Brave Girl Camp - Part Deux

Here goes - going to try to sum up this amazing experience in one - probably novel-length post - with waaaaaaayyyy too many pictures.  (I got half way through this, and realized I will have at least one - maybe two - more BGC posts.)

Our first morning at Brave Girl Cult Camp brought with it the glory of the The. Art. Room!!!  Imagine, if you will, (so you don't really have to imagine too hard because pictures are coming up) a 2-car garage gussied up with twinkle lights and floor to ceiling art supplies of every kind.  Heaven, right?!  I know!  Sit down, if you choose not to do so, don't say you weren't warned... just sayin'. 

 Do you hear it?  Yep, that's the angels singing as we walked in the door. 

Mod Podge (aka Soul Glue) for DAYS!  Who knew there were that many different varieties?!  Within a few hours the entire room, the entire room smelled of Mod Podge - and continued to do so for the next 3 days.  I was working on a project last night and I left the room for a few minutes, when I walked back in the Mod Podge fumes hit me and took my right back to BGC... happy smell!

Color, color, everywhere color!  LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!  I've stolen (ahem... I mean, I've been "inspired" by) the paper, ribbon and fabric storage idea.  My office/craft room is a MESS because I'm reorganizing EVERYTHING by color. 

 Not  my brushes, but I thought they looked really "artsy".  :-)

We all picked a spot and that is where we sat for the next three days.  It was great because we didn't have to clean up our mess every night when we were done.  Best idea evah!

So, here's my spot (of course it is - note the Diet Pepsi-crack). 

I must admit that all those options were a bit overwhelming at first.  Notice that I started with paint - it's what I felt safest using.  But have no fear, I branched out pretty quickly.

Works in progress...

Are you still with me?  I hope so because I want to talk about the wonderful girls I met at camp. 

Amazing, brave women from all over the country.  Everyone of them with a strong and generous spirit.  What a blessing to meet each of them and to see the incredible work they did and the beautiful art they made.  We laughed and we cried and we ate fabulous meals together.  We sang (I mainly mouthed the words, but occasionally I couldn't help it and actual sounds came out - sorry to those around me), we made talked, we made art - about the only thing we didn't do is sleep.  No time for that!

 When we arrived, everyone was excited and thrilled to be there, but many were SO tired and stressed, some were a bit pensive, some of us were some were broken, most were mending. I watched the transformation of each of them during those too short days.  By Friday, you could really see the true spirit, energy and joy returning in each of them.  What a blessing!

Melody and Kathy are in the middle, and they are surrounded by the staff.  Gorgeous, generous girls who spoiled us beyond belief.

Lori, Karyn, and Carmen

My name twins - Lisa, me, Elisa

Jacqueline and Rebecca

Betsy, Tammy, and Kara

All of the name twins - me, Elisa, Lisa, Rachel, Rachel, Megan, & Megan

(I don't know what kind of pose I'm poppin' here - ugh!)

Melody & her daughter, Malary

Ha ha!  How funny is this?  I took all of these pictures on Friday afternoon.  Everyone put on their white shirts and got together for a group picture, then we all pulled out our own cameras and started taking pictures.  It was like the paparazzi - thanks Megan, for teaching us all the pageant pose.  :-)

And in case you haven't had enough, just a quick nod to the variety show that we had on Friday night.  Too much fun!!!  Lots of singing and laughing (not so much crying) on this night.

So much talent in one place - all I can say is WOW!!!

And this is Super Brave Girl, Tamara - she donned her brave girl Cape, Mask, Apron, and Wrist Cuffs while belting out I Will Survive!  AWESOME!

I thought this would be the last BGC post, but I probably have one or two more in me.  I have a few more pictures to share.  Stay tuned...