Talk about inspiration overload! Tons of creative, ambitious and supercool bloggers and designers gathered together Thursday in the Mecca...the Valhalla...the Holy Land for DIY home decor and entertainment enthusiasts, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, for Alt' Design Summit's inaugural NYC event!

The morning was spent noshing on danishes and fruit, and attempting not to spill coffee all over the gorgeously laid out craft tables that greeted all the bleary-eyed, but totally dressed to kill (and craft) folks wandering in. There were three stations set up, festooned with Martha's finest, and attended by pro lifestyle bloggers such as Paul Lowe of Sweet Paul, Rachel Faucett of Handmade Charlotte and Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day. I only made it through one project, the wooden bead and neon lanyard jewelry, but I was pretty pleased with my bracelet. 

(Psst, learn to make your own natch vs. neon, Martha-approved look here!)

Oh, and this Swatch-styled temp tat? Yeah, it's a Tattly--one of the many brilliant biz ideas from the summit's first speaker, Tina Roth-Eisenberg, aka @SwissMiss, world-famous blogger and founder of Creative Mornings, a free series of inspirational morning talks you should totally check out! Her presentation on "The Importance of Side Projects," included eight rules to live by. These were life lessons she hoped to instill in her children, but she may as well have been talking about the Kollabora mission!

#1. Find what you love, don't stop 'til you find it! You'll know when you do. 

#2. Don't be a complainer, instead make things better. (That's how she created Tattly...she hated the ugly tats her kids would bring home from b-day parties!)

Um...so not ugly!

#3. Trust your intuition. Your gut is always right.

#4. If an opportunity scares you, take it. Being scared means you'll learn and grow. 

#5. Find like-minded people.

#6. Collaborate--only good will come of it! 

#7. Ignore haters. They deserve none of your time. 

#8. Inspire others. Be someone's crazy aunt. 

Words to live by, we think. After an inspiring (and envy-piquing) panel of Martha Stewart Living Magazine peeps, there was more  awesome food (yeah...we kinda ate way too much!) and then another round of panels. One of our fave panelists was Katie Armour of Matchbook Magazine. We've long been fans of her mag, so it was great to hear about how she got her start, and we so heart the concept of the "Matchbook Girl"--a way for the mag to turn the lens outward to celebrate their stylish audience. We want to fill the world with our own "Kollabora Girls"--girls with amazing DIY signature style! 

Hey look! There's some Kollabora Girls now, rocking their style at the rooftop afterparty!

Oh yeah...and it wouldn't be a Martha event without the Grande Dame herself popping in for a quick hello. I don't care if it's not cool to admit this: I love Martha! She's an absolute genius, and totally paved the way for all these wonderful women (and the two dudes) here today, making a living out of making what we love!

Thanks Martha, and Alt', for an amazingly fun and inspiring event! We can't wait 'til the next one!