Crafts

Friday Flair /// The Great Pinteret Hunt

0 · Jul 19, 2012 · 24 Comments

It's finally {almost} here… Friday, Friday, Friday!! Time for Friday Flair. This week has been so fun with The Great Pinterest Hunt. Have you been hunting?

If you've missed it so far, here's the skinny. I've teamed up with 7 of my favorite blogging friends for a fun Pinterest scavenger hunt to liven things up this summer. Here's the Hunt Crew…

WhipperBerry, I Heart Naptime, Craftaholics Anonymous, Ucreate, Tatertots & Jell-o, I Heart Organizing, Inspired by Charm and Chef in Training.

Each day we've had a couple of images that you have to find on Pinterest and then you can enter a giveaway for some aaaamazing prizes! Here's what we have so far…

Day ONE // The Original Scrapbox | Day TWO /// Blendtec

Day THREE /// Kaboo Bags | Day FOUR /// Riley Blake Designs {this one will go live tomorrow morning}

If you haven't already, come on over and join the hunt it's SUPER FUN!!

Time to show off how fabulous you are!!

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day THREE

0 · Jul 19, 2012 · 7 Comments

Who's ready for Day THREE of The Great Pinterest Hunt? We've had so much fun this week so far, and hope that you are too. More than anything we just want to get together and connect over these crazy summer months. We wanted make a fun activity for everyone to be involved in. It's nothing to stress about, but to just enjoy. Grab a friend and play along together. Dive into Pinterest and get to know people that you didn't know before and get to know their style and see if it matches your own. That is the thrill and joy of Pinterest!!

With that said… Here's todays hunt information!

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day THREE Giveaway

Today, The Great Pinterest Hunt is sponsored by Kaboo Bags! Four lucky winners will receive a Kaboo Tech Bag of their choice. This is a prize valued at $125!!! If you haven't seen the new Kaboo bags you're missing out. Here is a quick little video that explains about the hidden little gem within the stylish bag.

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day THREE Hunt

To enter the giveaway you need to complete the three mandatory entries. These are all in the Rafflecopter widget which makes it super easy to enter, but I will explain them below.

Pin Today's image – You will need to pin The Great Pinterest Hunt Day THREE graphic at the top of this post onto one of your pinboards.
Re-Pin our two hunt images – In the Rafflecopter widget you will find links to two of our crew members boards along with a clue about the Pin you will be looking for. Within the board you need to find and re-pin the image. Each image will have the #thegreatpinteresthunt hashtag in the caption of the photo so you will know you have the right one… easy as that! Here are the two images for today's hunt and they come from Tatertots & Jell-o and I Heart Organizing.

img source | Tatertots & Jell-o and I Heart Organzing

Additional Entries – Below the mandatory entries you will find 10 additional entries for the giveaway. Today's extra entries are to follow The Great Pinterest Hunt Crew on Twitter. Follow the links in the Rafflecopter widget and it's a breeze!!

Below you will find the Rafflecopter widget with all of the links you will need to enter the fabulous giveaway sponsored by Kaboo! Happy Hunting!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit…

Day ONE to enter for a Workbox {valued at $1695.00} from the The Original Scrapbox!
Day TWO to enter to win a Blendtec Designer Blender {Values at $500}

The Great Pinterest Hunt is hosted by WhipperBerry, I Heart Naptime, Craftaholics Anonymous, Ucreate, Tatertots & Jell-o, I Heart Organizing, Inspired by Charm and Chef in Training. Thank you so much for joining all the fun!!

P.S. If you would like to watch a video on how to use Rafflecopter here is a good one!

How to Enter Rafflecopter Giveaways from Rafflecopter on Vimeo.

EVO 2012 // Why I LOVE This Conference

0 · Jul 18, 2012 · 3 Comments

Not all blog conferences are created equal, I've been to a fair share and I've seen the good, the bad and the spectacular. EVO 2012 // The Evolution of Women in Social Media Conference is one of my favorites! This year was my second year and even the second time around I was blown away.

Why Attend EVO?

EVO is a conference that covers several types of blogs. You have your foodies, your mommy bloggers, the humorists and the creatives. It kind of sounds like all the social groups in high school. You have your preppies, the jocks, the headbangers, the skaters, the stoners {wow, I think I'm dating myself!} My point is, the conference is full of all types of bloggers with many different passions and I believe, that's what makes it special. We all have our strengths and weakness and to be able to share our work with each other only builds our community even stronger.

EVO has several different types of classes and workshops. I tend to stick with the foodie side of things because I love it for one, but I also feel what I learn in the food photography sessions translates really well into my specific kind of photography. Photographing a craft project isn't too different from photographing a recipe. I went to several hands on workshops this year and I'm not going to bore you with a run down of all of them, I'm just going to give you a little taste of my favorite one.

My very first workshop at EVO this year rocked my world! I've had a blog crush on the White on Rice Couple for some time, but to have the opportunity to have an intimate workshop with them was a dream come true.

Diane and Heather — Diane Cu from White on Rice and Heather Thoming from WhipperBerry

We started the workshop that was sponsored by Truvia with an amazing lunch at the top of the mountain at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah.

The Canyons Park City — truvia lunch at EVO'12

After lunch we learned about all the fun stuff that you can do with Truvia's new Baking Blend and had a ball making Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies using the new Truvia Baking Blend… they turned out great by the way.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chop Cookies with Truvia Baking Blend

After the baking class we headed right into the food styling an photography class with Todd and Diane from White on Rice. This was my FAVORITE part. I could sit and listen to them teach for days and not get bored, They have a sneaky way of teaching you not only about working with food and photography, but about life! They have such talent and are so wonderful to share their talents unselfishly.

white on rice couple - tell your food story copy — tell your food story workshop with white on rice

The conference was packed full of fabulous classes, workshops, speakers and get togethers that were fun, informative and life changing in some cases. I HIGHLY recommend EVO'13 if you are looking for a great conference to attend next year.

What's a blog conference without a little silliness…

Here's sweet Desiree from The 36th Avenue and Kristyn from Lil'Luna having fun playing with their cameras when we were supposed to be mixing up cookies. LOVE those girls!!

Our Digs with Links Luxury Rentals

This year instead of staying at The Canyons {which is lovely, by the way} I had the opportunity to bunk with some of my favorite people at a luxury penthouse condo owned by Links Luxury Rentals. This place was swank!!

Links Luxury Rentals front room group — Links Luxury Rentals // kitchen, dining & living rooms

Check out all the fun details… A beautiful farmhouse sink in the kitchen, reclaimed barn wood floors, high ceilings, stylishly furnished and tons of room to gather with 17 of your favorite friends!! Seriously, it you really want to see all the fun you should check out my instagram… it was WAY too much fun for one weekend!

Here's a look at the master bedroom and one of the FOUR bathrooms…

Love ALL these girls and can't wait until I get to see them again!! Thank you so much to Links Luxury Rentals for helping us find a fabulous place to stay in while in Park City.

Overall the conference was amazing and I plan on attending next year for sure!! Have you attended any conferences? What has been your favorite so far?

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day TWO

0 · Jul 18, 2012 · 16 Comments

Raise your hand if you had fun yesterday with Day ONE of The Great Pinterest Hunt… I know I did!! Whose ready for Day TWO?!

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day TWO Giveaway

Today's Pinterest scavenger hunt is brought to you by Blendtec! Blendtec has a fabulous line of professional grade blenders that are also sneekily stylish… LOVE that! Blendtec is offering one of you one of their Designer Series Blenders valued at $500. The Total Blender Designer Series™ has been engineered to bring a whole new level of beauty and functionality to the high-end blender category, without compromising the famous power and efficiency of the Total Blender Classic Series™. Who wouldn't want that?! Want to know how you can possibly win one?

The Great Pinterest Hunt /// Day TWO Hunt

Yesterday we had a little feedback that Day ONE was a little confusing, so we are going to make a little easier for you guys. To enter the giveaway you need to complete the three mandatory entries. These are all in the Rafflecopter widget which makes it super easy to enter, but I will explain them below.

Pin Today's image – You will need to pin The Great Pinterest Hunt Day TWO graphic at the top of this post onto one of your pinboard.
Re-Pin our two hunt images – In the Rafflecopter widget you will find links to two of our crew members boards along with a clue about the Pin you will be looking for. Within the board you need to find and re-pin the image. Each image will have the #thegreatpinteresthunt hastag in the caption of the photo so you will know you have the right one… easy as that! The two images today come from I Heart Naptime and Chef-in-Training…

img source / i heart naptime & chef in training

Additional Entries – Below the mandatory entries you will find 10 additional entries for the giveaway. Today's extra entries are to follow The Great Pinterest Hunt Crew on Pinterest. Follow the links in the Rafflecopter widget and it's a breeze!!

Below you will find the Rafflecopter widget with all of the links you will need to enter the fabulous giveaway sponsored by Blendtec! Happy Hunting!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit Day ONE to enter for a Workbox {valued at $1695.00} from the The Original Scrapbox!

P.S. If you would like to watch a video on how to use Rafflecopter here is a good one!

How to Enter Rafflecopter Giveaways from Rafflecopter on Vimeo.

Summer Backyard Dreaming

6 · Jul 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment

When I was growing up my parents had the best backyard with the perfect porch for family gatherings. During the summer we spent all of our time out there. We ate every meal out on the covered porch and spent hours just sitting in the cool summer nights enjoying the crisp summer nights in Colorado. In fact, my husband and I came to realize that we were going to get married out on that porch one spring night twelve years ago. That porch has so much history and is a magical place in my life.

Now that I'm the Mom, I want to create that magical oasis in my backyard for my kiddos. A place where they feel comfortable bringing their friends over, a place where we can gather as a family and just enjoy being together outside away from the plugged in world we live in. I have yet to create that place in my backyard. Living in Las Vegas, nice backyard living doesn't come as naturally. Our yards are typically surrounded by ugly cinder block walls with very small patches of grass surrounded by a sea of rock. Not exactly an ideal oasis like these…

img source | the style files

img source | little french garden house

img source | brabourne farm

A girl can dream right? I've been shopping around trying to find the perfect patio furniture for my magical oasis for my family and I've found some fun items that I would like to use as the base element for my yard…

img source | sears simply outdoor living

Img source | sears simply outdoor living

I can just picture either of these pieces as a good start to my backyard living space for the family. I love the clean white and it would be so much fun to dress up with my own personal elements. I can just picture all of the fun that we can have out in our summer oaisis. Barbeques, slip-n-slide dates with friends, late nights under the stars with my sweetheart… I can't wait to get started!!

Now that I have shared what would turn my backyard into my perfect summer oasis, I want to know what you’ve done to transform your backyard into your oasis. One of my lucky readers will win a $25 Sears gift card!

Need help finding your own pieces for your backyard? Sears is bringing the ease of searching for those perfect pieces with their recently launched iPad digital catalog. On your computer? Don't fear, Sears has an amazing digital catalog built just for you.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sears. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.