Good food, fabulous company, inspiring keynote speakers, tons of swag, Martha Stewart, new friends and sight seeing! Here's my

Alt NYC recap and special offer!

When I decided to go to Alt NYC months ago, I knew no one, and I was venturing out into the big city on my own.  Who knew that months later, I would have connected with such fabulous women ahead of time, enjoyed the company of a great friend, and had such an amazing 4 days at the Summit and in the City!!

I captured most of it with my handy iPhone!

First, the City!

My girlfriend and I enjoyed "sight-seeing" from various benches within Madison Square Park.  From sunbathers to a Spiderman movie being filmed, there was lots to take-in. Walks around Greenwich Village and Soho left us with design ideas and lots of photos to go through when we got home.

John Lennon's memorial in Central Park at Strawberry fields was beautiful {but very busy}.  I couldn't resist picking up a photo of this mosaic for one of the biggest Beatles fan I know.

If you've never been to New York City before, I urge you to visit. This was my 3rd trip and every trip has been a completely different experience for me.

Now onto our sponsor dinner with Bing at Sunday Supers!

One of the first people I met online when I registered for ALt NYC was Jen from Bloomies Handmade. There was no better way to bond than to take a train into Brooklyn for our dinner at Sunday Supers!  We bought the wrong tickets, took the train in the opposite direction to where we need to go, walked about 20 blocks in Brooklyn feeling very out of place, but ... we still made it to Sunday Supers for our sponsor dinner with smiles on our faces!

Once we found the un-marked door, walked up the concrete stairs of this discreet building and into this beautiful space, we were greeted by cocktails, smiles and the promise of a fabulous evening!

Bing did a great job of welcoming us to the Altitude Summit!

How gorgy are these floral arrangements?!!!

I had to sneak in another photo that I posted on Instagram of my place setting.  I want my dining room table to look like this always!

Time for the main event!

Walking into Martha Stewart's Omnimedia Building was so exciting as I anticipated what the day had in store for the 300+ people who would gather to share ideas, connect, and inspire.

The morning started off with a cup of coffe and crafts while mingling.

I enjoyed connecting with Tina from life in sketch, sharing ideas with Leonora of Yellow Heart Art and Angela of Bella & Beya as we knotted and embellished our friendship bracelets {which now hangs proudly on my daughter's wrist}.

I managed to scoop a few front row seats for the speaking portion of the day and am very happy that I did.  The ever inspiring Grace Bonney of Design Sponge spoke to us about adapting to change in our market, with technology and to meet the needs of our readers and industry.  Lots of great food for thought.

Then there was a surprise visit by our lovely host Martha Stewart who shared news with us about her new kid's craft book, and new layout of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

On the morning panel were fabulous speakers who shared their experience of how they built their businesses, the problems they faced and how they overcame it all!

Of course, there was more mingling and meeting new friends as we enjoyed a lunch break mid-day.

I couldn't help but have fun with new friends like Kim of  Design+Life+Kids and enjoy more swag from great sponsors like MailChimp!

When we got back to our seats, we each had a copy of the newest Martha Stewart Living Magazine and Martha Stewart's book!  I was wondering how I was going to get all of this into my carry-on!!

Then one of the highlights of the event for me, was listening to this beautiful, creative, funny and inspiring women Garance Dore.  With her beautiful French accent, she inspired us all to design and form our brand, and to push ourselves to be better! This hour long talk, inspired me to focus more time and energy on my art! Hence the 30 Day SketchBook Challenge that I am starting on July 1st!

What better way to end such an amazing event, but with decadent desserts ...

... and cocktails with new friends rooftop on the west side of Manhattan! Thanks Alt, I'll see you again next year in NYC!

To celebrate this amazing event, I want to share with you all a special promo code to use in life i design's art shop!

Enjoy 25% off your entire order in the shop!

Simply enter code

25OFF 

when you check-out!

This promo will expire on July 15th!

Happy Shopping!

Will you be joining me on the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge?! 

Read more about it here.

Nicki

xo