CHA Winter 2015 - Craft Geek Confessions

I hope I never lose the excitement of attending the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. It is only open to the craft trade and I am the biggest craft gawker so attending the show is like being a kid in a candy store.

If you follow my blog then you will know that I am a Tim Holtz fan girl. Adore the man! I watch his demos and learn so much. I work with him and learn even more. He is amazing.

My Moment of Fame via Tim Holtz

As if working with Tim wasn't reward enough. Or having him invite me to stand next to him while he demonstrated at the Sizzix booth on Sunday wasn't enough to make me swoon. But then he introduces me and acknowledges my work ON CAMERA!

And thanks to his generousity and the talents of Mark Giles and Christine Urias of Scrap Time and Sizzix for letting me design Tim's catalog and packaging... I have a brief moment of fame in the papercrafting industry.

Check out the video while I finish swooning for a bit.

Thanks Christine!

CHA Day 3 - Vintage and Repurposed Displays

I love how vintage items were everywhere at CHA. I shot some photos but I apologize ahead of time because I may not have noted which booths had these delightful ideas.

I may have to steal this first idea because it is so clever. I think this is from Cosmo Cricket's booth because I see that cute chef on the card. They used a vintage drawer front as a shelf. Awesome! 

I know that I just threw out a bunch of these old wooden slacks hangers. I never would have thought to use them as a display item. Simple but very clever!

And speaking of hangers and clever displays, here is how Tim Holtz used old wooden hangers to display artwork. Notice the ladder holding the hanging lights. Brilliant!

This is another one of my friend Debi's clever booth displays. It is an umbrella with a chandelier spliced into the handle. This wouldn't work if you were superstitious about an open umbrella in your house but  you might want to make an exception for this clever idea.

I loved this collection of old clocks on the wall. I could see myself collecting these.

Finally, I was amazed to see the original drawings that were used for the new Tim Holtz stamps for Stampers Anonymous. These were displayed on a drawing table. I don't think I've ever seen original sketches displayed at a show before. I was priviledged to hear Tim's Business Manager, Mario Rossi tell me the whole backstory of how these were created.

I hope some of these images inspired you. I guess I go to the show more to meet people in the industry and see how creative people display things rather than to see what is new from the different manufacturers. Many informative bloggers and podcasters have all of the new offerings covered. I am just a Crafting "Groupie / Stalker / Super Fan" that takes pictures with crafting super stars and odd things on walls. But, oh wow, am I inspired!

CHA Day 2 - New Products, Sweet Colors

I am normally a rather shy person but I have discovered an entirely different side of me when I am at the Craft and Hobby Association tradeshow. Maybe it is because I love the industry so dearly that I am not afraid to go up and introduce myself to people I don't even know.

There is just so much to see that I often forget to take photos. I found that I took an equal number of photos of displays as I did of new products that delighted me. So today's post will be about some new products and tomorrow I will share photos of how some booths were decorated using vintage treasures that are so dear to my heart.

I noticed that many of the colors shown could be described as "cheery vintage". This is the Vintage Market line from Sizzix. My friend Jen drew these amazingly sweet dies. There are button cards, old scales, Mason jars and many other designs. And my other friend Debi created the samples and styled the display. It is all so inspiring.

Another example of cheery vintage colors is this line from Cosmo Cricket. Wouldn't these chef images look great to decorate recipe cards! I loved the colors and retro images.

This is a line from Echo Park. I love the little girl illustration on the bottom left and the soft pastel colors. How sweet is this!!!

 These adorable baby lines are by Kaiser Craft. They look like sweet old baby cards.

If you follow Tim Holtz's blog then you know that he in introducing a line of stamps of sketched images for Stampers Anonymous.  Here is a display of some cards and tags made with those stamps.

And finally, with Valentine's day right around the corner I wanted to share these amazing Valentine's themed cards using Tim Holtz's dies from Sizzix.

Tomorrow I will share some of the vintage displays I found all around the CHA showroom. Vintage is still so popular.

CHA Winter 2013 - Star Struck!

I already admitted that I am a Paper Crafting "Groupie / Stalker / Super Fan" so it shouldn't surprise anyone when I say that I had a great time visiting with some wonderful Stars of the paper crafting industry at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show today. I will share more photos of the displays and new products later but today's post is all about Star gazing.

My favorite super star is the oh-so-talented Tim Holtz. I am holding the Sizzix Alterations catalog that I designed for him. He really is absolutely brilliant and so creative. Love love love working with this guy!

Karen Burniston is another designer that amazes me. I got to know her a few years ago when I designed her logo. I love how she thinks in 3 dimensions and makes things pop!

Another designer that I adore is Eileen Hull. I don't think anyone could be any sweeter than Eileen.

I just met Brenda Walton but I feel like I've known her for a while. I worked on all of her Sizzix packaging and her attention to detail is amazing.

That's it for the Star gazing. I will be returning to the show again tomorrow so I will have more photos of new products and some awesome display ideas. Vintage display ideas were everywhere.

Thrifty Crafters Are Trendsetters!

I just got back from opening day at CHA {Craft and Hobby Association} Winter tradeshow. It is the largest tradeshow for the crafting industry. I can only describe it as fun, exciting, entertaining and enlightening.

I admit that I am a bit star-struck by the famous crafter/bloggers in the industry. The first favorite person I saw was Tim Holtz. He is so popular that I got just a quick hello and then he was off talking to the retailers.

Biscuit Tin Organizer and CHA Preparations

I've had a couple of vintage biscuit tins sitting around just looking pretty. I knew they made great storage solutions but with a bit of luck I discovered the perfect use for them.

If you're a paper crafter then you know that some scrapbooking supplies come in 12"x 12" sizes. Papers are easy to organize by theme or color but what do you do with things like 12" Grungepaper or 12" stencils or 12" chipboard alphabet sheets?

I discovered that they will fix perfectly in a biscuit tin. The larger sheets are in back and the smaller, bulky items fit in front.

My biscuit tin is sitting on a wooden stool that was my chair when I was a toddler. I like that it places the container higher so that I can tuck some sewing supplies underneath.

The two strawberry canisters hold vintage millinery supplies. On the wall to the right are some of my Tilt Bins holding items like acid free drawing ink and Glimmer Mist. I'm slowly but happily organizing my studio.

On a personal note: I finally completed the two catalogs, 47 packages and three booklets for Tim Holtz's new Sizzix lines for CHA {Craft and Hobby Association trade show} this weekend. This should explain why I haven't had the energy to do very many creative projects on my blog recently. I love working with Tim but his "creative genius" brain keeps me hopping. {Luv ya t!m} Hopefully I'll get my studio organized and be back making projects soon.

And in a few days I'll be at CHA in Anaheim, California and have a chance to meet up with some talented friends from the crafting industry. Hopefully I will get some great sneak peek photos of what is new and trending in the crafting world. It is very exciting!

This is linked to:
Coastal Charm, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Thrifty Home, Thrifty Decorating and Very Merry Vintage Style

CHA Day 2

Today was actually the last day of the Craft & Hobby Association trade show so I am slightly behind in posting photos.

Here are some random photos of a few new products as well as some very cool displays that I enjoyed.

Die Cuts With a View had some amazing dress form displays with the dresses created out of their new papers.