Encore Theatre-NYOP

Name Your Own Price

There's a new performance theatre on the eastern side of Birmingham, AL. Located at 9094 Parkway E., -Rear  Birmingham, Alabama 35206.  My friend A.C. and I took in a jazz concert this past Saturday night.

Encore is located on the back of the Roebuck Plaza Shopping Center on the Parkway East side. This space was once occupied by a contemporary church and before that it was a movie theater.  The shopping center itself was built in 1957. Over the years it has undergone numerous rehabs. It's good to see the space now being revitalized as an Arts venue.

Marcus Raby (above) is in the process of securing funds and opening this theatre and art gallery in the Roebuck area. This NYOP event is just  one of many of their fundraising projects.  He (Marcus Raby)  holds many titles; Stage Director | Artistic Director of Encore Theatre | Playwright | Brand Developer | Graphic Artist

He has written and performed many plays here in the Birmingham area and elsewhere. Talking to Mr. Raby, he explained that the future of the theatre is immense with possibilities. There may be a comedian one week, a magician the next and so on. He plans to have a very diverse array of entertainment.

Famous musical greats painted by local artists are displayed in the lobby. I was told that three of the pieces have been sold. The owners of the paintings chose to allow them to continue to be displayed until the next art installment.

We were given beverage tickets at the ticket booth but, weren't told what they were for . A.C. and I thought there would be a door prize drawing at the end of the concert.😊 The tickets were for our wine. No problem. I was driving anyway.

Dwight Houston is the leader of On Purpose Band. This particular night he was performing solo.
 The musician would pause periodically after a few of his numbers and give us the  behind the scenes facts of the music profession.He stressed that it is not as glamorous as it appears.   It can be  treacherous and many young people with stars in their eyes are exploited. 

 This is where the Up Close and Personal came in.  He encouraged the education of youth toward learning a musical instrument and honing their craft.  Dreams of signing a contract for a million dollars can be risky. From the million dollars, the on stage artist must pay all of his/her 
behind-the-scenes people and they will be numerous. Much of the money is not for the singer but, song writers and other ancillary personnel the public doesn't see.Often this leaves the onstage artist with little or no money left from the million dollars.  

He, Dwight Houston, was able to get a full ride scholarship to college because of his musical skills.   Mr. Houston has been in the music industry for over 40 years. He says he hires himself out as a contract musician allowing him to access his career the way he chooses. He has traveled all over the world and enjoys his work.

Mr. Houston (click link to hear his music) also teaches.  There will be a  music clinic this summer for middle school students which is free. For more information on this, he can be contacted at: https://www.onpurposemusic.com/contact-us or  (205) 527-4756 or (205) 527-5462

An enjoyable evening.  Staff of Encore was very gracious and congenial. I felt very welcomed.I'll be spreading the word and will return again for future events.

That's It***

Purse charms/Key rings/ Lanyard

 G. J. and I were in charge of our April Red Hat event. The chapter  usually has a "lovely parting gift" for each person that attends. I told my  event buddy that I'd been working on these, showed  her a sample and we both decided that they would be fine as a gift.

At first it was going to be a pendant on a gold or silver chain. Then I realized some are sensitive to various metals. I didn't want to use ribbon or cord so I had to rethink the project.

💡

A purse charm would be away from the body and it would be less prone to cause sensitivity.

     I painted one side of wooden circles purple for Red Hatters and pink for Pink Hatters. Let it dry. I drilled a hole at the top of each one.

 I painted the back side some form of gold or silver. A  fellow crafter had given me strands of pearls and strands of gold beads which were perfect for this project.  With the beads being on a strand it was much easier to wrap them around the glass bubble picture of each one and slowly pull the string after the beads were in place. I used E-6000 glue for all adherences. 

Pearls in place, Gold beads in place, names on the back, etc. Let it dry.

Now it was time to  do individual beading to make the dangly, thingies that would hang off of the purse charm.
Yep, you're seeing it right. I used an empty egg crate to separate my beads. 

The danglies were then attached to the blank key chains which I purchased from Amazon. 

SIDEBAR: I noticed that some of the key chains had a straight piece of wire in between the groove where the keys go.  Not knowing what it was, I inquired and discovered that it was there to help separate the clip so that the keys could slide on easier. BTW- A staple remover works well also when separating to add keys. No more ruined manicures.

You'll see the results of the dangly, thingies here and below.

The fronts and backs were all finished with at least three coats of Triple Thick. This product gives a glassy, glossy appearance to projects and helps protect them.

They needed some type of packaging and personalization so  I used card stock and personalized everyone's name on their individual purse charm.

This was a fun project and turned out just the way I wanted it to.

That's it ***

The Other Woolworth's

Our April Red Hat brunch gathering  took place at Woolworth's. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the Five and Dime of days gone by? 

flickrhivemind.net

Well, yes and no. It's in the same location, uses the same name but serves a different purpose.

styleblueprint.com

It describes itself as a Social House. It's a place with a variety of games, food, and drink. A place to socialize. The idea of a Social House brings to mind an English Pub . Though I've never been to England, I do watch a lot of British T.V.😃.

The menu required some discussion and Googling for some of us.

On the menu was:

TOPLESS MADAME

smoked ham, dijon, french pullman loaf, cheese, fried eggs, spinach mornay😐

YOU SAY TORTILLA, I SAY FRITTATA 😡

spanish style baked omelette, sweet potatoes, grilled ciabatta😡, onions, manchego😞, mixed greens

I have to say though that's it's a colorful description and detailed use of adjectives even if I don't know what the food is. But, I'm open to (some) new adventures.

Here we all are smiling for the camera and waiting for our food to arrive.

Some of us had coffee and some of us had other beverages.

After socializing at the Social House we opted not to stick around and partake of the games offered . Tomorrow is Easter with many of the ladies involved with family, church and community duties.

That's it ***

 

Reading Between the Wines @ Birmingham Central Library. National Library Week.

(8 photos)

Here are the highlights of a wonderful evening with four talented authors. ( I only show one)

Delicious. But, on that teeny, tiny plate. 😁 I did go back for 2 more of those bite size desserts. Yes, that's a red velvet macaroon.

Craft beers with unusual names from a brewery I don't remember the name of. I was allowed a sample of each which was no more than a tablespoon of each in a mouthwash sized cup. Enough for me.  I wasn't particularly impressed. Sorry.😩

I did not partake of any wine, instead choosing to give away my beverage tickets. I know my tolerance for alcohol. I chose to drink lemonade.

With author R. Earl Muir. I enjoy mysteries so I chose to purchase his book. It is a mixture of a true murder that took place in Birmingham mixed with fiction that takes place in modern times. Mentioning of various locales and historic buildings are also mentioned . Some still in existence and some long gone. The print/ text is large and double spaced. The author says he has a sight impairment and that's the reason it's done as it is.

The sax player chose to strike this pose for this picture  though he was really playing . 

Talented and gifted musicians.

END

Decorative Ribbon Tassel- Part 2

I was going for a mosaic look using food color dyed egg shells by means of a process that worked perfectly when I used eggshells on a mosaic bracelet I made.    I guess foam orbs aren't made for that.  

mosaic bracelet from egg shells and cardboard 

After trying to save the orb, it went the way of other failures.

Take 2   ACTION >>>>>>

Since I had 3 foam balls in the pack, I started over by painting the foam ball with a gold acrylic. Let dry. Then I mixed a little  green glitter  in Mod Podge and painted the ball. Let dry. Since I was using blue ribbons also, I decided to go over the green with a little blue glitter mixed in Mod Podge, hoping both colors would show through as well as a little gold

As you can see, It's more blue than green. 

I also added a collar of upholstery corded beads in green and blue. I finished off the lower collar with a little fancy green stitching.

I added additional beads to some of the cords
similar to what I'd seen on the inspiration tassels  I'd seen in Hobby Lobby. 

I used a LARGE needle and drove a much
smaller hole through the bottom on up to
the top and added more beads and tied on a ribbon. 

Lengthwise, before the ribbon

All done and satisfied finally with the outcome

END***

Decorative Ribbon Tassel- Part 1

(13 pictures)


I wanted a decorative tassel to hang on the corner edge of a new single sleigh bed I bought, just in case I have an overnight visitor.

The type of  tassel I wanted can be expensive.   Being the creative and frugal  person that I am, I put on my thinking cap and tried to figure  it out.

I was inspired by the DIYs of tassels made from salt shakers such as the ones below.

Curiouspeddler.com

DancingBearTassels on Etsy

  So of course I scoured thrift stores to see what I could find.

On a whim I bought this ceramic 49 cent dinner bell, which is about  2.5 inches high and 2 inches wide. I was thinking I could remove the clapper and stuff the tassel inside of it. But, then I realized I wanted more color. It had the green of the walls in the room but not the turquoise I wanted to also use, so 49 cents gone. I'll figure out something else to do with it.












 Hobby Lobby was next, and thank goodness for cameras on phones. I could discreetly take a picture of what I liked and then  use my own imagination and that's what I did.

I ended up liking the style of the orange one on the right.

















I had ribbons galore from $ Tree and other places. I also gathered other things that I thought I might use.

I measured the ribbons to 28 inches each.     The eggshells, I  dyed overnight in a vinegar, food coloring and water bath. I've used this egg shell method in another project. Then I crushed the shells fine so that I can use them as a mosaic on the foam ball.

I used a regular pair of  scissors to make a hole through the ball so that the tassel will go through.

Cross the ribbons 4 at a time in the midpoint and tack together with a stitch

Here's a close up view of the ribbons tacked together at their midpoint. NOTE: It'll be hard to push a needle through all of those layers so content yourself with sewing each layer to the one directly underneath. In the end they'll all be together when you finish.

Next I wanted to test to see if the ribbons would go through the hole.  They did. But, I noticed there's a  lot of foam dust after digging the hole and pulling the ribbon through. 

I painted the inside of the ball with Mod Podge to tamp down the foam dust for when I get ready to pull the tassel through. The outside I painted green as the background. The egg shell mosaic with be attached to the outside. Drying the ball from the inside has proven to be the most challenging. It's taking a long time.

Part 2 -Coming Soon