Southern Bloggers Conference

Hey Ya’ll!  I had an amazing weekend at the Southern Bloggers Conference in Raleigh, NC.  I met so many wonderful ladies and felt like I was surrounded by talent everywhere.  I am so glad I made the decision to attend.  I was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, for many reasons.  If you know me you know I am not that social, I’m a homebody and being in an room full of strangers is way out of my comfort zone.  I also struggle with where I want this blog to go.  It was in Raleigh so I made myself go since it was so close to me and I’m so glad I did! I meet so many talented like minded people that live near me.

I am inspired and re-charged about blogging.   I am excited about all the things that I learned and look forward to putting some of those things in action and changing little things here and there to make this blog better for you, my readers,  and hope to attract new readers along the way.

We had awesome speakers. 

Rhoda with Southern Hospitality

Rhoda shared her blog journey with us and it was so inspiring to hear her talk about how life happens and how you can keep doing what you love regardless of obstacles in your life.

Kari Anne with Thistlewood Farms

Kari Anne is HILAROUS, she has the most fun personality.  She has had great success with her blog in a short amount of time and was happy to share her tips with us.

Kelly with Eclectically Vintage

Kelly was great at explaining mistakes to correct and gave us good tips on using social media to keep in touch with readers.

Heather from At The Picket Fence

Heather gave us lots of insight on ways to advertise on your blog.  I have been on the fence about advertising here for a while but I learned a lot and know how to start slow.

Brittany at Pretty Handy Girl

Brittany (who lives in Raleigh) inspired us all to “go for it” to do what you love and challenge yourself to do what you are afraid of too.  She also took a group thrifting today in Raleigh.  I skipped out since I can go shopping around Raleigh anytime but I know the girls had fun!

These gals were so inspiring and I look forward to following them on their continued journey in blogging.  If you have not seen them before you should check them out!

We also had a special treat having Annie from Maison Blanche Paint Company present her line of Le Craie Paints and products which blew my mind.  I was so excited to see a different chalk paint line.  I can’t wait to get my hands on some of her paint.  She offers other great products to add a little extra to paint projects which we had the chance to see.

She really is that adorable!

Here are a few techniques and products we saw.

This is a stencil that is applied and then you add the Glacage product to create a look that appears to be part of the wood.  Really awesome stuff.

Le Dirt is a product that looks like dirt but gives you a great aged patina, this would be great on any piece with lots of detail.

I am pretty giddy about this paint chart, it’s REAL paint! So ACTUAL color.

Kristen with Sophia’s Décor and Amy at Atta Girl Says showed us how Miss Mustard Seed’s paint works and I was happy to be able to try this out as well. 

picture from Atta Girl Says

The ladies that put this conference together did a phenomenal job! They pulled this sold out event together in weeks! WEEKS!  It was amazing!

Please click on the link below to check them out too.

Committee Members and Fabulous Blogs 

On a final note, check out all this great swag I took home!

If you look close you will see there is a sample of La Craie Paint as well as Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and a brand new paint brush!

I look forward to incorporating a few changes around here that you will notice, nothing major but a few things to spice up the blog and keep readers coming.  I also am thinking of starting a series of post about our journey in land development to keep interested readers up to date more on that process.  So stay tuned!

April