it was really cool to visit minneapolis for the first time. i was really impressed by the creative energy of the city and i had such a great time both in class and exploring. (ok ok, i definitely had too many giblets and cheetos with kate at marvel bar, but it was worth it)

local floral and styling company munster rose put together our fabulous florals and an instagram photobooth background as well. we love having fresh flowers on the table to add life to the room.

it may have been blizzard conditions outside, but thanks to the illume boho candles we gave our students it smelled more like an oasis inside orbit studios. i’m loving the amber dunes scent, and i have it on my coffee table right now.

the lovely gals at ship&shape who are minneapolis dwellers sent us over some gorgeous rings and oversized fortune cards. i am totally in love with that shop.

j.r. watkins is actually a minnesota-based company of natural products, and so we thought it would be a great fit for our goodie bags. we gave each student several items, including this hand cream and cleaning products (that i know my office could use!)

we picked these parker pen jotters again but in pink this time.

ship&shape also makes these ceramic necklaces above.

heart cards by egg press say what i think about our blogshop students.

i love seeing those bkr bottles on all the tables. it makes the room so colorful and nice on the eyes.

egg press also makes patterned notebooks. these are some of those things you can never have enough of… there’s always something to write down.

the girls at white peacock events styled up an afternoon snack sweets bar to give our students a much-needed sugar break.

isn’t it fun to be all bundled up with friends? miss ya minne. but not missing the snow as much. happy to be back in warm cali weather!

we were lucky enough to have michelle edgemont on decor again for the second leg of our NYC trip. her florals looked mighty fine nestled amongst the vintage props.

the disco ball was a hit when we were going over some lighting techniques.

we gave each student a parker pen jotter for note-taking.

patina is actually a vintage rental house, so we got to play around with their amazing stuff all day. they had countless props to use for our exercises.

emi jay for splendid hair ties pull back your hair when it’s time to get down to work.

one of the things we learned last week on the how to run a blog outta your car column is that shooting from the waist can make your subject look taller. these new york students got really creative in our shooting practice time.

a million city lights sells these handmade black and white stud earrings in their etsy shop. i think they pair perfectly with a bright sweater.

as you can see, you can bring a nicer camera or just your iphone to this class.

new york, i love ya. in fact, want to be in our next new york blogshop? we’re returning in may!

we always love returning to new york, and we switched it up and taught in brooklyn this time. we were blown away by patina studios, where we hosted the classes this trip. a vintage furniture rental house, you can imagine the awesome props and pieces we got to use while we were there…

also, you can get updates & more photos over on our facebook!

bring on the sherbet-colored bkrs. this is one of my favorite color combinations yet.

i highly recommend these paper back instagram photo books by artifact uprising as reminders of special events or trips.

it’s no secret i have an obsession with pouches, so i thought it was necessary to have these striped guys from splendid to hold some of our goodies.

this clean and modern NYC skyline greeting card by hello lucky is totally frame-able.

i like to keep a lot of tea towels like this one around not only to clean up after dinner but also to use as backgrounds for instagram photos. fog linen makes some with really great simple patterns. the cobalt one is my favorite.

the decor this time around was just stellar. how cool is this photo backdrop installation by michelle edgemont? we had a lot of fun taking pictures in front of it. and those flowers? perfection.

i’m a big fan of delicate rings these days, and these colorful stackable square ones are from by boe.

keeping along the delicate theme and adding my love for hearts we have these bracelets from fresh tangerine (photo by @techlovedesign)

really digging the triangle glitter stickers in this craft kit by inkkit. there were twig pencils and doilies and more tucked away in a glassine bag.

artist jen garrido’s shop jenny pennywood makes small journals that look like watercolor paintings and each student got a pair (they retail at anthropologie along with some of her other work.)

this striped hair tie by emi jay for splendid is actually in my hair right now. you’ll usually find a few of these on my wrist or holding my hair back.

hello lucky also makes these letterpress cards with a illustrated new york scene that we gave to our students.

our first stop this time around was boston. i’m really growing fond of the east coast, and this was such a fun group of students to teach. perfect way to kick off the trip.

how ’bout these bkrs making water bottle snow angels? in miami they floated in the pool, so we thought we were real funny here.

this colorful rain drops print by let’s die friends got us dreaming about april showers and may flowers. i’m sure our friends in boston are ready for spring by now.

illume sent me these patterned matchbooks a while back and i liked them so much we decided to give them to our students. they also sent their mini tins!

those striped paper pens came from the fabulous urbanic shop. (you have to check it out!)

hand-made treasure baskets in bright and cheerful hues can store washi tapes, jewels or toiletries. i have a set of three in my bedroom from my lovely contributor stephanie’s shop baba souk.

i met the girls behind this cool new magazine at my DIY event at anthropologie a couple weeks ago, and was eager to share bunch mag with our class.

i wish i could have these florals around my house at all times. kristyn from boston pollen created some beautiful arrangements for our studio.

quite excited about these instagram books by artifact uprising. each student got a coupon to make their own, and i highly recommend using them as gifts. i made one for my friend jen of all our adventures this past year.

kristyn also made this photo backdrop from embroidery hoops and even cross stitched the blogshop logo! clearly going above and beyond here! she tucked a few blooms in there as well and our students took some great instagram photos here. safe to say boston pollen has the decor sitch handled.

i’ll miss you boston, and i hope to come back soon (preferably when the air is less frigid, but i’d come back in a blizzard, just so you know.)

sign up for a blogshop near you!

march:
LONDON (sold out)

april & may:

VANCOUVER  |  SAN FRAN (email for waitlist!) | SF VIDEO |  PHILLY  |  NEW YORK

just added! CHICAGO |  CHICAGO VIDEO

well, another video class under our belt! this class is so engaging and interactive, and it’s fun to see some blogshop alumni taking it to the next level.

furbish studio has the cutest little mini pinatas. the students made short movies about them.

these paper striped pens from the urbanic shop are a cheery way to take notes and make lists. everytone got creative with their shooting practice time…

clear acrylic rings with a diamond stamp included a gold inkpad, another cool product from plastique.

these petite notebooks were all hand painted with festive dots by the bocket store right here in LA.

are you ready to learn video?

take our video class! we have one in SF and CHICAGO comin up!