Back From CHA!

Hello Hello!

I had a good time at CHA. I attended the Consumer show one day and CHA Tradeshow the next and I'm pooped.

I have a lot to share and some pics so I'm sure you will like that.

This year I was able to convince my hubby to come with me so that I can get some ideas for my booth in Chicago later this year and he actually was happy to help. So he played camera man. :)

One thing I noticed about myself is that I am label loyal. Really I only cared about a few brands that I absolutely love and can't live without. And so once I made my loyal rounds to those booths, I did a little site-seeing with new stuff.

In order to be successful at CHA as a new exhibitor you only have a split second to gain the attention of people. That means your booth must draw people in. Sadly there were a lot of booths I didn't go to because to be honest they looked like a lot of run of the mill booths. And so if I didn't see anything that caught my eye enough to take a picture, I didn't spend much time looking, but did grab a catalog. I do realize that some people don't understand that attention grabbing concept and so I was willing to give them another chance by grabbing their catalog. Hopefully they can wow me with that. :)

My favorite this year was Provo Craft's Cricut Cake. Ok let me tell you first that I was on the Cricut Expressions Bandwagon for a while. I got an excellent deal (better than wholesale) at Walmart no less (when I shopped there) and once I was able to purchase wholesale I had about 30 cartridges. I didn't like everything I had to do to work the darn thing and so I ended up selling it. The person that bought it off me was so stoked about it. She sends me cards she makes every now and then. Too cool. And so when I walked by Provo Craft I immediately head for the Cuttlebug section to see what new folders they have come out with. But this year I was caught off guard.

Feast your eyes on this little bad boy- AWWWWWWW (sung by heavenly angels lol)



It's simply scrumptious. I've taken Wilton Cake classes and to be honest cake decorating is a lot of work. And especially working with gum paste and fondant. While I got all the way to the 3rd course (and I still didn't master those dang roses lol) I don't do cakes to that magnitude lol...nope not at all. I love fondant. Well I love the idea of fondant and so when I saw this machine...I was in heaven.

So I sat through the demo



And I even did the Cake and take (cupcake)



Since it's wrapped so cutely here is what I made:



The only difference with mine is that I chose chocolate frosting. They gave out these cute little chef's hat. But me and hat's don't get along sorry no pic lol.

So after I drooled over the machine that I will be getting shortly lol...I moved on to the cuttlebug. They have this cute new model (does the same thing as the old one except it has a butterfly design on it and comes in another color) I wasn't impressed. Why? Because they still haven't come out with a 12x12 model. Hello????? Even Big Shot did that and I absolutely love my big shot especially for sewing projects:



Cuttlebug, catch up with the times will ya? :)

Next I snapped some pics of my favorite brands:

Basic Grey



Bo Bunny - these 2 lines are already out but I love them mucho!!!

Persuasion


Love Bandit


Upsy Daisy



Scrumptious Velvet Paper the manufacturer escapes me at the moment




And how cute are these fabric flowers in some great colors?



Hero Arts envelopes and note sets. Oh man these colors are yummy!



And lastly, a new product by Quick Quotes A new canvas set....TOO CUTE!



And the Pièce de résistance? EK Success (insert clapping here) They have, I believe 78...yes 78 new punches. Oh my dear crafty buddy. These things are beautiful.



As I saw the demo and punched a few cards, let's just say if I hadn't been shoo'ed off my by husband I would have bought most if not all of the new designs. So cute, I was even thinking about carrying them.

I also got to see up close and personal the new Spellbinder dies. I was able to snap a few shots, but then had to show other images because some came out blurry...ahem blame my husband lol...new camera and all LOL.

Labels Eleven



Labels Thirteen



Labels Ten



Big Scalloped Square Large



I am going to be placing an order shortly! LOL...that's all I can say about that. :)

And here is me and Cyndi from the design team. She is soo precious. I wish I would have been able to do dinner or something with her, but hubby was sick and hungry and we took off after about 3 hours at the show. So Cyndi, perhaps Chicago? :)

I hate pictures but I figured what the heck.



And so my days of running the streets are over. Now back to the grind. Hope you have a wonderful week.