home. Isn't that sa-weet?

Alrighty now...let's head back to the Ford Plantation.

My place at the dining room awaits us, and so do the ladies at my table!!!

I had the pleasure of sharing a table with Tiffany, Julie Ann, Amada, Karen, Nicole and her Mother Bernadette. Lucky me that our table was the closest to the bar and before anyone else in room new it, I had my tab open and I was on my second C&C! Tiffany turned the rest of the ladies on to Amarettos (sp?) and everyone was "over the top" happy :)

Our place settings were so pretty and with such classy details.

And then came the chicken...YUMMY!

I made a "happy plate" and oh my gosh...after eating seeing this again, I think I just might have to go take a nap...

No? You won't "let" me? You want to see more?

Alrighty then...you're killing me!

Let's go back to the tent...it's play time again :)

Next up was the parasol class taught by Jenn. This was an AWESOME class too as you're not going to believe the beautiful creations you're about to see!

I didn't do my parasol in class.

It was killing me not to, but I have to tea stain my parasol before I can even start on it. The parasol was bright white and all the material I brought of course did NOT match, much less blend with white so guess what? No fear!  That gave me the chance to walk around and show you some more fabulous women and their creations!!!!

Are you ready?

Nicole and Rachel

Bernadette

Joanna

Karen

Shelley

Cathy

Heidi

Julie Ann

Sherry

There were so many other beautiful parasols under that tent! I didn't get a chance to catch everyone...I didn't want to "disturb" their creative mo-jo!

I did have the chance to sit and chat with Jo for a while and that was a highlight of my day :)

Plus, I sure wish I would have had more time over the weekend to sit and chat with Julie Ann. She's such a sweet heart and she's been so good to me from the day we met through blogging. She has the biggest heart and she's so full of surprises!

I love this photo of her and I...

So by now, it is late in the evening and we have one more class to take.

Tiffany taught the Silhouette class which was totally AWESOME too! All we had to do was bring an 8x10 frame and she supplied the class kit with yummy Melissa Frances goodies...

with extras on the main table for everyone to dig into...

These were two of the amazingly beautiful frames that she created as an example...

Well, if you remember clearly...I had a tab open at the bar. Many hours have passed since. The sun was setting. I was getting tired (& hungry as always) again so therefore I whipped up my silhouette frame standing at the glue gun station.

This is what I came up with in a matter of 15 minutes using Tiffany's signature floral photography fine art and her silhouette.  I grunged up the background with walnut ink and added some bling, paper flowers and velvet.

And this my friends, was the LAST photo I took of the whole event. Yes, picture number 359 on Saturday evening at approximately 8 p.m.

I turned my camera off for the final time in Savannah, packed all my little supplies neatly back in my bag, closed my tab at the bar and plopped myself in the trolley.

I was so happy, honored and humbled to spend a beautiful weekend with all of these creative women.

I was sad that it was ending as I was flying home in the morning.

I was TIRED as there was so many little details to soak in and I was scared at the thought of forgetting each one.

I was speechless as I couldn't comprehend the fact of being happy and sad at the same time.

I was scared at the thought I might need to be on the lookout for a therapist. Seriously, how can a person be happy and sad at the same time, right?

;)

Words and photos cannot express the fun that I had...from the moment my toes touched down in Savannah, Georgia!

I hope you had fun coming along with me too. At least you don't have to feel all psychotic like me...lucky you! haha

********

I wanted to let you in on what I'll be giving away at the end of the last Chapter (coming soon) of my Savannah Weekend "book"...

I'll be giving away Jo Packham and Jenny Doh's newest book, Where Women Create ~ The Book of Inspiration.

It is a special copy as this is one of many that I lugged with me from Louisiana to have Jo take it back to her room and graciously sign it...just for you.

Jo is such a fascinating and inspiring woman.

She is my mentor and my hero.

Hearing her laugh makes me happy.

Hearing her trials and her struggles makes me stronger person.

Seeing her smile makes me feel like all things are possible.

I've felt so selfish to have had the privilege of seeing her three times in the past five months and not sharing her with you.

So here's my chance to give back some of the love in hopes of having her inspire you also.

And of course, no box leaves my house without extra surprises so I won't give out any more details ;)

Hopefully I'll see you again as we read Chapter 6 together!

(that's correct, I'm still NOT finished!)

;)