New York inspiration, Art Saves and Giveaway update

Saturday, April 17, 2010

I just got back from New York with my friend Karen yesterday afternoon ... my mind is still going a mile a minute with all of the ideas and inspiration from our little visit to the "Big Apple". We saw a live taping of the Martha Stewart show... rode the NY subway ... shopped for beads ... drank lots of tea at Starbucks and took tons of pictures {530 pictures in 48 hours} ...    

The Martha Stewart show was amazing ...we were there for the Thursday April 15th show. Karen and I were one and two on the reserved seating list ... we were seated in the centre front row on the floor. We could almost reach out and touch Martha we were that close!! The show was on tv the same day that it was taped which surprised us because we thought that it would be on next week sometime. Katherine Heigl was on the show with Martha {they did a couple of crafts for their pet dogs}, Martha made stunning stained glass cookies with Dani Fiore {I'm going to have to try to make them with the dragonfly cookie cutter that we received}, Martha showed us how to make an in-house herb garden  and then she showed us how to make herb-based cocktails {the "Marthatini" looked yummy - I'm assuming the recipe is on the website somewhere} http://www.marthastewart.com/the-martha-stewart-show/two-days-ago

Here's our pictures in the studio ... we were only allowed to take photos before and after taping. Everyone in the audience was told to wear bright coloured clothing to the show that day. Karen wore her green jacket and a stunning necklace that her Mother made for her. The woman sitting beside Karen (checking her cell phone) is Lisa Mansour. Lisa has a shop in New York called NY Cake http://www.nycake.com/ ... the cookie cutters used to create the stain glass cookies on the show were from Lisa's store and she donated the cookie cutter giveaways for the studio audience {they were wrapped up so nicely ... I'm sure that Martha would have approved of the presentation! Thanks again Lisa!!}. I'm wearing a bright pink t-shirt with my favourite belt made from soda bottle caps, and old tire and car seat belt buckle. I also had my California licence plate purse with me and that went over well with the 4 ladies who sat behind us ... they all live in California and were in New York for a "girl's trip" while their husbands were back home fishing. 

  
Here's a shot of our loot bags after the show ... as well as my tote bag and "licence plate" purse. I recycled a denim mini skirt into a tote bag Wednesday morning before we left for the airport. I couldn't find a tote bag that was the right size and it was easy to sew the bottom of the skirt and add a woven belt as a strap. I got a lot of comments about it when we were walking around so I think that I may look through the girls' closets and see if there are any more denim skirts that can be restyled into tote bags.

My first project this week is to create something that I can send to Michaels Arts & Crafts Store home office to thank them for sending me on the trip to New York to see Martha ... it was really a dream come true for me and I am so glad that I was able to take Karen with me ... it is a trip that we will both remember fondly for many years to come.



I'd also like to thank Jenny Doh and her staff at Crescendo for featuring my story about how art has saved me  http://blog.crescendoh.com/readers_share/2010/04/art-inspires-brings-happiness-by-lorrie-everitt.html ... my story was posted just before I left for New York and this is the first chance that I've had to mention it. Crescendoh.com is a great website with tons of inspiration and artists to find and connect with. If you have ever read/purchased a Somerset Studio magazine you will totally fall in love with this site and blog.


And before I leave ... I want to announce the winner of my bookmark giveaway ... Robyn helped me out this morning to draw the winning name and it was Cynthia Kendall! Congratulations Cynthia ... please send me an email with your mailing information and I will get this out to you this week.   

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