Meet the Hosts!

The Craft Nest //Designed Decor //Swish Printables //Creative Juice // Just Us Four //La Belle Parties

To add to the fun, we have a featured co-host. This week, the co-host is:

Atop Serenity Hill

Each week, we’ll have a new social media platform as the main theme of our link party.

This week, we’re linking up our Instagram pages!

I’m sure you already know that Instagram is a great way to show your readers the “real” side of you, offer sneak peeks, and show behind-the-scenes photos that might not otherwise make your blog posts!

So, growing your Twitter following = growing your blog following!

Join the Instagram party and link up your Instagram page {NOT your blog homepage or a post link, please}

Your link will automatically appear on all 6 blogs!

Remember: Follow your Hosts and visit the others!

** The BEST way to grow is to spread the love.**

You will automatically be entered into our email reminder list by entering a link. You can remove yourself from the list at anytime.

From Tammie: “We used the tags for the favors, we had about 3 of them. We used the tags on miniature bath and body works sanitizers. They were placed in mini organza bags.  We used oversized martini glasses and filled them with sweets so that the guest could help themselves.

The mom to be wanted to get involved in the planning so, she made a favors of her own…single serve cocoa scones filled with cocoa, marshmallows and chocolate chips .

My cousin made a cake to match the theme using the printables you made. I think she did an awesome job.”

The beautiful Mom-To-Be!

If you’re interested in hosting your own owl-themed baby shower (or birthday party), you can see the printables here.

Owl Themed Printables – Baby Shower or Birthday Party

Vendor Credits:

Printables:  Swish Designs on Etsy

Styling:  Tammie Evans from Moment Essentials

Pink and Brown Owl themed baby shower cake:  Sweets by Josie:  954 854-8721

Thanks Tammie for sharing your party with me!

Meet the Hosts!

The Craft Nest //Designed Decor //Swish Printables //Creative Juice // Just Us Four //La Belle Parties

To add to the fun, we have a featured co-host. This week, the co-host is:

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Girl in the Garage

Each week, we’ll have a new social media platform as the main theme of our link party.

This week, we’re linking up our Twitter pages!

I’m sure you already know that Twitter is fast becoming a primary way many readers connect with blogs!

So, growing your Twitter following = growing your blog following!

Join the twitter party and link up your Twitter page {NOT your blog homepage or a post link, please}

Your link will automatically appear on all 6 blogs!

Remember: Follow your Hosts and visit the others!

** The BEST way to grow is to spread the love.**

You will automatically be entered into our email reminder list by entering a link. You can remove yourself from the list at anytime.

The theme this year was “Choose Joy” and for sure I was inspired when I came home from the conference! Check out this awesome necklace that was given to everyone from The R House Couture.

 Like many first time blog conference attendees, I was totally nervous and excited.  The nervousness quickly dissipated as my new roommates friends and I worked on our entry into the Snap Door Contest.  We worked WELL into the night getting everything ready.  I think it turned out SUPER cute.

The first day began with a newbie meet and greet and I was thrilled to see an old-fashioned soda fountain.  I particularly loved the cantaloupe flavored soda (which was surprising, because I DON’T like cantaloupe!).  I wish I could say my friends liked it but sadly they weren’t a fan of it.

The best part of the whole newbie session was getting to meet some of the sweetest party girls around!

When classes began, a great majority of them were held in the Museum of Natural History at Thanksgiving Point.  I took these photos to send to my 6-year old son (who loved them)!

The conference is held during the Tulip Festival – and although I didn’t get the chance to head out on the tour bus to see the flowers in all their glory, there was an amazing display right near our hotel room.

The conference topics were amazing!  I learned so much from some of the best bloggers in the blogosphere.  I’m not a name-dropper but I will tell you that some of the topics I attended were just fab:  ”How to Make Google Love Your Blog”, “Basic Blogging Tips for Online Success”, “Pinterest Power”, “Parties that Wow” and more!

I HAVE to leave you with a couple of photos from some of the fun we had!

I know that I’ve made some great new friends! I learned a lot as a blogger and as a “party girl”.  I love my new friends and look forward to seeing you all next year!

I’m so happy to have met several AWESOME bloggers while attending the Snap Creative Conference last month.  Truth be told, I met a whole lot more than  ”several”.  I had a huge realization that I have a LOT more to learn about blogging than I ever thought!  Which is why I’m SUPER excited to kick off my first Linky Party!

Linky Parties are a super fun way to meet new people, check out some amazing bloggers, and network!  Our party is all about the social…okay…the social MEDIA!  When I think of “social”, I think of  ”ice cream social”…so that’s what I’m going with.  Welcome to the first of  ”Let’s Connect Thursdays” Linky Party.  Or as we like to call it:

An Ice Cream Social {Media} Linky Party

Here’s a bit more about what to expect:  I’ve teamed up with some awesome bloggers (5 to be exact!) Six different hosts mean there are 6 sets of readers linking up. Greater exposure and a lot more link ups!

Meet the Hosts!

The Craft Nest //Designed Decor //Swish Printables //Creative Juice // Just Us Four //La Belle Parties

To add to the fun, we have a featured co-host. This week, the co-host is:

The Easley Family

Each week, we’ll have a new social media platform as the main theme of our link party.

This week, we’re linking up our Facebook pages!

I’m sure you already know that Facebook is an awesome way to engage and get your content in front of readers!

So, growing your Facebook following = growing your blog following!

Join the party and link up your Facebook page {NOT your blog homepage or a post link, please}

Your link will automatically appear on all 6 blogs!

Remember: Follow your Hosts and visit the others!

** The BEST way to grow is to spread the love.**

You will automatically be entered into our email reminder list by entering a link. You can remove yourself from the list at anytime.

Challenge 1: Re-design

As I prepped for the snap conference, I knew I needed to update my business cards. The old ones weren’t printed on the best paper – the colors weren’t as vibrant as I wanted – and they were quite honestly: pretty darn UGLY!  So I began re-designing my cards to more closely match my online sites.  As I finished up, I enlisted the help of my husband and he helped me finalize my new design!

Swish Business Cards – front and back

Challenge 2: Make them stand out! (or: make people remember me)
Once they were designed, I was on to my next challenge.  I really wanted to do something “cute” to include with my cards at the Snap Conference…I just didn’t know what.  I thought about candy…little treats…and even skipping business cards all together in favor of doing something like cupcake toppers or mini buntings.   Both of those ideas were SQUASHED quickly because the thought of creating 200 of them…transporting…and then having the recipient have to figure out what to do with them was just “too much”.

And then I went back to my basic marketing classes in college and answered this question:  ”What do I want the person that I’m giving my card to do?”   Other than “remember me”, the next obvious answer was:

PICK ME when you want to have a party!  Let me design your printables!  

So after a brainstorming session, I did a bunch of research and ordered these little babies – complete with my logo.

Get it?  ”Pick Me”?  

And now it’s time to figure out how to attach them…200 cards…200 envelopes…Let the assembly line begin!

Then it was on to the tags:  ”Pick me to Party”

I worried about whether they’d be cute enough – or clever enough.  And then realized that I love them so even if everyone else doesn’t get it – or think it’s a cute idea…that’s okay too!  (Leave me a comment – let me know what you think!)

All boxed up and ready to go!

See you all at Snap!  Be sure to look for me and get one of my cards!

Happy Planning!

Love, Donna

First up:  Check out my cute new notepad!  You can get yours from Sew Sugar Beans!  The seller was super nice and helped me pick out fabrics that worked well together!  I also love that there’s a pocket inside for pens or business cards. Can you guess where I’m from?  She even put the heart on my hometown.

Second up: My new tote bag – big enough to fit EVERYTHING I need for the conference!  Get yours from Too Cute designs by Jeannette.  Jeannette is AWESOME to say the least! So nice – willing to show me a few color combos – added a pocket to the back.  Just all around a great gal!

The gorgeous inside – with pockets ALL the way around!  Room for my DSLR, several folders, my notebook and more!

Third up:  The next thing I *had* to have was a new clutch.  There may be times I don’t want to bring my huge tote and need just a clutch.  So in true Swish fashion, I couldn’t decide and I actually bought two! You can’t have too many clutches, right?

Here’s the first one that I purchased from C Marie and Company.  Super cute products and great service!

And my second one from Hazelnut Deux!  She was another AWESOME vendor.  She’s a newer shop with the best customer service around!  I messaged her to see if she had any other fabrics and not only did she say that she would go to the fabric store, but she also TEXTED me the photos of the combo before she bought it!  GO SEE HER!  The clutch is SO well-made!

Fourth up:  So yesterday I was at Target picking up my last minute toiletries and had to visit the dollar spot (because who goes to target and doesn’t look at those bins???).  I ended up picking up  a 2-pack of  cute pens instead of my standard bic pens.  I was so excited when I opened them and realized they came apart.  So i printed off my logo and voila! Custom branding!

Fifth Up (Is that even a “thing”?): Some cute tags for my roomie gifts….hopefully they like what I did with them!

I can’t wait to show you the rest of the items I bought – but some are gifts for my roomies…so you’ll just have to wait until after Snap!

Only 2 more days!  Eeeee!

SNAP!

Snap! There really should be a song about the conference…or maybe an honorary dance…or something else equally special!   If you haven’t heard of the conference, it’s a conference for creative bloggers. A chance to meet and learn from some of the best bloggers “out there”.  Everything from blogging basics to advanced SEO to taking pictures to learning the lastest technique for creating amazing upcycled furniture and more!

I’ve been planning (and hoping) to go to this conference for a LONG time.   When first heard about the conference last year, I thought to myself:  ”How awesome would it be if I got to go some time?!?”  So when tickets were about to go on sale last fall, I realized that it was in my budget…and I had just ONE hurdle to master:  I had to convince my husband that it was 1) needed, 2) deserved, and 3) he could handle the kids for the few days I was gone!

Imagine how shocked I was when he agreed.  I literally booked it before he could change his mind!  And now I’ve literally been thinking about it on and off since I was one of the first 50 people to reserve my ticket!

I can’t wait to share with you some of my preparations as I get ready to go!

Wish me luck! I’m nervous, excited, and thrilled to be going!  I can’t wait to make new friends, meet some of my blogging friends in person, and learn a lot!

Happy Planning!

Donna

You can download the banner for free by clicking on the link below:

SwishPrintables-SpringBanner

Or if you’re interested in the entire set (shown below), you can purchase in my shop.

Happy Spring!

Love,

Donna

The printables are now available in my shop.  The set includes:

Happy Spring banner with 3 bunny dividers
2 inch rounds (great for cupcake toppers or present tags)
4 blank food labels (available for customization – just ask)
2 4×6 bunny cards (great for a cute frame or just hanging on your fridge!)
6 cupcake wraps
5 bottle labels (water bottles, juice boxes, juice glasses, and more)

Happy Spring!

Donna