Home from The Creative Connection!

Jana — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:11:27 +0000

I’ve not even been home 2 days yet but I still wanted to share some thoughts & photos from my weekend in Minneapolis at The Creative Connection! I was asked to come along and help out with the event so I did just that since I’d been very intrigued by the whole idea of integrating crafting & business into one every since I’d first heard about the event. I loved the thought of being able to take a fun class in the morning taught by Jenni Bowlin, Kaari Meng or Wendy Addison and then also attend an afternoon panel discussion about “taking your business to the next level” or “how to use social media as a marketing tool”. What a brilliant concept because so many crafty women also sell their wares either online or in a brick & mortar store! It was also amazing to hear speeches by Amy Butler and Mary Jane Butters and listen to Heather Bailey, Leigh Standley and Tiffany Windsor discuss their businesses intimately within a small panel discussion. As you can tell, I am a fan of the event and really enjoyed being there! It’s always great seeing friends I’ve made over the years through scrapbooking & other crafting events. I always love seeing Rebecca Sower and buying one of her lovely heartfelt pieces of jewelry to add to my ever-expanding collection and I discovered so many new wonderful talented crafters at the Handmade Market. My pocketbook took quite a hit at the market but I found some wonderful treasures to bring home with me and along with Jessi I discovered the world of punch needle embroidery that I can’t wait to begin! (as if I need yet ANOTHER hobby!!) Here are some of my favorite images from my 5 days in Minnesota……..enjoy.

the view from my hotel room, I loved the colors reflecting off the building windows

some pretty images from various booths at the Handmade Market……I LOVED these adorable cupcakes

A view of some of the attendees listening to Amy Buter speak during dinner (note her fabric on the tables!). LOVED hearing her speak.

the decor at the event was beautiful, no detail left unturned…..

I loved these huge wreaths made out of pages of an old book, SO clever…..

I was SO excited to finally meet Jo Packham & hear Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, speak at lunch the first day…….she’s SO funny, inspiration AND a fellow Okie!

You just have to love an event where they serve iced tea & lemoade out of huge mason jars!

These are my peeps……long-time crafty & down-to-earth friends and I loved spending time with them again…..Melene, Heather and Danielle

I love the new fall purse I bought from Cheryl of Tru-Leigh Yours Designs.

and of course a trip isn’t complete without my mandatory Southwest wing shot and with MOUNTAINS too!

Hopefully you enjoyed this little glimpse into my weekend in Minneapolis. Thanks to all of you I worked with at the registration desk and at the event, you all were great and we sure made a good team!

California Dreamin’ {Brown-Eyed Girl Photography}

Jana — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:05:51 +0000

As I’m sitting here in my nice cool house dreading going outside because we’ve hit yet ANOTHER day of 100+ degree temps (think this makes 60+ days of 100+ temps so far this summer) I often find myself daydreaming about being back in California again. The hubby and I took a trip to Napa Valley & San Francisco last month to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary which is coming up in September and oh my, I just loved it out there. Although it did get quite warm in Napa, generally the temps were still much cooler than what we have to endure here in south Texas and the foliage & landscape there was certainly much prettier & greener than what we have to look at here thanks to the drought. As we drove into San Francisco from Napa, we watched the temps dip down 30 degrees on the car thermometer within the short drive which was pretty freaky I must say! Sure enough, we got out of the car at the top of a hill near the Golden Gate bridge and it was fa-reezing!! Even though the winds were whipping us around and were quite intense I was secretly thinking about how nice it was to be COLD again. We spent 3 days in San Francisco and I don’t think the temperature ever got above 75 degrees but was typically much cooler than that. Ahhhhhhhh!! Along w/the cool temps came the clouds & fog so we never really had a nice clear view of the bay or bridge but the fog did provide a lovely backdrop for the Golden Gate I suppose, VERY San Francisco. Was looking back through some shots from our trip to reminisce and thought I’d share some with you too. Enjoy.

Brown-Eyed Girl Photography » travel

Home from The Creative Connection!

California Dreamin’ {Brown-Eyed Girl Photography}