Snap!: Or The One Where I Never Got Out My Camera

I attended the three day conference for "creative bloggers" this past weekend at Thanksgiving Point in Utah.   I know I'm not the first to tell you of this fabulous event but I did want to share with you a few of my "take-aways."

First of all, I did not get out my camera at all.  Not even one time.  I *kinda* regret it now but only a little bit.  I really wanted to just enjoy it all, soak it all in, and not get caught up in capturing every last detail with my camera lens.  That being said, I did whip out my phone a couple of times...

At the last second I realized I should probably have some kind of business card to hand out to other bloggers I would meet during the conference.  Thank goodness for a few Photoshop skills!  I had to quickly design this and send it off to Vista Prints.  When they arrived I used a corner rounder and cuted them up a bit.  I was super happy with how they turned out... all things considered!

Here is my name tag I received upon arrival.... I feel a little naked without it now.

I know what you're thinking... "Geez, they will let ANYONE be a sponsor!"  All I can say is, "I know, right?"  Landee on Etsy donated a very small something to the SWAG bags and also a couple of boards for the giveaways.  I secretly loved having that on my tag.  Don't tell anyone.  

 

Speaking of Landee On Etsy... have you ever wondered who my partner is?  It's my extremely awesome SIL there on the left!  I was so glad when she said she'd go with me to Snap this year!  She makes even the most fun things (like blog conferences) even MORE fun... don't believe me?  Ask those two beauties in the middle there.... Shauna and Courtney of Orange Blossom!  They make and sell the cutest frames of all time.  All time.  And this pic isn't just for show.  We were practically posed like this all weekend.  Instant BFFs!

Carrying on here in the "Instant BFF" category.... the girls at eighteen25!!!  I absolutely went to Snap hoping to get a chance to meet the genius behind their blog.  I imagined it would be a quick "Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself, I love your blog, you're amazing, blah blah blah...."  and that would be it.  Little did I know that I would come away with three amazing women who I can truly call my friends.  Jen, Jamie and Jodie really are as amazing and wonderful as their blog suggests they are.  And when perception lines up with reality, I am a happy girl.

Because of my lameness with the camera, I didn't get any photos with other people I met but, boy did I meet a lot of people!  Other delights include but are not limited to: Kristy from Diary of Dave's Wife, Kelli of Lolly Jane fame, Ashley of Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night,  Kristen Duke, Heather of Whipperberry, Jen the mighty Craftomaniac, Desiree from The 36th Avenue...and...and...and on and on and on.  Amazing women, every single one.  My biggest regret is never getting a chance to meet Lara of Less Cake, More Frosting.  Some day... some. day.  

As for the conference itself, I was SO impressed with how it was organized, the speakers, the decor, the overall feeling and the inspiration it provided.  It was beyond all of my expectations.

My biggest takeaway, however, was that all of these bloggers we read day in and day out are just normal women we might meet anywhere.  They are the mothers of kids in your child's kindergarten class.  They are the ones we see grocery shopping and pushing the cart with the one bad wheel.  THEY ARE JUST NORMAL PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME!  Can you believe it?

This was a relief, to say the least.  And it made me love their blogs and what they are trying to do even more.

Thank you Tauni and the "Snapettes" for all of your hard work in putting this together.  I will be back!




PS I'm totally into Instagram now.  What took me so long?  It's kind of a fun way of getting to know craft bloggers on a more personal level, I think.  If you'd like to follow, my username is landeelu.

Mirror Makeover

I finally had one of those ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! moments with my entry way mirror.  One never knows when one might snap but when one does, one better take advantage of one's motivation.  Or so Confucius say.

If you've been around a while you might remember my entry way makeover which has caused me nothing but joy ever since.  I took it from totally geek to totally chic (name that movie!  It's my favorite movie of all time, by the way).

Anyway, included in this entry way area is this mirror.  And up until Monday at about...oh... 5:30pm, this is what it looked like.

Some yucky rusty red.  Dinged up from being hit by the front door before I installed my handy doorstop.  Ugly.  And yet I've just accepted it for over a year.  Some things just can't be explained.

But, as I mentioned, something just came over me on Monday and I was done looking at it.  I just took it off the wall and carried it out to the garage (well, more like lugged it out... it's really heavy).

I lined the mirror with freezer paper, taped it down and just started spray painting.  It already looked so much better with just the primer on! 

I then decided on Rustoleum's LAGOON spray paint.  I have that exact color of pillows on my entry way chair and living room couch.  Plus I already had some.  Bonus!

I let it dry overnight and then brought it inside.  The ding at the top was still very noticeable.  Plus there were a few more glaring flaws in the frame which were more apparent now that it had a new coat of paint.  

I'm all about camouflaging stuff so I started to think of ways I could distract the eye.

I finally decided to cut out some fun vinyl and do some experimenting.

And then began the task of applying it to the frame of my mirror.

I will say that due to the curve of my mirror, this was a teensy bit harder to do than I was expecting.   I had to slice the vinyl segments with an exacto knife in various places and then overlap it to get it to lay down flat around the curves.  If you have flat surface it would be muuuuch easier.   It was kind of like putting together a puzzle though, and I love puzzles so I also had fun figuring it out.  By the end I was an expert at manipulating the vinyl how I wanted it.

And here's the after!  So much more personality, right?

As you can see from the reflection in the mirror, this goes along so much better with what the rest of the entry way is up to now.

Also, it takes a second but you can see where I came back around and the vinyl didn't line up perfectly.  I don't even know HOW I would have gotten it to line up even with the greatest of math skills.  It doesn't bother me though.  Thank goodness I'm not a perfectionist.  :)  More importantly, the ding and other flaws have virtually disappeared!

And here it is after my 12 year old helped me hang it back up when he got home from school.

I'm thinking I now need a cute white bench with some fun pillows on it.  I'll just add that to the to-do list!

p.s. I'm off to Snap!  I'll be tweeting my thoughts on it all during the conference if you'd like to follow me.  I'm sure I'll have some revolutionary deep thoughts (like Jack Handy) so don't miss out! :)

Link parties I participate in: Tip Junkie, Someday Crafts, Tatertots & Jello, I Heart Naptime, Lolly Jane, Be Different Act Normal, Craftomaniac, Today's Creative Blog, Flamingo Toes, Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick

Landee Recommends...

I have been doing tons of crafting lately but, trust me, it's nothing you want to see.  I have been prepping for SNAP! which I am flying out to Utah next week to attend (yay!).  Landee on Etsy decided to contribute something to the SWAG bags for SNAP! so we needed to make 325 "somethings" to donate.  Three.  Hundred. Twenty. Five.   So, yeah, that kept me busy for a while.  Plus filling orders for Landee On Etsy.  Oh, and at the last possible second I realized I should probably have some kind of business card to give people, should they ask.  Why don't I think of these things sooner??  

Not to mention it was Spring Break and ours was for TWO weeks (that's an "ug" and "yay!" kind of a thing).  We took a 10 day road trip to visit both sets of grandparents in two different states and were exhausted when we got home, as you can imagine.

See?  Nothing to share even though I've been crafting up a storm.

So today I thought I'd share some things which I think you'd enjoy too!  Sounds fun, right?  Who doesn't like a good recommendation?  

::ahem::

First up, an incredible book.  Don't be put off by the fact that this book was written for 6th-9th graders. Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt is amazing.  It has some of the most poignant and deep moments I have ever read.  Very touching and thought-provoking.  It is written from the perspective of 8th grader, Doug Swieteck who has just moved to a new town.   His sarcasm belies his sensitivity and it will require you to see beyond his words to know how he's really feeling and what's really going on.  

It makes you want to be a better person and what more can you ask from a book?   

PS This has now been a part of two book clubs I am in and every single person has LOVED it.  I tell you this so you know it's not just me. :)

Absolutely fascinating.  I've devoured this book for the last week and cannot get enough!  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is an incredibly well-written history of the infamous HELA cells used in medical research around the world.  Since the 1950s her cells have remained alive and kicking (something never done before) to allow for doctors to run tests on them, expriment on them, inject them, expose them, etc. to develop the polio vaccine, blood pressure medication, HIV drugs, and on and on an on.  This is a story of the woman behind the HELA fame and her family.  I love how the personal/human side of this story is interwoven with the science of it all.  Rebecca Skloot is a genius.  I heard it took her 10 years to write this book and I'm not surprised.  I loved it.

And finally, Downton Abbey.  I can't imagine that I'm the first to tell you about this series on PBS's Masterpiece Theater, but I would certainly want you to know that I LOVE IT.  Ever since catching the "Pride & Prejudice" bug a year or so ago I have read everything Jane Austen.  One of the things that I've often thought about is how these wealthy families and their servants lived together.  Even though this series is set quite a bit later (it begins when the Titanic sinks in 1912), it still explores all of the facets of a large English manor, its upper class family and their servants.  My favorite character is Carson the Butler, in case you were wondering.  A man that concerned with propriety and order will have my heart forever.  :)

Season One is on Hulu+ and possibly NetFlix?  Seasons One and Two are available on Amazon Instant download.

So, what say you?  Have you read/seen any of these?  Any opinions?  Do you have any recommendations for me?  I'm always looking for another great book to read!