christytomlinson

The Art of Spring: part two...

for some reason I imagined that with  summer and me being home for 6 weeks.. I would have all of this  magical free time. Yeah. Not so much :). I forget how much time we love to just spend at a family hanging out and doing fun things! Last week my husband and oldest son were out of town for a church TREK.. and so I took my other 5 kids on a little "adventure" of our own for 2 days.. It was SO fun. Spur of the moment and just fun.  But now I am back.. and ready to get some work done!

So here is part two of the Art of Spring retreat!
If you missed Part one, about the amazing remodeled church, we spent the weekend in (Shea and Debbie's home).. you can read about it here!

I also am going to break this post down into a third part.  As I mentioned before not only did we have 2 full day of classes, but we also took a day trip to Canton, Texas.. which is this amazing antique/flea market place. AND SERIOUSLY.. as i started going through photos, I think Canton just needs its own post entirely :)

So today's post is about the ARt of Springs classes that were also held at Shea's house. I showed you in the last post about this event.. how their house is set up normally, but for the event, they completely transform the living room into one big open art studio for all the students..

 

The tables were covered in antique tablecloths and Debbie made these brilliant lamp shades out of antique doilies to hang from their chandelier. CRAZY! these ladies go all out.

 

Each student was greeted with this amazing necklace that Shea, Debbie and Heather (their awesome assistant) made..

 

each necklace was soldered and made by hand. Seriously.. incredible! We also each received a bag, made by the wonderful Stacy.. (one of my roomies).. out of hand-dyed linen..

 

The bags were filled with all sorts of goodies from etsy stores, stamps companies, art companies.. it was amazing. They attention to detail was AMAZING.

They also had a wonderful breakfast and "welcome" message for us before we began..

 


Our first class was taught by the very talented  Lesa Dailey, an awesome mixed media artist.. and of course, like everything else that the Gilded LIfe girls do.. the packaging for the class supplies were adorable!

 

The project we were making was a feathered bird, on a birdhouse..  it was playful and vintage and TOTALLY  glittery. As you know.. I am all into the playful and vintage.. not so much the glitter lol. but I was ready to break out of my comfort zone and go for it! .. so as I sat down with Margie, Jo Packham, Shea and Debbie. (all at my table) we decided we were just going to have fun and go for it! (Margie, Shea and Debbie are all about glitter.. so this was their comfort zone.. me and jo.. Not so much :)). this is a picture of us seriously.. having SO much fun. I swear I haven't laughed that hard in a long long time..

 

This is part of the project in process.. we had to glitter A LOT OF THINGS.. :) and apparently I didn't know how to glitter correctly.. but I have learned how. You should never DIP your item into glitter.. you should only ever sprinkle the glitter on top :) so now you know :)

 

I elected to leave off some of the glittery stuff in some parts.. used book paper or antique papers instead.. just a little more me.. but here is how it turned out finished..

 

It's hard to see the feathered bird.. but he really did turn out cute. He sits on top of the birdhouse..

 

This is where I changed it up a bit. I added some of my own bits and baubles to go inside of the bird house (8 my favorite number.. my family is 8). I also opted out for the glitter garland that went around the opening of the birdhouse and used vintage paper that I crinkeled and pasted instead. a little more me.

 

It was actually super fun. Lesa REALLy has this unique sense of attention to detail. I mean the thought that went into this project.. even down to the birds feathers and eyes, and wings.. were amazing. She is super talented. This class took us all day to complete. But It was fun.

Day two.. was Shea's Jewelry class..

and again as we sat down the next morning, we had this adorable little package waiting for us at our tables..

 

We each were given our own little tray so we could sort all the jewelry bits and baubles .

I didn't take any pictures of the "process".. of making it.. which I wish I would have! It was SO fun.. it was right in my element.. as I love making handmade jewelry..

But this was my finished project..

 

 It has 5 seperate strands that go around your wrist.. which I LOVE. Love how eclectic it is.. Shea is truly one talented girl. Here is picture of HER finished bracelet (she also gave us a watch and then bubbles to put on it.. you can see in more detail how the strands are seperate.I LOVE wearing mine!

 

The whole experience was just AMAZING.. They just truly went out of their way to make everything "special". Everything they did from the food, to the name tags, bags, supplies, our tables and chairs.. everything was simply what I call "Gilded". They just have an amazing sense of style and vintage and class. It was a cool experience for me, because I am So not gilded.. lol.. well you've seem my art studio.. and my messy art space. Not so gilded, so this was a serious Treat! I felt so blessed to have been invited as a guest. I can NOT WAIT for next summer.. to offer a special Art Retreat with them in Rome, Italy.. where you will get a little bit of us all.. The gilded life from Debbie and Shea.. Margie's unique Shabby Chic and my eclectic artsy urban. As I said before, it will be a week long retreat in a Castle in Rome.. lots of artsy projects, plus flea market shopping AND even sight seeing trips. AND authentic Italian cooking.. it's going to be AMAZING. It will include all of your meals, your room at the castle and of course all of the art projects and day trips we take. The only thing not included will be your airfare (though we are working with my dear friend Jamie on getting some REALLY good flight rates if you want to book through her).  As soon as I have all the complete details.. I will let you know! We will only have about 15 spots.. It's going to be in the first part of july 2012. Can't wait!

Well Hope you all are having an amazing and fun artsy summer. I am SUPER excited.. Wednesday is the day I start my new "summer" series!! Artsy goodness! And you can join me too! It's gonna help you stay artsy and creative during this summer break! :)

Happy Monday!

The Art of Spring Event: Part One.. the church

 I just got back from my 6 day trip to Texas.. and I can't wait to share with you my adventure!

I am breaking this post up into two parts because really the experience was just THAT big.. This post is on the church that I have now fallen in love with.. here is more on that story..

 

So as you know.. last weekend I was in Dallas Texas attending the Art of Spring event, hosted by the lovely Shea and Debbie of a Gilded Life.  I was lucky enough to go with my best friend Margie.. and we arrived Thursday afternoon. More than anything I was excited to see Shea's house.. her husband Rober and her  had purchased  an old church.. VERY run down historic church about 6 years ago... close to the center of downtown Dallas.. where all the historic old homes are. The church is 16000 Sq ft and they (including Shea, her husband Robert and Shea's mom, Debbie) renovated the church into a house. A HOUSE! I had seen pictures of it in the magazine "Where Woman Create" and also online.. but to see it in person was so cool. Llet me  first apologize by saying most of the pictures of from my phone! Sorry! Forgot my nice camera :) But I also did borrow some of these photos from Robert.. Shea's husband.. :) (which by the way.. Shea's husband.. seriously one of the coolest people i have ever met. TRULY a nice guy and just so brilliant!)

 

The house is split into two living quarters.. the upstairs (main part of the house) an the downstairs (below ground). Each living space has  a full kitchen living rooms, bedrooms, etc. First they finished the basement part.. and lived in it through  the renovation of upstiars  (the main living quarters). The wanted to keep the upstairs of the church in character to what it may have looked like when it was built.. reusing alot of the wood and benches and things left in the church.. BACK into the house. They also wanted to take very special care that everything was as original as possible.. so they hand-scraped and hand-stained most of the trim, beams, doors, floors, etc.. in upstairs living quarters.

This is a view of the basement living room and kitchen which has a more modern feel to it. It really is actually more like two separate houses.. though it's all in the church. I love how creative they were in restoring the up and downstairs so differently. That is partly what Shea's husband does for a living and he is REALLY good at it.

 

 

 


The downstairs is INCREDIBLE.. I loved all the exposed brick and concrete floors. truly so cool.

The upstairs as I said.. was re-done to really stay true to character of the church's history.

This is a view of the upstairs living room and kitchen which has a much more classical "cathedral" feel to it.

 

 

Debbie hand cut all the stained glass windows in the house.. and tried to re-create it as it would have been when it was first built. I wish I could remember how many pieces he told me where involved! I Do remember him telling me that they stripped all the trim around the windows by hand.. and there are I think close to 200 windows in just the upstairs alone!

 

 

 

 The house has 11 bedrooms and I believe 11 bathrooms..

 

the living room/kitchen area is where the congregation and alter use to be.. Seriously so cool I can't even BEGIN to tell you!

Here is a picture that hangs in their entry way.. showing what the church looked like when it was first built and how the  Alter room. .now living room once looked..

 

Here are some of the guest bedrooms..

Shea had several of us guests staying at her house.. one of the teachers and her friend, the chefs who she flew in for the event, Jo Packham, the editor and creator of Where woman Create.. some of her closest friends who also help her with the event.. and of course her family. (she has two beautiful children and her husband and mom who live there)

 

 

 

and this is the room me and Margie stayed in.. Nico's room (Shea's 5 year old son.. which oh my heck.. ADORABLE.. he's my new buddy for life!)

 


This is the master bedroom upstairs..

 

.. and the best part.. Shea and Debbie's Art Studio which is the entire upstairs loft of the church (it has a balcony that opens up to the kitchen and living room below)

 

the Studio was full of PURE magic..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I loved about their studio is everything had a place.. and they had stations set up all through the studio.. one for sewing, one for using the computer, one for soldering and doing jewelry, one for mixed media.. one for fabric cutting.. truly this studio is not only gorgeous but efficient!

Here is a shot of Margie and Heather (Shea's dear friend and mine too :)).. sitting on the studio.. just taking in the surroundings..

 

I could have sat in that space all day.. oh who I am I kidding.. it didn't matter WHERE I was at in their home.. It was just beautiful to sit and look at all the wonderful beautiful things they had done to this church! I couldn't imagine getting to live there on a daily basis! .. and that is where the sad news comes in..

I found out right before I came that Shea and her family are moving to California.. (her husband's business is there and after years of traveling back and forth).. they decided to just take the plunge and move to California to be closer to him and his work. They movers were actually coming MONDAY (the day after the event ended).. to pack up their belongings and move them!
I was SO sad to hear this news.. especially once I saw this gorgeous magically space.. but family DOES come first! So they are selling the church.  One thing I KNEW they would miss (besides living in it on a daily basis).. is that the church is where they hold all of their "Art" retreats they do each year. 

They transform the living room into an art studio that seats 50 people.. and the women come for three days and create art in this magical space! They feed them gourmet meals and pamper them seriously.. beyond anything you can imagine! I felt so blessed they invited me to come as their guest and that this could potentially be the last time they have an event in this historic church!  Debbie joked that we needed to start selling tee-shirts that said "save the church".. and maybe we could sell enough that we could buy the church and use it to hold art events in all year long.. I was SOOOO in on it! .. I said.. let's start a fund! Save the church FUND! and seriously.. I would do it in a heartbeat.. I am "kinda" hoping maybe it doesn't sell for a little while.. and if it's still vacant there next spring.. we can hold an art retreat in the church..the three (or four of us).. I think it ROCK..

but I know they NEED to sell it.. making two mortgage payments.. specially on something of that size.. is not fun.  So I am torn between praying they will sell it soon and praying someone will magically donate all the money to save it.. and let people like us..  rent it out for art retreats, weddings, events.. etc. Wouldn't that be cool?  Um..so if you LIVE in the Dallas area.. or know of someone looking to invest into something.. put the little bug in their ear! lol.. It would be so sad if someone came in and just changed the atmosphere of the church all together.. so let's all pray! :)

anyhow.. so that is my post for today.. just LOVED opportunity to come to this event..and be apart of Shea's home. Her family is amazing.. her kids are adorable. Her mom is just like a wonderful sister.. and her husband is an awesome host. I was sad to come home knowing I may never get to see the church again.. that was a great memory!  THE GOOD news is.. they will STILL be holding ARt retreats and events.. TRUE Gilded life style.. it might not be in the historic church.. but some of the best parts of their event were the attention to detail that went into the event and goodie bags and the food and the classes.  I will post MORE about the actual event next week.. all about the projects we made.. how the space looked transformed into art heaven.. about the foods, the treats we received.. and the trip to Canton for a day of Antique Shopping. amazing. Watch for THAT post next week!

oh! and I forgot to tell you the BEST part!!  NEXT Summer.. Debbie, Shea, Margie and I.. are putting together a fun little retreat IN ITALY!..  we have only started on the details.. but I am pretty sure it willl include your housing, most of your food, creative art classes and antique shopping and flea market shopping.. hosted by the four of us! I seriously can not wait! As Soon as I have more details about it.. I will post it on my blog.  ALSO If you are interseted in any of Shea and Debbie's local events here in the states.. read their blog! They hold them usually twice a year!

 http://whathappensnext.typepad.com/

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! Happy Friday!