hello again bloggers... i've finally had a chance to sit down to post about last week's travels to minneapolis. it was a jam packed weekend and so amazing! first off, i was invited to participate in the creative connection event. i heard incredible things about this event last year, but after checking it out, i realized it was part of "where women create" magazine so i knew i would never be part of that. well never say never right? earlier this year i was contacted by jo packham founder of where women create and asked if i would consider being featured as their first "man" in the magazine for their new feature "the men who make it"... seriously? of course i would! to say i was honored would be an understatement. so fast forward to last weekend, and in a full circle moment, i was invited to attend the creative connection event. this incredible event is all about empowering women in business. from designing and creating, to blogging and running a successful business, there are so many types of workshops, seminars, and keynotes to attend. i was part of a pitch slam team where up and coming designers could pitch their product ideas to a panel of "experts" to get feedback and input. one of the nights was an autograph party where numerous authors from all types of creative books were on hand to meet everyone and connect in completely creative forum. it was really cool to be a part of and i thank jo and her team once again for allowing me to take part in it all - i can't believe it!
well in addition to the creative connection, we also attended scrapfest at the mall of america. this annual event hosted by archiver's is over the top huge and located throughout the mall. there are demos, make & takes, and loads of workshops. i attended the event with another ranger signature designer claudine hellmuth who also taught and demoed as well as colleen and mario. i taught 5 workshops with approx. 60 students in each for a total of 300 students over the weekend - whew! my workshops were located in the rotunda which is an open arena 4 stories tall with a huge "jumbo-tron" screen that displayed my powerpoint for the class. it can be a bit intimidating when you look up and see people on the upper levels looking down watching. this year the students had an hour and 45 minute class time which was great since we were able to create and finish the artful journal project. we worked with distress, perfect pearl mists, art parts, kraft resist, kraft glassine, and a few idea-ology findings to assemble a cool mini book. thanks to all of my students who shared in the creative journey of the class, and the ranger and archiver's teams for their help in the workshops - i couldn't have done it without you guys...
in addition to workshops i also demoed 3 hours a day in front of the archiver's store in the mall. this was a great opportunity for attendees to get a more up close and personal look at the products and a chance to ask questions. it was a great turn out each day and always fun to take time to just play with products. so now i'm back in the studio getting unpacked and then repack to head out tomorrow on my final crafting cruise with scrapmap. more on that in tomorrow's post. enjoy today...t!m
You go Tim!!!
Posted by: Gloria | September 21, 2011 at 10:05 AM
You must be exhausted! You just never seem to stop. That packed class looks fun...
Posted by: helen | September 21, 2011 at 10:06 AM
Looks like you had an amazing time!
I hope to be able to go to this someday!
Posted by: Stacy Haworth | September 21, 2011 at 10:06 AM
Looks like you had a fab time, oh to be a shopper in that mall..
Posted by: Minxy | September 21, 2011 at 10:07 AM
What a wonderful adventure. Thanks for sharing with us!
Posted by: Carol | September 21, 2011 at 10:07 AM
Wish I could have been at ScrapFest this year... I'm jealous, my class with you last year was only 45 minutes. :) Hope you have a great cruise.
Posted by: Becky | September 21, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Wow. Looks like a lot of fun.
Posted by: Jennifer S. | September 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM
That workshop looks like so much fun. I am just discovering art journaling and I love it so much. I hope that some day soon I can attend one of your classes. Thanks Tim!
Posted by: Maureen | September 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM
I'd like to be with you and I'd like to speak English a bit better!!!
xoxoxo Eulalia from Italy
Posted by: Eulalia Gambini | September 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM
What an awesome class at the mall of America. Wow tim....that must have been soooo cool!
PS I can hardly wait to get the new cargo cases!
Posted by: Sherry goodloe | September 21, 2011 at 10:12 AM