Did you know I have 5 appendages? Two arms, two legs, and my camera. Yes, I took lots of pictures at SNAP. You’ve been warned 🙂

I am so excited to share with you my experience of traveling to Utah to attend my first blogging conference! Back in September of 2011, my dear friend Ashley and I decided to take the plunge and purchase our tickets. I had about 200 followers on my blog, and was super nervous about feeling like a big dork while being there. Thankfully to all you sweet readers, my blog has grown since then, and I didn’t feel too out of place. (But let’s be honest, I still am a dork, hehe). It was such a treat to meet my favorite bloggers in real life. My friends and family keep asking me what on earth you do
at a blog conference. I kind of divided the conference into 3 categories: networking/socializing, classes/workshops, meeting sponsors. But first, here are a few of my…..

RANDOM THOUGHTS

*What I Wore:
I’ve had a few people ask about 2 of the things I wore.
My coral dress (above) is from H&M.
My yellow polka dot layering shirt (below) is from Old Navy.

NETWORKING/SOCIALIZING

This was by far my favorite part! It was so fun to meet and get to know
the amazing women at the conference (after all, many of us have really
similar hobbies and interests, so there was lots to talk about)!
Ok, now here are approximately one million pictures that I took. 

(Me and Ash are together in most of these).

I felt so lucky to be roommates with Kristy (Diary of Dave’s Wife), Ashley (Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night), and Kelli (Lolly Jane Boutique). They spoiled us (keep reading), and were so much fun!

I was sooo excited to meet Kristyn (Lil Luna). She has reached out so much to me and Ash, since starting our blogs. I felt like I knew her before I had actually met her in real life. She took me around, introducing me to all the people she knows. When I think of her, I just thing of the most caring and sharing person! I am so honored to be the Sewing Contributor on her blog!

Here we are with Kristen Duke, the nicest and most talented photographer I have ever met! I just KNOW we would be friend in real life (well, I guess we are now), but we would hang out a lot if we lived in the same place. I really look up to her.

I loved having the chance to meet Heidi (Sew.Craft.Create.) and Kate (See Kate Sew). I love reading both of their blogs. Heidi is so fun and so real and so funny!!!!! We better keep in touch! (She is the one who shared part of her prize with me in a contest we both participated in last fall). Kate is so creative and so sweet, and her sewing blog is one of my all-time favorites.

I would not have left SNAP without meeting Kirstin (Kojo Designs) first. I LOVE this girl. She participated in my Sew-vivor contest, and is such an incredibly talented seamstress. It was such a treat to meet her! I feel like she is a friend for life.

Many of you recognize these adorable sisters, Jenae and Jamie from The Letter 4. Jamie (on the right), is the talented artist who designed my blog. She even hand drew the typewriter up there. I got to know her last fall while we were both up into the wee hours of the morning getting my design all situated. She is one silly girl. I am so glad we got to meet in person! (And so sad this pic is blurry). Love them!

Jamielyn (I Heart Naptime) and Linda (Craftaholics Anonymous) have both been so nice behind the blogging scenes helping to promote my blog, and answering questions. I just adore them. It was also fun to get to know Mallie from DecoArt.

Here we are with Vanessa (See Vanessa Craft). She gave me my first “blogging opportunity” last fall with an invitation to participate in her contest, Do Something Crafty. Her blog is so beautiful!

I loved meeting Tam (Sew Dang Cute). She is just that… sew dang cute! She was super down to earth and fun to talk to. Loved her!

If you haven’t heard of Nikki’s (Chef-in-Training) blog yet, go check it out! She posts the most mouth-watering recipes, and has a cute new design, too. I loved getting to know her.

I was so excited when Kiki (Kiki and Company) introduced herself. We have a bunch of friends in common. She has been a sweet friend ever since we figured that out. (Have you seen her amazing projects on Project Run and Play? See here).

I think everyone at SNAP was kinda blown away by how sweet and talented the sisters from Eighteen25 are. I didn’t recognize them at first, but once they introduced themselves, I couldn’t believe I got to meet them! They are so, so sweet.

Steph (Crafting in the Rain) was such a doll. I would have loved to hang out even more!

Here I am with the darling and super talented Cheri (I am Momma, Hear Me Roar)!

Here I am again, excited to meet the incredibly talented Cassity (Remodelaholic).

And the 3 huge bloggers I was excited to meet…

Jen (Tatertots and Jello)! She has been so supportive of my little blog since I started it. She has no idea how much it means to have someone like her pay attention to little old me. I appreciate all that she does!

Kari (UCreate)! She was so cute and happy. She has also been a huge supporter of my little blog, and I am so thankful! She is so incredibly nice and genuine!

Amy (The Idea Room)! She is full of wisdom, and seems like the neatest person and mom.

Thanks to all the girls who had such a big hand in putting SNAP together. They did so much, and in my opinion the event was a great success!

**There were so many more fun gals I met and didn’t get a picture with, and some that I just didn’t get to meet due to lack of time. SAD!!!

CLASSES/WORKSHOPS

Beside meeting all those amazing and fabulous people, we actually did learn a thing or two. My favorite class was Kristen Duke’s photography class.

I partnered up with Heidi and practiced my manual settings.

I got both of Kristen’s books, and I have already started reading them. My goal this summer is to improve my skills!

We got to make a few things, including this distressed wood decor from Poppyseed Projects. (This is going up in my master bedroom, as soon as I have it finished)!

At one of the classes, we had a panel of speakers, including Ana White and Shelly Smith, both amazing home DIYers. They were really fun to listen to! (This picture is for my friend Angela)!

One of my biggest goals while at SNAP was to get my feedburner fixed, and my Google Analytics set up. Luckily, we had a computer genius there, and he was so nice to let me bug him during his lunch break. He fixed all my computer issues. So a huge THANK YOU to Dennis (The Next Corner).

(Picture totally stolen from The Letter 4)

SPONSORS

The conference was held at the beautiful Thanksgiving Point in Utah. It was the perfect venue.

It was soooo nice to have all our meals prepared and catered. I really enjoyed the break of not having to cook! (This was from our boxed lunch, haha).

One of the events included the Queen Bee Market, a huge event selling handmade items. I had fun shopping for little gifts to bring home to my kids (I missed them so much! It was the first time I’d ever been away from them)!

There was a room filled with booths from many different sponsors. I really enjoyed meeting Shirley from The Ribbon Retreat, and the Riley Blake team. I made this little pin with some Riley Blake fabric.

WHAT TO BRING

 If you ever attend a blogging conference, there are 2 things you won’t want to forget.

Gifts for your roommates!

Like I mentioned, my roommates were the cutest. Check out this adorable corkboard frame they brought to hang on our hotel room door.

One night they surprised Ashley and I with PJ pants! They also made earrings. Whenever I think of these 2 girls, I think: polka dots! 🙂

(I stole this pic from Kristy).

Here is what I brought… this picture is awful since I took it in the middle of the night. Anyway, I made some clay earrings and rings, with some molds from a really cool etsy store, Mold Muse. Tutorial coming soon!

Business Cards!

Trading cards made me feel like a ten year old boy collecting baseball cards! haha. It was so fun to gather cards from all my favorite bloggers. (By the way, there were 325 bloggers there).

Here are my cards. Thank you to UPrinting.com for providing them to me! They are awesome, and I loved them! (I love working with their company- great products and great service)!

Some tips of creating your own business cards… I created a blank file in photoshop. I uploaded my logo, and added my name. Then I added my blog address, email, shop, facebook, pinterest, and twitter links. I used the two fonts from my blog.

On the back, I added the Sew-vivor logo, since that’s what a lot of people recognize my blog from. Then I added a QR code (its free and easy to do). However, I made a big mistake! Apparently, your ink has to be black in order for a device to scan it. So, learn from my mistake, and make your code BLACK!

Well folks, that’s a wrap! I am still trying to get all settled back into my normal routines after being gone!

I cannot end this post before saying thank you to some people. First, my
husband. He wanted me to go, so as a birthday present, we bought my
SNAP ticket and used our skymiles for an airplane ticket. Thanks babe.
The trip never would have happened without my wonderful mother-in-law.
She flew out to take care of our 3 kids for a whole week. I knew they
were in such good hands, and they had a great time! Miss you! Meredith
and Stephanie, my friends who gave me rides to and from the airport.
Thanks gals. My sister and her husband for rides to the airport in Utah,
the amazing food, and letting me stay with you. My sister-in-law for
picking me up and hanging out with me last minute- it was so fun! 

These pictures are me with my 2 youngest sisters. I am so happy I had a chance to see them while I was in Utah. I miss you girls!!! xoxo

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