Balzer Designs

CHA: Analysis and Wrap-Up

The internet is abuzz with photos galore from CHA.  Most of the companies have photos of their new products and  their blogs are filled with photos from their booths.  Designers too are featuring photos of their projects that were on display at CHA.  And folks, like me, have posted their photos and ramblings throughout the four day convention.  So, I thought I'd do something a little bit different today.  Let's talk about the CHA experience....

1. The Basic Logistics.

The Anaheim Convention Center, where CHA is held, is right next to Disneyland.  As a consequence, there are a bajillion hotels in the area.  Free shuttle buses run on a loop from the various hotels to the Convention Center all day long.

When you walk into the Convention Center, you have to pick up your badge.  As you might imagine, the lines are exceedingly long the first day.  However, I showed up on day 2 and hardly had to wait.  You must wear your badge at all times.  There are security guards at all the entrances and patrolling the inner perimeter (and outside the hall there are signs saying that photography is not allowed - I only ran into one booth - KI Memories - where that was enforced, though I heard tell that Ellison wasn't allowing photography either).  You also need to wear your badge because the manufacturers like to know who they're dealing with.  And they do treat you differently based on what your badge says.

The entire hall is carpeted, which eases up the aching feet a bit I suppose.  And different "areas" have different colored carpet.  Scrapbooking is red, quilting is green, etc. 

Each company has a booth number and there are large flags with the row numbers, so you can try to find the booth you're looking for if you know the number.

I don't really have any photos of the flags, but I circled the one you can see in the background of this photo.  Basically, you just look up and try to wander in the right direction.  I'll admit that it took me at least two days to figure out how to navigate the show floor.

The show floor is open 9am-5:30pm every day but Wednesday, when it closes at 2pm for tear down.  Those with manufacturer's badges can walk the floor from 7am-7pm.  And many of them have marketing and strategy meetings during the times that they're the only ones allowed on the floor.  Some booths even have special secret meeting rooms built-in.

There are plenty of bathrooms, water fountains, and snack pavilions.  There was even one place where you could get a chair massage for your back or your feet or both.  I wish I had taken a photo, but it seemed like a weird invasion of privacy to photograph people while they were being massaged.

A number of folks mentioned that the show is significantly smaller than previous years.  The number I heard mentioned was about one-third fewer vendors.  That's pretty significant.  Of course, I couldn't tell because it was my first time.

2. The Booths

 

As you might expect, booths ranged from small to ginormous.  Some had a lot of walking around space, lots of furniture, comfy places to sit, huge displays, and serious walls.

Other booths had a more cramped, overstuffed, "Mom & Pop" feeling.  Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos of those booths, because as you may expect, those booths don't tend to attract one.  In fact, I was a bit disappointed in myself.  I totally went for the big and shiny booths and tended to gloss past the little cramped ones. Silly, right?

Due to rampant theft, most booths only have one of any given product.  I talked to several people who mentioned that people will steal a lot of stuff, but not your last one. 

And most of the product is seriously attached to the wall.  You'd really have to pull to get it to come off.  I'm sure people do still make it out with pilfered goods, but it deters a lot of folks as well. 

As a side note, the "give me free stuff" mantra is rampant at CHA.  People are just constantly looking for stuff and it gets tiring, you know?  Which leads me to...

3. Make & Takes

Make & Takes are a genius idea.  You quickly show people how to make something with your product so that they'll want to buy it.  They *make* it and then *take* it.  On the one side, I heard that there were many more Make & Takes this year.  On the other hand, I managed to do a total of two.  You have to wait in line and it feels weird and grabby to me.  I wish that the salespeople would offer them to you after you buy a bunch of stuff.  I don't know.  There's no perfect solution.  I suppose I should have just gotten over my aversion to seeming like a "free stuff" predator, but I couldn't.  They looked fun, though.

I really liked the demos better.  You could wander up in the middle of it and see what was often a complicated technique (as opposed to Make & Takes, which are usually incredibly simplistic) and get jazzed about the product.  Well, if I ever rule the world, I'll do demos and not Make & Takes.

EDITED: Go to the Fancy Pants blog and you can see me at one of the two Make&Takes I did.  How funny!  I'm in the third picture down chatting with Cindy Tobey.

4. You Can't Have It All

I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this.  You can't have it all.  As I've mentioned, I was there to help Kim shop for PortraitBug (which it turns out is meant to be one word, but I think the logo makes that confusing).  I was also offered a press pass from Craft Critique.  And finally, I had some meetings with Sakura of America as a designer.

There is not enough time.

Buying takes such a long time that you really can't see the whole show.  And that makes doing any real reporting impossible.  I definitely missed entire sections of the show and a huge number of booths.  This makes trend watching less accurate.  And I felt guilty the entire time I was networking and doing my designer thing because I was leaving Kim in the lurch.  It's just too hard to wear more than one hat.  I now totally understand it when people say that working at a booth is like not going to the show at all.  I'm sure that they saw even less than I did!

Lesson Learned: The next time I go, I need to be realistic about what I'm going to accomplish at the show.

5. The Buying Process

Yep, that face pretty much sums it up.  Buying is a long, slow process that seems like it should be much more fun than it actually is. 

Let's break it down, step-by-step:

1. You go into a booth that looks good or that you know you need to buy from.
2. You find an available person to help you buy.  This is often a very difficult step.  Sometimes the booth is super busy and sometimes the salesperson is busy chatting you up instead of getting the business done.
3. Once you find the salesperson, you ask about the show specials.  Most booths offer some sort of special during the show.  Sometimes it's a special price for a particular product.  Sometimes it's a discount over a certain dollar amount (i.e., buy $500 and get 5% off).  You also have to ask what the minimum is (most companies won't sell to you unless you purchase a minimum dollar amount of product) and then each product has a minimum (i.e. you have to buy six tubes of red paint at a time).
4. You do math in your head and try to figure out if the show special works for you, whether you can meet the minimum, and if the product minimums are too high.  This is all complicated by the fact that there are no prices listed anywhere.  You have to ask about everything.
5. You walk around with the salesperson while they either fill out a sales form for you, or scan UPC codes with a little machine.  The little machines were cool, but they're slower than you'd think.  The benefit, of course, is that you get a total really quickly and a very neat print out of your order.  For the most part, I found that most of the salespeople were really fantastic and once they figured out your vibe, they were great about pointing out things you'd like and not hard selling the stuff you didn't like. 
6. The salesperson totals your bill and you pay.
7. You get a receipt and walk on to the next booth.

At most booths, this process takes 30-60 minutes.  There's always a fair amount of discussion and debate too.  I tried to help Kim by being opinionated, but not pushy.

6. Networking

CHA is an amazing opportunity for networking.  But, it's just that.  An opportunity.  There were a couple of lovely and amazing things that came out of CHA for me, but most of them were accidental opportunities that arose and with which I happened to be prepared to deal.  One of which is that I was introduced to the editor of Scrapbooking & Beyond Magazine and I happened to have my portfolio with me. I showed it to her, and she took *twelve* of my layouts for publication!  Luck meets planning, right?

On the other hand, I didn't have any business cards with me the first day.  I forgot them in the hotel room.  Totally dumb because I lost a big opportunity when someone asked me for one, I didn't have it, we made a later meeting, and then the meeting didn't happen.  Such a small mistake, but I don't know what's going to happen with that opportunity now...

There are a lot of private parties over the four days. Beyond the private dinners, many manufacturers hold parties, which are certainly networking opportunities.  I wasn't invited to any of these, so I can't report on them, but I heard that they're an enormous part of becoming part of the "inner circle."

The other thing about networking is to remember to be nice to *everyone* you meet.  The craft industry is fairly incestuous.  Everyone knows everyone and gossip travels incredibly quickly.  So do promotions and movements from one company to another.  And because mega corporations keep buying the smaller companies, all these companies that you think are independent are actually all headed by the same person or people.  Which reminds me...

7. The Industry is Run by Men

The major consumers may be women.  The public faces of the companies may be women.  But, there's no doubt that men rule the industry.  Most booths have an owner who is a man.  The marketing people tend to be men.  The deals and handshakes are all man-to-man.  On the other hand, most of the buyers (i.e., owners of retail shops and kit clubs) are women.  I'm not sure if I can draw out some huge anthropological conclusion here, but I found it very interesting.

8. What I Would Do Differently

I'm big on lessons.  The journaling on my pages probably reflects that.  Too many years in school, I suppose.  I always feel you have to make experiences useful and learn from them.  So, I've been thinking about what I would do differently.

• As I mentioned before, I'd focus on one job: buying, reporting, networking.  It's too much to do all of them.
• I'd bring two pairs of sneakers.  There's a lot of walking, and changing shoes would have helped.
• Go to the booths you know you want to buy from immediately.  Don't wait and wander.  Get all the business out of the way as soon as humanly possible.  Kim and I were much more laissez-faire on the first few days, but soon realized we had to buckle down.  The buckled down approach was great and we got a lot more accomplished.  I'd like to do that earlier on, perhaps leaving more time for wandering around later
• I'd make a bigger effort to see the new manufacturers and look at the smaller booths.  I missed them entirely.  What a waste of an opportunity.
• I'd do more Make & Takes and watch more demos.  They're worth the time, and are part of what makes being at CHA special, rather than reading about it online.

9. Another Approach to CHA

I happened to be in the shuttle to the airport with a couple of people from New Zealand.  They were discussing their show experiences, and the woman, who was a retailer, mentioned that she spent the majority of her time taking classes.  Most of the manufacturers offer classes for $25 or so.  She decided to use her time at CHA to see the new products, learn new techniques, and have ideas to bring back to New Zealand with her.  She wasn't really there to buy.

Obviously, she has to deal with enormous shipping costs to New Zealand, and she mentioned as much.  But, she also said that people have too much stuff and aren't looking to buy a lot right now.  This is a huge trend.  I noticed that a number of companies released much less new stuff than in previous years (i.e., a single paper line).  Another option is "limited releases," which I understand are becoming more and more common.  A company only makes a certain number of something and when it's gone, it's gone.   This reminds me of scrapbooking kit clubs that make a small number of kits even though the demand is high.  They'd rather sell out and miss a few sales than have excess inventory.

10. Manufacturer Layouts vs. Personal Layouts

I know that I said I'd get back to this when I mentioned it in an earlier post.  What's the difference between layouts that manufacturers use to sell their product and layouts that the rest of us do for our personal albums?  Well, obviously the former have to have strong design and great photography and all that jazz, but there are a couple of other important factors.

They're meant to sell the product, so they're heavy on product and light on personality.  Lots of patterns.  Lots of embellishments.  Very little journaling.  Usually no more than one photo.

And almost always featuring attractive children.

 

All of this is, of course, so that you can see yourself using these products.  Most manufacturers don't want layouts that are too complicated, too odd, too personal, too far away from their audience.  They want you to feel like on your best day, you might make that page, featuring your child.

For anyone out there who is interested in designing for a manufacturer, including myself, this is of interest.  Think clean, graphic, bright, with limited journaling and beautiful photography of children.

11.The CHA Awards

CHA does give out actual awards.  However, I'm creating my own list of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Best Part of the Experience

I met a very wonderful fifteen-year veteran of the craft industry who took an interest in me.  She very graciously took me around the show floor and showed me some hidden gems.  I really enjoyed getting that veteran perspective on the show.

Worst Part of the Experience

I'm not a store owner.  I'm not a reporter.  I'm a fan. 

In my heart, I'm just a fan girl.  All I want to do is sit down and use all these cool tools and awesome new products!  It stunk to have to "work" instead of getting to just play.

Best T-Shirt

 

Loved this t-shirt that Alison Kreft of Hambly fame was wearing.  It turns out that it was made by Amy Tangerine, who is a well known scrapper!  Here's her blog.

Best Demo

 

Not a big surprise.  Tim Holtz really knows how to show off Ranger's products.

Most Innovative New Product(s)

Admittedly, I didn't see the entire show.  But the ones that stand out in my memory are

(1) Prima's Stitched Paper

 

Stitching on your layout isn't new, but selling paper that is already stitched, is new.  And even though this is something I do all the time, I will definitely be buying a bunch of these.

(2) Canvas Albums from Prima

 

Again, despite the fact that I've made fabric albums before, these pre-made canvas albums from Prima, with all the quilted embellishments, has my heart going pitter-patter!

(3) Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen from Ranger

 

I like them because it's a new way to use a supply that I already own.  That's always a good idea, right?

Biggest Surprise

I know from personal experience that you can take a very flattering photograph of yourself if you just get the camera higher than you are.  Looking up does tend to smooth everything out.  Well, I'm not the only one who has figured out that trick!  Most people (including myself) look in person like a fatter version of their online personalities.  LOL!

12. The End

Finally, here's my entry for this week's Project Fifty-Two.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA: Wednesday (for real this time)

Okay, after some technical difficulties, we're back up and running.  Here is the run down for CHA Wednesday...

On Wednesday morning, I made a beeline for the Ranger booth.  Love, love, love Ranger.  They have a couple of new products, the most exciting of which is the Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen, which you can see above.

Here, you can see Tim Holtz demonstrating how to fill the pen.  Basically, you create your own Copic marker, which I think is way cool.

One of the things that I think Ranger does exceedingly well is display their products so that you understand how to use them.  In the two photos above, you can see how they provide many examples of the product in use and even step-by-step directions.  Very smart.

I thought this was a nice general view of CHA.  You can see that it's just a huge convention center filled with row after row of booths from manufacturers.

This is K&Co. paper, which I adore.  Kim thought it was ugly.

We spent about an hour at the Prima booth (again).  It was filled with so many wonderful things, including this mini album.

I thought this was such a clever idea!  One of the designers pulled apart a Prima Lollipop to make this adorable little decoration.  Of course, you can do the same thing with some scraps of fabric....

Lots more beautiful projects from the Prima booth.

 

The über talented Cari Fennell took our order.  Check out her blog if you get a chance.  You can us here ladling flowers and me making a goofy face to boot!

Over at the Provo Craft booth they were demonstrating their new screenprinting machine.  In the top left photo, you can see Suze Weinberg, inventor of The Melting Pot, enjoying the demo too!

I thought that the chalkboard displays in the Heidi Swapp booth were very cool.

One of my favorite products, which is not a new product, just new to me, is the Scor-It.  You can make perfect hinge folds every time! No paper cracking ever again when you make a card or a box or an envelope.  Simple to use and it takes up very little space.  Definitely a tool I plan to own!

Meet the "Purple Monster" by American Tag.  It sets eyelets, nailheads, punches holes, sets grommets -- and all with the pressure of two fingers.  It's similar to the We R Memory Keepers' Big Bite, but has a few key differences.  As you can tell, it's much more industrial looking.  It also takes less pressure and does more.  It's also more expensive.  I really liked it because it's a bit more versatile than the Big Bite (i.e. setting grommets, etc.)

I was in the Sulyn booth and there was a woman there with an Australian accent.  Her badge said, Sherry, and so I took a chance and said, "Are you the Sherry from the Kits&Pieces message board?"  And, she was!  Here's her blog.  What a random run in!  Love the serendipity of it!

Sulyn has a product called, Sparkle 21, that is truly awesome.  I'm going to try to convince either Portrait Bug or The City Quilter to carry it.  It's glitter glue (like Stickles) BUT it is *permanent* on everything!  You can put it on fabric and it's washable.  Put in on glass or plastic and it does not come off!  You can see that these shoes are covered in it and you cannot even pick it off with your fingernails!  The other nice thing is that it's a really strong glue to boot!  Notice the jewels that are attached using it.  They will not come off in the wash or anything.  Isn't that awesome?  Definitely a big product pick for me!

Okay, I will be back tomorrow with some analysis of my CHA experience, what I learned, some trend spotting, and some random ramblings about it all.

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA: Wednesday is on Hold

That's me at about 8:30am here in California, and I was about to head off to the final day of CHA.  I had to write that backwards because the camera in my computer takes photos mirror image style.  Now it's just after midnight and my internet connection won't work on my laptop.  So, I'm not able to post photos, etc. from day 3.  Sad, I know.  But, day 3 was fabulous, so sit tight while I work on getting this connection going!

And thanks for stopping by!

 

CHA: Tuesday

Let me start by saying, yes, all my pictures today are blurry.  I somehow inadvertently changed some of the settings on my camera and so all the pictures are blurry.  But, I think you get the gist of it...

Oh, wait!

First, some good news from the day: Sakura has hired me to do another seven segments of Scrapbook Memories TV!  Yay!  I'm absolutely thrilled.

Now, onto the photos...

Ten Seconds Studio has been on my radar for a while.  Lots of cooler than cool metal embossing tools and I was glad to finally see them in person.  Kim wasn't quite as interested.  But, they have video tutorials on their blog every Tuesday.  Check them out if you get a chance!

AccuCut, the die cutting company, had a booth full of pages with die cuts of all shapes and sizes.  But, I fell in love with the fabric projects like this pillow.  So adorable and totally easy!

We started the day by buying a bunch of Basic Grey.  Can you imagine a better way to start the day?

The Cosmo Cricket Booth was lovely.  PortraitBug will carry most of the Girl Friday line.

At the F&W booth, we did a make and take with Crystal Jeffrey Rieger.  PortraitBug will be carrying her book, "Cut Loose."

Greta Hammond helped us out at the Little Yellow Bicycle booth.

I love these chipboard albums from Little Yellow Bicycle.  The pages are all different shapes and there's a matching paper pad (from each line) that is die cut to fit the pages, so there's no fancy cutting needed!

Definitely one of the coolest booths, Little Yellow Bicycle had several "shacks" built as part of their booth.

How unbelievably cool are these grungeboard flowers?!  I love them!  I'm planning to make a million!

I've been using the masks from Tim Holtz's Ideaology line.  But, now these small masks have come out.

Hambly was a must-see booth. 

I thought it was so cool that the rub-ons were put on fabric.  Here's a tutorial on how to do it, from the Hambly blog.

Now, that's some serious excitement!

The Jenni Bowlin booth was full of vintage goodness!

I love the way the products are displayed in the booth.

The Pink Paislee booth had lots of great layouts.

I really liked this one.  Something about the heart and the stitching just makes me happy!  A big learning today was why manufacturer layouts differ so much from regular people layouts.  Showing off product is a different skill than capturing a memory.   I'm too tired to be articulate, so more on that later.

Here are the new rub-ons from Pink Paislee.

The Prima booth was filled with *gorgeous* stuff! 

Donna Downey has a new line of sewn books and embellishments with Prima. 

I loved the pre-stitched paper from Prima.  So cool!

Random Meandering Thoughts of Today:

• Please stop by Craft Critique for some seriously good CHA coverage.  Lots of photos and very informative musings.
• People will do almost anything for free stuff -- wear weird things, scream, act out, wait in line for a long time, etc.
• Fabric is a huge trend.  From felt to canvas to sewing (not strictly fabric, but sewing related), fabric is everywhere.  And, of course, this makes me extremely happy!
• I finally understand what people complain about on the boards about people being at CHA as "tourists" and not as buyers or sellers.  It's a long slow process.  Then again, I understand why people want to come.  It's a huge networking event.
• I had a very long and interesting conversation about working for free in the craft industry - good idea or bad idea.  On the one hand, I understand the benefit to neophyte designers and to manufacturers or magazines on a budget.  On the other hand, it does make it nearly impossible to have a career as a designer.  But, this is a huge topic.  Something to be explored later.

Finally, today (January 27) is my birthday...

It was lovely to spend it at CHA!

CHA: Monday

Oh, yeah.  It's true.  My feet are killing me.  I'm exhausted. And overwhelmed.  And happy.  Because I'm super tired and not 100% able to write a post that isn't filled with typos, here are lots of photos:

That's me with a really cool product from Creative Imaginations.  It's a shadow box that holds an album and the pages are magnetized so you can flip them and they stay open.

I am head over heels in love with these albums from Chatterbox!  They're fabric, with great heavy-weight paper inside and so stinkin' cool.  PortraitBug is definitely going to carry them!  Yay! 

This is Rusty Pickle's famous chocolate fountain.

I cannot remember the name of the Japanese company that was selling these awesome suiboku (Japanese ink art) stamps.  But, I know that Kim ordered a bunch for PortraitBug.

These felt embellished albums from Molly West are just gorgeous! 

We were evacuated from the convention center early this morning and had to mill around outside for a while.

7Gypsies Gaffer Tape.  I'm in love with the tape and the display.  I couldn't convince Kim to carry it all, but she did buy at least one of the patterns.  I want it all!

I thought this kids line from K&Co. was adorable!  Love those animals!

The buying process is soooooo slow.  You have to walk around with someone at every booth who writes down your order.  Here is Kim with a bunch of 7Gypsies stuff and our very nice salesman.

Fancy Pants had a special closet with discounted items. 

I got to meet Cathy, the owner of Label Tulip. She is so sweet!  We had a great time!

Look how tiny that brag book is!  There's an awesome machine that makes these tiny books.  I'm too tired to remember the manufacturer, but it was one of the more fun items from the day.

Random Thoughts:

• It should be called the scrapbooking show.  There are very few other crafts represented.  That's a bit disappointing.
• I would be a terrible store owner, because I only want to buy stuff I like and nothing that other people like.
• Projects really do sell product.  It's also great to see the way product is displayed.  I feel like I'm learning a lot.
• Trend Spotting: Shabby Chic, Swirls, Elephants, Butterflies, Densely Layered Look, Fabric, Folk Art/Hand Drawn Look, and Distressing. All very hot right now.
• Nobody should wear cropped pants.  They don't look good.  Note to self: throw mine away.
• Make&Takes are filled with tons of takers.  I can't deal with fighting the crowds.  I only did one (with Cindy Tobey in the Fancy Pants booth).
• Check out Label Tulip's photos from the day here.

That's it.  I'm too tired to think!  More coming tomorrow!

Anticipating CHA

My entries for CHA are going to be a bit "diary style" because I'm jotting down thoughts and notes as I go and I often don't have an internet collection.  So, here we go!

I’m on the plane and on my way to the Craft and Hobby Association Show (CHA) in Anaheim, California.  And I’m just trying to think about what to expect.  For the past few years, I’ve read about CHA on message boards and blogs.  I’ve seen the photos – lots of new products and super decadent display setups. 

I remember seeing photos of the Love, Elsie booth a few years ago and she had an entire kitchen set up: fridge, stove, the whole nine yards!  Pretty cool, right? 

I remember reading the “Pub” message board over at Two Peas in a Bucket and the gals over there were discussing what to wear, and how many business cards to bring.  People talked about how much their feet hurt.  There were discussions about whether or not “designers” belonged at CHA or whether they simply got in the way.

Then of course, there are all the cool new product releases themselves.  As something of a tool and technique junkie, I am jonesing to know about the latest and greatest the craft industry has to offer.  Though, I will admit to feeling a bit super saturated at the moment.

So, what am I expecting?

It’s a down economy, so I’m thinking there will be a little less razzle dazzle than previous years.  Some big companies, like Scenic Route, have already announced that they won’t have booths at the show.  As well, a number of buyers (i.e. retailers) who’ve attended the show in the past aren’t going this year.  They prefer to buy online and receive internet catalogues. 

But, this is my first time at the rodeo and I’m excited!

UPDATE: I've spent the past hour or two sitting in my hotel room and chatting with Kim, the owner of PortraitBug, and the reason I'm here, about her first day at CHA.  She's already shopped at Prima, Maya Road, Xyron, and Creative Imaginations to name a few!  Kim got a freebie giveaway from Crystaline Mosaics: a small cardstock frame which you add tiny little glass tiles to.  She thought it was tedious.  (Edit: Kim now claims that it wasn't tedious.  After all, she didn't do any of it.  It's simply that she never would have had the patience to start it.)  I had a ton of fun.  We chatted and I glued.  Here we are with our charming little frame:

My appetite is definitely whetted and I can't wait to hit the show floor in the morning!

Friday's List

Happy Friday all around!

1. I have to link to this layout, because it blew me out of the water.  When I think of the kind of layouts that I want to do, this one is like the holy grail.  Wow, wow, wow. I found the layout through the popular challenge blog, The Art is Found.  Very inspiring stuff.

2. Today is a crafty day.  I'm teaching at The City Quilter from 12-2pm and 6-8pm and then going to a crop with the Manhattan Scrapbookers where I'll certainly stay out way too late.  I'm nervous about my classes.  I'm teaching some new stuff and that's always a little nerve wracking!

3. Which reminds me, I'm working on a whole bunch of stuff for the blog, but this stupid being sick every day is not helping my time management.  Anyway, some things to look forward to:

• A tour of my crafty space.  I've never really shared before, so I'm taking photos and jotting down some thoughts on organizing.
• Some thoughts on packing for a crop.  Now that I seem to crop every week, it's time to talk about the science of packing!
• Valentine's Day tutorials.  I'm working on some new video tutorials that have a bit of a Valentine's Day theme.
• A new online class!  I've gotten some e-mails about this and I'm hoping to offer something fun in March.

4. I'm leaving for California soon.  And I'll do my best to blog while I'm at CHA.  I'll be taking photos like crazy!

5. Some people have sent me e-mail asking me how to subscribe to the blog, and I feel like an idiot saying it, but I don't know how to automatically subscribe people.  So, I'll just tell you what I've told them, you can sign up for a free Google Reader account or Bloglines account and do it that way.  If someone out there has a better solution, please let me know!

6. Just got an e-mail from Scrapbook Trends letting me know that they're moving my layout from the May issue to April.  That means less time to wait to see it!

7. I'm looking forward to going to four days of scrapping madness at this event at the end of February.  But, even sooner than that, I'm going to be going to a Friday Night crop at Right At Home Scrapbooking in just two weeks.  Lucky timing puts me in Massachusetts, so I'm taking my Mom and we're going to hang out in Attleboro for a few hours.

Thanks for stopping by!

Time and Creativity

So, I had a big deadline.  Last week, quilts were due for the Empire Quilters Guild show.  I knew I wanted to submit two quilts, but I didn't have anything around that I felt was worthy.  So, the crazy in me came out and I decided to create two quilts *from scratch* with six days to the deadline.  Now, before you say, "not possible," I have to tell you that the only thing you have to have ready by the deadline for this particular show is the quilt top.  It doesn't have to be completely finished.  Still a ridiculously hard task, but much more doable, right? 

Despite the coughing and nose blowing, I managed to make the deadline with two, largely uninspired, mostly finished quilts.

Just a week later, my brain has been ticking and I am already kicking myself for some choices I made because I was rushing.  I have been able to make some adjustments and changes and I'm hoping that it will all work out, but I am reminded that you can't force creativity. Sometimes you just need time.  Time to sit and stare at it.  Time to just be frustrated and let it simmer.

Stay with me here as my brain wanders...

One of the things about being on a scrapbooking design team is needing to create on a timeline.  And not only needing to create on a timeline, but needing to do it with certain supplies. 

I remember the first time I got a bunch of stuff in a design team kit that I just *hated* and would never have chosen for myself.  It was a tortuous process to deal with it.  I just stared and stared at the kit.  And I thought about it as I rode the bus and stood in line and before I went to sleep.  I let the kit sit on my desk for days until the deadline was looming over me and I *had* to make something.  And it ended up being easier than I thought.  Because, I had given myself time to think it over.

I have a friend who is a playwright and her husband once said that she writes her plays in a matter of days.  She corrected him and says that she writes her plays over a series of months.  It's just that she only sits down at the computer for a matter of days.  She spends months working the characters and the plot over in her mind.  And it isn't until she's truly ready that she sits down to write.

Some lucky quilters have design walls, like the beautiful one seen here.  It's a blank space where you can hang fabric and just let it stare back at you.  No commitment to hours of sewing.  Lay it out and think on it.  Other artists have inspiration boards - bulletin boards that they fill with colors or designs that inspire them.  Why put it up in your creating space?  To give yourself time with it.  Even just peripherally.  

As a kid, whenever I had a bad day, my Mom would say, "Go to sleep.  Everything will be different in the morning."  And she was right.  Sleeping on it usually works for me.

I think that's my problem with all the advice the scrapbooking magazines give you for "finding time" to scrapbook - 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there.  Yes, sometimes that works.  But for the most part, feeling forced to be creative for 15 minutes is a self-defeating idea - at least for me.  I like having time to screw up and fail and get frustrated. 

I know that sounds weird.

But it's human nature.  We don't change unless we're forced to.  And sometimes I need to push past the easy choice or the obvious choice and find something new and fresh on the other side.  And I need time in order to do that.

Georgia O'Keeffe once said, "To see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."  Perhaps advice to all of us when we're stuck - walk away.  Take some time to let things percolate.  Plant the seed and then let it grow.

Today is Tuesday

Yep.  Today is Tuesday.  And I'm *still* sick.  Sigh.  Here's a quick run down of some crafty stuff to share...

1. Had a layout picked up yesterday by Memory Makers Magazine.  It's a digi layout.  I'm having more luck getting my digi stuff picked up than my paper stuff, but that's a conversation for a later post.

2. I've been working on a quilt for the last few weeks.  It's getting close to being done.  It has been a while since I've worked on a larger piece.  Most of my quilt-y projects have been small - like 8.5x11 and this is a much larger piece.  I'm finding it quite satisfying! Here's a little sneaky peek...

3.  I got a great belated Christmas present from Kim, the owner of Portrait Bug.  She gave me a glass mat!  As you know, I am a total cheapskate and have been using a broken piece of glass from a picture frame for the last two years.  I'm totally excited and I even used it today!  This makes me so happy!

4. Project Fifty-Two is going strong with awesome new eye candy showing up in the flickr pool every day!  This week's project is a variation of a vision board.  Basically, a vision board is a visual representation of what you want - goals and such.  My friend Kimberly and I worked on our boards together and decided that we'd rather not think about what we see for ourselves, but concentrate on the here and now.  She did a "happy board" - all about things that make her happy.  I did a board about who I am and the things that are important to me - kind of a reminder.  So, here it is...

I'm not 100% sure if it's finished for real, but it's definitely finished for now.  This is where I am in my life, right now.

5. I did a scrap-for-hire project today.  It's so interesting to work on something that is not your natural style.  The client wanted something that wasn't "crafty."  And, "crafty" is kind of my middle name.  But, I managed to pull together a very cute, very pink, very polished project for her.  I'm pleased, but when I look at it, it just doesn't have "me" on the page.  Which I suppose is a good thing when it's for someone else.

Thanks for stopping by!

Label Tulip: January 2009

The January 2009 kit is for sale over at Label Tulip.  Here's what I made...

• I laid a piece of “lace paper” over my background paper and used several colors of ink to “stencil” in the background.  I added some extra ink around the edges to enhance the effect.
• The clouds are cut from a piece of patterned paper, inked, and then adhered to the layout with foam adhesive.
• The title is just my handwriting.

• After cutting the tag shapes from some patterned paper, I used several coats of ink and water to color them.
• To emphasize the dot texture of the cardstock, I ran an ink pad over the top of it.
• I drew my title with a pen and then painted it with watercolor paints.

• I used gel medium to adhere patterned paper to the chipboard hearts.  Then, I inked the eges.  Then, I added a bit of crackle paint on top.
• To stitch the large title, I drew it in pencil on a separate piece of paper and then laid the paper over my layout and used a paper piercer to pierce the holes for my stitching.  very easy.

• This layout was for a challenge in which you could only use five items (all from a kit), plus adhesive, embroidery floss, and a journaling pen.  It was really hard for me to not use paint and ink or do any doodling.  But, you can see I used (1) cardstock; (2) Basic Grey paper; (3) Making Memories paper; (4) Jenni Bowlin paper; (5) rhinestones.  I used a paper distresser, foam adhesive, and paper folding to give some life to the limited supplies.
• The flowers are circles I handcut, distressed at the edges, and then layered.
• The rhinestones began as a star and I cut them apart to use all over the layout.
• The photo was sanded to eliminate the background.

• I stamped the bubble wrap stamp repeatedly, mixing a variety of colors.  Then I cut the paper into circles and hearts. Then I added rub-ons.  Then I used my finger to rub a thin layer of gesso across the top of each shape, to soften the colors.  Finally, each shape got a quick outline with a pen.
• I drew the title with a pencil, outlined it with a pen, and then painted it with watercolors.
• The exterior edge of the layout has been painted with a watercolor outline. 

Thanks for stopping by!