Oh.my.goodness.  I’ve had such a hard time sitting down to write this post, and I’m thinking it’s because I’m still on SNAP! Conference overload.  I seriously cannot believe I actually got to attend!  I met amazing bloggers, all of whom I’m so happy to now call real life friends instead of just computer generated ones.  I got to see some absolutely beautiful views of mountains {those of you living on the east side of the country, our mountains do not compare AT ALL}, blooming tulips, and some pretty rad dinosaur bones.  Most importantly, I walked away from SNAP! totally inspired and ready to take my blog to the next level.

Let’s start with the fun stuff…

The Swag

The sponsors at SNAP! sure knew how to spoil us bloggers!

That’s honestly not even half of it.  I went to SNAP! with a carry on and a checked bag {that was only 20 lbs when I left Atlanta}.  After three days of chatting with sponsors, doing fun crafts and make-n-takes, and purchasing a few items at the Queen Bee Market, I left Salt Lake City with a 49 lb. checked bag {so glad it wasn’t overweight because that would have cost me some moolah}.  I’m so excited to try out all of the awesome products and candy that they so generously gave to us bloggers.

Pajama Craft Party

hosted by Jen @ Tatertots & Jello

This event was so fun…I mean what more could a craft blogger want?!  PJ’s, cute cookies & milk bar AND a candy bar {really regretting I didn’t get a picture of that awesome-ness}, free crafts with friends, and chatting with Ms. Jen of Tatertots & Jello…such a fun night!

Jen created an awesome photo booth for the event and even hopped into a picture with a group of us!

The Lowe’s Creativity Challenge

Participating in this challenge sponsored by Lowe’s was two things for me…a TON of fun and SUPER tiring {I’m 33 weeks pregnant, remember?!}

Luckily my team was so nice and let me work on some of the easier tasks for our project.  There were 10 teams and we each had somewhat similar supplies.  In an hour we had to create something, anything, that we felt inspired to make based on the materials provided.  My team totally rocked it and we created a super cute ottoman, area rug, and serving tray.  All of the fabric was regular old drop cloths, pretty fun, huh?!

We were awarded “Most Cutting Edge” for our creation.

My team included Adrienne, Eileen,  Kristi, Ann Marie, and myself!

Here’s a peek at some of the other projects…

Puppet Show Theater {those dots are furniture felt pads}

Super cute sign and Welcome Mat

The Classes

Oh, wow!  If I had to pick just one favorite class, I don’t think I could.  I’ll cheat and choose two.

I have a serious blog crush on Desiree from The 36th Avenue now.  She was a FABULOUS speaker during the very first class I attended.  It was called “Basic Blogging Tips for Online Success” and was taught by Desireee, Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick, and Amy of The Idea Room.

Each of these women was a complete inspiration.  From this session, I took away so many things, but the top two things I’ll remember the most were…

“Your dream job does not exist, you need to create it.” -Amy

“Be so good, they can’t ignore you.” -Desiree

{Desiree and I at the Pajama Craft Party..she’s got good taste in PJ’s!}

My second favorite class was Instahance Your Online Presence with Instagram taught by Rhonna of Rhonna Designs, Susan of Freshly Picked, and Shelley of The House of Smiths.  These three women were, you guessed it, so freakin’ cool!  They really helped me to understand how to use Instagram a lot better and did some app dropping about their favs.  Some of their must-have apps for Instagram include: PicFrame, Fuzel, SnapSeed, PicFX, Whitagram, BubbleFrame, and Photo to name a few.

Snappy Doors Contest

For those of us that stayed at the Springhill Suites, we got to participate in the Snappy Doors Contest sponsored by 3M for a chance to win credit to The Queen Bee Market.  Unfortunately our door didn’t win, but we had so much fun putting it together.  I really can’t take much credit for our door though, it was thought up and created mostly by Jill and Sarah.

The Queen Bee Market

Shopping at the Queen Bee Market was so fun!  Being surrounded by so many fantastic handmade items was really cool and inspiring.  It made me want to launch my own handmade business…maybe someday!

While shopping, I bought three super cute frames from Cut It Out.  I plan to paint these and put the baby’s initials in them, but can’t really choose colors or add the initials until after the baby is born.

I also got this super cute chalkboard banner and can’t wait to use it!  I love that I can change it up daily if I want to.

The Friends

This was by far the best part of my entire SNAP! experience.  I finally got to meet the girls that I’ve considered my best blogging friends since I basically started blogging…

Sarah of Becoming Martha, Barbara of Chase the Star, and Jill of Create.Craft.Love

They all took such great care of me and constantly made sure I was drinking tons of water!  No one wanted to have to take me to the hospital for an early delivery of Baby #2!

I also got to meet some other wonderful ladies during the entire conference, some of whom I’ve followed for a long time.  It was amazing to me just how easy it was to talk to someone that I’ve read for years or consistently linked up at their weekly parties.  These gals were amazing and so super sweet!

Pictured above are Kelly of Live, Laugh, Rowe, Taryn of Design, Dining & Diapers, Jaime of Crafty Scrappy Happy, Barbara of Chase the Star, Sarah of Becoming Martha, Emily of 52 Mantels, Jill of Create.Craft.Love, Lindsay of Artsy Fartsy Mama, Cheryl of That’s What Che Said, Allison of A Glimpse Inside, Jessica of Mom4Real, Jessica of Cox’s Corner, Jen of Four Marrs & One Venus, Jenn of Clean & Scentsible,  and Abbey of The Cards We Drew.

I feel like I didn’t even scratch the surface of my experience at SNAP!  I’m sure I’ll be sharing more details as the week’s go on {and as I miss being at the conference chatting with these wonderful bloggers}.

For other SNAP! conference recaps, make sure to head over to Tauni’s Snap Recap Link Party!