Balzer Designs

CHA-Summer 2009: Wednesday (continued)

Yesterday, I left you with a quick tour of the Fancy Pants booth.  Where did we go from there? 

Kim and I have long argued over Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist (a water-based spray with color and shimmer).

When she first opened Portrait Bug, she asked everyone on the design team for recommendations.  Included on my long list was Glimmer Mist.  She got some and it sold very, very slowly.  People just didn't seem to get it.  But, as the store got rolling and people started to see it being demo'd and used in classes, they started to buy it.  I think it can be a hard project to "get" until you have the chance to play with it.  So, I dragged a reluctant yet willing Kim to the Tattered Angels' booth to buy more mists and some accessories!  First of all, the booth was just beautiful!

 

 

I had the opportunity to work with these "Framed Fonts" (below) when Prima and Tattered Angels did a design team swap.  They're so cool.  The letters can be removed.  The centers can be removed. And the frames can be removed.  They take Glimmer Mist (and other colorants) so easily and readily.  And the embossed designs are just beautiful.

So, when I saw the "Chip Tiles" (below) I totally geeked out.  And I mean, I think I squealed out loud in a totally embarrassing way!

Here's a close up of the embossing:

 

I can't wait to get my hands on a pack of them (all the designs in each pack are different) and try them out!  There were also bingo boards...

 

...with absolutely stunning examples being shown:

 

Speaking of beautiful projects, one of the interesting things that Tattered Angels does is credit each of the designers, as seen in the tag below:

I didn't see a single other booth where the sample designer was credited.  And I think it's nice that the person' blog address is provided.  Below: New clear stamps.  I think the designs are so elegant!

 

The Glimmer Glass Albums aren't new, but I was digging this compass design.

 

And now...my second favorite product from Tattered Angels (my first favorite is their oversized Splat Mats)...

...the new white Glimmer Mist (dig the new label too - very fancy)!  I am obsessed with white pens, white paint, white ink.  I can't wait to try it out!  And of course, we wrapped up our visit to the booth with endless paperwork....

 

But then, I dragged Kim to the Quickutz booth to see their new letterpress machine, called Epic Six.  I adore letterpress.  It's a little like colored embossing and just looks and feels fantastic.  I was seriously psyched to hear that there was a small, portable home letterpress machine available.  Printers traditionally use enormous printing presses.  If you don't know anything about letterpress, this is a short documentary on it.  I wish I had taken video of the demo we saw of the Epic Six, but I'll try to use this photo to explain it instead:

Clockwise from the top right:

• Dies: You create your design with clear plastic dies.  They look like clear acrylic stamps.  But, I touched one and it's a very hard plastic.  This makes sense since traditional letterpress uses wood or metal dies.
• Folder: This is a plastic folder with a grid, so that you can line up not only the dies, but also the paper.
• Paper: For the demos, they were using a very heavyweight cardstock with a soft feel, like wedding stationery (big surprise).
• Brayer & Ink: As a side note, that looks like a Ranger mini brayer to me.  Anyway, they are selling an oil-based ink that dries quickly.
• Epic Six Machine: It looks like a lot of other personal die cutting machines out there.  There's a handle and you roll the plastic folder through it.

So how does it all work?  You place the dies down.  Roll some ink over them.  Place your paper.  Fold up the folder.  And run it through the machine.  The result is something that looks very much like letterpress! Here are some of the dies and accessories:

And this is what the box looks like when you're in the store.  You can buy the combination kit (includes an Epic Six Machine) or just the letterpress accessories.

 

I will admit to being sorely tempted by this one.  I'm stuck between desperately wanting it and trying to be reasonable with myself.  How often will I use it really?  But, I really want it.  But how often will I use it?  And, I'm also wondering what would happen if you brayered some paint onto a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I don't own a Cuttlebug, so I can't try it.  But, it strikes me that it might create a similar effect...?

Well, while I noodle on that one for a while, how about we move on to the next booth?  Kim and I headed for Creative Imaginations.  I love their alterable stuff.

 

See the Christmas tree album (above, upper right corner of the photo)?  This birthday album below was made from that album by cutting off the trunk of the tree!  Clever, right?

 

And this tray reminded me of the black painter's trays we bought at 7gypsies.  But, this one is white (obviously) and has different sized openings, which is fun.

They had these oversized clothespins in both "ginormous" and "really big."  I think they're a fun way to display photos or small art projects.  And I suspect that the ginormous clothespin from the Prima booth started here.

Creative Imaginations has an enormous catalog.  And the old and new stuff was all mixed together.  So, I just took a few photos to show you a sampling of what we saw:

  

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Imaginations is clearly in the gift market as well.  They were offering little notebooks and other sorts of impulse buys that you find sitting by the cash register, like these rhinestone capped pencils...

 

...which retail for $2/pencil.

Now begins the drive by portion of the day.  Most of the photos you're going to see are from booths that we breezed past.  So, let's begin....

Much to my chagrin, Kim had already shopped at Maya Road.  (Seems like I missed a lot today, huh?)  But, I couldn't resist going by their booth to see what their spectacularly talented design team had come up with! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Little Shoebox was next.

 

Their design team did some amazing layouts.  The layouts really pulled you into the booth and made you want to take a closer look!

 

The Graphic 45 booth was like a magical little oasis. 

Every nook and cranny was filled with amazing altered art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim bought a bunch of frames at the Dennis Daniels booth.

I thought that these paintings on the glass of the frame were a fun idea.  They were doing them as a make and take at the booth.

 

While we were finishing up, we ran into our friend Carla Sylvester...

...who is the Education Manager for Martha Stewart Crafts.  She was doing demos at the Petersen-Arne booth and took us by her booth to show us the punches she was demoing.

Martha Stewart now offers corner punches that match her border punches.  So, you can go all the way around a piece of paper, as in the example below.  Cool, right?

In addition, the long (and sometimes awkward to store) border punches have wings that fold up for storage and down for use.

 

 

 

They have a ton of great designs, including some word punches that are just adorable! 

My feet definitely hurt.  And I'm tired of eating food from a cart, but it was a good day.  Here are a few final thoughts for the day:

• I admit to being a little sick and tired of Halloween and Christmas lines.  Almost every single company had both.  It creates a kind of "sameness" that gets tiring.  How many ways can you combine Christmas trees?  Or create paper covered with pumpkins?
• I was eavesdropping in the food court and heard someone say, "Lots of variations on a theme, but very little serious innovation."  I couldn't agree more.  I'm planning to do a big wrap-up post once I finish the day 3 post, and I'm going to talk about this at length.
• Birds, birds, birds, birds.  Birds.  Birds are the new butterflies (which are definitely still around) which are the new owls.  Almost every booth had some sort of bird.  At first, I wondered if it was related to Halloween - crows and all - but I'm not sure.  I do really like them, though!
• Clear stamps were every where!  I'm guessing that the prices on manufacturing clear stamps has come down.  Because virtually every manufacturer was showing stamps to coordinate with their papers and embellishments.  It makes sense.  They've done the design work already.  And people love stamps and see them as value for the dollar since they're re-useable.

So, that's it for today!  I'll be back with photos and news from day three of the show ASAP!

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA-Summer 2009: Wednesday

I started this post yesterday and just didn't make it to the end by the time I had to go to bed.  I also didn't make it to the end today.  But, it's huge, so I thought I'd post what I have so far.  Enjoy!

I am exhausted.  Should have gone to bed earlier last night.

Because the show is so small this time, Kim and I slept in a little bit this morning.  She headed for the show floor around 10:20am.  (The show opens at 9am every day.)  I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower and ran to catch up with her.  Of course, I was in such a rush that I forgot my watch and my camera!  Eeek!  So, these first few photos are all camera phone photos.

When I first arrived at the show this morning, I couldn't find Kim.  Reception is terrible in the convention center and she wasn't answering her phone.  I was wandering around looking for her when the totally adorable and infinitely talented Gigi Kennedy stopped me.  We had previously met about two or three years ago at a crop in Pennsylvania.  She is one of the nicest people in the whole world and so talented with a really unique eye.  Love her.  She was with Dina Wakley, who is amazing.  Dina guested for Label Tulip a few months ago (and Gigi a few months before that!) and I fell in love with her style.  The funny thing is, people always tell me that I remind them of her - scrapbook style wise.  She is a painty, spray ink queen.  I was a total drooling imbecile when I met her.  I'm a big fan!  And the super talented Celeste Smith, who is on like every design team, was there too!  Celeste's work is beautiful, simple, clean and just lovely!  All three girls are on the Kenner Road design team.  I should have taken a photo with the talented threesome, but I was too embarrassed to ask for one.  I felt like such a nerdy fan.

Regardless, it was a nice way to start the day.

When I finally found Kim, she was shopping the bargain basement end of 7gypsies (which also includes close out stuff from Chatterbox and Around the Block). Chatterbox did not have a new release and this is the second show that Around The Block has not.

 

 

While we were around the back of the booth bargain shopping, I snapped another quick photo of a group of men having an impromptu meeting.

This is the new release from 7gypsies:

This house album looks a lot like their old house album.  However, it is paper thin, rather than chipboard thick.  So, it folds up into a little thin book.

 

Drool.  Drool.  Drool.  Patterned masking tape.  I want it all!

Love these stands with the little clips.  They're not new, just new to me.  I'm definitely going to get one!

 

I'm lusting after the painter trays you see below.  They're simple black trays that you can fill with whatever you want.  I love them!

  

And I thought that the clipboards with the cages to hold the mini albums was a really clever idea.  I'd like to display some mini albums on my walls this way.  Pretty and functional!

After 7gypsies, I ran off to lunch. I had a meeting scheduled with Kathie Stull, who is the producer of Scrapbook Memories TV.  Tomorrow, I am doing my *first* hosting segments for the show!  I'm the host of the new Artist to Artist segments.  I'll be starting my day by interviewing Claudine Hellmuth and I'm really looking forward to it!

After lunch, I caught up with Kim, who was back at Hambly.  (I also went back to the room and got my camera.)

 

I think the wall decals they have are super cool.

 

Allison Kreft Abad, the owner and designer of Hambly, is such a nice woman.  Every time I've visited her booth, she has been so incredibly gracious and kind.  It's so nice when good things (like your company being amazingly popular and successful) happen to good people.

We breezed past the My Mind's Eye's booth.

 

We stopped by the Jenni Bowlin booth and Kim showed me what she bought when I was sleeping in.

I loved this chalkboard with layouts.  Such a cute idea!

The Webster's Pages booth was on our way...

...to the Little Yellow Bicycle booth.

It's a mighty impressive booth.  HUGE.  And I love the little tin houses they use as displays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a photo of Kim checking out.

 

While she finished checking out, I headed across the aisle to the Technique Tuesday booth.  The booth was definitely half the size that it had been at the Anaheim show just 6 months ago.  And that was certainly a theme all over.  Many companies didn't come at all.  And for those that did, most of the booths were considerably smaller than usual.  In any case, here are some of the brand new Ali Edwards stamps:

These circles aren't new.  But, I love them.  They're white chipboard rings that fit in each other.  So each pack has a huge variety of sizes.  And they're not all perfect circles.  They're a bit wonky.  Such a brilliant way to make a cool layout easy!

In a similar vein, is this wave chipboard.  It's part of a class pack that Technique Tuesday sells.  The class kit comes complete with instructions and everything students need to make the project.

My favorite stamp from the booth was this make-your-own damask set.  But, I love anything that you can get creative with and being able to build a damask pattern any way you want is such a cool idea!  You can see how it was used on the background of the page on the left (below).

I feel like I've seen this flag layout before...maybe at the last CHA?  But, I can't remember.  Regardless, it's way cool!

 

Okay, I generally think that monogram stamps are stupid.  Sorry, but I do.  But these sets made me take notice.  Can you see how there is an empty spot to the right of each of the large letters?  It's so that you can insert the various ends of words!

It's probably easier to understand by looking at this example:

You stamp the "F" and then the "riends" and "orever" go in the empty space.  Each set comes with an extra curly-que or two, so you can extend the fanciful cloud.  The sets also have regularly sized first letters, so they're very versatile.  Really unique idea, right?  Totally makes monograms useful.  Though, all my campaigning couldn't convince Kim to carry them.  Alas.  And (below) I just thought this layout was super fun and cool.  Love the stamped buttons!

Even though Kim had already shopped October Afternoon without me, we went by the booth because (a) I wanted to see it; and (b) we argued over alphabet stamps at Technique Tuesday and she wanted to show me these:

Lots of great looking alphabet stamps!  In fact, lots and lots of great looking stamps!

 

 

 

I love that travel set (above, left), which coordinates with the amazing travel/vacation collection pictured below.  I had the chance to work with it in the most recent Label Tulip kit, which I know sold out immediately!

 

And the cool vintage-y vibe continued in this delicious line of back-to-school papers:

 

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but a lot of the booths were doing the smaller 6x6 or 8x8 layouts and I loved how they showed off the embellishments.

This paper was so kitschy cute...

 

...and totally reminds me of this paper...

 

...from Basic Grey's "Offbeat" Collection released a few years ago.  I love both of them!  But, alas, I did not photograph my very favorite thing from the October Afternoon booth!  Instead, I had to steal the photo from their online product gallery:

Note the center card.  Yep, that's an NYC subway map.  And if you get out a magnifying glass, you can see my street.  Yay!  I can't wait to get a pack of these cards for myself!

After adding a few things to our order at October Afternoon, we returned to the Advantus booth to add some more things to our order there.  And, as a side note, one of the nice things about a multi-day show is that you can change your mind and add things to (or subtract things from) your order.  This time, we peeked at the Heidi Swapp stuff (no new releases) and the All My Memories totes.  I didn't take a lot of photos, since there wasn't much that was new.  All My Memories had a new version of their famous tote.  It's a slightly different shape and I think it's going to be super cool.  And I am always a sucker for masks:

I was super sad that I couldn't talk Kim into the circle strip mask (above, last large one on the right).  LOVE that one.  And so totally useful!  But, alas, it was not to be.

But, things definitely perked up when we ran through the Sassafras Lass booth!  (Note the single "s" there at the end of Sassafras.  I always thought there were two!  Ooops!)

This was another one that Kim had ordered while I was elsewhere and so I was simply sightseeing.  I must say: this was the first booth with enough lighting.  It was so bright and lovely.  Really spectacularly colorful.  Totally made me happy!

The layout below really stopped me dead in my tracks. Most Sassafras layouts are bright and busy.  This one is so simple.  I really love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any chance that these letters look familiar to you?

 

Don't quote me on this, but I think they're the same size and font as the Basic Grey Beckham chipboard.

 

I really couldn't find a good photo of the Beckham chipboard in its packaging, so you'll have to accept the photo (above) I pulled off of the Basic Grey website.

Finally, how gorgeous are these stamps?  I love the doodly arrows.  Though, the stitches are totally awesome too...!

Love, lust, and loss all in one booth when we tried to shop at Kaiser Craft.  They have the most amazing stuff for you to alter.  That's not hyperbole.  It's truth.  Just so clever and cool and absolutely awesome.  Like this family tree...

...which comes in a package like this:

 

 

I don't think that this photo does this advent calendar justice.  Basically, it's a shadow box surrounded by twenty-four little drawers.  Look at those little drawers!!!!!

 

I can imagine that you could do so many things with it other than Christmas!  I really, really, really, really want it.  But, alas, they charge outrageous shipping to NYC.  So, Kim said that she'd try to get it through Notions, but I don't know if that will happen...sigh.  While I'm throwing a pity party, let me make the misery deeper by showing some other cute things from the Kaiser booth:

We wandered around the Fancy Pants booth and saw a ton of really inspirational projects.

 

 

 

 

And here are a very few product shots:

 

 

But, we were kind of (*gasp*) tired of shopping and didn't stay for long. 

It's 2am here.  I'll finish up day 2 tomorrow.  And get started on day 3 (hopefully)!

Thanks for stopping by!

CHA-Summer 2009: Tuesday (continued)

Continuing yesterday's post...I left off right at the Prima booth!  Get ready for some eye candy!  I know that I said this yesterday, and I'll say it again, there's nothing like seeing these products and projects in person.  They're so much more in person.  Here's hoping you can sort of tell how magnificent it all was!

Flowers are up first.  Can every single one be my new favorite?

I really loved the collection of printed flowers (above).  The project below uses the top center one (in slightly different colors):

Love these flowers (above) and you can really see them put to good use in the card below.  It's stunning!

Prima's design team is really amazing (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a member.  I'm still  pinching myself about making the team!)  Anyway, I love this layout (below) by Jen Jockisch.  She is super über talented.

I don't consider myself a girly-girl, but the new butterflies and birds totally make me swoon!  They come in a ton of colors and sizes.  I couldn't even begin to photograph them all!

Love this Christmas-y line of flowers too!  Really spectacular!

How about this giant clothespin!?  And do you see the new green packaging as the base of the card on the clothespin?

That packaging was put to good use in this banner...

...and Cari Fennell made my jaw drop with this sassy purse.  It's an old book covered with paper and the sides are Prima packaging!  Genius!

Donna Downey was doing make and takes.

The new items in her fabric scrapbooking line are adorable! 

These are iron-ons (below) and I saw some of them after ironing.  They're fabulous and still slightly dimensional.  Very cool indeed!

And there's a new smaller album (which I didn't manage to photograph -- I was too busy gabbing).  I wasn't sure if these fabric embellishments were part of her collection or not, but they are wicked cool!

I always love Prima's trim too!

The new stitched papers have an extra special surprise...can you see it?

Yeah, there's some extra trim at the bottom!  So cute!  I liked the sheer ruffle (above) best!  Prima also had some old favorites around (love those vines - below):

The new paper lines are fabulous:

The booth was packed with layouts.  I think I was told that there were more than 50 projects in the booth!  Wow!

I think that this layout is totally genius!  Look at how those flower pistils were used as raindrops!  So clever!

And how cute is this sock monkey?  Absolutely adorable!

It was really fun to see all my projects in the booth.  I love all the layouts and projects, but I'm most proud of the two paintings.  I forgot to take photos of them at the booth.  But, these are the photos I took of them at home before I shipped them off.





They're collaged.  Can you see the paper and paint all mixed together in the hair and clothing and background?  I really love how they turned out!  I'll try to grab a photo of them in situ, before the show ends!  And next week, I'll share some images of all the pages I made for the booth and the catalog!

After Prima, we had about an hour left.  We decided to try to hit Pink Paislee...

...but it was slammed with people.  So, we rushed down the aisle, passing the very empty Queen & Co. booth along the way...

...and finally landed at Beacon Adhesives.  I'm a huge fan of Beacon's Fabri-Tac.  I use it all the time.  I even have a small bottle of it in my box of art that I brought with me.  I highly recommend it for attaching ribbon and felt and all those fabric-ish things.  But, I saw this...

...demo'd, and I am convinced.  I wish I had taken video.  Basically, if you get it on your paper or photo, you can just rub it away with your finger and it disappears completely!  Wow!  It's amazing.  I just looked on YouTube and I found this video demo-ing ZipDry.  It's kind of talky up front and the quality isn't great, but you get the idea from watching it.  I love the idea of a wet adhesive that is mistake-proof.  Totally genius!

They had another cool product (pictured below, right) called Fashion Flip, which allows you to temporarily adhere an applique or patch to your clothing.  And then easily remove and reposition it over and over again!

On the left (above) is a photo of the super cool make&take that they were doing.  I definitely wanted to, but alas, no rest for the weary.

We bought our cases of adhesive and headed back towards Pink Paislee.

But, we could not resist stopping at Hambly!

There's a tutorial for the flowers (pictured above) on this site. 

Not only are Hambly's products gorgeous, but their design team is just the best.  Seriously gorgeous creations.  Anyway, we breezed through with promises to come back tomorrow and do the ordering.

Pink Paislee was calling our names.  Let's talk about alphas first.  Now, I am not usually a glitter girl, but I love that these are variably sized!

It makes it possible for you to stagger the letters to great effect -- as seen on the card below.

These tiny alphas were divine as well!

I totally loved the fabric tags.  They had fabric "patches" that coordinated with all four of their lines.

Here's are two projects using them:

I loved these bottle snowmen.

I remembered seeing them in Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, so it was fun to see someone else's version up close and personal and fabulous!

Okay, I know that this is a bit of a detour, but most of the clothing at CHA is hideous.  I could go on and on about why people refuse to buy clothing that fits properly.  But, I glimpsed this dress on the other side of the Pink Paislee booth and swooned.  Isn't it divine?

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

The endless forms.  Ah, yes.  The endless, endless, endless forms. 

I know that CHA looks like fun.  And in many ways it is very fun.  But, it is also work and there is a lot of tedious waiting and stuff in between the fun.  And speaking of fun, check out that pink hair!  I love it!

Pink Paislee gave away two hundred free pink hair clip ins.  I was so sad that we arrived at their booth too late to get one.  They were super duper cute!

If you can believe it (we did *a lot* in that last hour of the show), we had ten minutes left and ran to the Advantus booth.  They were having a deal where you got free shipping if you ordered the first day, so we wanted to get that order in!  Advantus covers several brands like Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz's Idea-ology line, and Cropper Hopper among others.  We shopped from the Idea-ology line.

I apologize for these photos ahead of time, but this was one of the absolute darkest booths around!  It was dark, dark, dark.  And they turned the lights out at 5pm when the show "closed" for the day.  So, the last few photos were really taken in the dark.

Grungepaper flowers (amazing!):

You can see that each project has an "idea" attached to it.  They're great suggestions on how to use the elements from the Idea-ology line.  Below, you can see (sort of) the tiny filmstrip that's part of the new release!

The booth was beautiful with tons of vintage staging.  I loved this typewriter (big surprise)!

Oddly enough, I didn't take many photos of the product.  Mostly projects.  But, this is one of the few that I did.  I'm gearing up to teach a "scrappy jewelry" class and these tags seemed kind of perfect for it.

And, in fact, the make and take that they're doing in the booth is making necklaces.  I didn't get a chance to do it, but I peeked at them and they were cute.

And that was it!  We walked out of the convention hall and across the street to our hotel.  We did go to a party for Scrapbooks Etc. Magazine at the hotel.  But, otherwise, it was a night spent in the room.  We ate pizza and soda.  I blogged.  Kim tried to make a witch's hat, like the one from the Pink Paislee booth.  We finally rolled into bed around 2am.

Let me know what you think of everything you're seeing!

I'll post about today's adventure ASAP.  I have to edit the photos!  See you soon!

CHA: Tuesday

I took 398 photos today.

398.

Including the very silly photo of Kim and me above.

The show opened at 9am this morning.  We got our badges, our free CHA tote bags, grabbed our maps, and made it to our first appointment about fifteen minutes late.  Retailers, who have relationships with salespeople, often like to make appointments rather than stand around the booth waiting for a salesperson to be free.

In case you don't know how the buying at CHA works, here's the breakdown (taken from this post I wrote after CHA-Winter):

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.

Our first appointment was with American Crafts.

Thickers, Thickers, and more Thickers, baby!  They had some new fonts and new finishes, but my favorites were the new smaller size Thickers.  I'm kind of  over big huge letters, I have to say.

And trendspotting-wise, glitter and bling were all over everything!

Our salesperson, Ikwo (pictured below on the left), plied us with sodas (at 9am no less)...

...but the sugar worked and we spent almost two hours in the booth buying albums, cardstock, buttons, and endless Thickers.  Found these cute stickers too....

But, the biggest find of the day was a white gel pen that seriously rivals the Uniball Signo, my absolute go-to white pen.  The Uniball Signo is hard to find, so this is *huge*!!!!

The American Crafts white gel pen is milky, really juicy, and totally opaque.  I was thrilled!  Kim ordered a bunch, so I'm excited to have them land in Manhattan very, very soon!

The very talented Judean, who runs the challenge site, The Creative Type, was also at the American Crafts booth.  We had a brief conversation and I totally spaced on taking a photo with her.  She has the most beautiful red hair!

After completing our order (and Kim did a genius thing - she has a stack of papers that have her name, contact info, shipping info, credit card info, tax ID, etc. so that she never has to fill out paperwork at any of the booths), we headed for our next destination.

Let me pause here to mention that we learned from our last CHA experience. 

Last night, we sat down with a map of the show floor and a notebook. We made note of which booths we wanted to make it to, aisle by aisle.  Then, we broke it down by which day (Tues, Wed, Thu) we wanted to make it there.  Tuesday = Must Buy.  Eager to see what's new.  Wednesday = Must Buy.  Thursday = Browsing.  Maybe Buy.  Basically, we made a game plan with a triage system.

So, we headed straight for Basic Grey.  Last year we bought on the second day and they had run out of the "free gift" paper packs.  Boy oh boy was Kim pissed off!  She wanted to be sure to get there in time for the free paper.  And we weren't the only ones....

Boy-oh-boy was their tiny booth crowded.  It was difficult to navigate and getting a salesperson was a serious fight to the death.  But, I've got to give those salesgirls credit because the ones I saw were all wearing heels! 

I know it looks like sandals on the right, but those are serious wedges.  And, yes, the floors are carpeted, but I wore sneakers all day and my feet hurt.  More power to them.

While we were waiting around, we bumped into the very sweet and very talented Lucy Edson.  We took a photo together in the Basic Grey booth, where she was shopping with A Million Memories.  But, the photo is in her camera, so I'll have to wait for her to e-mail it to me!  We also browsed the projects:

After twenty minutes or so, Kim managed to tackle a salesperson and we were off to buy!  Warning, lots of pictures ahead....

Basic Grey had these little boxes (pictured below) to coordinate with all six of their paper lines. 

They also had card kits.

I'm scared of dogs, but these ones had me grinning from ear to ear.  Cutest paper ever!

Pardon the terrible photo...

...but I just had to share this doily paper.  So unique!  I loved all of Basic Grey's lace paper:

I especially liked the fact that it's all distressed (like their regular patterned paper).  You can see a bit of the distressing below:

Love the whole Nook&Cranny line:

We had serious technical issues all day.  These stupid handheld bar code readers are supposed to make the ordering quick, easy, and accurate, but they just weren't working!  We had problems at every booth that used one.  I think something in the convention center was blocking the signal.

I had to drop the drool off my face when we got to this line: Indian Summer.

I love the rich jewel tones and the patterns are divine!  You can see lots more photos from all the lines below:

I like the way the Basic Grey booth is set up.  They have these large wooden structures.  On top of them are lots of project examples (cards, layouts, etc.).  All the paper is in trays down the side.  And smaller versions of each of the papers are on the end caps.  All the coordinating embellishments, alphas, etc. are glued to the center of the structure.  You can see it all here:

You can see Kim going in for a closer look:

We bought all the Basic Grey we could -- Kim did buy enough to get the free paper pack -- and moved on.

Crate Paper was our next stop.  It was a somewhat unexpected stop for Kim.  It wasn't on our Tuesday list, but when she saw the booth, she came around.  And, I suppose that's one of the major reasons that manufacturer's should attend CHA.  Seeing the product in person really does make a difference.

There was lots of stuff to love at their booth, but I loved the fact that their chipboard was matte and not shiny.  It sounds silly, but combined with the hand drawn effect of the graphics, it looks so darn cool!

That last chipboard is from my favorite line: Season.  Check out some of the paper from Season:

And here's a super fun layout using that border paper.  So cute, right?

In the photo below, Kim is re-ordering some of the older lines from Crate. 

I don't remember being able to buy old lines at last CHA, but that may have been an issue of inattention.  Or it may be because things from last season didn't sell out like they used to due to the economy.

Since we had Coca-Cola for breakfast, by the time noon rolled around, we were more than ready for lunch.  There were a collection of carts set up in a sort of dining pavilion.  We had Chinese...

...and really timed it right, because the lines became ridiculously long right after we got our food.  And it became really hard to find a seat too!

After lunch, we headed towards a vendor we found last year, Kodomo.  We bought some of these adorable foam stamps:

They are the most detailed foam stamps that I've ever seen.  We didn't buy any of the scrapbook paper...

...but we did buy a few sets of these matchbox stamps.  So tiny and cute!

We restocked on this washi tape, which I think is so cool.  It's just paper tape and looks a bit like masking tape when you use it.

Kodomo was a quick buy and we were off again!  Here's a nice general shot of the show floor:

We hit the Provo Craft booth very briefly.  Kim bought a few Cuttlebugs (a die cutting and embossing machine) along with some of these very cool embossing folders.  I really love the frame on the right.  I may have to invest in a Cuttlebug....

And (eek!) she bought a couple of the Yudu screenprinting machines.  If you read this blog at all, you know that I've been coveting a Yudu for a while!  It's a (relatively) small and (relatively) easy and (relatively) inexpensive way to do screenprinting at home.  You can see a photo of it being demo'd below and if you click the link, you can see it in action.

I know I mentioned it last time I went to CHA, but it bears repeating.  Men run the craft industry.

Women may be the face of many of the companies, but it's the men who are at CHA having meetings, making deals, and running the booths.  And nowhere is it more obvious than at the big booths like Provo Craft and our next stop, Making Memories.

Crafting is big business.  Just look at all those computers and printers!  I *loved* so much of what Making Memories had to offer.  So, I'm warning you, there are a thousand photos coming at you!

First things first, I loved that their booth had 6x6 layouts.  They were so tiny and cute and really made the embellishments look fantastic!

 

Loved these frames!

Lots of Halloween...

...including this totally brilliant method of displaying double sided paper!  Rolls of paper shoved into a basket with some tissue paper!  So clever!

Here's a photo of Kim shopping.  We continued to have bad luck with the electronic scanning devices.

Making Memories was giving away mini foam Slices...

... and pink aprons. 

If you wore your pink apron around, you could win a free Slice!  I have to admit that I'm a bit of a Scrooge on that kind of stuff.  I didn't wear one.  Here's some Christmas...

...and the deals at the Making Memories "outlet" were outrageous!

But, my absolute favorite collection was their new Vintage collection.  Gorgeous stuff:

 

I even loved the vintage staging that they did at the booth.  How divine is that lamp?

My favorites were these cool vintage kits of miscellaneous bits and pieces.  So darn cool!

After Making Memories, we were off to Ranger!  The Ranger booth is always full of gorgeous projects!

And, in my opinion, they do the best job of demonstrating the ways in which their product can be used!

As the day wore on, not unsurprisingly, we got faster.  So, we breezed through Ranger and...

...headed to Cosmo Cricket.  Yum.  They've really changed their look from a kind of distressed, dark style to a bright and fun one.  I love it!  Our salesman explained that they felt in depressing economic times, people were craving some bright and fun papers in their lives!  I couldn't agree more!  Look at this year's Christmas collection...

...compared to last year's:

I love the new "Boyfriend" line, but most of all, I love those woodgrain alphas in the photo below. 

This was one of the few layouts I saw at the show that had paint on it.

This kitschy spinner card totally made me grin.

We finished the day by shopping at Prima, Pink Paislee, Beacon Adhesives, and Advantus.  But, it's almost 1am and I'm ready to go to bed.  I'll be sure to put up the rest of my day one photos ASAP.  (I can't wait to share my Prima projects!  Eeek!)

But, before I go, some random ramblings:

• The show was really dark.  As in there was no light anywhere.  It was seriously dark.  I've had to edit every single photo I took because they were so, so dark.  I can't decide if it's because it's a new venue for CHA or what.
• The show is really small.  About one third the size of the Anaheim show in January.  And people complained at that show that it was small.  The nice thing is that you don't have to walk for miles.  The weird thing is how quiet it is.  Like a library.  There seem to be fewer "tourists."  Everyone who is at CHA seems to be shopping, selling or reporting.
• Vintage, vintage, vintage.  Almost every manufacturer seemed to have found their inner Jenni Bowlin.  Distressed papers, vintage looking embellishments, etc.
• Hand drawn elements were everywhere too!  In stamps, paper, embellishments, etc.  That style (which I *adore*) was everywhere!
• The layouts seem very detailed/delicate this time around.  Lots of smaller alphas being used.  And many more "little touches" like tiny pearls, stitching, glittered edges, etc.
• Altered items were everywhere.  Most booths had tons of houses, hats, boxes, trees, etc.  I loved seeing things that were beyond the page!

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know what you think!

Oh, and a bit of more good news!  I had five layouts picked up by Scrapbooking&Beyond Magazine!  Yay!

CHA: Monday

The official open of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) show is tomorrow morning.  Today was a travel day for me.  The airport was a zoo!  Everyone was hot and cranky and the lines moved sooooooooo slowly.  But, I'm in a chipper mood and even sitting on the runway for an hour couldn't change that!  Life's too short to be in a bad mood, right?

It helped that I brought along a project to play with:

 

I packed my box of art (from yesterday's post) in my packed luggage.  Scissors and liquids and all that make it impossible to bring as carry on.  But I put this lovely box of beads into my backpack.  Here's what I did:

Yes, it took me three hours to stitch the little amount you see here.  As the flight attendant said, "You must have a lot of patience."  I find it really relaxing to bead.  It's my version of knitting.

Back to CHA: I'm bunking with Kim Brooks, who is the owner of Portrait Bug, the local scrap store in Manhattan.  We're staying at The Peabody Orlando, which is located right across from the convention center.  This means that we don't have to be outside for too long -- just a quick dash across the street.  After all, this is Florida in July.  And that means hot, hot, hot, and humid.  Ick!

I've got my sneakers, water bottle, camera, and tote bag sitting by the door.  I'm ready to roll.  It's late here, just after midnight.  In the morning, we have to pick up our badges and make it to our first appointment, which is at American Crafts at 9:30am.

But, before I got to bed, two personal notes:

• Just had two layouts picked up by Somerset Memories!  Yay!
• Check out the brand new search function on my blog!  (Kim added it for me.  She said she was frustrated by looking for something on my blog and never being able to find it!)  The search box is in the left column at the bottom, under the "Project Fifty-Two" information.  You can enter a single word or many words and search the content of my blog!  How cool is that?

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm hoping to have some excellent CHA coverage tomorrow!  See you then!