What Went Down at Alt

Okay, so I’m back from Alt and am here to give you the scoop on exactly what went down. I’ll spare you some of the details, but in short, it was awesome. I met a handful of girls (and guys) I’ve been wanting to hug in person for ages, chatted with a lot of people I admire, and became official BFFs with a few very lovely ladies I already (kind of) knew.

This year was totally different than last year, for me at least, which was a very good thing. Last year, I was pretty much nervous the entire time – I didn’t know what to expect or who I might meet…Or if anyone would think my shoes were cute. This year was totally laid back and easy. And fun! The best parts of Alt for me happened after the panels and parties were over- late night lounge meet ups, ‘get real’ conversations where we laid it all on the line, and more than one delicious dinner away from the hotel.

P.S. I have a little video version of today’s post right here on Vine. Have you installed this App yet? It’s pretty awesome! You can follow me at Brittni Mehlhoff if you want to see more behind the scenes videos from yours truly.

Okay so back to Alt (in no particular order)…Stefan Sagmeister is THE man! He was the keynote on Friday and was (by far) my favorite speaker. He showed a clip from his upcoming documentary, The Happy Film, and I cannot wait to see it in full. You are going to want to see it too…unless you don’t like smiling.

Other highlights? Well, Tanya from MSN gave me this Instax mini and I basically freaked out because I had, literally, been talking the night before with friends about how I wanted one. It was pretty cool. Needless to say, there were hugs.

My buds Lexy and Melissa put together an awesome event before Alt called The Hello Social. It was really fun! There was a photo booth (above), a hot chocolate bar, goodies bags, and a whole slew of well dressed ladies. Congrats to L and M for pulling this party off. It was great.

Left to right. me // Ashley Rose of Sugar and Cloth // Kelly Lanza of Studio DIY (at the Hello Social)

This ‘hello’ tote from Whimsy Bags makes me smile (from the Hello Social) and helped me carry a whole lot of Alt goodies home.

My photo booth backdrop and party props were a hit in the #BingItToLife lounge on Thursday and Friday. The guys from Smilebooth, who took the photos, are awesome too by the way. In case you didn’t already know that. 

If I didn’t look completely awkward in every photo I’ve ever taken (it’s okay, I’ve come to terms with it), I would post more than two of these photos. There are more photos here and here on Smilebooth if you want to see more from all the attendees at Alt.

clockwise from top left. Rachel Kashon // Chelsea Costa // Ryan Foy // Alexandra Hedin // me // Kelly Lanza

I made a statement necklace in Ashley’s Kollabora workshop. Ashley made the one on the left, mine is on the right – and less awesome than hers. You can make your own too – full tutorial on Sugar and Cloth. *Kollabora is so awesome…they let us take home a ton of supplies when the class ended. Thank you Kollabora!

And more goodies… I was gifted this awesome ‘hello’ sign from Holly at the Hello Social. Cant wait to prop it up on my desk. Gosh there were a lot of goodies at Alt this year. But more so than that, there were amazing, down to earth people, who I can’t wait to see again.

If you missed Alt Summit this year, there are some great info online from a couple of the panels and some recap posts. Here are a few links of note…

1. An Alt Summit hangover from Lexy of The Proper Pinwheel
2. How to craft for a living from Victoria of A Subtle Revelry
3. Lessons learned at Alt from Chelsea of Lovely Indeed
4. Alt Summit review from Jasmine Star
5. Alt Summit eye candy from Allessia of Little Lessy
6. 10 things learned at Alt from Whitney of The Curtis Casa
7. Alt Summit snapshots from Camille of Camille Styles
8. Inspiration and advice from Alt from PJ of Bunny & Dolly
9. Alt recap from Brittany of the House that Lars Built
10. Jenny’s take on Alt from Jenny of Hank & Hunt

That’s all for now. Business card roundups to follow…at some point.

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All photos by Brittni Mehlhoff for Paper & Stitch, except Smilebooth photo booth pictures.