{My Life} 30 Days 30 Photos

Happy Wednesday everybody!  A month or so ago I saw that a fellow blogger was doing a 30 Day Photo Challenge.  The idea really intrigued me and reminded me of something that Becky Higgins said during her keynote at The Creative Connection.  She was talking about her Project Life line, when she said that it allows you to capture all the little moments instead of just the really big moments (although you can capture those too).  You could look at a picture as insignificant as a trip to the gas station, and be reminded of what you were feeling that day.  Obviously that isn't verbatim, but you get the picture.  When I saw the 30 Day Photo Challenge, it made me think of what she said.  I think it will be a fun little project for my blog, and I encourage some of you to give it a try if it sounds fun to you.  If you aren't into the whole blogging thing, you could always to a Facebook album too.  I plan to use my phone for all of the pictures, so that I can take them easily no matter where I am.  I found the list below through a google search, and then made it pretty myself.  Please feel free to use it if you are going to do the challenge yourself.  

Check back on Saturday because that's when I'll be starting (with a fresh new month).  I hope you all are having a great week so far!

{Words of Wisdom} Abraham Lincoln

{Fab Find} Leif

Photo Credits: Leif

Today's Fab Find is a lovely little site called Leif.  The founder, Stacy Ann Longenecker, said that she wanted to "inspire and enrich" her customer's daily life with all the little things.  She succeeded because Leif is full of fun items that definitely inspire.  The pictures above are a few of my favorites.  

I hope you all have a splendid weekend!      

{Words of Wisdom} Coco Chanel

{My Life} The Creative Connection: So much to tell!

Hey everybody!  This is going to be a long post, so get comfortable and grab a cup of coffee because I have so much to share with you all!  Last Thursday The Creative Connection Event kicked off in St. Paul.  I was so excited that it was so easy for me to attend this event.  

Day 1 kicked off with a breakfast with keynote speaker Elisa Camhort, one of the co-founders of the BlogHer network.  They were the sponsors/creators of the classes that were offered to everybody on Thursday.  There was some pretty good information for all the bloggers attending.  

During the breakfast they did something their version of Speed Dating.  We went around in a circle and met as many people as we could.  The most notable person I met during speed dating was the one and only Susan Branch.  She was so sweet and down to earth.

There were also some fabulous notables that spoke at Lunch.  The first speaker was the adorable Nora Abousteit, co-creator of BurdaStyle.  She is so talented, and it was so fun to hear her speak.  The second speaker was Becky Higgens.  I hadn't heard of her products before, but I can't wait to order some.  She talked about how much she loved scrapbooking, but how life got in the way of her documenting her life.  That let to her creating Project Life.  I really related to that.  I plan to start 2012 by doing my own little 360 challenge (a picture a day).  The third speaker was the upbeat (and very funny) Stacey Julian.  She has such a great outlook on life, and was very inspiring.

 
After a much needed break, I headed back to the Crowne Plaza for the Welcome Dinner, where there were two more amazing women speaking.  Upon arrival I got an amazing bag full of goodies (not even half is pictured above).  The first women to speak was Christina Ferrare.  Her story was an amazing one.  It was very inspiring to hear how she was able to pick herself back up again every time she hit hard times.  The next fabulous woman was the reason I decided to attend The Creative Connection, Holly Becker of Decor8.  I took a class (Blogging Your Way) from her this year, and I have been an enormous fan every since (more on her later).  Her keynote was as inspirational as her class was, and even though she said she was nervous, she didn't show it at all.

Day 2 kicked off with the first class I had signed up for.  It was a class designed to teach you the basics of creating your own online classroom.  I have taken several creative online classes this year, and it has really made me want to do one of my own.  I have always wanted to teach, and I think that an online class would be the perfect way to dive in.  Our teacher was the very fun Kathy Cano-Murillo, better know as the Crafty Chica.  She was so awesome, and I learned a ton!  I can't wait to put it all to good use someday!

   Later that day, the TCC Market opened up.  Wow was it amazing!  I was like a kid in a candy store.  I of course bought some fun stuff for myself, but I also bought a whole bunch of fun stuff to incorporate into some new Copper Owl pieces, much of which is vintage (yay!).  By far the most exciting thing that happened that night though was meeting Holly Bohn, the founder of See Jane Work.  You may not remember, but See Jane Work was one of my Fab Finds a while back (to see post click here).  She was so nice, and I was absolutely thrilled to meet her!

Day 3 was by far the day I was looking forward to the most because on day 3 I was taking not one, but two classes from the amazing Leslie Shewring from A Creative Mint.  I have been a fan of her blog for a while, but became an even bigger fan after taking Blogging Your Way (she was one of the teachers).

The first class I took was a class devoted to wrapping with Japanese Washi Tape.  I was thrilled to meet Leslie.  She is even better in person...so nice and personable.  As if that weren't enough, Holly Becker  actually had decided to take the class, so I got to hang out with Leslie and Holly (and some other extraordinary ladies) all morning.  It was totally a dream come true.

The class was great, and it gave me so many good ideas.  I can't wait to put the stuff I learned to good use.

    
I also took an inspiration board class from Leslie.  It really inspired me to pick up that little inspiration journal I blogged about.  I think it'll really help me in everyday life.  It may sound cheesy but I sometimes feel like creativity fuels me.  I'm always happier and have more energy when I'm working on a creative project.

Well that was The Creative Connection.  I  hope I didn't bore you all too much.  It was a great 3 days, and I can't wait to attend it again next year.

Have a fabulous week everybody!  

{My Life} The Creative Connection: Part 1

Photo Credits: Decor8

This week is an exciting one for my creative side.  Tonight, I'm attending Holly Becker's book event at Anthropologie.  I've been super excited to meet Holly ever since I took her Blogging Your Way course.    

Photo Credits: Creative Connection

Then tomorrow,  The Creative Connection kicks off.  I'm so excited just to be in the same room with all the extraordinary women involved, let alone be able to hear them speak and to take classes from them.  I'm hoping it will be helpful step in kicking off my business ideas in 2012.

I can't wait to tell you all how everything went next week!  Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend!        

{My Life} My Love

I was having kind of a bad day today, not for any one particular reason, just a bunch of little things.  Jason has always been one of the few people that has been able to cheer me up, and even though he was thousands of miles away, he didn't let me down today.  He sent me "just because" flowers today without even knowing something was wrong (apparently I was suppose to get them yesterday).  Isn't he wonderful?  I'm a very lucky girl!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!

{Fab Find} Zara online....in the US!

Hey everybody!  Today's (or should I say tonight's) Fab Find is so exciting!  I first discovered Zara about 7 years ago, and I was hooked.  When we were in London last year, I must have gone into about 4 different locations.  I was always so bummed that I couldn't order stuff from home.  Well that's no longer the case because this week they launched online shopping for US customers!  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! 

Have a fabulous weekend everybody!  

{Words of Wisdom} Fred Rogers

{Fab Find} Rifle Paper Co.

Photo Credits: Rifle Paper Co.

Happy Friday everybody!  I'm very excited about today's Fab Find because I'm an absolute paper addict.  I love it.  I spend an afternoon every January picking birthday, anniversary, and holiday cards for the whole year (with a delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand...yum).  I send paper invitations for every event I plan (no Evites for this girl).  I like something you can hold and look at, and people really don't get enough mail anymore.  I stumbled upon Rifle Paper Co. a few months ago, and their paper is splendid.  The cards pictured above were just a few of my many favorites.

Photo Credits: Rifle Paper Co.

  

They also have some truly fabulous calendars.  I think I'm going to have to pick up the one on the right for 2012.  It's so pretty.

Photo Credits: Rifle Paper Co.

If that weren't enough, they also have some adorable prints.  These would look so cute in a kids room.  

Well that's Rifle Paper Co., and I  just brushed the surface.  You'll all have to check out their website to see all the rest of the fun stuff they have.  

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!