CHA

CHA Winter 2014 Conference & Trade Show, Day Two

January 13, 2014 by Linda 4 Comments

Today we saw some really neat products — and we got to see Vanna White. Vanna was in Lion Brands Yarn’s booth for a fashion show. It was standing room only, but we had a pretty good spot to watch. After the show ended, several people went up to have their picture taken with Vanna. There was a large group of men and women from Michaels (all wearing red shirts) posing for pictures.

After the crowd started thinning out, Erin was able to take some pics of the displays around the stage. They were very impressive — all made from yarn. The display was titled, “The 7 Wonders of the Yarn World” and featured 7 yarn sculptures.

Soon after we left Lions booth, I spotted a banner for a 3D printer and we headed right there. It was Klic-N-Kut’s booth and they were doing a demo on the printer. We watched as it made a mini goblet. Both Erin and I (and lots of other people) were fascinated by the printer. The printer is $1300. You have to have a software program that enables you to draw 3D objects, then you bring that file into the printer’s software program and from there it prints out the object.

We visited Bo Bunny’s booth again because I wanted to look at the two buildings that Laura Denison (of Following the Paper Trail) created. Erin took more pictures and this time got some pics of the back of the Winter Fairy House. It opens up and has space to hold a mini album.

And here is another pictured of Laura’s Pet Shoppe.

There is plenty of bling on the other half of the showroom floor, too. We found 3 more blinged out projects in glass cases along the front walkway. They are all eye catching, but the Kitchen Aid mixer covered in rhinestones is really a knock out.

We spent a little time in the We R Memory Keepers booth. We watched a demonstration of the Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress. When the man finished with the demo, he showed us a prototype of a new die cutting/embossing machine. It reminded me a little of my Cuttlebug, but it has a lot of different features. One is a button that you turn and it raises or lowers the bed. You need only one set of plates — no more sandwiches. It also has an optional motor that slips over where the handle attaches — so you can have a motorized version, when you want it.

Once again it is getting late, so I am just going to add the rest of the pictures with short captions.

7 Gypsies

7 Gypsies – I love how they did the banner on this layout. The banners are on small hangers that are hung on a chain.

7 Gypsies

We got to see the new Brother ScanNCut. It was impressive to watch — the demonstrator stamped an image and cut it out. Erin came up with a very good point. So many stamp companies are now selling dies to coordinate with some of their stamps so you don’t have to fussy cut around the images. Why not take the money you would invest in dies and buy this machine? That way you don’t have to store the dies and you will be able to cut around any stamped image. As you can see, it cuts around the fine details.

ScanNCut from Brother cutting out a stamped image.

Removing the cut from Brother’s ScanNCut.

Decorated cell phone cases.

More cell phone cases.

Fabscraps

Crows in the Kaisercraft booth.

Lindy’s Stamp Gang

The Modge Podge mascot — she was kind enough to pose for us.

Displays in the Plaid booth.

Prima

SEI

Stampendous

Teresa Collins

Teresa Collins — the bottom picture shows an album that doesn’t look like much in the package. But you pull the tab on the one end and it flips through the pages.

Tim Holtz demonstrating his new spritzer.

Filed Under: CHA, Craft Supershow Tagged With: CHA, Klic-N-Kut, Stampendous, Tim Holtz, We R Memory Keepers

CHA Winter 2014 Conference & Trade Show, Day One

January 12, 2014 by Linda 1 Comment

Erin and I attended the opening day of the CHA Conference & Trade Show held in Anaheim, CA. We arrived about an hour after it opened — we were a little late because Erin had to drive up from San Diego. We stayed until about an hour before it closed and managed to walk a little over 1/3 of the show. We will be back tomorrow when it opens.

Erin took a lot of pictures and I am sharing quite a few. I would post more but I am just too tired and I need to get to bed so we can get up and do it all over again tomorrow. We plan on going all four days. So, here are some of the highlights from today.

Some of the displays in the lobby.

Lanterns hanging in the lobby.

Brother's new Scan & Cut machine, laser die cuts, Pop-It-Up dies, and Spellbinders Tool In One (used to clean up those hard-to-get-out pieces from intricate dies).

In the New Showcase area: Brother’s new Scan & Cut machine, laser die cuts, Pop It Up dies, and Spellbinders Tool in One (to clean up those hard-to-get-out pieces from intricate dies).

New Tim Holtz products – a Spritzer to use with Distress Markers and some Mini Distress Inks and Ink Blending Tool.

Lots of bling at the show. Even Swarovski is there — we haven’t made it to the Swarovski Elements booth yet.

Die Cuts With a View always has fantastic displays. This year their booth has walls and they have gorgeous framed paper art hanging on the sides.

Die Cuts With a View always has fantastic displays. This year their booth has walls and they have gorgeous framed paper art hanging on the outside.

More DCWV

Bo Bunny's booth features two beautiful projects -- a Winter Fairy House and a the Happy Tails Pet Shoppe, both created by Laura Denison of Following the Paper Trail.

Bo Bunny’s booth features two beautiful projects — a Winter Fairy House and the Happy Tails Pet Shoppe, both created by Laura Denison of Following the Paper Trail.

The kits Erin & I received at the Bo Bunny booth for giving them a business card.

The Graphic 45 booth — always a popular location.

More Graphic 45. The Tea Shoppe is gorgeous. It was also created by Laura Denison of Following the Paper Trail.

Cute paper and stickers from Scrapbook Customs.

Filed Under: CHA, Craft Supershow Tagged With: CHA, DCWV, Graphic 45, Ranger, Spellbinders

Winter 2012 – 2nd Day of Exhibition

January 14, 2013 by Linda 5 Comments

The show was a little more crowded today than it was on Saturday, but it was still easy to navigate through the aisles. Our first stop was at a booth where a line of people had formed. I figured there was either a really cool demo going on or a celebrity was in the booth.

The booth was Electic Products and they are the makers of E6000 Craft Adhesive. They are introducing a new spray version of E6000 that has no odor. In their booth was author, designer and TV host Mark Montano signing and giving away copies of his newest book, The Big-Ass Book of Bling. Of course hubby and I had to stand in line, and we both got an autographed copy.

It was funny because when Steve (hubby) first found out what we were standing in line for, he grumbled a tad. But while we were in line, they handed out some sample tubes of E6000. Steve started talking to the representatives about their various products and asked if they make any industrial adhesives. He found they may have an adhesive that will work for his latest project at work. Then he was a happy camper.

I went back to Jinger Adams’ booth to get some more information on her Over-the-Door Armoire. Her booth was pretty busy this morning. I found out the retail price — it is going to be $250.

I also asked where it will be available for sale. Kristy told me tthat the initial plans are to sell it first on HSN and then have it available in stores. She said to keep an eye on Jinger’s Facebook page and blog because they will make an announcement when they know for sure.

I found a couple of cool new tools today that I am excited about. The first one I found at Craftwell’s booth. I wanted to try their new eBosser machine and they had several out to demo. The nice thing about the eBosser is that it is automatic — no handles to crank. I got to run some cardstock through it with one of their embossing folders. The machine makes a nice, deep impression. Since the embossing folder I used makes a card, you can also see it makes the score line to fold it.

Here’s a picture of the eBosser and some felt flowers that were cut with the machine using a die:

After I did the demo with the eBosser, the lady showed me a prototype of Craftwell’s latest goodie — it’s an airbrush system for crafters, the eBrush. The nice thing about this is that the air compressor is the base of the unit — and it’s very compact. There is a spot in the top to hold the airbrush. It will take up little space on your work area. She mentioned a fun use for it — using food-safe colors to decorate cakes.

My second fun discovery was in the Zutter booth — they make the Bind-it-All, among many other products. They are introducing the Bow-it-All, a nifty tool to make bows of many styles and sizes. It is a board with metal pegs that you move around to make the sizes and shapes. The extra pegs and tools store in the sides of the board and it comes in a pink bag.

Here are 3 photos of the large display showing the Bow-it-All and many of the bows it makes.

Stacy, the lady who did the demo, is also the designer of this neat tool and I’m sorry to say I didn’t get her face in the photo. She is working with a black one — the pink version is what is going to be for sale and it will come with a pink case. The board measures 8″x 13″ and it comes with what she calls “helping hand” pegs. They are for holding the piece of ribbon in the back, if you are going to wrap it around a card or scrapbook page. There are little clips that go around the two “helping hand” pegs to secure the ribbon while you make your bow.

Oh, and the way you tie the bow off — Stacy said it forms a “C” shape in the back — ensures that the bow will not come untied. You can tug on the tails and the bow stays tied. That is a great feature.

Stacy made two bows while I was there, a small one and a larger double loop one. She made the small one with seam binding and it measures about 3/4″ — look at how pretty that tiny bow turned out. She did not put the extra piece of ribbon in the back of this bow — you will notice on the larger bow that it has the extra piece to wrap around. The ribbon on the large bow is 1 1/2″ wide and the bow is about 3 1/4″ wide. I got to bring both bows home with me so I photographed them on a piece of floral cardstock.

The suggested price on the Bow-it-All is $24.95 and they will be available in the spring. This is going to be another must-have tool for me. I love pretty bows and while I think I do a decent job of tying a single bow, the ability to make such a variety really appeals to me. And to be able to make such nice, tiny bows — that is exciting. My arthritic hands won’t be struggling with tiny loops.

We ended our day back at Craftwell’s booth. They were having drawing and were giving away an eBosser. They started by giving away four embossing folders first. These are large folders, 8 1/2″ x 11″. The lady standing in front of me asked me what would a person do with the folder if they don’t have the machine and we both chuckled. Then her name was called as a winner of a folder and my name was called next! It must be a sign that I need to purchase an eBosser at some point.

Filed Under: CHA, Craft Supershow, News, Supplies Tagged With: Bow-it-All, Craftwell, E6000, eBosser, eBrush, Eclectic Products, Zutter

Winter CHA 2013 – First Day of Exhibition

January 13, 2013 by Linda 9 Comments

Today, CHA’s winter exhibition opened in Anaheim, California. I do not believe the show is as large as previous years, but there is still so much to see and do. I took a lot of pictures so I can share some of the excitement.

First up, I will show you Die Cut With a View’s booth. They always have an outstanding booth — I can’t believe their display this year. To sum it up, you certainly can’t ignore the elephant in this room:

I found out they made the elephant by using a topiary frame. They covered that with newspapers and then added their own paper on top. The blanket is gorgeous — it’s made of what looks like a turquoise quilted lame fabric and the embellishments are all done with beads.

I had to take a pic of the tail too:

They also have a cobra in their booth — made of jewelry findings and chain. He is just amazing.

Here are some of the stacks that are featured:

And finally, some framed art on the outside of their booth:

Our next stop will be Jinger Adams’ booth. She is in the new exhibitor’s section and it was good to see both her and Kristy today.

And here is Jinger’s over-the-door Craft Armoire that is getting a lot of attention. The first picture shows it closed and the second one shows it open.

As usual, Graphic 45 has a stunning booth:

One of their new collections, French Country:

Another new collection, Secret Garden:

I made it a point to stop at We R Memory Keepers’ booth to check out their new Envelope Punch Board. I watched a demo of it and was even able to make one myself, along with a card. This is a really neat tool and after using it, I will definitely be purchasing one.

This is what the Envelope Punch Board looks like:

Measurements for envelopes are listed right on the board and it tells you what size paper to cut and where to place your paper on the board. There is a punch at the top that cuts out the little areas where the score lines meet. It is so much easier than trying to snip that little piece out with a pair of scissors. Once you score and snip it all the way around, you then fold and assemble your envelope.

It also has a corner rounder punch on the back of the board so you can round the corner on your flap.

For the card, I got to use one of their Lucky 8 punches. I used it in conjunction with a doily border punch and ended up with a fancy oval to attach to my card. Sorry about the blurred hand in the background.

I folded the doily in half and added it, along with some embellishments, to my card. I think it turned out cute.

In the new exhibitor section I found another neat tool — it’s called a Laser Square. It has a mat that is magnetic and you place your paper on it. The paper is held in place by magnets. They are strong magnets and can hold several layers of paper, so if you do a lot of matting your page will stay in place. The laser is powered by a 9 v. battery and it enables you to line up all your work on your page. They said it helps line up your paper for stamping too. I think it will also work great with cards.

The company is called Kellycraft and the man said his wife came up with the idea at 2 in the morning — I guess she woke him up to share her idea. They also make Laser Skins so you can customize your Laser Square.

The Copic booth and some of the cards on display:

The Prima booth:

One of their new lines, Hello Pastel.

Another new collection, Sunrise Sunset:

Some layouts on display:

And look at this gorgeous work of art:

Prima and Leeza Gibbons have teamed up and she has a collection called Wishes & Dreams.

Leeza was in Prima’s booth today.

Another new exhibitor is Farm House Paper Co. They have a great display and a nice product line.

BoBunny’s booth was very busy when we walked by.

This is the back of their booth, with close-ups of their displays:

I spent a little time watching the demo in Purple Cow’s booth. The lady was showing how to use their craft iron and encaustic wax paints. She cut a piece from an old silk necktie and was coating it in wax on a piece of paper.

Here are a couple of finished pieces that were on display:

This picture shows a napkin with a picture of Queen Elizabeth on it and how the lady incorporated it into her cover:

I plan on going back to Purple Cow’s booth so I can learn more about this technique.

I haven’t knitted in years, but this display using Bernat yarn caught my eye. The afghan was so soft.

I have a lot more pictures to post, but for some reason it is taking forever to upload them onto my blog. I have been working for several hours now just to get these up. Since I want to be back at the show when they open in the morning, it’s time to call it a night.

My final picture will be of my one purchase today. I hadn’t planned on buying this, just knew that I was going to at some point. I had my dear hubby at the show with me today, and when we stopped in the booth to look at Klic-n-Kut’s Zing die cutting machine, he must have noticed me drooling because he said to go ahead and buy it. The lady said they brought a machine with them and it is at their hotel. She is bringing the machine to the show tomorrow and I can bring it home with me. I am very excited! It will be a week or two before I can play with it though — I have several embroidery orders I have to get out first.

Filed Under: CHA, News Tagged With: CHA, Craft Armoire, Craft Supershow, DCWV, Graphic 45, Jinger Adams, Prima Marketing, We R Memory Keepers, Zing

CHA 2011: Die Cuts With A View 12″ x 24″ Paper Stacks

February 3, 2011 by Linda 4 Comments

Many Cricut crafters have been asking for more cardstock that is 12″ x 24″ so they can use it in their Cricut Expressions with the larger mats. I spotted these three new packs of paper in the DCWV booth during CHA.

All three stacks are adhesive backed. The glitter pack has 6 sheets of paper, while the pattern and textured stack both have 12 sheets.

Here is a close-up of the textured stack.

Filed Under: CHA Tagged With: DCWV

CHA 2011: Die Cuts With A View Paper Dresses

February 2, 2011 by Linda 3 Comments

I think my favorite booth at the show this year is Die Cuts With A View. Their display is absolutely stunning. In the center of the booth is a runway featuring life-size dresses made from their paper stacks. There are also other paper dresses scattered throughout the booth, as well as two themed rooms.

I visited the booth each of the four days of the show just to look at those dresses. They are absolutley amazing. While talking to various reps over that period, I found out that their designers started creating the dresses last October. When they received the challenge to do the dresses, the designers got a dress form and worked on them at home. Some worked individually, while others collaborated on a design.

The staff at DCWV did not see the dresses until about a week before the show, when the designers started bringing them in. One rep told me they were blown away when they saw them.

I asked how the dresses were transported to CHA and was told that they were wrapped, loaded in a truck standing up, and driven to the show. Let me share some now.

This is a shot of the runway, which featured three dresses.

The first dress is made from the Natural Paper Stack. I was able to peek inside and see that it has a base made from muslin, and the paper is affixed to that.

This dress is made from the Mariposa stack.

Notice the detail on the back of this dress, especially the buttons and all those gorgeous flowers.

The third dress is made from the Gone Wild stack, which I believe is exclusive to Michaels. The front of this dress is made with strips of paper that are woven together.

The back features a train made of paper leaves and flowers.

This dress is made from the Immortal Love Paper Stack.

This is from the Shimmer Paper Stack.

I’m not sure which paper this dress is from, but I think it is the Luxury stack.

From the Ciao Bella collection.

And here is the last dress, made from the Black Currant stack.

Filed Under: CHA, Uncategorized Tagged With: DCWV

CHA 2011: New Craft Supershows

February 2, 2011 by Linda Leave a Comment

I spotted this poster while eating lunch one day at CHA and asked Erin to take a picture so I can share it here. It looks like there are going to be three shows in 2011, one at Rosemont (Chicago), IL, another at Charlotte, NC and the third one at Orlando, FL. It says the shows have new producers.

The shows are being added to other shows, which range from jewelry and fashion shows to women’s shows. It says the “streamlined” supershows will offer:

50-100 craft vendors
Make-n-takes
Demonstrations
Techniques
Product for sale

I am curious to know how the “streamlined” shows will compare to previous shows. I read on another site, valleynewslive.com, that the new format means the new shows will be a section within another show rather than being a show in itself. It also said that instead of having separate classes, teaching will now take place within the booths.

Filed Under: CHA, Craft Supershow Tagged With: CHA, Craft Supershow

CHA 2011

January 31, 2011 by Linda 7 Comments

Erin and I just finished up day 2 of the show and we are both so tired. We spent the first day wandering all over, but today we started walking the show at one wall and are working our way towards the opposite side of the hall.

Of course we began the first day at Provo Craft’s booth, and judging by the crowds in their booth, it is one of the more popular spots. Provo Craft is doing a raffle at 3 p.m. each day and they are handing out tickets that have to be validated in order to be entered in the drawing. To validate your ticket, you have to do fun things — like participate in a Make & Take, attend three of the many demonstations in their booth, or participate in a survey.

When you receive your tickets for the raffle, Provo Craft is also giving away a cute stuffed Cricut. They have a contest to see where you take Cricut and to enter this one, you need to take a picture of Cricut somewhere in L.A. Today they announced three winners of the photo contest and each received a new Expression! I loved one of the photos — the woman held her Cricut alongside a police car, capturing Cricut and the LAPD logo on the side of the car.

Erin took lots of pictures the first day of the show. Here are some from Provo Craft’s booth. I’ll begin with a shot of the new Cricut logo:

Here are some pictures of new Cuttlebug folders coming soon. They are bringing out some fun new ones called All-In-One Embossing plates. I was able to give them a try today at one of the demo stations. You begin with the All-In-One 6″ x 9″ folder. There are several different plate sets that you arrange on the folder to make your own custom embossing folders. You can pick and use the pieces you want, or each set comes with an overall embossing plate too. Because the All-In-One 6″ x 9″ folder has a thicker base, you just need to use the two “B” plates on top of it when running it through the Cuttlebug.

Close-up shots of the new Cuttlebug products:

I got to meet two of the Cricut Circle Design Team members today, Shantaie Fowler and Cindy Royal.

On April 27, the new Cricut Expression 2 will debut on HSN. This machine has some cool new features. It uses both regular Cricut cartridges and also the Imagine cartridges. It will be able to cut the images and layers from the Imagine cartridges, but obviously it will not print.

It has a new touch-screen feature that will eliminate using the overlays. It also will also have Wi-Fi capability. The “shoulders” on the machine (the colored end pieces) will be interchangeable so you can switch colors.

The Provo rep we talked to yesterday told us the new Expression 2 will initially be available on HSN and then may move into other markets, but the anniversary release will be a limited edition machine.

I asked today if we will be able to use the Gypsy and Jukebox with the new Expression2 and was told yes, it will be compatible with both products. Check out the light by the blade on this new machine.

Another new exciting product is called Cricut CraftRoom, which will be an online site where you can design. The rep said it will be compatible with both PC and MAC. And the best part, it’s free! I was able to sit and play with a Beta version for quite a while on Sunday. While I was working in CraftRoom, the rep told me they are working on a shadow feature where you will be able to automatically add a shadow to any of your cuts.

Ok, so while exploring CraftRoom I looked at the list of cartridges and noticed some names that are not familiar to me. I was able to look at some of the images on the screen, so I am wondering if these are going to be some new cartridges. Here are the names:

American Alphabet

Beep Beep

Bump in the Night

Crocs Rule

Damask Decor

Elegant Edges

Happy Graduation

Love You a Latte

Luau

Martha Stewart Nature

Recess

Spring Fever Holiday

Spring Fever Seasonal

Storks Delivery

Summer Bliss Holiday

Summer Bliss Seasonal

Sweet Shop

Ultimate Creativity

Winter in the Air Holiday

Winter in the Air Seasonal

Yee Haw

There are two Make & Take stations set up in Provo Craft’s booth and the projects change daily. Yesterday we made a pirates wood frame and a cupcake holder, complete with a yummy cupcake. This is from the cupcake station.

Provo Craft offers several classes daily, but you have to arrive early to sign up. The classes fill up fast. Erin and I arrived at the show around 10:30 a.m. this morning and the classes were already gone. We are going to try and get there at opening tomorrow and see if we can get a class. This picture is from a class Jinger and Robyn (My Pink Stamper) were conducting on Sunday afternoon.

As I stated above, Provo Craft is doing a daily raffle in their booth at 3 p.m. These are pictures from the first day’s raffle. Jinger drew a ticket and the winner came onstage. Then the fun began — the winner could chose to take a cartridge (Birthday Bash) or spin the Cricut wheel, where prizes ranged from an Imagine to a high-five from the Cricut himself.

The first name drawn was Erin’s, which was such a surprise because she says she never wins anything. Since she already has Birthday Bash, she chose to spin the wheel. Round and round it when until it landed on the Your Story Photo Machine.

Everyone chose to spin the wheel and most were lucky — one won the new Yudu Cardmaking Machine, another won a Circle membership, but only one lady did not win. Well, she won a high-five from Cricut himself, but as she was walking off, Jinger handed her the Birthday Bash cartridge. So everyone was a winner!

Filed Under: CHA Tagged With: CHA, Cricut, Cuttlebug

CHA Winter 2014 Conference & Trade Show, Day Two

CHA Winter 2014 Conference & Trade Show, Day One

Winter 2012 – 2nd Day of Exhibition

Winter CHA 2013 – First Day of Exhibition

CHA 2011: Die Cuts With A View 12″ x 24″ Paper Stacks

CHA 2011: Die Cuts With A View Paper Dresses

CHA 2011: New Craft Supershows

CHA 2011

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