Lots of loot! Michaels Craft loot for you!

It was because of you giveaway!  (4 loot prizes from Michaels Crafts)

This loot giveaway is a bit different.  This giveaway is because of you.  A few weeks ago Michaels invited HDS to attend an exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ trip and it was all because of you!  You are the reason we were invited.  Your comments, your viewership, your sharing of HDS!  Thank you.  So we wanted to share some of the loot they gave us with you!  But first,  here is a little behind the scenes of the Michaels trip. Oh wait, you ask why I got to go and not the others that work on HDS?  I don’t know…I guess I drew the short straw.  It was my lucky day

I was flown down to Texas and was thrilled to find cupcakes and a suitcase full of treasures in my hotel room!  I would have liked to share the cupcakes with you.  Promise.

We met for dinner a couple of hours later at the hotel and I got to meet up with some rockstar bloggers!  Amy from Living Locurto and Ashley from Make it and Love It were a couple of them.  We were told about Aleen tacky paste and how she is the true pioneer of crafting!

Wait…did you notice…the bed!?!  White sheets with no kids toys in it?  AND it was made and I didn’t even have to make it!

I was a bit wary of why they were flying us out to the headquarters.  A big corporation with big stuffy people who wanted to tell us how cool they were…oh wait don’t tell them I thought that!  I was proved wrong!  Big time.  Of all the things I was impressed most by, it was the people who ran this company.  Not the ribbon and bows, but the heartbeat behind the company.

The second day they took us to their headquarters.  They showed us the upcoming trends and upcoming line of products.  Here is a sneak peak:

Then we were led into the Michaels ‘craft room.’

Thought: A huge floor of nothing but crafting tables and a hundred men and women crafting away as fast as they could with racks and racks of supplies? Thinking they were all pumping out the latest crafting ideas?

Reality:  This room was filled with 6 women and was the size of a big family room.  That was it!

Conclusion:  These 6 women are super craft stars!  They get the products ready for photo shoots and do the write ups for all the ‘how-to’s’ posted throughout the stores.  These are extremely talented women!

Then we got to go to Jo’s house.  Jo Pearson is the Martha Stewart to Michaels.  She is craft herself.  She not only crafts all day, but she goes home and lives crafts too.  It is her.  She is energy.  Positive energy that screams ‘it needs some glitter.’

Jo had red chairs hanging from her ‘chair-ee tree’, a flower bed made with a head board.  A swing in front of her turquoise trailer because she liked the color and never camps.  The bottom pic is of Amy from Amy Altas (Amy Altas…hello rock star!) and Jen from Hostess with the Mostess (so kind and gentle, not to mention a business power house).

Jo had a giant rooster that sat on her porch.  That is Jen from TaterTots and Jell-O (she is crazy talented and an amazing photographer!)  Jo ‘bling’ed up her toilet and had random heads sitting throughout the house.  See pic below!  (Amy from Living Locurto below).

A banister….a leg banister.  She likes mannequin parts.  The gift cards that were turned into drapes.  This house was fun.  Jo was fun.

We were taken back to the main Michaels store and got to work crafting.  They had 7 stations for us to use the latest crafting supplies.    Oh wait…do you see the photographer?  I swear it was Johnny Depp.  He denied it, but it had to be him!  Amy and Cindy

Hello real talent! Kathy Kromer

So we got to draw with colored pencils that turned into paint.  Do you see the tree with the huge red blob?  Yup, that is mine.  I’ll admit, there is no drawing artist in this body!  I sneaked a pic of Cindy’s (Skip to my Lou) cupcake.  She’s got it in her!  I tried to swap, but the sad tree wasn’t going to cut it!

They spoiled us with all sorts of treasures.  I was so grateful to be a part of that amazing retreat!  Going into it I was hesitant to post anything about Michaels because I wasn’t sure of the company.  Big corporations are just that…BIG… and don’t always notice the everyday world.  I was proved wrong with this company.  I am happy to post this because they DO have a heart and they are real people who listen and want to make their company better  to help us to create better!  Thank you Michaels!

SO lets get on with the:   It was because of you giveaway!

Michaels gave me a lot of loot.  It needs to be shared.  There are 4 loot prizes:

1.  Stencil embellishments (pic #1)

2.  Sticker embellishments (pic #2)

3. Crochet Kit (can’t seem to find that pic)

4.  Mosaic Tile Art Kit (This one you have to live in the area to pick up.  It’s heavy and it will get crushed in the mail.  Pick up is in Layton, Utah) (Pic #3)

How to tell us what you want…

1.  Leave a comment to say I want prize #1 (or #2 or #3 or #4).  We got to know which package to send you when you win:)

2.  Go over to the michales facebook page and tell them thank you much!   (ie. From HDS…thanks for the crafting loot!)  Leave a comment here that you did.

3.  Go send them a love tweet #michaelsstores.  Leave a comment here that you did.

***Oh and here is a big fat disclosure:  Michaels totally paid for this trip.  The entire thing and even gave us cupcakes.  They did not give us/me cash. They did not ask me to post this post.  They said there were no strings attached to attending this ‘behind the scenes’ trip.  BUT…because they spoiled us rotten and gave us a ton of loot I wanted to share with you how kind this corporation was because I wanted to and not because they bribed me too.  That is my disclosure…hope that is compliant with FTC guidelines:)***

Pic #1 Stencil Loot

Pic #2 Sticker Loot

Pic #3 Mosaic Tile Art Loot (this one is for pick up only.  It’s in Layton, Utah)

Kami (no biggie…she is a hoot!  GO over and get on her list.  She will make you smile!), me, Amy, Kari (u-create, the best trend finder out there), Jen, Cindy (skip to my lou seriously she is so gentle and sweet…put her on your list to meet one day!), Kelly from Make Grow Gather ( so sweet and positive),  and Jen. Ashley and Amy who are is MIA in this pic.

Thanks again Michaels! and Taylor from empower for setting this up and running to get me a coke when I had a headache!

Alison

Alison is one of the 3 founders of HowDoesShe.com She is the mama of 4 rockin' kids who love PB and J's. She has one fantastic husband who is the love of her life and loves long walks on the beach!

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