Last Day at CHA

What a fun two days at CHA! 

So much inspiration, new product, learning, crafting, meeting folks, and just plain happiness!

Here are some photos ...

(Day 1 photos include celebrity sightings with Heidi Swapp and Tim Holtz)

 Entrance to the show. Die Cuts With a View on the left. They got rid of their 12x12 paper packs for $7 during the last hour of the show. I showed remarkable restraint and didn't add any to my collection.

Never too old to play dress-up! Graphic 45 encouraged folks to step into their photo booth and pose away. They did a great job dressing for their product lines each day. Kimonos, Victorian, and Halloween were the three themes. 

 Mini albums with thick bindings for lots of bulky embellishments, like the cookie cutter and spool of thread here.

Fun banner class by Petersen-Arne ... every step we were opening a new product! Martha Stewart border punch, scissors, adhesive, foam tape, ink, brushes, pearls, gems, crystals, lots of good stuff!!

 

Even without looking at any new products, it was neat just to look at the booth displays. Loving the garland, paper sheet light fixture, bird cage, and gallery of framed patterned paper (going off the right edge of this photo)

 12x12 banner made with We R Memory Keepers Lucky 8 punch. Easy to use, but not so sure about storing these ... they're enormous! They are introducing a punch for 6x6 paper that's much smaller.

Rolled paper dress at The Next Iron Crafter stage, where contestants had 10 minutes to create a masterpiece with a surprise set of supplies.

Cute dress form at Heidi Swapp's booth, with samples of her new Color Shine Iridescent Sprays to the left in black frames.

The peach spray, on her color resist paper (so fun to play with ... we did some cool ombre samples with Heidi. used lots of spray, let it sit, blotted, and buffed. very intense color!)

 DoodleBug color lab ... they all had lab coats!

Me snapping away.

Studio Calico funky flowers on display.

More of the Studio Calico display ... tissue paper rosettes in an apothecary jar. Love things en masse!

 

Crate Paper booth with a fun rosette of their 12x12 paper.

Amy Tangerine's booth with a masked sentiment globe that I've been seeing on Pinterest

... and some good old fashioned string art!

Framed galleries are popular, like this one from Pebbles with some printables mixed in.

I must have been under a rock because I had not heard of Dyan Reaveley. She is a Senior Designer for Tim Holtz and just short of amazing. She has a 3-4" thick vintage ledger book that she has turned into a jaw-dropping collection of altered art. After flipping through 40 or so pages my head hurt, it was so overwhelmed with trying to absorb the details. And listening to her colorful musings in her British accent is a hoot.

Here she is (the red-head in the skull scarf) with Tim Holtz next to her. Even more amazing is the lightening speed that she produces these masterpieces. She's releasing some fun stencils, stamps and journals for Fall.

More DCWV, see the purple skeleton at the head of the table waiting for dinner?

I wasn't thinking. Totally should have had Elizabeth Kartchner sign her new book (that I got from the Northridge Publishing booth ... thanks!) And could have asked Heidi Swapp to do the same (again, thanks Northridge!)

Bella Blvd made these super-cute Hershey's Kiss flags. How fun would these be for a party?!? And easy! Get a pearl pin, wrap a themed paper (or one with a custom message like "Happy 30th!") and stick it in the chocolate. Have them all on a tiered cake stand, or unwraped on top of other treats.

Can't wait to get a hold of my Silhouette and start cutting fabric, like this adorable elephant mobile!

What's not to love?

Quick side trip to the Jewelry and Fashion Show across the hall. $1 costume jewelry to $400 rhinestone cowboy boots that my friend Helen deeply coveted. OK, back to CHA!

I got to make a canvas banner with my favorite Creating Keepsakes designer Mou Saha. She's so sweet and humble. I haven't played with the Faber Castell gelatos before so that was neat too. It's like lipstick that you rub on your medium and then blend it in with a water pen.

Melissa Francis had adorable creations all over ... like these sweet scenes under glass.

Modern and vintage at the same time. Love it!

More Studio Calico inspiration (there was so much of it!!) in shadow box frames.

Lovely pop-up cards.

Me and my tired body leaving the show.

Also note that today I have a sweater on. After 25 years of going to events at the Rosement Convention Center, I should have known that it's about as cold as the Arctic Circle during the summer. I always think of how much money they could save in that enormous space, and how many people would be so much more comfortable, if they would just take it easy on the air conditioning.

Anyway, thanks for taking a look ... I'm so ready to sit and play!

PS. I'm so excited about the Spectrum Noir alcohol markers that we got to play with at a class. They come in packs of 6 and retail for $12. Each pack is a color family (like reds) and there are 12 color families in the basic set. What got me is the price ... at only $2 per marker, they are much cheaper than their competitor. I am so glad I held out for so long, now I finally have blending alcohol markers at a reasonable price. I've since read reviews that they might not blend as well as the Copics, and that the rigid nib is not as good to work with as Copic's brush. But for what I'm needing them for I think it will be OK. If anyone has any experience with these let me know your thoughts. I think part of it is having the right paper so it doesn't bleed.