Inside Innovation with Cambria

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Happy Thursday friends! I’m so excited to share all about the experience of the Inside Innovation Summit with Cambria. If you follow us on Instagram, you were probably on video overload from me a couple weeks ago. Haha! I couldn’t help it though. Everything was so fabulous, I had to share all the moments.

Let’s rewind to the beginning. A few months ago we got an invite from Cambria to be a part of a exclusive blogger summit they planned to put on in the fall with a small group of bloggers. Of course I jumped at the chance! It was a three day summit, and we were going non-stop.

Cambria kicked off the summit with a welcome reception at the Cambria gallery at the IMS building, followed by an amazing meal at Bar Lurcat. It was SO fabulous. We honestly don’t fine dine that often so it was a beyond great experience. I was definitely missing out on the wine though, haha.

On day two we started early, having breakfast and touring Wit & Delight’s studio in NE Minneapolis (pictured below).

Wit & Delight is a home blogger I have admired for a very long time. So it was super cool to not only get to meet Kate, but see her new studio that she’s worked so hard for, and see that dreams really do come true!

After hanging at Wit & Delight’s studio, we got to tour the Dream Home from the Home Tours this past year in Edina. This home was an absoloutely gorgeous two million dollar home. Wowzas! It was truly inspiring to hear first hand from the builder all the work that went into the project, and to learn more about what it takes to create a home on that level.

After a morning full of design inspiration we headed down south to the Cambria factory to get a full tour of the plant.

It was really neat to see every single step that goes into making a quartz countertop, plus we actually got to see one being made. The most fascinating thing about the tour was all the hands and eyes that check over every single countertop that goes out the door, and that they can turn them around in ten days.

It’s actually insane to me. We’re working on a kitchen remodel right now where we are using Cambria for the countertops and we almost had to have them recut a piece, but Jamie figured out how to make it work with the cabinetry to fit the slab. Thinking about that, that exact small piece would have had to go through the entire process and in 10 days, it was just so cool to see how they can power them out so fast, yet have so much attention to detail on every single slab.

After the tour we headed back to Minneapolis for a delicious dinner downtown at yet another fabulous restaurant.

On the last day of the summit we spent the morning having breakfast at the Cambria gallery downtown followed by a design inspiration course at LAB MPLS.

I have been dying to go to LAB. I follow them on Instagram for inspiration and they are so dang inspiring. LAB is a place in Minneapolis to create, connect, and collaborate. They hold a wide variety of creative workshops from cocktails, florals, photoshops, to design. It’s a pretty cool concept.

We put together mood boards from a variety of different retailers. Some of which were Mercury Mosaics, The Foundry, cb2, and so many more cool Minneapolis boutiques and retailers.

After we put our favorite mood board together, we had to present to the group what the inspiration was for, how we used innovative design trends, and what inspires our creativity. It was so cool to hear from everyone on what sparks their interest, and what is trending for them in their designs and remodels.

After three days of hearing about innovative design trends, plus actually doing projects to think creatively, I was and still am on inspo overload. One of the big questions we got asked at the end of all of this was what do we surround ourselves with that inspires us? I loved that question and something that has continually been on my mind since I left the summit. I think it is so important to remember what inspires us and makes us feel good, and to do and be around these people on a daily basis. If there is something in our lives that really just sucks our creativity out of us, why are we doing it? And that’s something I’ve been thinking about and making adjustments in my daily life since.

I am so thankful to Cambria for an phenomenal three days! I had the VERY best time and wish I could do something like this at least once a month to get a little refresh and spark. It was exactly what I needed coming out of my 1st trimester, where all I have been doing is wanting to sleep. It feels good to get my energy flowing again and hang out with seriously some of the most fabulous girls around the U.S.

Thank you Cambria! We seriously love you guys. Another huge thank you to Alyssa for capturing all the moments for us. Photo Credit: Lissadee

Check out more information about these fabulous ladies I got the opportunity to hang with below.

 

Jacquelyn Clark | Lark & Linen

Jacquelyn Clark is the founder of Lark & Linen, an interior design blog. She has dedicated her life thus far to cultivating her passions. Interior designer by day, lifestyle and design blogger by night, she’d happily sit and hat everything from load-bearing walls to tablescapes for days. When she isn’t strapped to her computer or clunking around in her work boots on site, you’ll likely find her sipping a cup of hot tea in her pj’s for long as physically possible. Lark & Linen has been featured in Style at Home, Domino, Style Me Pretty Living, Cupcakes and Cashmere, Rue, and Glamour.

Kate Arends | Wit & Delight

Kate Arends in a St. Paul- based creative and marketing consultant with extensive experience in the design industry. Kate founded Wit & Delight, a lifestyle website and branding studio. Since it’s inception, Wit & Delight has become an established brand in new media, garnering 3.1 million unique followers. She currently has a line of tech products in Target stores nationwide. Wit & Delight has been featured in The New York Times, Design Sponge, Lonny, Martha Stewart Living, Refinery 29, and many more.

Jennifer Jones | I Heart Organizing 

Jennifer Jones is a Midwest blogger from a small town in western Wisconsin and is the creator and voice behind I Heart Organizing. In addition to running her personal blog, Jen is a monthly home contributor for Redbook and has been featured in publications such as Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Ladies Hoe Journal, and Cottages & Bungalows. She has appeared on HGTV, The Nate Berkus Show, and The Better Show and was also named the 2015 Better Homes and Gardens Best DIY Blog of the Year.

Brielle Marie Ferreira | Luxe Interiors + Design 

Brielle M. Ferreira is the Executive Editor of Luxe Interiors + Design, the largest network of architecture and design magazines in the country, where she oversees the publication’s market, shelter news, and lifestyle coverage. She recently retuned to Luxe- where, in 2007. she first honed her eye as a design editor and learned to expound the differences between granite, marble, quartz, and quartzite- after her tenure as Homes Editor at Coastal Living. Ferreira lives in a 1960s concrete- block home in south Florida with giant walls of windows, which she is only a little embarrassed to admit she’s scared of walking by at night.

Sally Finder | Traditional Home Magazine

Sally Finder is a senior editor covering home and garden for Traditional Home magazine. She has been with Meredith Corp for thirteen years, previously working as a home editor atBetter Homes and Gardens, Country Home, and Renovation Style. When she’s not writing, she enjoys running and hiking with her husband and black lab.

Rebecca Pfeiffer | LuvBec

Rebecca Pfeiffer is a part-time interior stylist, kitchen designer, and full-time blogger for home decor and fashion blog, LuvBec. She’s been blogging for about a year, but she has been sharing her passions on Instagram for several years. She’s a wife, mom, runner, and design consultant in the Tampa Bay area.

Jen Pinkston | The Effortless Chic

Jen Pinkston is a wardrobe stylist and the creator of the lifestyle site TheEffortlessChic.com. The site is a destination for readers worldwide and features of-the-moment trends in fashion interior before-and-afters, and never-ending tips for adding style into your everyday. After spending ten years in sunny Los Angeles, Jen recently moved back to her hometown of Austin with her husband and two-year-old daughter. Jen has been a guest on Bethenny (Bethenny Frankel’s TV show), and her styling experience spans from Ellen DeGeneres to Ritz Carlton and everything in between. She is frequently called upon to create content for brands including Coach, Gap, and Anthropologie.

Kate Rumson | The Real Houses of Instagram

Kate Rumson is the founder and owner of The Real Houses of Instagram. This interior design page on Instagram is dedicated to promoting talent and interior design business along with high end real estate. The Instagram account is followed by over one million people and is the fourth largest interior design page in the world. Kate has over ten years of interior design experience while simultaneously working a full-time career. The Real Houses of Instagram has been featured in Design Studio and Dering Hall.

Morgan Molitor | construction2style 

Morgan Molitor is one half of construction2style, a husband and wife home renovation, styling , and blogging team. construction2style specializes in full home residential remodeling, carpentry, and custom-built furniture designs. Morgan and her husband Jamie blog about every detail of their current projects, helping readers replicate the project in their own homes. construction2style has been featured on The Huffington post, Inspire Me Home Decor, Midwest Home, Design and DIY Magazine, Luxe Interiors + Design, Remodelaholic, and more.