The CHA Winter 2014 Report
January 16, 2014
I'm still in California -- spending a few days making art with friends and then teaching this weekend in Santa Ana -- but I wanted to share a bit about my CHA Winter 2014 experience.
If you don't know what the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show is all about, take a peek at this post I wrote back in January of 2009. If you want a giggle, read this post all about the experience from July 2011.
This was a CHA that was all about the people, for me. I literally took zero pictures of new product. So, I'll give you the very brief synopsis of what I saw: Everyone has stamps, thin dies, stencils, chalkboard related products, messy script lettering, and Project Life related products. Two nearly identical airbrush products debuted that work with markers -- lower priced (and lighter) competitors to Copic's airbrush system. As stenciling and mixed media increase in popularity, this makes so much sense. And, of course, mixed media (i.e. using paint and ink on your pages) remains a strong trend in scrapbooking.
My other confession is that I took very few photos in general. So, 95% of these photos were taken by my Mom (which explains why they're all of me). Forgive me?
And thanks, Mom, for coming and hanging out and taking all of those photos!
Of course, I spent some time in The Crafter's Workshop booth...
...mostly making silly faces it seems. But also doing some demos and chatting with people!
I also did two book signings. It was great fun to meet so many people and a little surreal. I can't 100% believe that I have a book! Eeeek!
I also participated in a panel discussion on teaching online with a wonderful round up of super talented folks!
And speaking of wonderful people, that was absolutely the highlight of this trade show! Getting to spend some time with some extremely talented, generous, and silly people.
Of course, the other highlight was the weather!
Palm trees and sunshine in January is so very not NYC! I love it!
All in all it was a great show. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by to say hello. You have no idea how much fun it is for me to connect with you!
If you'd like a look at some of the craft products from CHA, please visit Scraptime or Paperclipping.
Thanks for stopping by!