Peg's April Showers Challenge!

April 29th, 2006

Peg had another one of her famous shindigs this past Saturday, and I was able to take some pictures so that you can join in (even if just through your computer screen) some of the fun that was had. I wasn't able to be at the previous challenge party, so unfortunately I didn't participate in the challenge. When I saw what it was, boy was I disappointed that I didn't get to be a part of it. The challenge was to make place card holders and/or hors 'd oeuvres knives, and then arrange them on a serving plate. I asked Peg where to get the pieces - I'm dying to make some knives!!! The challenges were super-creative, and as usual, some of the pics that I took didn't turn out all that well, so please forgive me if yours isn't shown here.

Also, (to be perfectly honest), I was too busy chatting away with bead friends that I missed out on whose challenge belonged to whom, so if you see yours, and would like your name added to the picture, just drop me an e-mail! :)

We started the day with demonstrations, and here's Leslie Thiel describing to us how she begins to construct a sculptured iris.	This is a pic toward the end of her demo - you can see the iris off to the right there. It was gorgeous!!!

Then we got to see a demo from Kay Lodahl, showing us the beauty of boro glass.	We were also fortunate enough to have Larry Brickman give a demo - he'll be heading off to Italy soon to teach there, lucky duck.

This gorgeous appetizer plate (I love the knives and skewers) was made By Vicki Miller of Hippkitty Beads. Now I'm dying to get my hands on a set of those knives and skewers. They'd make great gifts! Vicki also won first place for her entry. :)	I also took quite a liking to this set - bright, colorful floral skewers!

This sweet platter is filled with real strawberries, but if you look at the two near the top of the cutting board - they're glass! One looks especially real - it's even been "dipped" in cream. Yum! And no calories! :)	These funky little guys are thinking exactly what I was when I walked in to the challenge and saw all of the great food (See pics of Peg's desserts below). :) Very cool set!

Always a jaw-dropper, here are the desserts that Peg made for us - all by scratch! She made the most incredible sugar-free cheesecake. You'd never know it didn't have any sugar in it. Fantastic!	If you can believe it, Peg also made each and every one of us (to take home), a birdhouse made out of sugar. Yes, she made all of these too! And if that weren't enough sugar, she had placed chocolates inside of each of the houses. Aren't they precious? It looks like all the years she spent as a cake decorator is benefitting everyone in her retirement!

I mentioned that Vicki had won first place in the challenge, and Peg gave out these houses (unfinished) for the winners. Now, each of the winners are supposed to decorate them with paint and beads and bring them back to the next party. It'll be fun to see what they do with them.	Peg has a captive audience while she's describing our next challenge - wind chimes! Her son actually tuned all of the chimes by making sure all of the pipes were cut to just the right lengths. He also polished the pipes and drilled over 700 holes for all of the chimes! Holy cow.

Peg's showing us an example of what we can do with the materials she (yup, she) is supplying us with.	Here's a really nice picture of Peg holding a very full basket of materials for the next challenge. Thanks Peg!!!

The party was great, the food was fabulous, and it's always fun to share something you're passionate about with others who share the same obsession. Peg as always, was just the most gracious and generous host. We always say how lucky we are to have her near us, and we all mean that whole-heartedly. Thank you Peg, for all that you do, and we can't wait till the next one!!!