CHA Winter 2014 Recap

Well another CHA show has come and gone!  I was lucky to be able to attend my third winter show with my scrappy partner in crime, Malika Kelly.  Mal and I worked with Veronica in the Chic Tags booth...which is always a blast. Veronica lovingly calls us her "hobos" and we love promoting her  wonderful company! 

 

We didn't get a lot of time to be outside but when we did, the weather was sunny and warm!  We also got to sneak away from the booth during slower times to see the floor and visit other booths. 

 

This show was also very exciting for me because I had layouts in Teresa Collins' booth!!  I am not trying to sound cliché when I say this is a dream come true.  Any of my scrappy friends can attest to that. Being a part of Teresa's team has been #1 at the top of my creative goals and I couldn't be more excited! 

me with DT coordinator, Cheri Piles (who is awesomely talented and sweet!) 

 

Getting photo bombed by Sean! 

 

 

 

The first day, I got to be Teresa's personal photographer while in the We R Memory Keepers booth being intereviewed by Scrapbook.com!  Teresa debuted new, gorgeous Albums Made Easy lines with 5 new 12x12 albums. Please check these out! I'm so excited to play with the beautiful cards and paper!

 

I love meeting scrap friends IRL at the shows!! Here is Jennie McGarvey with Malika..we design on Chic Tags together! Such a sweet lady!

 

Loving these new flair from the Lets Go collection from Chic Tags! We did a fun make n take the second day!

 

I am a big fan of this lady's work!! So glad I got to meet Patricia Roebuck in person!! :)

 

Fellow Illinoisan Melissa Elsner came to say hi at the Chic Tags booth!!  Great meeting Melissa!

More scrappy friends came in on day two!! Including Rochelle and Kristi from Paper Secrets! And we also met Krissy Clark from the Practical Scrapper design team! 

 

 

 Love Leah L'Orange who was there with Some Odd Girl! What a great lady who is a big CT fan! :) 

 

 

Group photos in the CT booth! L-R:  Suz Mannecke, Jennie McGarvey, Malika, and Aimee Maddern

 

 

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On Day Three, I finally made a trek over to the Clear Scrap booth!  I felt bad that I didn't get to spend more time with Susan and Jim!  I love them dearly and am so happy to be a part of the Clear Scraps family!

 

Susan teaching a class with the new Word Boards in the booth!  You need to check these out, along with the other awesome new releases!

In the afternoon, Mal and I were able to go visit some booths! We stopped to talk to Laura Funk at Glitz!  Love her!

Love us some Wendy Vecchi!  We've known Wendy since before she became famous!! Such a sweet and talented woman!

 

 

That  night, Teresa took her team to Bubba Gump's for dinner! I think I was still in shock that I'm a part of all of this..I was a little quiet; taking it all in!  I feel so very blessed!

 

Love and adore this woman!! She has been and continues to be such an inspiration to me!

 

So after dinner, I get this photo from Cheri saying Northridge named my layout with Daily Stories the cutest!  Honored and such a great ending to a fun night!

 

Last day!  Stopped by Some Odd Girl to see Leah and Katie!  Very talented and sweet! 

 

Right across from Some Odd Girl was Freckled Fawn....this was their first show!  Love these girls too...please support small businesses such as this and Some Odd Girl! 

 

 

 

 Mal with two of the designers from Maya Road:  Caroline and Mandy. As always, MR has cute stuff!

 

Getting ready to tear down the booth! Exciting but kind of sad. The week seems to go by so fast! I have so much fun with Veronica and Malika! 

 

That night, we went to meet up with Jen Ritchie for a drink at the Crown Plaza where the Play Big Picture class was being held.  I guess its a good thing I didn't know about it otherwise I'd still be in California!  LOL Next year if they have it, I am so there!

Mal and Veronica with Jen! 

 

 

So there is my CHA experience!  I'm so happy to be a part of such a great industry!  Going to the show and connecting with other scrap geeks makes me happy! Mal and I spent all of Wednesday traveling home. I was so happy to see my family (plus sleep in my own bed!).  It always seems to take me a couple days to recoop too...so much brain/body overload! LOL

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practical Scrappers Scrap Your Stash Blog Hop

In celebration of CHA beginning tomorrow, the team at Practical Scrappers is having a blog hop!  The challenge is to use your stash! Who doesn't need to do that? I know I'm guilty of hoarding my papers!!

Although it isn't a very old collection, I used Heidi Swapp's Christmas line, Believe.  If anything, I have a TON of Christmas paper! It's just all so pretty!  For example, I have the last three October Afternoon Christmas lines in my paper drawer...still sealed.  Sad I know! LOL

I've been wanting to create with this line for awhile..I really love the black that accents the traditional red and green. 

 

I cut my title on my Silhouette and added journaling that I typed out on my electric typewriter.

 

 

Love these coordinating pennants!  I am a big fan of banners and pennants...so I had to use them! I used my circle punch to cut the "25" from one of the patterned papers. 

 

More pennants! Love the glittery texture as well! 

 

I used a punch to create these tags, then accented with bakers twine from Whisker Graphics.

 

If you are hopping in order, your next stop is Christine's blog!  Thanks for joining us today!  God willing, I will be on my way to Anaheim this afternoon for the show. If you are attending, stop by the

Chic Tags booth to say hi. On Monday morning, I will be doing make and takes in the Clear Scraps booth! 

I will try to post updates from the show while I'm out there! 

Happy Friday!

 

 Be sure to check out the Practical Scrappers blog to see instructions on how to become a winner! Thanks to Kiwi Lane Designs for being our sponsor!

 

Charissa Miller http://www.akihasmommascraps.com
Cathy Harper  http://alteredplayground.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Haggerty  http://livethemoment-jen.blogspot.com *you are here!*
Christine Meyer: http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com
Kristina MacKeen: http://mamasanity.blogspot.com
Erin Morehouse http://girlpaperscissors.blogspot.com
Nicole Laha http://shezigzags.blogspot.com
Krissy Clark McKee http://krissyclarkmckee.blogspot.com
Wendi Robinson http://scrappydayinparadise.blogspot.com/
Lissa Mitchell: http://mightycrafty.blogspot.com/2014/01/practical-scrappers-blog-hop.html
Deborah Johnson:  http://scrappinthelittlethings.blogspot.com/
Jessica Arrant http://errantscraps.blogspot.com
Kerri Yarus: http://kerrikr8tions.blogspot.com
Lisa Peeples http://snappinandscrappin.blogspot.com
Kim Ryden: http://rydenkim.blogspot.com
Laura Cox: http://scrapaddict4life.blogspot.com/
Kelly Jean http://kelsterjean.blogspot.com/
Lanette Erickson http://stacksofscraps.blogspot.com/
Alison Day http://alisondaydesigns.com/
Wendy Coffman http://www.stampingrules.com
Charity Hotrum
Michelle Johns  http://www.myflightsoffancy.com
Lee-Anne Thornton http://lee-annelovethejourney.blogspot.com/
Marcia Dehn-Nix  http://onescrapatatime-bymumsie.blogspot.com/2014/01/practical-scrappers-blog-hop.html
Kelli Fortier http://www.favor8favors.blogspot.com/

Clear Scraps CHA Reveal: new Basketball Chip Album!

I always love this time of year right before CHA and new products are being revealed!  The new releases at Clear Scraps are so awesome and it was so fun getting to play with them! 

 

Today I am sharing a mini album I did with the new Basketball Chip Album! This is perfect to document photos of your favorite player!  I used pictures of my son's first year in Upward basketball...he was a little kindergartner then!  So cute!

 

The front cover of the album is "open" in which there is negative space so that your first page can show through. Or what I did was use the cover as a template to trace the individual slots. Before adhering, I affixed a solid piece of patterned paper to be my base.  I then used my journaling pen to trace around the inside edges to give it some pop!

 

 

Here, I used patterned paper and vellum along with some star sequins from Studio Calico, then stitched with my sewing machine.

 

 

Each page is big enough to fit your 4x6 photos with a little trimming.  I didn't  really have any boy colored paper in my stash (which is unbelievable!). So I got out October Afternoon's Boarding Pass to use and it was perfect!  I've been hanging on to it for awhile anyway. :)

 

 

Be sure to check out all the new releases in the Clear Scrap shop!  And follow them on Facebook to see updates from the CHA show in Anaheim!  If you will be at the show, stop by the Clear Scraps booth #1276!  I will be doing make n takes Monday morning so come say hi!

Thanks for reading!

 

 

CHA Winter Highlights

Hello...sorry its taken me so long to update. Last week, I was trying to get caught up from being gone. I had to work at an office the day after we got back. And I was just tired!  Traveling does that to me. It always takes me a few days to get back in sync.  

So, like most kids across our nation, mine are home today. They also have tomorrow off too (school improvement day or something like that?).  Plus, it is pretty cold here...with the windchill its around 11 below.  So, we are staying inside!

So, Malika and I got into Anaheim around 11am Saturday the 12th..we checked into our hotel and then headed to the show! This was the first year that we both were on manufacters design teams...so we convinced our husbands that we HAD to go! LOL

Here is Malika with Stephanie Hunt, owner of Bella Blvd!

Me in the Clear Scraps booth with Susan Frase...co-owner of the company! So excited to meet her and Jim in person!!

So, here are some of our favorite things we found (in no particular order):

1.   Amy Tangerine's new line:  Yes Please.

Awesome must have date stamp!

One of the three new stitching templates.  LOVE!

The patterns are so cute!

2.  Maggie Holmes (Crate Paper):  

Isn't she adorable?  

LOVE these frames!!

Um, apparently I didnt take a picture of her paper!  Trust me it's cute!

3.  Dear Lizzy's:   Lucky Charm

Beautiful colors and embellishments!  Cannot wait to get my hands on this!!!

4.  Teresa Collins' 4 new releases! Far and Away, Memories, Stationary Noted, and He Said, She Said.  

I heart TC...and I am so excited about her new paper lines! Plus, she has expanded on her embellishments to include paper garlands, 12x12 chipboard, file folders, mini envelopes, photo corners, sticky notes, and enamel dots!

5. Simple Stories' 24/7 and Vintage Bliss, and Urban Traveler

Plus, new embellishments for the SN@P line!

6. My Mind's Eye's Collectable, Boy Crazy, My Girl, and decorative tapes!

Mal and me with Jason Merrill. We are loving the long hair Jason!  

Sorry this isn't a great picture of the collection...many of the same embellishments as their The Sweetest Thing collection. 

7. Fancy Pants'  Park Bench and Trend Setter.

Love the embellishments!!

8. Allison Kreft's Composition and Color (Websters Pages):

I am loving these overlays!! Thank you Allison for filling our Hambly void!! :) 

9. Lily Bee's Destination, Pinwheel, and Sweet Shoppe Collections:

10.  Echo Park's Photo Freedom Happy Go Lucky, All About A Boy, Sweet Girl, and Scoot.

11.  Crate Paper's DIY and Party Day

12.  Jillibean Soup's NEW Placemats, Wise Words, and Corrugated Shapes. New lines are Chilled Cucumber Soup, Irish Farmhouse Soup, and Fresh Vegetable Soup.  Plus, you will love how Jill has changed up the embellishments!! 

13.  Studio Calico:  Pretty much everything...I love SC. The most exciting was the new Mr. Huey masks and new wooden veneer shapes.  

14. Farmhouse Papers' 304 and Country Kitchen. Love the colors of both! 

15. Basic Grey's Hipster, Kneehighs, and Bowties:  BG has continued to surprise me with how they have been changing up their embellishments this past year. This release was no exception. LOVE the wooden shapes!  Plus, the cute little bottle caps! 

16.  Technique Tuesday: Everything AE Studio!  I know..I know, I am biased! I love Ali Edwards! But, she has SO much coming out this release!  I need it all. I may need to get a second job to finance all of these new stamps. Seriously, I have been a huge TT fan since the early 2000's. I think I still have some of my original stamp sets from 06?  I think TT makes great quality stamps that last.  Plus, they are just darn cute!

17.  Art Anthology:     A  new company started by the very talented and awesome Stayce DeWid.  I am so excited to get these products into our store!  

18.  Tim Holtz new Ideology pieces and "viewmaster" die!

19.  Elle's Studio Tags and new 12x12 paper.  Love these!! Great for projects plus Project Life!!  

20.  Glitz Designs new Unchartered Waters, Color Me Happy, and Love You Madly.

I didn't get any photos of their products as the booth was pretty busy when we went..plus we sat and did a make and take. The Glitz girls also released a line with Echo Park's Photo Freedom called Birthday Wishes! 

Be sure to check out their blog! Love these ladies...they are so sweet and down to earth!

Honestly there was a lot more to we loved but these are what had our attention! Of  course have to give a shout out to Wendy Vecchi who is awesome!  We saw her at the Ranger booth doing a demo, but that was pretty much it. I can't believe how fast the days went!  

Be sure to check out these companies' blogs to see their new releases and inspiration! Thanks for reading!