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Happy Happy Friday !!!  We all made it through another week.  It was a fun few days here on the blog of recapping all the adventures we had at The Farm Chicks show.  I have been busy writing thank you notes this week and wrapping a few pretty packages to thank all those who helped us during the workshop.

Many helping hands are involved when I host workshops,  I am a firm believer in making sure everyone feels appreciated and loved on for all they do .

I began layering all the goodies starting with the yellow journal then adding in a package of sticky notes. I did’t have any envelopes for my card so I inserted my thank you note inside a glassine bag and added some gold sequins inside like confetti.   To keep  my note from sliding out of the bag I sewed it shut adding cute flags on the outside.  Next I added a paper doily and tied all the items together using a thick piece of vintage lace.

The next step is pretty easy too. I used a few of my favorite papers from Maggie Holmes BLOOM collection to decorate.  Adding in the pencils then layering in all the little papers and vintage tickets.

Lastly I used a gold paper clip with a mini pink tassel to hold everything together.

Once my package was all bundled together, I set it inside a box with white crinkle paper to help keep it from sliding around during it’s adventure at the post office.

A pretty little thank you package to brighten the day of a friend !!!

  • June 18, 2016 - 3:18 am

    Julia - This looks so cute! Awesome. <3
    xo JuliaReplyCancel

I have always loved a good road-trip . I am not a big fan of sitting still in a car for hours and hours, but when Sara Parson’s is the driver you know it’s going to be a fun trip.

Sara picked me up from the Seattle airport on Thursday morning. Some how she convinced me to fly into Seattle rather then Spokane so she could  have a road-trip buddy.  At first I wasn’t to sure on the idea. A 3 hour plane ride and then another 4.5 hour car drive ….

We made a stop at Starbucks and then we were on our way.  I am so glad I agreed to be her passenger for the next 4.5 hours.

amandaandsaraOnce we got into Spokane we arrived at The Historic Davenport Hotel where Ashley and Lesley were waiting for us.  As we drove up we were greeted by a very friendly staff and valet service.  The nice gentlemen at the hotel helped us unload our car and brought our bags up to our room.  I am pretty  sure they thought we were crazy when they saw us trying to get our suitcases unbarred from the back which was full of craft supplies.

The Davenport hotel is a beautiful hotel that has award winning amenities.

If you are planning a trip to The Farm Chicks show I highly recommend staying here.  The staff was amazing and the best part, if you book far enough in advance you can get a “farm chicks ” discount on your hotel stay.

davenporthotelstayOne out of many that stood out in the hotel is the attention to detail. Everything is covered in gold, and so pretty on the eyes. Even the elevator sign had gold dragon details.

davenportThere were many great local restaurants and shopping stores in walking distance from the hotel.  I highly recommend stopping into Madeleine’s Cafe and Patisserie  . The cafe is just the cutest and the food / coffee was amazing !!!!

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On Sunday, before driving back to Seattle to catch my plane home we stopped into the show one last time to say our goodbye’s  to Serena and to make one last round of shopping. All of our suitcases were filled to the max, but that didn’t stop us from trying to bring home a few more things.

( inside that Silo is where our workshop took place on Saturday )

Processed with VSCO with a6 presetBefore coming to the show I had to give myself a budget + goals of what I wanted to bring home. It helped that I only could fill a suitcase our I might have gone off the tracks.  My first “want” was a yellow mustard quilt and then a vintage pink rotary phone.

I brought home 1 out of 2 item’s on my list. I think all the extra quilts made up for not finding a pink phone.

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We also had a little time to do some quick shopping on Saturday before the workshop. The girls and I quickly fell in love with Jaybird vintage and prairie girl vintage booth. It’s so fun meeting other girls who have the same passions as  you do, and to find out we have mutual friends. Such a small world.

These girls are just the sweetest. If your looking for vintage goods check out their instagram where they sell some of their shop items.

IMG_1818After saying our good-byes and dropping Ashley and Lesley off at the airport, Sara and I headed back toward Seattle to catch my plane home.

Sitting in the car for another 4.5 hours.  I couldn’t let Sara drive by the Antique Mall twice. We gave ourselves 30 minutes inside.

IMG_1802We looked fast and scored a few goodies to take home ( photo on the left) .  My suitcase was full of vintage textiles ( photo right)  but I made sure there was room for me to sneak in these goodies.

vintagefindsI am still trying soaking in our time in Spokane, WA.  So many great memories that I will hold onto for a life time.  This world of social media has gifted me with some amazing friends, new and old.

I can’t stop smiling from all the fun we had.

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On Friday night, the night before the opening day to The Farm Chicks Show,  Jenny Keller ( of Jenny Cookies)  hosted a pre-party at the Spokane Anthropologie store.

After spending that entire day at the show setting up for Saturday’s workshop , time quickly flew by and the girls and I ran back to our hotel to get ready for the pre-party event. We were all a little frazeled trying to get ready so fast.  We meet  up with Jessie and Stevie in the hotel lobby and walked over to Anthropologie. The girls are I were quite nervous walking over. Ashley says it best on her blog post.

me | Stevie | Jessie |

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Shawn from The Flower Bar Co. had the cutest display of flowers for everyone to make flower crowns. Her lovely display made you feel like you were in a beautiful flower market.

I was so busy soaking the evening in that I forgot to take photos of all the cute displays. For more photos of the beautiful event hop on over to Serena and Jenny’s  blog posts.

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Us girls : Ashley | Serena | me | Sara | Jenny | Lesley 

IMG_1671One of my highlights from the evening was finally getting the chance to meet Laurie of  Magpie Ethel . We recently became instagram friends and have been following each others love for vintage for the past year. It was so great  to hug her in real life and have the opportunity to talk face to face.  She is as sweet in person as I imagined.  I will always be  jealous of her vintage deer collection.

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( above photo image curtesy of Kate Jennings photography)

Flower crowns and fancy dresses.

Jenny did an amazing job hosting the event. Everything was perfect.

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  • June 15, 2016 - 10:38 pm

    laurie magpie ethel - Well you know I was thrilled to meet you too. Thank you Instagram! Ready for our paths to cross again and for a longer visit! xoReplyCancel

Yesterday I shared photos from inside our day of crafting at The Farm Chicks Show, and today I am excited to share more about our sponsors who helped make this event extra special.

I love being able to help spread the love of handmade and small businesses with our attendees.  I asked Lesley if she would use her hand lettering talent to create a large poster that listed all of our sponsors to be displayed on the main wall of the room. We placed a #1 prize ribbon next to the poster, our sponsors are #1 to us and we are so grateful for their partnership.

We partnered with our favorite party shop Shop Sweet Lulu who helped us fill the room with balloons and honeycomb balls. Their shop is filled with the cutiest party decor and they are offering all our readers 15% off with code : ” FARMCHICKS ” … so go stock up !!!!

|  Photos credited to Sara Parsons Photography   |

BeCrafty-21We used natural canvas bags to place the swag items in.  We personalized each bag with gold foil sponsored by Ryonet .  These bags were a labor of love and turned out exactly how I envisioned.

My friend let me borrow her button maker to make pink buttons that said BE CRAFTY . I pinned the button to the bag near the handles of each bag.

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The swag bags would not have been possible without the generiousity of  the small businesses listed below.

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When the workshop attendees first entered the room they were given their name tag and a pink ticket. At the end of each workshop we drew a couple lucky numbers for our sponsored “giveaway” items which are listed below.
The winning tickets brought much excitement to the room, it was so fun to share these items with the lucky winners.
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At the end of the workshop as the attendees left, we handed out the swag bags.  It was fun seeing the bags being used throughout the Farm Chicks show too !!
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A big highlight from the workshop was having Jessie from Shop Sweet Lulu  attend the event. We have partnered on many projects together, and it is always so fun when we can actually hangout during our collaborations.
Serena out did  herself in helping make sure everything we needed was arranged and ready for us the day we came. I am so inspired by her and the work she does at The Farm Chicks Show.

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And because our sponsors are so AMAZING, they have sent a extra item for you to WIN today over on my INSTAGRAM account. A winner will be picked and announced on instagram .

 

Thanks again to all of our sponsors who helped make our workshop happen. If you are looking to support a new handmade business, these shops will not disappoint!!!!

  • June 14, 2016 - 8:15 pm

    Katie - So many talented lovelies….. And so many beautiful things! Love this! XoxoReplyCancel

How has it been over a week already since BE CRAFTY  traveled to Spokane, WA to take part in The Farm Chicks show???

It was an extreme honor to be asked by Serena to participate this year. For years I have dreamt of attending as a shopper, so when she asked if BE CRAFTY would like to come take part, I almost fell off my chair.  Ok, maybe more like I couldn’t stop smiling with excitement.

Every year Serena picks a theme for the show.  This year’s theme was County Fair.   The show is held the first full weekend of June  and features antiques, vintage, crafted goods, and the most friendly and stylish curators around.

AshelyLesley and Sara joined me and I couldn’t have done it without their amazing help.

We filled the silo with 150 ladies with 5 workshop sessions. It was a fun full day of crafting.

 

|  Photos credited to Sara Parsons Photography   |

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Bright colored streamers hung from the ceiling lights, and balloons filled the room to create a county fair ambiance.

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On each table, flowers were placed in vintage trophies created by The Flower Bar Co.  Prize winning, pink spray-painted horses stood alongside the flowers and Behr paint cans.

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We covered the walls with giant paper fans to resemble vintage rosette award ribbons.  Lesley personalized a few of the rosettes  with her fancy handwriting skills.

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Ashley created the super cute pink and white paper valances that we hung over the windows.  Swag bags filled the window sills that were handed out at the end of the workshops.

BeCrafty-28I handmade and personalized each of the name tags for the attendees.

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BeCrafty-34We started off each workshop with introductions.  I love this time as we get to learn a little bit about each other before we get busy crafting.

BeCrafty-63The first project we introduced was a decorating a kitchen towel.  Templates of the United States, and for our Canadian friends a maple leaf were available to use to embellish each towel.  Many of the ladies branched out and created their own designs too.

One of my favorite things about hosting workshops is seeing how everyone uses their creativity.  For some, it’s following the instructions as told, and others will go off the instructed path and will be inspired to do their own thing.

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Hamilton Beach sent irons to be used to adhere the pattern fabric to the kitchen towels.

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After everyone completed their kitchen towel project, a table full of  Behr paint was waiting for them to paint their farm animal on a jar project.

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BeCrafty-43It was so fun sharing all my favorite pastel paint colors with everyone.

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BeCrafty-65The one hour craft sessions went by way too fast.  It was so fun getting to spend a little time meeting new crafty friends.   BeCrafty-51And what is a county fair craft party without cotton candy treats ?!!!!

Cotton candy was made the day before by Sara and Lesley and placed in candy bags for each attendee to take home.  The sweet Lisa Souers Design kindly let us borrow her cute blue metal cart from her show booth to hold all the cotton candy!!!  And how cute are the hand lettered stickers Lesley made to seal each of the bags?

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After the workshop ended, swag bags were handed out to each attendee .  ( Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post all about the swag + giveaway)

swagbagshandout

The day was more then amazing.  Thanks to all the girls who traveled to attend the show and spent an hour crafting with us.  I had such a fun day with you. It is such a joy to see girls of all ages embracing handmade.

And to these girls who I feel so lucky to have as friends,  who say “yes” to spending many hours behind the scenes helping me create and share the love of handmade with all those who attend BE CRAFTY workshop, thank you for all you do.

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Lastly, A VERY special thanks Serena for  inviting BE CRAFTY to your show and for being such an amazing host.  It was such a joy to have the opportunity to work with you and your amazing team. You are truly special to me and so thankful for your friendship.

If you haven’t checked out “The Farm Chicks Show” it’s a MUST ADD to your bucket list !!!   The show is held the first full weekend of June each year in Spokane, WA and features antiques,vintage,crafted goods.  BeCrafty-109

Stay tuned to the blog this week for lots more photos and adventures from our trip to The Farm Chicks show.

And don’t forget to visit the blogs of: Ashley, Lesley and Sara  for more photos !!!!

A BIG thanks again to Sara for all the lovely photos and sharing your gifts with us.

 

 

 

 

 

  • June 14, 2016 - 8:12 pm

    Katie - Beautiful! What dreams are made of! This has now been added to my bucket list. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! XoxoReplyCancel

  • June 17, 2016 - 2:30 pm

    elisa ingram - oh my gosh i am green with envy!!! i wish i lived closer! come to greenville, SC!!! this looks amazing!!!ReplyCancel

  • January 18, 2017 - 10:01 am

    BE CRAFTY + Farm Chicks Show » Be Crafty - […]  year we joined up with Serena from The Farm Chicks show and hosted 5 Be Crafty Workshops during the amazing Farm Chicks Vintage + Handmade show. It was such a highlight from 2017. I am so […]ReplyCancel

  • January 19, 2017 - 9:01 am

    BE CRAFTY + FARM CHICKS SHOW 2017 » Be Crafty - […] ALL SUPPLIES ARE INCLUDE, please bring a scissors . Check out our last years event Here  + […]ReplyCancel

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