Creating a beautiful decorated life, re-cap

11.3.13- 

  Nov. 2nd has been circled on my calendar for a very long time. I've been thinking about it for months, worrying & losing sleep over it too.  Even after all the preparations it came so quick & before I knew it, it was over just as quickly. What an amazing experience & opportunity. Such a wonderful day!  

-The title of the 2 classes I taught at the Women's Conference in Brigham City this past Saturday - 

Packed up the car with lots of visual aids & my assistant for the day, Miss Mace, & headed up to Brigham City Saturday morning. When we arrived at the front desk, Jan greeted us & told me that I was in room 155 because that was the biggest classroom & my class was full.  My heart jumped out of my chest when I heard her say that, WoW!  Then the nerves started to set it, oh.my.goodness!  I hope I have something good to share with all these ladies, something they can be inspired by.  I really was planning on speaking to about 20 ladies at the most each class.  Not a packed classroom & chairs having to be brought in to make room, very exciting! 

-Thanks to everyone who came to my class, it was fun meeting so many of you! -

This was huge for me friends, I used technology!  I'm much more comfortable writing on poster board & taping it up on the board but... I wanted to stretch myself a bit.  Thanks to my husband & daughter for helping me set up a Power Point presentation.  Oh, & I have to give a shout out to my sweet, spunky friend, Rhonna Farrer for her amazing app that I designed all my slides with.
{If you don't have her app for your iphone, get it!  You won't regret it. So many uses with that little thing. Think of it as Photoshop for your phone, so much easier too} 

-I had a nightmare the night before that the Power Point wouldn't work but everything worked beautifully. Such a relief when I saw that slide pop up on the screen for the first time-

Glad I was able to show everyone examples of what I was talking about with pictures.  Made the whole presentation so much easier & made it so I didn't have to bring a Uhaul up with me. 

-Talking about using everyday items in an unexpected way.  LOVE to decorate our home with family pictures & putting them in window panes is one of my favorite ways to show them off- 

 After each class it was such a pleasure to talk to the atendees & hear their feedback. Glad so many enjoyed it & I truly hope everyone was inspired to go home & incorporate a few things they learned during the class.  Wish I would have gotten lots more pics with everyone but here I am with my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Frischnecht 

{I still can't call her by her first name, love her so much!} 

& my Sister in laws, sister in law {that makes us practically related, right?} Nicole.  So fun to have them in my class & see 2 familiar faces looking back at me. 

-So grateful for wonderful connections that bring amazing people into our lives- 

I even met a few long lost relatives, my Aunt's best friend growing up & lots of other amazing women. Such a wonderful event & a great opportunity that I was allowed to be a part of.  Loved the two classes I was able to go to, given by The 6 Sisters & Karen Jones.  They all did a fabulous job. 

 {Karen, I'm on the look out for something leopard. You've inspired me!;)} 

Grateful for my sweet friend, Heather, who asked me to come speak.  It was something that took me out of my comfort zone a bit, challenged & inspired me.  

Thank you friend!! 

So incredibly thankful for my business & the blessings of friends & opportunities it has brought into my life.  

Truly blessed in so many ways.  Now onto the next thing circled on my calendar- 

The {Holiday} Hive Hope it's on your calendars too.  

Nov. 14th 6-8, Nov. 15th 10-3 & Nov. 16th 10-2. 

{M} 

-*Check back tomorrow to see what I did after the event, along with a few of my favorite points I shared during my classes- 

Happy Halloween!

 10.31.13- 

  

Wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family.... Count Pumpcula! He was carved out of my husband's state winning 1,238 lb. pumpkin by our talented friend, Zach.  Seriously, in awe of his creativity & skills.

-See more of his pumpkin carvings {here}-  

-Isn't he awesome? Took 9 hours to carve- 

The before picture... 

Excited to have the Count welcome all the TRiCK or TReaTERS to our home tonight.  

Have you all have a spooky & safe night! 

{M} 

Winner!!

10.28.13- 

  Happy to announce the WiNNER of the 2 tickets for the Women's Conference going on this Saturday that I'll be speaking at.  Thanks to everyone who entered the Giveaway.  I enjoyed reading your comments.  

CONGrATULATIONS..... 

Nettie, who said- 

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Modern Chic, with a hint of trendy thrown in.
Love all of it!

*You WiN!! Now go call up your + one. 

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Don't worry the rest of you, you can still purchase tickets to the event this Saturday on this website http://hcamountaindivision.com/WomanReg/

or purchase tickets at the door Saturday morning.   

Be sure to come say hi!  

{M} 

My kind of spider web

10.23.13-

  Look what you get when you cross a giant embroidery hoop {that I got for a buck at the DI} some ribbon, rick rack, vintage fabric & a glittery rubber spider?  

Oh, just the sweetest spider web ever!  

-Not spooky just sweet!- 

I always love to deck out my porch for All Hallows Eve & it's almost just about ready for the little ghosts & goblins to arrive. All that's left is to turn off the lights & lite all my candles in the pumpkins & place them in glass jars & underneath old cheese graters.  Creates the coolest light & ambiance!  Sharing lots of other sneak peeks at my porch & the inside of our home on Instagram @mquigbee or search #spookylilaclane. I'd love for you to follow along.  

So looking forward to October 31st but at the same time don't want it to arrive to soon because that means all the fun decor goes down the next day. 

{that's just how I am} 

{M} 

*don't forget to enter the GiVEAWAY below. 

A Ticket Giveaway!!

10.21.13- 

EXCiTiNG NeWS!! 

Ok, here it is, the cat's out of the bag as they say. 

I'm speaking at a conference!  Yes, my first real BiG speaking gig is coming up.  I posted this pic weeks ago on Instagram when I was deciding on taking a giant leap out of my comfort zone & accepting an offer to speak on decorating at a Women's Conference on November 2nd.  

-"Stepping out of your comfort zone & doing something you've never done before can be a scary, exciting, thrilling & overwhelming thing. When deciding what to do I kept thinking about my OLW I choose for 2013- DiSCOVER! Time to try new things that present itself & embrace the opportunity. Stay tuned!"- 

I was completely honored & humbled when I was asked to speak. {Me?  Really, you want me to come speak?}  I was so blown away, thrilled, nervous & apprehensive at the same time.  So many questions were floating around in my head.  But in the long run the excitement of taking on something so new, pushing myself a bit  & DiSCOVERiNG something I've never done before  outweighed any uncertainty I had.  

-My class & a little bio about me in the flyer- 

I would LOVE to see a familiar face or two in the audience that day {or met a new face or 2} as I talk about creating a Beautiful Decorated Life .  So, I'm going to GiVEAWAY a pair of tickets to the Women in the year 2013 event on Saturday Nov. 2nd at the USU Brigham City campus. 

{a $30 value, ladies!} 

 It should be a wonderful day!  So many inspiring & great speakers are coming to teach & share wonderful ideas on just about everything, not to mention a tasty lunch will be served too.  You can get all the info. & see the entire schedule of classes for the day on the event's website HERE.  

-Oh, my goodness that's my name on the flyers.  WoW!!-

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All you have to do to win a pair of tickets, one of you & one for your Mom, Sister or BFF.  Is leave a comment describing my decorating style in a word or two. 

{I'm going to tie this into my talk, so I'd really appreciate hearing from you} 
From what you've seen on the blog, or at The Hive & on Instagram, sum up my style in just a few words.  

I will announce the WiNNeR of the 2 tickets on Monday the 28th so you have until Sunday at Midnight to enter.  Hope you are as excited about this as I am, I would love to hang out with a couple of you for the day.  I'm looking forward to hearing from all the other speakers too, should be a fabulous day. 

{M} 

Orange & Black decor

10.16.13- 

  I really love this time of year! 

{have I said that before?} 

Anyway, I do & it's fun decking our halls with all things spooky & black, white & orange. Wanted to show you how I decorated the centerpiece of our home {the kitchen island} this year.  I went for a simple set up with a vintage flair.  

-Got this fabulous vintage pom pom garland at The {Fall} Hive.  When I saw it stanched it up quick, I think it just needed to belong in a Giant Pumpkin Growers home.  So cute, don't you think?  Looks like little pumpkin dangling off a vine- 

I've been looking, collecting & buying black, white & orange bottles for awhile wanting a grou p to put out for Halloween.  

Thanks to my friends, Tausha & Amy for giving me 2 bottles in my collection.  Makes it that more fun to have out to be reminded of sweet friends! 

-Remember me telling you about the creepy, antique pharmacist shop I went to last year along the Oregon Coast. Love the real medicine bottles mixed in with my pop bottle collection-

I saw a quote once in a magazine that said:

"Halloween is about make-believe and creativity.  My collection is a celebration of the same." 

Thought it tied in perfectly with what I was going for here on the island.

This little cutie is up on display on our mantle. It makes me smile every time I walk past it.   A perfect example of make-believe & creativity.  Of coarse she wasn't born with a little witchie hat on, that was added much, much later with a little piece of tape.
 {She is one of my distant relatives all dressed up for    Hallows Eve- so sweet} 

-One of my favorite H&H frames that I've ever made!- 

It also reminds me of one of my favorite segments I've ever done on Studio 5.  I did it last year & talked about transitioning from decorating from Halloween to Thanksgiving & the rest of the fall.  

You can watch it HERE.  

Lots of great inspiring ideas on how to decorate for this time of year.  Hope it gives you some ideas on how to add a bit of make believe into your Halloween decor.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I'd love to hear from you. 

{hint, hint, leave a comment ;)} 

{M}