The tale of the denim jacket - Embellish your Clothes for Pennies..

One thing that I really like is when something I make or buy holds a memory or is associated with a funny story. When I look at it, I get a smile and sometimes a little laugh too. Such is the case of the denim jacket.

This story originally goes back a couple of years ago when I attended my first Memory Trends show in Las Vegas. The Hilton hotel we were staying at is host to a clothing boutique - full of gorgeous - my kinda clothes. They are very artsy, unique and not to mention pricey. I did find a pair of denim jeans there that I absolutely fell in love with, but the price was way over my budget at $200. If I had that much cash at the time, I must admit, they would probably be in my closet.

Last year, after the CHA show, a group of us from the show, rented a limo and headed to Hollywood for a day of fun, sightseeing and shopping. I was on a mission for some decorated, embellished designer jeans. I had saved my money....and if the right pair showed itself I would mark it SOLD( and I was willing to spend that $200 for just the right pair!)

After Hollywood, we went down Beverly Hills Blvd on our way to Rodeo drive. Rose and I went into the Louis Vuitton store. This store is just up the street from the hotel made famous by the movie Pretty Woman. You might recall when Pretty Woman tried to shop in several of the Rodeo drive boutique stores, she was shunned. People can be pretty judgemental can't they? Well, such was the case when Rose and I walked into Louis Vuitton. The look on their face was - "You two just don't belong here." No one approached us, no one greeted us and if you are a sales person who works at Louis Vuitton, I so want to say "BIG MISTAKE....BIG MISTAKE", just like Pretty Woman did.

Upstairs Rose and I found a denim set. The jeans had the LV logo bleached all over them and touches of lace decorated the waistline with a touch of lace down along the bottom of the pants. It also had a matching denim jacket. The price? Well, the jeans were modestly priced at $3500 with the Jacket coming it at $5500.00. That's Five thousand five hundred dollars. Honestly, I had to laugh. Who buys this stuff? Okay so I know who...but what reasonable person buys this stuff or would even WANT to spend that much money on a pair of jeans and a jacket? I made the "choice" to shop elsewhere based on how we were treated. However, before we left, I did flip a camera phone picture of it, sadly, that picture no longer exists due to my phone growing legs and running off.

Despite all that...what a great day of shopping, sightseeing and limo riding with a bunch of friends.

The following day my aunts from Hemet came to pick me up for a visit. The first stop.... The $9.99 store. Now THAT's my kind of store! Not because I'm cheap....but because I value my hard earned dollar and want to get the most out of it. Plus, if I find a basic shell, I can always add my own embellishments (I have the Louis Vitton picture remember?) Well...on the rack, was this denim jacket - Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was only $9.99. And it's simple applique's are attractive and not overdone! Whenever I wear it I get tons of compliments literally along with a few laughs when I share my story. SOLD!

This year at CHA I've entered a designer challenge sponsored by Expo International. I'll share that design when I finish (first I have to start it..) But I can tell you, that while I'm designing it I will definately be asking myself....What are the rich people wearing tonight?

THINK SNOW!! A polymer clay Snowscene to celebrate our 1st snowfall!

I know alot of you who have had snow all winter long
can't possibly imagine why I would say - THINK SNOW! You're probably sick of it!

Maybe even my fellow Ozarkian's will agree with you, but for me.... I'm THINKING SNOW!

We're gearing up for a major snow storm - well at least for us. They are predicting up to 8" of the white fluffy stuff. It's so beautiful when it snow's here. Our home is located on top of a hill, surrounded by the Ozark mountains, lots of trees and beautiful scenery - just perfect for a gorgeous winter photo.

With just Dana and I home tonight and tomorrow - we'll make the most of it...snug in.. SLED, maybe even make a snowman and when he's not lookin - I'll whop him with a snowball....

I thought you'd enjoy this little guy in celebration of our first snowfall of the year. If it doesn't come, I'll be bummed for sure!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a the Story of the Denim Jacket.......

METAL JEWELRY 101 - FRONT COVER DEBUT!

Here it is - the preview of my latest book - Metal Jewelry 101.

I think the team at Design Originals did a fantastic job with the cover don't you? It looks splendid!

So...you maybe wondering what's in the book? Well, here's a sneak peak:

It's technique driven - which means you can take the techniques you learn and apply them to your own design or mix and match them with another design in the book!.

You'll learn how to use the "stinky stuff" also known as Liver of Sulfer in a really unique way. (Sorry, you have to smell the bad stuff...but I promise the results are totally worth it).

You'll also work with a variety of metals such as Pewter, Copper, Aluminum to create jewelry settings, pendants, bracelets and more.

If you are an avid Rubberstamper -there's something in it for you too!

I also put some mixed media in to the mix....so you'll work with a little bit of Friendly Plastic to simulate dichroic glass and then set it on pewter...I promise you'll have fun with this!

The book should be released in March and I would suspect that it will retail for less than $10. So...please email me now to place your name on the "I want my signed copy list..".

Thanks again to all of you who email me regularly with nice comments about the blog.

Mark Your Calendars for February 4 - Mariah is on Carol Duvall!

Unforunately, I don't have the cover of my new metal book to share. I know the team at Design Originals is working feverishly to get it done, so I will be patient and pass it along just as soon as I get it.

But for now, please mark your calendars for February 4th! Mariah will be on HGTV's The Carol Duvall Show featuring scrapbooking with Clay. She will make clay embellishments and design a scrapbook page based on a picture of her grandpa when he was a little boy. Everytime my dad see's the page in print, he asks about his royalties....and I reply...sorry Dad - it's so old it no longer holds a copywrite! We have a good time with him - he's a great dad and a great Grandpa!

I was with Carol in August 2004 shooting my segments for season 18. Just as we were getting ready to go on camera, Carol looked at me and said..."I have to ask you something..". A million things ran thru my mind, I had no idea what!...then she said "Do you think Mariah would like to come and do her own segment?"

I honestly couldn't say YES fast enough! The taping of that segment seem to last longer than any one I had ever done...I couldn't wait to get Mariah on the phone and tell her the good news! Needless to say she was excited to!

So with Carol's invitation, Mariah was fortunate enough to get one of the last few segments of the final season that taped later that year. . I was so proud of her. When she came home from the taping her school treated her like a little celebrity with a big write up in the school newspaper. It was definately her time to shine.

Mariah always sends a card with me to give to Carol when I see her at CHA. She's become a very special person in our life. Our thanks to Carol for bringing us in front of millions of people and my thanks to Donna Kato for believing in me.

When Mariah's show air's - I'll have a behind the scenes coverage...so stay tuned!

Crafting with Kids - It's 100 day!

If you read my blog post from this past week, you will know why I believe crafting with kids is so important.

I originally intended to have them all embellish some of their clothes for summer. But when Julia asked me to help her with her 100 assignment - I jumped at the chance! 100 days of kindergarten! Seems like yesterday I blogged her first day of kindergarten!

Her assignment was to decorate the number 100 with 100 of something. I asked her what she wanted to decorate it with.

Originally she said she wanted 100 photos of her family. We have some pretty great photo's, but printing them all out just wasn't feasable. Her next choice was a princesss 100 - complete with a crown. So....with lots of help from the CuttleBug, I cut out 100 little flowers and she glued and glittered them on. After a final touch with the crown - here she is....princess Julia all ready for 100 day.

Just perfect for 100 day don't you think?

Doing the 100 picture made me think of my top 100 greatest memories. maybe I should jot them down and make my own 100 page?

Tomorrow - It's Metal mania day - hopefully I'll be able to post the front cover of the new book! So be sure to buzz back!