It’s finally ready, the last Creative Estates recap post that you’ll see from me.  If you missed it earlier, I did a sneak peek here and an outfit post + advice here.  As you know, I am a picture queen, I bring my DSLR camera with me everywhere and anywhere and take pics like it’s my J-O-B (I wish!) haha.  I took over 400 pictures from the weekend, spent some time doing some minor editing in Lightroom and am ready to share the rest.  I had to consolidate a bunch into collage form so that this post wouldn’t take 10 minutes to scroll through, you can thank me later.  So without further ado, in true Sandy style commentary… here we go!

You know you’ve entered a warm state when you see palm trees.  I wish I could bring these back with me to Missouri.

On Thursday evening, it was the Cupcakes and Cocktails event.  Bloggers like to eat… and drink.

The venue was the Inspirador in downtown Chandler, AZ.  These frames were awesome, I need something like this in my house.

There were tons of speakers and workshops that were riveting, inspiring and encouraging.  And really, the take home was that we are all alike, we all face the same struggles.

There was a lot of silliness going on this weekend, Aisle to Aloha really brought it out in me.

And the Handmade Market?  Words can’t even describe how amazing it was.  Not to mention, I made a purchase or two or three or more… Featured here are Olive Blue, Vintage Rose Wraps, Rock-A-Bow, Flawed Perfection Jewelry, Much Love Illy, Tara Dara, Oh, Sweet Joy!, Amy Cornwell and Whippycake.

Again, more silliness from Aisle to Aloha, Josiah’s Nest, Oh, Sweet Joy and Much Love, Illy.

And lots of colorful outfits and fun shoes, can you guess who is who?

It was a chance for bloggers to take outfit pics for fellow bloggers (instead of having to beg our husband’s or use a tripod).  It was tres fun.

And we even met up with for a fabulous Mexican dinner with some local AZ bloggers, Tea Talk and Letters From Coco.  They are both so sweet!!

I really enjoyed talking to and learning from Funky Vintage Lovely and Whippycake, like really really enjoyed it.

Here’s some Whippycake headband love, which we’re turning into a fun project, more on that later!  😉

And finally meeting many of the ladies I have talked to online or met through blogging.  🙂  Whippycake, Brassy Apple, SheyB, Apearantly Sew, Be Healthy, Well and Inspired, ChicGeek Designs, Ordy and Joon, Food, Wine and Mod Podge, Craftee Mcgee, Freckles Crafts and Funky Vintage Lovely!

This weekend confirmed my love for blogging and handmade even more.  Are you in love?

Finally, we come full circle again, with stuffing our faces with delicious cupcakes.  Like I said, bloggers eat well.  And, Much Love, Illy was the only person I had actually met in real life before the conference, so it was great to see her again and grow our friendship. 🙂

If you missed out this year, then don’t forget to mark your calendars for next year… the 2012 Creative Estates conference will take place in Salt Lake City, UT from April 19-22, 2012!