{Creative Estates Recap}

 

 

{photo by Food, Wine, & Mod Podge}

This last weekend I took an opportunity to attend a blog conference called Creative Estates. I had never been to an event like this before, but they promised me cupcakes! 

At the crack of dawn on Thursday I was picked up by Nicole and Kristen and we began our six hour road trip to Chandler Arizona! I had never actually met these girls before, but we have lots of mutual friends in real life and “knew” each other through Twitter and the Blogisphere. I was cautiously optimistic that they weren’t serial killers. Turns out they weren’t and the six hour drive went by lightning fast because of the non stop chatter all the way to Chandler. Loved getting to know these girls!

Once we arrived it was time to check in! Oh the SWAG!!! I was really not expecting that and we got some really cool stuff! Here are some of my faves…

A necklace from the Vintage Pearl that says “live creatively”, a super awesome headband from Craftee McGee, and a really fun business card holder from Taradara!

After checking in, it was time to meet my roomies Danielle and Linda. I had also never met them except for the occasional tweets, so again there was that hope that they weren’t super crazy. And they weren’t! In fact they were fabulous!

That first night we all attended an ice breaker event at a local restaurant…with really yummy tacos! This is where I cashed in on that cupcake! Look at this AMAZING dessert table designed by Kim of Tom Kat Studios!

{photo by Food, Wine, and Mod Podge}

Thursday night was also when I started to get to know some of the other handmade ladies that I have been Twitter friends with for a while now. I can’t even begin to tell you how fabulous my new friends are. I love how the Lord works. More on them tomorrow :)

Friday, I attended the sessions  “Inside the Creative Business”  and “PR 101”. I got to hear from some very successful ladies about how they started their businesses. My mind is SPINNING from the PR talk. Can’t wait to go back through my notes and get going on some of that stuff.

Saturday, I attended the sessions “Happy Chaos” and “Blog Your Passion”. “Happy Chaos” talked a lot about balancing your business with your family. I was so glad to hear I’m not the only one who struggles there! “Blog Your Passion” was about being yourself and letting your personality shine through on your blog. I hope I do okay at that, but I know there is always room for improvement. “Blog Your Passion” also talked about how to handle negativity which can REALLY bring you down.

All of the sessions were really fun. This conference was such a great opportunity for me and I am so glad that I went! I am still processing through all that I learned and I can’t wait to see how my little business will grow from my experience there.

Stay tuned because tomorrow I am am going to chat all about these lovely ladies and their handmade businesses!

{photo taken by Sandy of Sandy A La Mode}