Last weekend, I was able to go to Haven, which is a DIY blogger conference. I thought about all the things I learned and all the awesome people I got to meet - including KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms (who reads my blog! Squeal!)

But I figured that if you aren't a blogger, you really wouldn't care, and if you are a DIY blogger, you would be as jealous as I have been the last few years when I couldn't go.


So instead, I wanted to share one huge thing that I realized this past weekend. I think that this impacts every single one of you. I realized what my passion is for blogging.

You see, as a new person to the Haven Conference, I was concerned that my roommate and I would be the only new Haven Maven and that we would struggle to meet other people and struggle to make connections with vendors and not feel like we could be creative with all the new tools that I would find. So I just did what I thought anyone else would do--I made a facebook group for the newbies. And then I invited everyone I encountered who said that this was their first time to Haven. And the people came, and I did my best to answer questions that all the newbies had. Some of the questions I already knew the answers to (like appropriate clothes to wear to the classes), some things I already had asked the organizers, and some things I found out.

And you know what...I found out that first night that I was a minor celebrity. All the girls that were in the facebook group recognized me because I had shared my outfits. Suddenly, I had about a half-dozen new friends! Please forgive me if I didn't get everyone.

L-R Me, Sandy from pinktoolgirl.com, Pam from ourlittletinies.blogspot.com, Laura Jo from wildwoodvale.com and Melanie from http://www.lostandfounddecor.com

Kim from http://www.huntandhost.net/ and me

So I learned that I loved to help people, but as the weekend progressed, I realized something else: I'm not an expert blogger, but I love to help people become creative. My roommate Pam was so concerned with building one of the make-and-takes, and I encouraged her to not expect to be perfect, but instead try a new tool and we actually had a blast with it. (its the Homeright heat gun - so fun!)


I realized in the blog to brand class that this is my brand: I want to help people who claim that they are not creative to realize that creativity is not hard. It's a muscle that we need to to exercise.  Be willing to fail. I'm really excited about new tools that I was introduced to at Haven. Like the Ryobi nail gun and the Kreg project kit!



I've touched on this drive to help people being creative a little on my Create with Kids series a while back. Everything I do on this blog is centered around this theme...I just didn't realize it!

My menu plan and recipes allows folks that aren't comfortable with cooking to be creative with food!

My crafts and DIY projects are geared to be simple and quick--most are perfect for beginners.

I want you to be comfortable with creativity.

So, if you want to know what Haven has done for me...it's reaffirmed my resolve to help you be a creative person! I'm going to try to go into more of my thoughts as I continue to process this conference. Come along on this journey with me!