Blog Life University Conference Recap

July 26, 2016

Last week I attended the Blog Life University Conference. The conference was held here in Atlanta and attracted bloggers from different parts of the country. Melissa from the blog Serendipity and Spice started the conference two years ago as a food bloggers conference but has transitioned it into conference aimed at bloggers from all blogging niches.

When asked why Melissa started BLU here’s what she had to say…

“I began this journey of Blog Life University as another venue for bloggers and social media influencers to connect, learn, and prosper with each other. Besides writing epic content, the BEST thing to do for your blog is to get out from behind the screen and connect in real life! It’s the relationships that I make when attending conferences that have helped me the most in growing my blog.”

And after attending BLU, I must say that I couldn’t agree with Melissa more.

I’ve attended several larger blog conferences and they all provided a great networking and learning opportunity but there are some things that set BLU apart from the others.

FOUR REASONS TO ATTEND THE BLOG LIFE UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE

The Connections Are Real. Melissa planned BLU to be a boutique blog conference and limits the number of people who attend. Since there were a smaller group of bloggers at the event, it was so easy to mix and mingle and meet other bloggers.
BLU fostered an environment of sharing. All of the speakers were open about sharing the good, the bad and the ugly with us and were transparent with their successes and failures. It was good to hear so many bloggers speak the truth about how much work goes into blogging and what rewards can come from it.
The presentations were educational & relatable. Sometimes conference presentations can be delivered in a way that not everyone benefits. At BLU , all of the information shared is something that any blogger, in any area of blogging could benefit from. I really enjoyed the presentation by Becky Mansfield on Ebooks for Passive Income and Melissa’s presentation on Growing Passive Income from Affiliate Links.
No one was wearing their super woman cape. BLU attracted bloggers at all levels, some just starting their blog and others with very successful blogs. Despite the level of achievement (or not) everyone was friendly and open which created a great atmosphere for building friendships and relationships.

photo via BLU

In addition to all the learning that was going on, there was fun to be had too!

Chateau Elan was a sponsor and treated us to a wine tasting!

photo via BLU

Dixie Crystals was another sponsor and they treated us to sweet treats and gave us the opportunity to make our own sugar scrubs.

They also sponsored a dessert recipe contest and here are all the winners including my friend Marsha (third from the right).

On Thursday evening a group of about 25 of us went to dinner at Pappasito’s. It’s one of my favorite restaurants and they treated the entire group to delicious appetizers.

And we had a fun outing when we took Lisa from Clutter Cafe to Chick-fil-a because she’d never been before.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to attend Blog Life University and I’m already looking forward to next year.

photo via BLU

To learn more about Blog Life University Conference head here. And you can enter to win tickets to the 2017 conference here.

I hope to see you there.

Makeover Madness with Velvet Finishes

May 3, 2016

What do you get when you pair a group of creative bloggers with the Velvet Finishes Paint line?

a Makeover Madness Blog Hop of course!

If you’re coming over from Pursuing Vintage, welcome. Didn’t you just love Kristen’s #makeovermadnessbloghop transformation? I sure did.

If you’re a regular follower of the blog, let me tell you a little about the Makeover Madness Blog Hop. Over the next two days, myself along with 10 other bloggers will be sharing some fantastic furniture and accessory makeovers using paint. Fellow blogger, Kellie Smith of Design Asylum happens to also own a really amazing paint line called Velvet Finishes and she graciously partnered with us and supplied each blogger with paint and products to complete their makeover.

I discovered Velvet Finishes a couple of years ago and painted a small accent table with it. I loved the product and how easy it was to transform my table so for this blog hop, I decided to tackle a couple more small pieces. After looking through the Velvet Finishes colors, I decided on Baroque and Handsome, a beautiful emerald green and a rich cardinal blue.

The first piece I transformed was this pretty umbrella stand that I picked up at an antique store for under $20. I loved the classic lines, the carved spindles on each corner and the brass catch tray. The minute I saw it, I knew it needed a bold color to really make it special.

The first step in painting this piece was to use Velvet Finishes READY to clean and prep the surface. All you have to do is spray READY on, let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe it away. Your surface will be clean and ready for paint. I love this stuff!

Next I applied the paint (no priming needed–a big bonus in my book) using a good quality paint brush. One of the things I like most about Velvet Finishes is how smooth the paint goes on and how the brush strokes just disappear as the paint dries. It really makes painting a breeze.

Here’s my umbrella stand after a couple of coats of paint and the addition of a little brass ring handle I added to one side.

♦♦♦

Next I painted a vintage metal cart that I found at a thrift store a couple of years ago for only $8.00. When I originally purchased the piece, it looked like this …

and then I painted it gold.

Since my current color crush is emerald green and blue, I decided to give the cart another makeover using Velvet Finishes Baroque. The cart turned out so great and I am head-over-heels with the piece now. FYI, it took 2 coats of paint to fully cover the gold.

What a transformation!

{wood casters are original to the cart}

{you can find the tutorial for my DIY ice bucket here}

{black glass handles from hobby lobby}

The last piece I painted was an accessory for the bar cart. I found a wine bottle holder at Goodwill for a couple of bucks and painted it in Handsome which matched my other blue accessories perfectly. You can see the bottle holder on the bottom shelf of the bar cart. It’s a simple piece but in a vibrant color, it has so much more style. I may add these brass corner guards later to UpStyle it even more.

I have one more piece I painted using Velvet Finishes but I’ll save that to share with you another day. Also, I wanted to tell you that as a finish coat on my pieces, I used Velvet Finish PROTECT product. PROTECT is a specially formulated, commercial grade, non-yellowing satin polyacrylic which further seals the paint and gives the finish a bit of a shine. It’s just as easy to apply as the paint and dries quickly.

If you’ve never tried Velvet Finishes before, I highly recommend you give it a try. Their claim to fame is… ‘The NO sand, NO prime, NO chalk, NO wax furniture paint formula that will rock your world’ and I have to tell you the paint lives up to those claims in every way. It’s super easy to use and you’ll end up with a really beautiful finish on any piece you paint. I’m thrilled with my transformations.