What happens when nearly 300 paintbrush wielding, nail gun holstering, laptop carrying women (and a few DIY dudes) gather together in one space? An amazing DIY home blogger conference experience called Haven in beautiful Atlanta, GA is the answer! The design and DIY talent was thick in the air, and the creative fervor and energy of these women could be felt throughout the week. Strap on your tool belts and don your safety goggles, I’m about to take you on a photo journey of Haven 2012!
The mistress of ceremonies was the beautiful Rhoda from Southern Hospitality. The idea of Haven was Rhoda’s dream, so she gathered her Haven Mavens (The DIY Dream Team as I call them): Kristen of Stockdale Design, my lovely sister Beth of Home Stories A to Z, Chris of Just a Girl, Kate of Centsational Girl, Kristi of Creative Kristi, Marian of Miss Mustard Seed, Sarah of Thrifty Décor Chick, and Traci of Beneath My Heart. These amazing women worked diligently and sacrificially over the past year to make Haven a reality.
The conference kicked off with the ever entertaining, keynote speakers, John & Sherry from Young House Love.
Oreck and Frog Tape sponsored a fun party in the evening. I was able to finally meet my hilarious friend Jessica of Four Generations One Roof and Sherry of Young House Love. Sherry lives just a 2 hours from me and is just as real, funny, and genuine as she is in her blog.
The evening party also meant I was able to catch up with Rhoda of Southern Hospitality. Rhoda is so very lovely, tall, and sweet as sweet tea! We met for the first time a little over a year ago at Blissdom. She helped me out when I first started blogging, which I will be ever grateful to her for. She is a beautiful, classy woman, inside and out!
The party gave me the chance to visit with my little sister Beth of Home Stories A to Z. We only see each other at holidays so I was glad to get a little bit of time with her. Beth helped lead two sessions such as Décor 101 & I Like Big Blogs.
There was much discussion (and envy) when the beans were spilled about who my roommates would be for Haven! I think the phrases “I want to be in that room!” & “oh that room is trouble!” were thrown around a bit! I had the extreme privilege and pleasure to room with 3 amazingly talented and entertaining women! They were (pic. from L-R) Pamela of PB&J Stories, Vivienne of The V-Spot Blog, Me, and Ann-Marie of White House, Black Shutters. We laughed together, cried together, talked business, family, and life. I couldn’t have asked for better roomies!
Carpentry techniques were taught by the Alaskan DIY diva herself, Ann White! Her hands on course was fun and informative. How many other diy girls do you know who can power a miter saw in 4 inch heels while looking model-fabulous! My roomie, Ann-Marie (on the right) is learning how to use a Kreg Jig to make easy pocket holes.
Many of you already know that I’m a contributor to Infarrantly Creative. I was so excited to meet Beckie of Infarrantly Creative in real life! Beckie helped teach an amazing, standing room only, class All About Advertising along with Sarah of Thrifty Décor Chick, & Julia of Hooked on Houses.
I was able to hang with a few of my fellow contributors from Infarrantly Creative, Jess & Monica from East Coast Creative.
Monica, Jess, and I along with Allison from House of Hepworths (below) collaborated on a project called Blogging to Better Summer Challenge. We were all given a challenge to make something out of a list of items which included pallet wood. Click here to see the surfboard pallet art I made along with all the other team projects.
Besides all the great sessions we had were able to visit with all the wonderful Haven sponsors. The sponsors included: Home Depot, Minwax, Rust-oleum, HGTV Home, Shaw Floors, Columbia Forest Products, Pure Bond, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Ryobi, Moen, Oreck, Frog Tape, 3M Tekk Products, 3M Bondo, Kreg Jig, Purdy, Royal Design Studios, Mirror Mate, Homes.com, Fish Foam, Cutter, and Mail Chimp.
THANK YOU HAVEN SPONSORS!
Our swag bag was stuffed with home improvement goodies!
A few highlights of the conference was the chance to win all the tools from the Ana White carpentry session! I won an awesome cordless drill and charger from Ryobi! Thank you Ryobi! My husband was stoked to see me bring this home. Sorry darlin’ but this one is MINE!
I think my favorite moment though was winning this incredible chalk paint and wax gift basket from Annie Sloan. It features their new color Florence! I swear the whole conference heard my “Whoooo-Hoooo!” screams when I won! I can’t wait to try out ASCP
Bringing all these items home in my suitcase was quite a strategic packing feat! I knew my bag would catch the eye of the TSA and Homeland Security because of the contents and sure enough, look what I found inside my suitcase when I got home! From what I’ve heard so far, many of the Haven Maven’s bags were searched. I would have loved to see the faces of the TSA agents finding suitcase after suitcase filled with power tools and paint next to bras and high heels.
Gathering together with women who are like minded and have a passion for creativity and blogging is such a special experience. When you are surrounded by people who simply and truly “get you”, your cup starts to fill to overflowing. The friendships we have formed with each other over years through the internet come to fruition at a conference like Haven. I gleaned knowledge and wisdom from the big bloggers, and met brand new bloggers who were just starting out, and some non-bloggers who were there to learn about DIY and decorating.
No matter your blog size, you felt welcome and left inspired at Haven. I’m looking forward to Haven 2013!
Kim
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Thank you for posting this! Yours is the first Haven report I have come across so far – and believe me, I have been on the look-out! I know everyone must be exhausted – but it looked like so much fun! Had to lol about the TSA, btw! Love your blog!
Elaine
Thank you Elaine! Yes, I’m totally exhausted, but it’s a good exhaustion. Haven was a wonderful experience filled with the most amazingly talented people!
Kim, this is such a great recap. What a wonderful conference it was! 🙂
Thanks Karah! It was wonderful!
What a fantastic recap, Kim! You did a much better job of taking photos than I did. :s It was so nice to meet you. Thank you for going to Subway with me that first afternoon and putting me at ease. 🙂 I hope we can have a VA bloggers get together sometime!
Putting you at ease?! You are such an easy-going, relaxed, and delightful person Amanda, that you put ME at ease! I was really looking forward to meeting you so I was thrilled I had a chance to do lunch and spend good time together! You are just the best and I’m proud to call you my friend. 😉
Fantastic recap and photos! This was my first big conference experience, and it’s going to be tough to top. I was wondering about TSA and the swag, love the thought of all those power tools and heels. As for Haven 2013, I’m already packing my bags!
I’m just glad they didn’t take anything! I was giving myself a high five when my bag only weighed 43lbs! But I was bummed because I left a lot of swag behind in the hotel room. I’ll be planning better for next year! It was so nice to meet you and I’m glad you loved Haven as much as I did!
I had no idea that you and Beth were sisters! I wish we would have had a chance to meet and talk. We came back from the conference so fired up and energized to tackle some pending projects.
Yep, she’s my little sis! There were so many people I didn’t get a chance to meet either. I felt silly too because I think I introduced myself to several people a few times, not realizing it. Oh well! It was a great conference. Next year we’ll have to make sure to meet each other!
So glad to see you again girl! Glad you had a good time & can’t wait to do it again!
-Kristi
(Creative Kristi)
It was so good to see you again too Kristi. I’m glad you felt better (we were so worried!). People were raving about your class!
Loved your recap, Kim! It was so nice meeting you. Can’t wait until next year!
-Erin @ DIY On the Cheap
Thank you Erin! It was so nice to meet you too! I couldn’t get over how tiny and drop dead beautiful you were with a personality and talent to match! I look forward to seeing you next year!
What a great recap! So great to meet you!! Love the idea of TSA’s finding high heels and power tools! So funny!
It was so nice to meet and spend time with you too Renee! You are one of the sweetest bloggers I’ve ever met!
Such great pics! LOVED all the time we spent together at Haven, you made the experience that much more perfect for me!
TONS of LOVE XOXO
Pamela
Awww, you’re going to make me cry Pam! You are such a beautiful, talented woman and so much fun to be with! I enjoyed our time together & look forward to going out to lunch soon!
It was great so to meet you! Your recap is awesome, you won some great stuff!
Have a great week,
Debbie
It was so nice to meet you too Debbie! You have done so much to help promote other bloggers, it was a fun privilege to spend time at sessions together!
Glad you had such a great time! We LOVE our ryobi power drill. 🙂
Thanks Chris! I’m ready to give it a try!
Love your recap! So incredibly happy I was able to meet you and chat! Lol… I too can only imagine what TSA was thinking; although, I’m sure they have seen far worse! lol.
Oh yes, I’m sure they have! LOl. It was great meeting you too!
Good grief this post must have taken you forever!!! It is “wicked” hehe, awesome 🙂 Yes, I had to add a little bean town flare. What a great recap post! I enjoyed reading through and seeing all your great pictures. Nicely done!
Thank you Jessica! I was so happy to finally meet you and spend a ton of time together. You are hilarious! Love you to pieces!
Haven was an incredible event…so great to meet many wonderful people such as you….Great summary of the event!
Aww, Thank you Shirley! I appreciate that. It was a special time indeed. 😉
I couldn’t wait to hear more… this was a wonderful review. Thank-you!!
Donna
Thank you Donna! It was just so nice to see and be with bloggy-friends once again.
I had THE best time with my fabulous roommates! I bet TSA was busy for sure. They probably had to put down their stolen yo-yo’s and search lots of bags… 🙂 xoxo
Haha, mean ol nasty TSA. Boo, that they took your items! You were a wonderful roomie and I’m so glad we had such quality time together!
Thanks Kim, I am so happy to read your summary and to see that you posted a “Haven 2013”. Timing wasn’t good for me this year but keeping my fingers crossed for next!
Huggs, Nancy
Thank you!! It was a blast and a great time to connect with like minds. Get on the Haven email list (on the haven conference.com site) for next year! 😉
I’m sad I didn’t get to meet you at Haven! I’ve been following you for a few months now & love your blog! Glad you had a great time! <3 Heidi Rew from Parties for Pennies
Oh Heidi don’t be sad! There were a ton of women I didn’t get a chance to meet! I even missed one of my friends! Plan for next year! Thanks for following along. I appreciate it!
Kim, Jacque and I were so glad to get to meet you! Your recap is great and thanks for the shout out (DIY Dudes!) We’re really looking forward to keeping up with your future projects!
LOL! It was great to meet you both! I can’t wait to follow along with your blog! Thanks for stopping by!
That sounds like an amazing way to spend a few days! I love that blog conferences are expanding to all the niches out there, a great way to meet people who are into the same things.
It was a fabulous time!
Love ALL the pics!! I laughed so hard when I saw on Instagram that they searched your bag! Hilarious!
I was totally expecting it. I mean I live in a city that hosts the largest naval base in the world! I’m just glad they didn’t take anything. This girl was dying for some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!!! Thanks Kim!
Great pix and loved your summary of this fantastic conference!
Thank you Debra! I saw you across the room, next time we’ll have to chat some! I agree, it was a great conference!
Great recap, Kim! It was so great to see you at Haven! I am glad you had a great time. Your roomies were fabulous! I hope to get to see you again soon.
Traci
Thank you Traci! It was a delight to see you again also. Thanks for all your hard work on the the conference!
Hey, Kim, what a great recap of Haven! Girl,you’re so cute & fun and I wish I had had time to hang out with many groups of all of you. Thanks for helping us get those big lanterns hung up. Maybe next year, I’ll not be in so many classes. I am loving reading all the stories of Haven, it truly was a dream come true for all of us. Still basking in the glory of it all!
Thank you Rhoda! You seriously did an amazing job. I can’t even imagine the hours you put into making this happen. When I hear people express how special the conference was to them, with tears in their eyes, because they finally met like-minded friends, then you KNOW how successful the event was. Kudos girlfriend! Kudos!
I wish I had met you. I drove to the hotel to meet some of the girls for dinner. Next year I will attend the conference.
Aww, I’m bummed I missed you! Next time for sure!
It was so nice to meet you at Haven, Kim! Even though we just chatted for a few minutes, you are a very sweet and lovely lady! So glad to have met you.
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
Thank you Becky! It was great meeting you too!
So glad I stopped by your table when I arrived at Haven, You were so sweet. I enjoyed meeting you. Wish we had a little longer to get to know everyone! I am following you on Facebook so I hope to get to know you better! Take care!
It was so nice to meet you too Deneen and spend a little time together! Thanks for the follow also!
Kim-it was so great to finally meet you at Haven! You are just as lovely as Beth described you and we simply must get together more frequently since you’re in the Hampton Roads area!!! Glad you had a good time at Haven, I really hope there is a Haven 2013 so we can go back. Miss all the energy from the event!