Thursday, January 31, 2013

Our work is completed...

     This morning the Carnival Charlotte Committee held its weekly meeting at my home. For some of the members it was the first opportunity to see the heads, who are still lined up on kitchen counters, bookshelves and tables. 
     María del Carmen and I touched up several heads, completed the challenge to "rescue" a head with major problems, the spray hat eaten some of the styrofoam...
    The big Harlequin got a make over and is ready to preside over the reception area. I glued back some spots, applied more rhinestones and María del Carmen brought a steamer to even out all the creases.
   The enthusiasm continues to grow among LAWA volunteers, there are over 70 fabulous items for the silent and life auction, the menu for the night will please the most demanding palate, music and entertainment will make the most lethargic person get on the dance floor...


Jacquie
Claire de lune

 
Carolina
    










Carnival Charlotte 2013 represents a big Thank You to our sponsors and donors, who so generously are giving their treasure to support LAWA's programs. It helps our Latino youth, and women become a vibrant part of the Charlotte community. 

While you are reading these lines, do pick up the phone (704 552 1003), and reserve a seat at Carnival. Too expensive? Not really, during the next 365 days, you will have spent about $3.00 a day! It's a whole year of "feeling good" knowing you helped the community in which we all live.
   

Sunday, January 27, 2013

LAWA in Hola Noticias...

     Well, we made the news! María, María del Carmen and I appear in Hola Noticias, one of our Charlotte Spanish speaking newspapers. You may read the article about the "heads" here.
     We are almost finished, two heads left my house and are decorating the LAWA office; the rest is still here and will be packed and shipped off to the Hilton Hotel soon.
     What an experience it has been! We hope everybody is going to be as excited as we are with the experience. 


Carnival Charlotte 2008
    This week we will work on "reviving" the harlequin we used about three years ago. This is a picture from the 2008 event at the Westin Hotel. My jester still looks pretty good, he will greet  guests above the bar his year !

   It is time to think about our own outfits now, maybe a wig, or a hat, or a special Mardi Gras attire? We will have masks and beads for everybody, but you may want to be unique and surprise the audience with your own, original costume... 

    Aída created "Aída", click here to watch a short video clip. 
    Hasta pronto... 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Almost finished...

María del Carmen, Diana and I worked last Wednesday creating the very last heads. Experiencing the creative process is amazing! There is  magic that overcomes you when a plain styrofoam head, fabric, beads, and ribbons guide your hands becoming a face with a name


Lilly

We  used almost 900 dressmaker pins, glue of all types ...

María del Carmen is the make - up artist, who is giving the final touch to Lilly, one of the  32 heads...

Lilly reminds me of   Lilly Pulitzer's favorite colors: hot pink and kelly green. You golfers may like her...

Miss Mardi Gras
Fátima




There are heads everywhere; they have become our friends. Look at  Miss Mardi Gras on the left, and Fátima below. Both are Carmen's proud creations!

Upon closing, go ahead and click here to watch a youtube video clip featuring Rapsody in Blue!

Don't forget to reserve your tickets for Carnival Charlotte 2013, you really do not want to miss it!


Sunday, January 13, 2013

There was high voltage energy on Friday evening!

Eight LAWA members came together to continue preparing centerpieces for Carnival Charlotte. The first 15 minutes seemed to be chaotic, but after a while, like in an orchestra, we were perfectly tuned, and creativity flowed through the room...

Mónica moved around the room taking pictures


A moment of reflection

Planning next session

Aída, Alejandra, Violeta, Anneliese
 A well deserved rest after completing many new heads. All of them have names and will be sold on an special table silent auction. There are beautiful pieces of costume jewelry attached 
that will make a great gift for your Valentine!










The Silent Auction Committee continues to collect items. If each active LAWA member donates just one piece we will reach our goal of 100 items! 

 A special treat above: watch this short movie clip on youtube to see how Suzette was created. 

I am sure you have to agree that she is beautiful!


Our group has worked with much enthusiasm. We are planning on wrapping up the process this week and will show more pictures soon...


Thursday, January 10, 2013

A day of preparation, touch ups, and trying out face painting...

María del Carmen, Diana and I worked from 4:30 until past eight o'clock last night, revamping some of the first heads, and preparing 12 more with primer for our up-coming session tomorrow Friday, January 11th!

Here is Diana applying  three coats of  Zinsser B I N Primer; I will spray paint them outside today! 

enlarge  each picture by clicking on it! 


The weather will be perfect since we are experiencing a "heat wave" again here in Charlotte...




Viviana
Viviana has changed her appearance, the black mask  is gone, a new softer looking one covers her face, and her lips are full and red. She looks great! Thanks María del Carmen for the special touch...

Notice the brooche on her neck? it's a special donation from Alejandra.

There are many ideas going around in our heads; more and more it allows us to understand what happens when you are presented with fabric, laces, colors and jewels. It's the material on hand that leads the creation, it takes you places you never imagined. Look at my new project: Carmen brought a bag full of curtain trimmings, which at some point she dyed herself, but  did not like the result. Well, like Scarlett O'Hara who made a dress out of drapes, I am making a hat. Where is this taking me? I do not know...

But among all this fun activity, let's not forget our ultimate goal: to make Carnival Charlotte 2013 a grand community event, it's only four weeks away.



Next time I will post some face paint examples... Talk to you again...

Saturday, January 5, 2013

There is more than just decorations...
     Are you getting excited about Carnival Charlotte 2013? I am, and now that most of the decorations are completed, let's think about our costumes, dresses, hair pieces and masks... for this magic evening.

     Have you thought about hiding your pretty face behind a pretty Venetian or Mardi Gras mask? I found a great site, that advertises reasonably priced masks on eBay. Click here to see what is available. 

What else is on our to do list? 
  • to check out the latest information on the LAWA website
  • to go to facebook and click LIKE on recent postings
  • to mail the Carnival invitation to your friends, neighbors, colleagues...
  • to donate items for the Silent Auction



Thursday, January 3, 2013

El trabajo produce sonrisas...

Voy a escribir en español con la esperanza que este mensaje les llegue al corazón. 

Estoy convencida que cumplimos con la misión de ayudar a LAWA dando de nuestro tiempo y nuestro talento...

Espero que la sonrisa que ven en cara de Alejandra nos inspire a todas a seguir colaborando para alcanzar nuestra meta final, que es darle los medios económicos y el apoyo a nuestra juventud latina en Charlotte. 


 Haz click aquí para ver la foto y escuchar mis comentarios

 Hasta pronto...


  

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Many minds, many hands....

Hooray! the centerpieces for Carnival Charlotte are almost all finished. María del Carmen will design her harlequin, Mónica promises to produce "algo bien loco" and Carmen will complete her creation once she gets over a bad cold

Heartfelt thanks for such magnificent team: Carmen, María del Carmen, Alejandra, Ana, and Mónica; what a great collaborative effort!
The pictures below show how six hands are starting to decorate a wonderful head, while another four hands were busy finding the right ingredients among ribbons, pearls and beads!

Thanks Diana and Aida for volunteering to set up the decorations on February 9th; your help is extremely valuable.
 
Those of you that are too busy to give time and talent, I hope you will donate a treasure for the silent auction.  
We need 100 items! Call the LAWA office announcing your donations at 704 552 1003 asap!

More updates soon...