Michael’s – I love them!

This past weekend I was invited to attend a Michael’s Blogger Event – it was a amazing.  I came away with an even bigger love for Michael’s Stores (was that possible?!).  I was just very impressed with the passion and creativity that their team has – they really do LOVE creating and crafting.  As they quoted “ART: You can find yourself in it, and also get lost in it”.

I felt like a celebrity – I was met at the airport by an official driver holding a sign with my name and whisked away in a fancy car with blacked-out windows – check that off the bucket list.  I was greeted at the hotel, given a goodie welcome bag that included the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever, and headed to my room.  It was amazing – I called home to tell them “my hotel room has it’s own hallway!” – very impressive:

We started the event with a warm-up craft of making felt flower wristlet tie-ons – I loved that we had several opportunities to craft and create during the conference.

We got to hear from Jo Pearson, probably most know as a judge on Craft Wars.  Not only did we get to  hear her speak, but we got to hang out with her for a couple of days.  She loves crafting and creating just as much as any of us – it was so fun to get to know her on a more personal level.

I will blog about some things she said coming soon – right now I just wanted to give you an overview of my trip.  So stay tuned for that next week.

More crafting sessions the next day – it was fun to try some projects that I don’t normally do – like jewelry making and mixed media.  I will do a brief tutorial on the charm necklace sometime soon as well.

After that we were given an exclusive peek into the Michael’s trade show – to see the new things coming to stores, etc.  It was huge and overwhelming and amazing all at once – wow!  So many vendors and amazing products are sold through Michael’s stores, including many of their own store brands.

I didn’t realize that you could do custom cards through Michael’s, but you can and they have some super cute options.  You can find it at MiDesign@Michaels – really, check it out. They offer photo books, scrapbook pages, greeting cards, custom invites, personalized favors, napkins and more.  

And there is an exclusive offer for you readers – 30% off. The code is BLOGGER30 and it is valid through Aug. 29.

We had a look at some of the things offered through the classes you can take at Michael’s – these will be the card making classes this year and I can’t get over the cuteness of the “Whimsy” collection – the four on the right – they’re calling to me:

And I really want to take a cake decorating class.  Doesn’t everyone?!

There were some creative celebrities:

And Sharpie gave out plain sunglasses and had you decorate them with Sharpie marker – I thought that would be a fun activity for a birthday party:

And then there was the swing-the-mallet-to-ring-the-bell booth – I only got up to a 5 out of 10, then the guy in the carnival vest swung the hammer one-handed and hit the 10 and the bell.  It just confirmed that I’m a weakling.

Overall the trip was amazing and very inspiring.  Part of the fun was getting to know Michael’s staff and other bloggers and pick up on their passion of blogging and creating.

Heading home I ran into a slight snag – I blame American Airlines and their inability to work around a maintenance issue.  They canceled my flight instead of cueing up another plane – as a result I missed the kids’ first day of school, including my Kindergartner’s. Bummer.  But I did get an extra night in a hotel to watch Shark Week (we don’t have cable so I have to soak in it when I can):