The Flap about Snap–A Recap – Hive and Nest

Last weekend I went up to Utah for the Snap Conference: a get together for bloggers who craft or DIY. Before I get into how fun it was, let me apologize for not contacting anyone who lives in Utah. It was a quick trip in and out. I plan on coming back to Utah this summer and will hopefully see every friend or relative I have. Let’s move on.

How much fun did I have? A ton. This has got to be the nicest and friendliest bunch of people anywhere. I stayed with two other Austin bloggers, Kristen Duke, who woke up at the unhumanly crack of dawn early every day to teach a photography class and Lorie from Be Different Act Normal. Kristen is quite possibly the most outgoing person I’ve ever met and Lorie is hilarious. It made for a fun hotel room.

Classes were offered. Among those I took were SEO which means Search Engine Optimization. Also known as How to Get Google to Like You. I wrote things down but I have no idea what they mean. The guy who taught the class was Dutch and had really cool blue and tan saddle shoes.

Also somewhat mindblowing was the class on Photoshop. I can do a few things in Photoshop–zit removal and such–but I need to improve my skills tremendously.  The teacher, Amanda Padgett, happens to be brilliant and a very good teacher. I am an utter dunce at most things computer-related but I learned how to do a bunch of super useful and generally awesome things in Photoshop Elements. By the end of this year my pictures are going to be so stunning you’ll cry!

The other classes were more crafty; things like party planning and flower arranging. One of my favorite classes was about growing your handmade business. I don’t have a handmade business and the main thing I learned was that I never want to have one. What a pain! I also enjoyed a class about developing your own style taught by, among others, Shelley from House of Smiths. She is one of the funniest people ever.

I forgot to take any pictures but fortunately Kristen did and I stole this from her blog.

This is a photo of Kristen Duke, Kirsten from KoJo Designs who is simply gorgeous in real life, me (contrary to appearances I am neither pregnant nor obese; just wearing a flowy shirt that wasn’t behaving itself), and Heidi from Sew.Craft. Create (who is way cuter in real life).

Such a fantastic trip. I feel energized and excited to get back into a creative groove. Now I just have to put this stuff away (remind me again why I thought it was a good idea to unpack in the family room):