I had an amazing time in LA. What can I say? Leaving Boston with snow on the ground and going somewhere with palm trees will always work for me! First stop was the Craftcation Conference in Ventura.

That beach was about a block from the hotel. There were teenagers playing volleyball on the sand, people who actually  said “gnarly” completely seriously, all the plants we could never grow here- it really, most definitely, is not Boston. It was great!

The conference was excellent. It is described as “4 days of creative business classes and hands-on craft and food workshops”. It sounded right up my alley and I’d talked to someone who’d gone in 2015 so I was pretty sure it would be a good time. The thing is, when I step out of my house, I never know what I will learn and what will stick with me. What ended up being the best part for me? Socializing with my peers. Just hanging out and talking with other people who have creative lives and businesses. I don’t get enough of that, ever. It is one of the perils of being an introvert and working by myself. I actually met amazing 2 people who live right here in Massachusetts- Funny how I have to go all the way across the country to meet my local peers! Hi Crispina and Jenny! Of course I loved all the other parts too. I made a simple shirt with Sonya, talked about designing a wardrobe with her too, embroidered with Robert, and did block printing with Lisa. I have gotten all excited about the block printing so more on that later! But, here is what I did in class-

Mine is the yellow flowers-

and blue-

These fellows came out with me and got to meet lots of Craftcation attendees.

Okay, that was the first part of my California trip. I will show-and-tell more soon.