Connecting with Creators

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT! BIG CONTEST!

Click HERE to get FULL details!!

July 28, 2011:
This is a new and additional announcement to this posting! This contest was just announced today and the contest will end at 11:59 on AUGUST 4th! That is why I am sticking it at the top of my post in red and not my usual grey.  To get full details about how to enter, the rules, and how you may win TWO free passes plus hotel accommodations to The Creative Connection Event, click above. Don't know what in the world I am talking about, or why I am so excited? Read on, and the post will fill you in plenty! Oh, and if you keep on reading...I am having my own little contest giveaway myself. But you have to read the post to find out what it is...you will love the giveaways...that I am sure! 

Who would have thought that tearing strips of fabric and tying them around a lamp shade could make someone so happy? Well you looking at her, or rather reading her blog. But that is what I did a few nights ago. Yup, I finally redid my living room, and tearing and cutting linen strips while sitting on our new sofa apparently gave me a very contented look upon my mug. As my barber husband commented the next morning, he said, "It was so nice watching you tear up fabric last night..." He didn't get exactly why I was so happy with my strips of fabric, but he was just happy to see me happy. 

I had no idea he was even watching me. You see, we got a new sofa, he was snuggled on one end, legs stretched out, and I was happy on the other end, snipping away, and apparently entertaining my hubby. But I guess, my contentment showed - and all it really took was some strips of fabric and a pair of scissors. 

And that is what I want to talk about today - contentment and joy in creating. And while my barber husband may not have understood why I was so happy snipping away at fabric, there are a lot of people who do and I get to meet them this September at St. Paul, Minnesota, at 

The Creative Connection Event!  

(Okay, don't think I don't know you are waiting to see my living room photos, and feeling ripped off that I told you about redoing it, and then just go on like I never mentioned it...I'll get back to it. Now, do I know my readers, or what?)

This coming September 15, 16, 17th.

Click HERE for more details!

If you have no idea what this is, I will briefly go over it, but you really need to just go to the fab website and read all about it and then just sign up and go! This event is like no other. I have been helping with writing the website for months and learned so much about the event, I am very impressed with the level of talent and dedication! 

Basically, Jo Packham, the co-founder of this event saw a need for crafters to connect. She also realized that crafters and foodies are so busy doing what they do best, that it is difficult to get their products known. That is where The Creative Connection Event  (TCC) comes into play. Networking, cyber world, blogging, it all comes together with the crafting and food world. And business women who have been-there-done-that and have taken their passion and turned it into a way of life are there to connect us all!

Here is just a SMALL SAMPLE of what TCC has to offer:

Key Note Speakers: 

Click HERE to read about all the speakers!

I personally cannot wait to meet these women and hear about their adventures. BlogHer is a big participant and sponsor that is offering a lot valuable information for those of us who create and blog. If you aren't familiar with BlogHer (I wasn't until I met the fabulous, Loralee, last summer on my photo shoot to Pioneer Woman's ranch, who introduced me to the BlogHer world), then BlogHer is another huge treat that TCC will introduce you to! 

In short, BlogHer supports and encourages women bloggers. The founders of BlogHer are pioneers when it comes to blogging and the information they have to pass on is valuable to anyone wanting to take blogging to the next level, or wanting to learn about blogging, maybe considering taking their passion more public, or even to the possibility of making a living at it. TCC is the place to connect and do this. The people who attend this event would totally, totally get my glee at sitting on my sofa, completely content with my strips of fabric and scissors. And somehow, at TCC, I would probably learn how to make a friggin living at how to snip my strips, blog about it, and make a living...not bad, when I think about it.   :-)

In fact, Jo is so passionate about getting women connected, sharing our passions, and helping women to network with one another, that when I asked her if I could blog about the event she offered to give away a year's subscription of Where Women Cook and Where Women Create!  

So, I decided to have a little CONTEST and GIVEAWAY from now until September 15th.  Below is a button and if you grab the button and post it on your blog's side bar until September 15 and leave me a comment that you did so, then I will put your name in a hat (and it will be a really cute, vintage hat, at that). When I return from the TCC event, I will pull a name out of the hat, and two savvy gals will get a one year subscription to either WWCook OR WWCreate. 

I don't think I have ever done a giveaway before, so I am excited to do this and want to thank Jo for offering this for my readers. If you wish, you can thank Jo as well on her blog, or Facebook page and let her know you appreciate it too. Very cool that I can giveaway something that I love so much.

CONTEST GIVEAWAY! 

Just grab the button below. 

Place button on your blog sidebar just until Sept 15th. 

And leave me a comment that you did so.

There will be Two winners:

One will get a year's subscription to Where Women Create

One will get a year's subscription to Where Women Cook

Click HERE for details!

Between keynote speakers, panelists, event meals, workshops, networking, shopping at the Market Place, watching cooking demos, getting autographs from authors (yes, Jo asked if I would participate in the autograph party, which will be an honor, but sort of feel a little weird at the same time...don't ask me why, but it does...but it's a good weird) but between all those activities, Jo will also be launching her new book 

New Book:

Where Women Cook Celebrate!

Click HERE for more details!

I am extra proud of this book because for several months, I was hired to help interview and assist in writing about some of these extraordinary chefs. I got to talk with them and learn about their diverse backgrounds and honed my skills on writing with deadlines, within strict word counts, and edit and re-edit again. It was a great job that I would love to do again anytime! The book is different from Where Women Create magazine in that each chef has a particular celebration and recipes to go along with it. One particular chef I remember interviewing (and still stay in contact with) is Sandy Coughlin, better known as The Reluctant Entertainer, who has one of the most informative chapters with all kinds of entertaining tips. There are organic chefs, French chefs, chefs who started out just cooking for a hobby...and more. It is a fantastic and fun cookbook, even if I say so myself :-)

Okay, besides TCC having tons of classes, workshops, networking (which is the coolest part - make sure you bring lots of business cards with you, you will meet tons of very cool, creative women - and men - Matthew Mead will be there teaching!) there is one more really cool event I will mention in this post that is super exciting that TCC is offering.....

Pitch Slams!

Have you heard of them before?  In short, these are events in which professionals in certain industries (usually the publishing industry, but in TCC's case, much more) will sit and listen to your idea and give you feedback. And in some cases, some ideas are picked up on the spot! 

Some Pitch Slam events are very expensive to attend and almost all are very limited in number. Most have strict rules on how long you may speak, what you may bring, and what you may leave behind (if anything) to the industry representative.  It can be super intimidating, and pretty white knuckling, but TCC is here to make this Pitch Slam professional, but a really positive experience for you so you can walk away with some expert advice. It is a chance to get the full attention of an expert and show your idea - something that is really hard to get!

So for example, if I wanted to pitch my book, and if there was a publisher being represented at a pitch slam event that I wanted to pitch to, then I would sign up, pay my fee, and pitch the best pitch possible in the hopes that I would "wow" them so much that they would shake my hand and hand me a huge contract right then and there! Okay, actually, it doesn't really happen that way, except in my head, but in practice, you do want to "wow" them in the few minutes you get, and at least get them to remember you enough to want to follow up with more information and so on.

Well, TCC is having a Pitch Slam event for all sorts of creative industries....if you have an idea for cookbook, or children's book, or let's say you always wanted to be a designer for a craft or paper company, there will be an industry rep at the TCC Pitch Slam! How many times have you gone to a craft store and rolled your eyes and thought, "Geeze Louise...I could have made that in my sleep!" Well, now you can pitch your ideas and maybe get picked up to design for a craft company in your sleep! 

Or maybe you always thought you would be a great gift designer for a company and have a zillion ideas but no where to take them to...now you do! Or a textile designer? TCC has an industry leader looking to hear your design ideas on that too. Or how about a guest on a TV show? How many times have you thought you would be a great guest on a TV show, but you are not sure how to pitch your idea to the network? Now you can try it out and get professional feedback. Remember, these professionals have "been-there-done-that" and most are still doing it. There's lots to do to prepare and get ready. And many more industries that I didn't even list.  A limited number of spaces are available and some rules you need to know, so I am going to send you to two places to get all the info you need to visit and read up on. Spaces are filling up, so get going!

First, the official website that tells you all you need to know just click below:

PITCH SLAMS: 

Click HERE for PITCH SLAM Details!

and 

The TCC blog has tons of good ideas about lots of stuff, but just the other day, they put out some really good advice on Pitch Slams, so here the info from the blog as well: 

Click HERE for TCC blog details on Pitch Slams!

Okay, that is it for now. As you can see, I am really excited about this event. Mainly, I am excited because so many of us work and do and do. And while the blog world is great, and without it, many of us would be pretty isolated when it came to our crafting and cooking only because so many of the people in our daily lives just don't get our passion. They love us, and they respect us, and they tell us how much they love our creations, but they really don't get how our juices just get flowing at 1AM sometimes - with just some scissors and strips of fabrics. And at The Creative Connection Event, well, there will be 100's and 100's of creative souls, for three whole days who DO GET IT, and are in all stages of their passion. Some are just barely discovering what makes them tick, and some have been ticking so long, that they are there to help other get ticking too, all while getting "rewound" and refreshed themselves! So I really hope I get to see you, meet you, and finally get to give you a hug.

And to refresh yourself a bit, here are a few photos of our living room. I haven't had time to take "real" photos. I am in the middle of a big shoot and I could barely squeeze in the time to do this living room, but I have put it off for so long. You know the saying, the cobbler's kids never get shoes....you'd be surprised at long it takes for me to get my own house done. Well, probably not, you are in the same boat, I am sure.

Oh, and I am still looking for the "after" photos of the kitchen. I didn't forget, but I am afraid I may have done what I always feared that I may do, but haven't yet - until now, maybe. I think, but not sure, but I think I may have downloaded them accidentally into a file I didn't mean to do. That means I have to hunt for them among thousands of photos. Hopefully this isn't the case. I will keep you posted.

But here are a few photos of our living room, and when it is all completed (not done yet) I will give you a tour...but for now, here are a few quick pics until I can take real photos...oh, and feel free to leave a comment even if you aren't grabbing the button - I always love hearing from you no matter what!

 From my house to your house,