“I just want to be on the adventure of my life.”                                                       Kelly Rae Roberts (at TCC 2011)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I attended the Creative Connection Event in St. Paul, Minnesota, last week, and had the most unbelievably rejuvenating time.  It was a love-fest of crafty, creative women supporting each other,

Look at all of the fun stuff I had to try to fit into my suitcase!

and of course, connecting!  I had so much fun touching base with many of the women that I had met last year such as….. Nicole McConville from Sterling Publishing.  Check out her re-cap and amazing photos here.

I made two new friends the first night, April from Catching Fireflies and Michelle from Allen Designs, who let me tag along on a quick tour of some of the fun shops in St. Paul. They were so sweet that they bought me dinner and didn’t make me feel like a total shmuck for forgetting my wallet at the hotel.

I took a few hands-on classes, but my favorite was with Megan from Princess Lasertron.  We made these super-cute felt ribbons.  In fact, her post about TCC here includes pictures of me and some of the super cool ladies I met there.  Just looking at it makes me wish next year were here already! I was so inspired by all of the keynotes, but especially by the wise words and insight of Holly Becker from Decor8 who was so down-to-earth, likeable, and funny.  She’s the kind of person you wish you could go to coffee with and become BFF’s!

One thing I found myself doing throughout the weekend is jotting down all of the profound, witty, memorable quotes coming from the attendees, speakers, panelists, etc.  Here are some of my favorites…. If they don’t make you want to attend TCC next year, I don’t know what will!

1.  A representative from Sterling Publishing, one of the few males at the conference, (sorry…. didn’t get your name) said in reference to books….. “They are like bright, shiny objects… The physical book is here to stay.”  (Amen, brother!!)

2.  Jo Packham said about TCC, “It’s a place where we go from strangers to BFF’s in three and a half minutes.”  (So true, Jo, so true!)

3.  Christina Ferrare said, “Listen to the voice in your head speaking to you.”  (Lump in the throat moment for me.)

4.  Holly Becker wisely said, “If you’re saying ‘yes’ to something you really love, it’s the right ‘yes’.”

5.  Jo Packham said, “If you haven’t made a friend, made a deal, gotten a new idea…. shame on you!”  (This made me laugh outloud, but I couldn’t agree more.  You have to take advantage of the environment of TCC, otherwise, what’s the point?)

6.  “There really is room for all of us.”  Kelly Rae Roberts (Hearing this gave me a little lift.  It made me feel not so much like a little fish in the ocean.)

7. Karen Walrond from chookoloonks said, “When you realize that your difference is your superpower– it really is magical.”

8.  “Sometimes you just need to get quiet and get simple.”  Leigh Standley from Curly Girl Design. (I’m working on it, Leigh!)

9.  The super-sweet Janine Vangool from a really cool magazine called Uppercase said, “Everyone here is really happy. It’s nice to come to an event where everybody is happy. Being creative makes us happy, but it’s difficult and hard work. But it’s also difficult and hard work to be happy.”

10.  Melody Ross from Brave Girls’ Club said, “Decide what kind of life you want to have, and build your business around that.”  (That rings true to me.  If we go about it the opposite way, we may find that suddenly we don’t have the life we want!)

Okay, here’s the funny stuff…..

11.  I think one of the event coordinators was overwhelmed and overworked when she jokingly said, “If anyone has any drugs…. I’ll take them.”

12.  Princess Lasertron (aka Megan Hunt) said, slightly tongue in cheek, “I’m trying really hard to make my daughter goth, but my mother just wants her to be preppy.” (This cracked me up! Have you seen Megan?  She’s a sweet as apple pie!)

13.  One of the panelists, a successful artist said, “I think people would be surprised at how little I shower.”  (The lack of time to shower became a joke of the day.  Perhaps Jo should solicit sponsorship from a soap or shampoo company next year!!!!!)

Well, I could go on and on.  I had such a great time at TCC, and I hope to bottle up some of the good vibes to get me through until next year.  Thanks Jo for your hard work and hospitality!