bloglandia ball recap

if i was going to sum it all up in one word, that word would be:

*wow*!!!!!

i did not have any idea what it would be like. when i saw it mentioned on art tea life and be...dream...play i was intrigued. i wanted to participate because i had never, ever, heard of--much less participated in--anything remotely like it. (note: the two best ways to get me to do something are to a) forbid me or b) come up with something completely original that kind of scares me; this tells you everything you need to know about me!)

i very nearly talked myself out of playing because i often feel i'm barely accomplishing the essentials of life ...how would i fit in an extra--utterly inessential--something?! but somehow i did, and i am sooooo GLAD! in retrospect, i think it was the refreshing gratuitousness of the event that attracted me. because if ever there was a case of "art for art's sake" this was it! no contest, no prizes, no sponsor... (don't get me wrong--i do like those things!) ...elizabeth bunsen invited us to partake of a flight of fancy, purely to spark our imaginations! this was something we could do entirely for ourselves, yet in an oddly unselfish way. a chance to be part of a group...but a group of individuals...if that makes sense? and what a group it was!!!

i cannot believe how many people made "ball gowns"! i cannot believe how gorgeous, amazing and completely original every single one was! i saw gowns made of paper, fabric, seashells, flowers, cellophane and jewels; 2-D, 3-D, hand-drawn, photographs and designer digitals. people wrote stories and poems and shared memories, made and photographed elaborate backdrops, knitted, painted, sketched, beaded, collaged, sewed, decoupaged, and...well, basically, if you can think of an artform...someone did it--brilliantly! before the event, i thought blithely, "on wednesday i will visit everyone who links to the site and leave them a comment." *HA!* hahahaha! ...i'm still working on that... if you have a few minutes, stop over at EB's site and surf around the master list; trust me it is worth the trip!

even more astonishing to me is how many folks dropped by to see my gown and say hello! bear in mind, i did not know ANYONE involved in this project, nor had i ever visited their blogs, except for the lovely crabapple! and yet complete strangers came along, in the spirit of the ball, and included me in the fun!!! it was sort of magical, really. kinda like woodstock, but with glitter, instead of lsd. they are talking about doing it again next year, maybe as a costume ball!

i am sooooooo there!