Michaels Blogger Event #michaels2012

This past week I got the crazy awesome privilege of getting a peek behind the Michaels curtain by getting invited to a blogger event in Dallas, Texas. They flew 15 bloggers out there to craft and attend their vendor display (think mini Craft & Hobby Association show).  In addition to the bloggers event it was also a time that Michaels flew in all of their managers for some leadership training and a chance to speak with and ask the vendors questions about their products.

How excited was I when I was greeted by my driver at the Dallas airport holding my name on an Ipad?  It was one of those bucket list things.  I felt all fancy being driven to the hotel.  I know I am a total dork.

So the first thing we did after introducing ourselves was craft. I knew it was going to be a fun event when we started like this.  First up we made some felt and fabric flowers.  They had used the Sizzix machine to cut out all the flowers for us to play with.  I was excited since I just purchased the Tim Holtz Vagabond machine for my birthday.  I need to buy some of the flower dies to make these but it was so much fun to just design flowers with the pre-cut felt.  It is nice when someone does the hard work for you!

One of the the things I did not like about Craft Wars…oh by the way my episode airs on Tuesday at 8PM EST…was that we did not get to meet and hang out with the judges.  So it was a blast hanging out with Jo Pearson, creative expert at Michaels and Craft Wars judge.  She is a hoot!  What an experience it would be to work on her creative team and hang out in the Michaels craft room and play all day.

Speaking of creative team…they made us these sweet little collaged journals with a picture of their team in it as a keepsake from the event.

The next day we made these awesome collage necklaces from sew in snaps. This was my favorite craft of the event. Here is a mini picture tutorial below so you can see how we made them. They are so easy and would be a great way to purge your beads and charms.

Then we swapped stations and made mixed media canvases.  This one was a step outside my comfort zone but I like how it turned out and I think I will put it in Kayla’s room.

Next up we got to walk the vendor displays.  This was so fun because I ran into so many people I knew from past CHA shows and from being involved in the craft industry the past 5 years.  I also got to see some fun projects and cool products.

That night we went to a cool Dallas BBQ restaurant called Smoke.  It was so yum.

And there we met Amy Labbe one of the spunkiest jewelry designers I have never met who has a line of her vintage eclectic pieces in Michaels under the line Art-I-Cake. Yes, she has pink hair and the weird part is it totally fits her!

The rest of the time was just spent hanging out (and being silly) with the other bloggers. Top left: (me, Marie, and Lorie) Top Right: (me and Amy) Bottom Left: (Amy and me).

It was an amazing experience and I am super grateful and humble that Michaels  chose me to come along. And, of course, an event like that makes me super excited to shop and support Michaels.