Join Liz as she heads to America for the CHA show 2012. She'll be getting the inside scoop on the craft industry, meeting the designers and manufacturers that you love and will be previewing the next six months of papercraft collections. Each day she will journal her experiences and will upload the photos to the CHA gallery. Show starts NZ time Monday 30th Jan - Thurs 1st Feb 2012.
Last Days in LA - on a Cruise Boat
Feel free to view this final post of Graham and Liz's trip to LA. Note: This ship was captained by an Italian (not a Greek) and we have made it safely to shore...DAY ELEVEN: Knotts Berry Farm Fun!
This post forms part of the personal blog of Graham and Liz's trip to Los Angeles. Don't read this post if you are susceptible to nausea caused by wild rides, tingly toes when lifted to great heights, or if you like mustard... Click here to read about the wild rides!DAY TEN: A day at Disney
This post makes up part of the personal blog of Liz and Graham's trip to LA. Please be aware that it includes pictures of people having fun at Disneyland and could cause you to become envious. Enter at your own risk.DAY NINE: A trip to San Diego and some shopping
This personal post includes very realistic photo-shopped images of us holding pandas, a trip to the zoo to check out our distant relatives (NOT!) and some awful images of insects. Please enter with caution...DAY EIGHT: Time to relax
Please note: This post is part of the personal diarying of Liz and Graham Gregory on their trip to LA 2012. This post contains religious material and even expresses personal opinions! :-)Click here if you dare to enter...
DAY SEVEN: The Carnival is Over
The fourth and final day of the 2012 show is now over. It's been a wonderful experience and I can see why people keep coming back. The Americans have a lovely, warm, hospitable culture and we have been made to feel so welcome.
First up, I wanted to make it my mission to find out about Smash Books - and they got me excited. After seeing them at the EK Booth, I then started seeing them everywhere! They are basically a journal with an embossed kraft cover and a coloured fabric spine. The inner pages are a mixture of plain, kraft, grid and designs. The idea is that you SMASH your ideas, notes, journals and bits and pieces into this book as a memento of a particular event. I might do a smash book of this trip. There are smash bits and pieces that you can purchase to help you – pockets, washi tape, tag stickers etc. We will try to get our hands on the range for you as soon as possible. There is a great You Tube clip that shows you how to use them.
Today I started out at the Penny Black Booth. They are industry favourites and have been around for a long time. They have met the demands of business by creating clear and cling stamps for their customers – although I’m still a favourite of wooden ones! They have a new range of whimsical people stamps too and I love their male themed range. Penny Black have a Board Programme where they come up with a great selection of stamps and paper that create a lovely set of cards. They included instructions and I think these would be well received in NZ.
Today I started out at the Penny Black Booth. They are industry favourites and have been around for a long time. They have met the demands of business by creating clear and cling stamps for their customers – although I’m still a favourite of wooden ones! They have a new range of whimsical people stamps too and I love their male themed range. Penny Black have a Board Programme where they come up with a great selection of stamps and paper that create a lovely set of cards. They included instructions and I think these would be well received in NZ.
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American Crafts are a large organisation and they also have Crate Paper and Studio Calico under their umbrella. In these mergers, the old owner still works doing the designing and the brand remains the same, but the business, manufacturing and marketing side of things gets taken over by American Crafts. They also put out their own huge range of albums, glitter papers, thickers, ribbon, brads and other embellies. They have also released 6 new lines – Daydreams, Garden Café, Chap, Fresh Squeezed, Dear Lizzie Neopolitan, Gardenia and Amy Tangerine. I loved this last line – it appeals to those who are joining in with the huge smash book craze over here and really appeals to a younger unsophisticated audience. It’s FUN!
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Pebbles products are also fun and their new ranges were Floral Lane, With Love, Country Picnic, Hip Hip Hooray, and Fresh Goods. They have also released a new baby range called New Additions and I loved their cute fabric puffed embellies. They reminded me of an pin cushion! Their products samples were delightful and they have also released a range of chalks.
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Crate Paper has also produced some really stylish lines – Paper Heart, Pretty Pantry, Story Teller and Random. We’ve got Random arriving instore next week. They produce a range of papers, chipboard, stickers and embellies. Their collections usually consist of a theme interspersed with floral patterns.
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Studio Calico are well known for their Mister Huey range of mists. They have a variety of opaque mists and some with a clear colour with shine. Their white mist is particularly great for use on coloured surfaces. They also have a fabulous range of small wooden flourish shapes and I’m really excited about getting these in store (little cameras, stars, birds etc.). Studio Calico’s new ranges are Classic Collection Volume Two, Take Note and Abroad. I LOVE the new abroad range and we’ll be stocking this one for sure. They have also released 4 journal books with an embossed cover in a variety of sizes. You can buy their Fab Rips which are fabric rip strips with adhesive on the back of them to create the spine. Clever! This is their version of the SMASH BOOK craze. The fab strips can be also used to make rosettes and pleated ribbons etc.
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Lindy’s Stamp Gang were not known to me – but they have a delicious range of products which caught my attention. Their glimmer sprays are FULL of rich colour and glimmer – some of them have 2 and 3 tones in them giving moon shadow effects. They also have 2-tone embossing powders and my favourite was Magical Micas. It’s a powdery substance which you put on your paint pallet and then mix with your H20 pen. Then you can paint the colour onto flowers and anything else that you would like to have some colour and sparkle. The depth of the colour really is impressive with this product.
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The Sizzix Stand was a large one and had loads of activity going on. At each stall I always asked for a sales rep to show me the ranges and collections – just so I didn’t miss out on anything! There were a couple of new innovations that were interesting. There was the usual array of new embossing folders – some fun ones with sewing elements, clocks, prints and buttons, along with all of Tim Holtz wonderful lines. Most interesting was the Pop &Cuts innovation. It’s a big thick Sizzix die with a large square hole and metallic plate bottom. This is for the shaped dies to fit inside it to create cards which pop out at you when you open them up. The mechanism is clever and you can buy different dies with different designs. I watched the lady demoing this product and I really liked the concept. I just don’t like the price! It will be $100 to get the first plate with the first die. Thereafter the die is $39.90. Fortunately the first design is the very popular Labels One style (Spellbinders) and will have wide appeal. I may have to give in myself and get a set of these!
I was excited about the Sweet Treats range as well. These dies are BIG – but they are designed to create fun party favours and boxes etc. One of the dies even cuts a cake stand!
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ColorBox is a long player in the craft industry and I thought that they had gone quiet of late – but they have teamed up with Heidi Grace and produced some beautiful lines. She was one of early favourites in the scrapbooking world and she’s expanded her range to paper pad and matching embellies. Her new ranges are Antique Papier, Victorian Parlour and DayDream, Tweet, Wild Indigo and Sweet Clementine. I was really excited to see her Project Template Packs. There are 4 different packs (Albums, boxes, garland and celebrate) and there are approximately 10 template designs. In each.
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Art Institute Glitter was being used by lots of other companies to help sell their projects. Their glitter is really unique and I like it a lot. As well as usual art glitter, they sell microfine, vintage glass range, dazzlers (like chunk shapes) and fantasy fibre.
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Anna Griffin's designs were beautiful. It's odd that we don't see much of her stuff in NZ anymore - but her work is lovely and very popular in America. We might have to see about getting more of her goods in stock.
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Cheery Lyn Designs are an Artfull Crafts favourite. It was nice to catch up with Mike again after meeting him first in Auckland last year. These guys create high quality dies and I know that our Timaru ladies love them! They are doing a Design Team callout in March for any of you who are interested. They have also produced MASSIVE dies. We’ll it’s not quite the truth. They are producing a normal set of dies – but they are more like the corner of a frame. Then you move the die around the 4 corners to get the BIG overall effect. I’m not sure if that makes sense - but the photo should say it all. You’re only limited by the size of your cutting plate.
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Magnolia Minis was probably one of the most exciting stalls I came across. We like Magnolia Stamps and will be stocking them in the shop – but the minis are going to be top of our list. I’ve never seen anything so cute as these sweet designs.
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Hero Arts are another great stamping company who have teamed up with Sizzix and Basic Grey to produce stamp and cut sets. They are seeing a trend towards vintage style background stamps and their cupcakes are always popular! I really liked their new concept called "Add your Message". They are basically a coloured printed card set with a space for you to use the stamps provided to fill in the message. It’s a good introduction to card making for time-poor people. The new “Art of the Card” line is also gorgeous. I loved the untitled keys and postmark stamps.
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Clearsnap are the manufacturers for Smooch – one of our favourite products for adding rich colour to your projects. They have just produced Smooch Glitz for this show – same concept but with glitter accents. They have also devised scented embossing powders – just the 3 flavours at the moment – but I think the concept is super fun!! They also produce some Mixed Media inks and embossing powders for Donna Salaza.
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Reminisce is a company who sticks to a simple formula of great travel papers and stickers. The ranges are excellent and we think you will like their product very much – especially those who have done lots of travelling.
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Hemptique are not a well known name (yet) – but hemp twine is becoming a popular product of choice. They also have a great range of twine colours. I’ve got the catalogue being emailed to me and I’m looking forward to seeing what other products they stock.
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Our Daily Bread is another big stamp company and all of their stamps and sentiments are Christian themed. Their designs are very pretty and their range is huge. There has been some demand in NZ for some Christian-themed craft products, so I will see what I can find. There wasn't a lot at the show (some at Clear Scraps, SRM Stickers and some other small stamp companies) but I will keep my eye out for them in the upcoming months.
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Finally I made it to the Authentique booth! I love this company and even though they are a new brand company, the people involved are seasoned crafties and they know what customers love. Their paper has a beautiful texture (like a thick linen/orangepeel effect) and their designs are stunning. Their new ranges are Genuine, Celebrate, Loyal and Delightful. I think they are all delightful! And fortunately for me, David the Sales Manager was happy to sell me some of the product off the stall (the show was about to end – so it saves him taking it home!). I got one of all the products they are releasing – papers, stickers and a 6x6 pad. This brand is going to be one of our favourites!
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So the trends I noticed today were: Party stuff, flags and banners, baby collections, themed collections (summer, spring, travel, Easter etc), 6x6 pads, collections packs, and SMASH BOOKS.
At the end of the day I decided to go and reconnect with a few people I had met and I found myself at the Prima Booth! They served cake and I enjoyed catching up with Adrienne and Sue from Scottie Crafts. It's amazing that you can walk the floor for FOUR days and only see someone in the last few minutes of the show!
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I ran back to Basic Grey and took the photos I promised yesterday:
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And I finally decided to end up where I started this show - back to Kaisercraft. I really like the people at this company (and the products of course), so I offered to help them pack down for a little bit. Once the show ends people just rip into the pack down so quickly. I took aside some of the cards that Betsy and I had on display to bring them back for the shop. I'll get the rest of the projects later (my suitcase is going to be a bit heavier on the way back home as it is!).
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These photos show the size of the convention centre. It goes as far as the eye can see in one direction and then the same in the other!! Within minutes of the show closing the guys were rolling up the carpet!
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I know that some (most) of the photography is NOT great! I have a new camera which I'm not used to and the lighting at CHA is very very difficult and patchy. There is general lighting in the venue and then each stall has their own spotlighting - which makes it difficult on reflective surfaces etc. So I do apologise for the lack of quality - but hopefully the quantity made up for it!!
All up attending CHA 2012 was a wonderful experience. I loved meeting the kiwis who travelled to attend, the designers and owners of businesses that I admire, seeing all the amazing products that are going to be released in the next 6 months, and of course seeing work from Lowri, Besty, Sandy and myself at a variety of stalls across the floor. We're hoping there will be even more next year!
Here are a few final shots of some of the work that the Artfull Crafts Team had on display at this year's CHA:
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After the show we headed out with Jacob and Jonathon to an Ice Hockey game. It was a home game for the LA Kings and the two teams were 2 equal until the LAST second when the Kings scored!! It was a magnificent ending! The venue seats 18,000 and there were about 14,000 fans there. At any time there was a pause in the game, there was entertainment, lights, music, competitions and more. It was quite a crazy experience!
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I’m going to keep blogging the rest of the trip on the website (not on the Artfull Crafts blog) so feel free to follow our progress there. Next up is a trip to San Diego Zoo followed by days at Disneyland, Knottsberry Farm and a Cruise :-)
Leave a comment if you have enjoyed hearing from your Artfull Crafts foreign correspondant (and you wished you could have come along!).
DAY SIX: A photo with Tim Holtz
Today has been a most fruitful day. I have been to a lot of booths and we have managed to gather a large number of companies to join us in a Brand Education programme that Artfull Crafts has devised. It's really exciting and lots of your favourite brands are really keen to join with us! More on that later...First up on the show floor today was Core Impressions. We already stock a good number of their products, but there are some fun additions to their range. They have teamed up with Pink Paislee for a new 12x12 pad, a new spotty and dotty range along with a 6x6 pad, coloured and white tags, fab packs of card fronts that fit perfectly in embossing folders and for the fronts of cards (no need to cut them to size!), a fabulous new Tim Holtz Kraft Core range in 3 sizes, along with a Sanding/Dust Buddy combo pack.
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Next up was Spellbinders. They have a great new innovation called the Fold and Tuck Dies. It's probably one of the coolest things I've seen on the show floor this year. They are a breeze to use - cut and then fold and tuck over the cuts :-) SMART TIP: To prevent your little pieces getting stuck in the dies, use wax paper for a first few times until the die naturally builds up a waxy surface. Now the little pieces will fall out. Now that's SMART! They also have new embossing folders that flip over and reveal another pattern. It's like having two folders in one! I love their new Edgeabilities and the fun Bitty blossoms that roll up into perfect little flowers.
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Jenni Bowlin's stand was possibly one of the best ones I've been to this show. I love her style (even though it's not my natural scrapping style) but her products are simply perfect! They have a vintage, eclectic feel and at times when viewing her ranges online they can appear a little mis-matched, but they aren't in real life. Her Magpie range is simply a MUST-HAVE! She has the most wonderful collection of pockets, tags, buttons, spools, pins, bingo cards, tickets and more. Her husband is a super nice man and spent a lot of time chatting to us. Some of her new products include an easel, a hotel key holder, kraft die cut papers and new clear stamps. We really look forward to working more closely with Jenni to bring you her lovely products.
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Fancy Pants is a popular brand and they have released another 4 ranges - Be You, Childish Things, Wave Searcher and Summer Soul. Their new brag book has a range of photo sleeves and teamed with the inner kit creates a great journalling book. These types of books are very popular at the show.
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Basic Grey is a tried and true scrapbooking favourite and their 4 new ranges are pretty - What's Up, PB&J, Plumeria and Konnichiwa. They seem to have reduced the number of matching embellishments and now only design 12 papers - instead of 18. That's good for retailers! It was hard work finding space on the shelf for all their papers. They also have some lovely Canvas Art projects also on offer. I forgot to take photos! So I'll have to post them up tomorrow for you :-)
I fell in love with Maya Road again today. These guys don't have a big presence in NZ - but they deserve to be represented by someone. So with any luck we will try to introduce their products to you. They are producing top quality chipboard albums, elements and the cutest embellies you've ever seen! I love their burlap flowers, trinket pinks, bottle tops, dress form clips, felt flowers, wooden spools, bingo pieces, wooden rulers and more! Their chipboard elements were fantastic and I can't wait to get my hands on their sewing set. They also carry lines in fabric - beautiful brag books, flags, purses and more.
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Jillibean Soup is a great place to go if you are hungry. These guys will satisfy your appetite - for crafting food! Their ranges are fun and I love Coconut Lime Soup the best. They have released Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup, Neapolitan, Heart Barley, Homemade Bean Soup, Game Day Chili and Sweet and Sour Soup! I love the names. They also have a fab range of embellies including popular flag pins, wooden buttons, stamps, chipboard and corrugated alphas and more. We look forward to bringing you more of their wonderful products.
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Across the path was Lil Bee - another company who we have only just started stocking. The owners are lovely and we had a great time chatting to them. These guys have beautiful designs and we're excited about their new ranges - Handmade, Double Dutch, Buttercup and Victoria Park. They are also keen to be involved in our Brand Awareness programme. We look forward to working more closely with them. Their latest release Be Mine was very popular in the shop :-)
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La La Land Stamps are fun and quirky. They are perfect for colouring and we have Teresa Abajo joining us at the end of March to teach Copic Colouring. We'll be using this brand of stamps :-)
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Ranger Industries. Where do you start?! They are a big company that have a few brands under their wing - Inkessentials, Tim Holtz, Adirondack and more. Of course you just want to know about Tim Holtz. Well here he is....
Tim Holtz is in a few places during this show. Here he is at Ranger demoing the Distress Markers - basically a water marker that you can use to colour images - but also stamps etc. They are juicy and full of colour.
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But he's also been at Sizzix working with the new dies and his own Ideology booth. The new dies look great and are proving popular. I particularly like the small movers and shapers dies. Perfect for card makers and scrapbookers. Tim's new Ideaology line has a hot travel range (Destinations), new mini words (chit chats), alpha cards, wire pins, gem clips, pullies, faucets, gears and more. His new embossing folder sets also have diffusers - where parts of the designs can be kept free from texture - leaving room for a verse. And we can't leave out his new Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 which is filled with great ideas, tips and techniques for how to use all his products.
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Ranger have put out a new water brush, ice stickle colours, liquid pearl colours (beautiful!), sticky glue sticks and a fabric medium. There new Studio 490 range (from Wendy Vecch) is exciting. The range is called Art Parts and I LOVE them! There is a big move to anything off the page - and these fab designs are really unique.
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I've also been on the hunt for some good storage solutions - and I've found some at Cropper Hopper. They have a great photocase, totes, stamp books and storage paper units.
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Next up was Cosmo Cricket. We had a lovely time here as Lowri has had some of her work featured on their blog this year (and it's her most favourite company). They remembered her immediately and I was able to give them lovely little mini books that Lowri had made for Eric and Julie Comstock and Lindsey Moore from their Design Team. They are looking forward to seeing more of Lowri's work and gave me some product to take home to her. Keep watching this space... Their new releases are great - Tea for Tow, Evangeline, 23 and Baby Jane. The have introduced some new element decks to their ranges, tiny text (super cool) and great washi tape designs. We look forward to working with them this year.
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I headed back to the Prima booth to spend some more time with the girls - Sharon, Cari, Sherry and Jamie. They are all so lovely and so we couldn't resist another photo op. Their products are also really lovely - it was very hard to decide what to photograph! I'm pretty excited about their Doodle Deux range. It's a bit of a departure for them - but it's fun. Their wooden buttons and clock faces have been sell-out products this show.
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Bo Bunny is one of our favourites and it was nice to meet up with them again. They have 5 new lines Serenity, On the Go, Ambrosia, Weekend Market, Alora and Country Garden. Matching them are new card kits with a lower price point and more product in them. Their basic range has been expanded with a Vintage double-dot cardstock range. I also love their Enchanted Black and White glitter which came out before Christmas. Fabulous for weddings.
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Webster Pages have long been an industry favourite and their ranges this show are no exception. They have developed a new concept called Clean and Simple. It's a range of papers that coordinates with each collection for those people who don't like too many fussy designs. Their ranges are In Love, Palm Beach, Everyday Poetry, Game On and Sunday Picnic. Their new designer threads, sparklers, and push pins are lovely.
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October Afternoon have splendid designs and we are really looking forward to stocking more of their product this year. We want to promote them more down here in NZ and so we're pleased to tell you about their new collections - Cake Walk, 9 to 5 and Woodland Park. They have some new products as well - washi tape, mini books with chapter pages and dividers and new mini market stickers that you will love...
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SRM Stickers were really pleased to meet us and are really keen to work in with us to promote their product in NZ. They have a wonderful range of clear stickers and tubes. I can just imagine some of our DT girls having a field day with their products! They have also started a card kit which will be perfect for classes. They've even cut up all the paper... They have a great range of stickers with sentiments, calendars and loads of themed ones.
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DCVW has finally won a CHA award. Their stalls have always been fabulous - and this year they have been recognised. Check out the peacock! I love their new Stacks too - Serenity, Tres Chic and Coral Couture. They have also released some fun chalkboard and fabric papers.
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Next up was Queen and Co. I was really excited to see their releases - a great range of trendy tapes, twinkle motifs and borders, goosebumps, rhinestones, twine spools and cool buttons. Simply fabulous!
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Doddlebug is a range that we haven't started stocking yet - but they are interested in some NZ exposure - so let's see what we can do for them! They have some pretty ranges, great kits, mixed pearls, glitter paper and their new Candy Dot papers. Their stamps are also great value.
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Bella Blvd are another company with cute designs. I love their chipboard, new alphas sets (5 on a sheet), washi tape, buttons, flags (you'll love these) and their sophisticates papers. Their ranges are Baby Girl, Baby Boy, Sunshine Happiness and You're Expecting. They also team with Unity Stamps to produce high quality stamps.
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Meeting the owners of Clear Scraps was a pleasure. They stock wonderful clear albums and tags and spent time telling us how the business got started. They have created an innovative product that made the top 20 of innovations at the shop this year! They are very excited about our new brand programme and gave us product then and there to get started! Betsy Clark is going to love their cards. They are made from a thin clear material and then you decorate them up as you see fit. You can sew the paper on for a great effect, as well as emboss it, ink it etc. There are 8 new designs and 3 of them have a tuck-in closure system which adds interest. We look forward to seeing more of their range.
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NZ seems to lack a great range of storage solutions - so I sussed out some options with Creative Options. They showed me their top products and we've photographed them for you. We sure do hope to start stocking some of their products soon.
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Stampavie is a company I hadn't heard of before - but I liked the look of their sweet stamps. I can imagine Louise and Betsy playing with these beauties. This company are also promoting another brand of alcohol ink markers called Pro Markers. I had a play myself and I was VERY impressed. They are cheaper than Copics and even though the end was a hard chisel, the blending was excellent. They are coming out in sets in March and we'll be seriously thinking about stocking them.
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Trends I noticed today: There are loads of brag books/journalling books, vintage collections in lighter colours, sewing sets, coloured twine, bright cute designs (a lot of these), and anything for spring. The Americans are really into themed holidays and so Easter and Spring ranges are everywhere... Whew! And that's the end of today! I think I deserve a good night's sleep now.
Tomorrow is the last day of the show. I only have 2 more aisles to go - and then I will spend my time doing make and takes and chatting to the owners/designers again.
Please leave a comment on the blog if you are reading these posts. I like to know I'm being usefu! This one has taken 4 hours to prepare (no Disneyland tonight!).
DAY FIVE: Graham gets his education...
Day Two of the show is now over. We started out in the morning with a great business seminar about the economic forecast for 2012. America’s seem reasonably positive about the outlook – even if the stats don’t line up!!
By 10am Graham and I were off to the shop floor to catch up on some of yesterday’s work. My camera had died just after lunch and so I needed to go back and get some photos taken! I banged into Jodi from Scrapaholics in Auckland and she’d teed up a meeting for us with Donna Downey’s husband Bill. We had a great time with him and have some special events planned. More to come on that later. We caught up with the lovely Sharon Laakonen from Prima again and I gave her a little kiwi gift. She told me she’s back on the team for the Roadshow in October – yay!
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Sharon then took me over to the Ranger booth to introduce us to Tim Holtz – but he was deep in the middle of some great demo and there was a large group of ladies around him. So we got a photo with Mario his business manager instead! We’ll go back to the booth and get a shot with Tim another day. We didn’t stick around in the stall to see the new innovations – we’ll do that later too (keep you reading these blog posts!)
Next up was off to Teresa Collins. We love her ranges and have all new 5 collections on pre-order. We’ve chatted before in Brisbane and so it was great to have another photo taken with her and to chat about a fun kit concept I am developing and a possible trip to NZ sometime. More on that another day!
My Mind’s Eye is a great company and their products are ALWAYS stand-outs. Interestingly they had loads of guys on their stall – so Graham fitted in perfectly! They stood and chatted about hand and feet wounds they had received… Meanwhile, I was busy checking out the gorgeous new collections. – Miss Caroline. Follow Your Heart, Kraft Funday, On the Bright Side and Lost and Found 2. Their Kraft Funday range looks fantastic.
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La Blanche Stamps are the most beautiful detailed stamps on the market with a huge range of pretty designs. They are made from a light-weight product with a foam block for use of use and a silicone-type material for the stamp. You can also pour hot utee onto them and create amazing resin shapes embellies.
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One of my favourite companies is Simple Stories. They have a great style and they have finally released their wonderful albums that work in with their papers. All their ranges have a lot of little tags that you can cut out – and now we have the albums to slide them in. It’s a way of simply putting together an album with photos and tags with minimum fuss. There are a range of basic products which match all their paper collections for use in the albums too. Their new ranges Year-O-Graphy, Documented, Awesome and Fabulous are all great.
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Imaginisce always put out quality collections and this show is no different. Their newest most innovative product is the ribbon cutter. I LOVE this new tool. It’s basically a small hot wire that cuts through ribbon slightly melting the edges so it doesn’t fray. Imaginisce also showed off some of their products (distresser, petal roller, coloured foam tape, Click it blade, Cut bright and the i-top etc). Their new ranges are called Sole Sister, Hippity Hop, making Waves and Hello Cupcake.
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Making Memories had a HUGE stall! I love their new Children at Play ranges and the cute fabrics. The Modern Millinery range is great for cross crafting (home décor etc). Their Cabochon packs of mixed embellies were beautiful and I liked their 8x10” journal album – smash book style. It has protectors and pockets, envelopes etc.
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Graphic 45 is a VERY popular brand in the industry and so far I would award them the Best Stall award. But I haven’t even got around half of the stalls…! They have released Kraft Reflections, Old Curiositie Shop, Tropical Travelogue (already on our shelves) and Little Darlings – a runaway success. This range is the most beautiful baby line I’ve seen in years!
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We love the Glitz Girls and here we are at their stall enjoying their 3 new ranges – French Kiss, Pretty Glitz and Happy Travels. They also have some new stones, layered stickers, 6x6 pads, and a chipboard album to add to their collections. The Glitz girls are also going to be working with Artfull Crafts on a fun kit concept.
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Magnolia Stamps are certainly cute but I couldn't chat with the man on the stall as he didn't really speak very good English and they didn't have a colour catalogue or price list either! But the stall looked great :-)
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Little Yellow Bicycle is a great company. Lowri did some guest design work for them last year and it was lovely to meet the head of the Design Team. They spoke very highly of Lowri and they loved her work. Their new ranges are Hello Spring, Escape, Splash and Swoon, Saturday and Paradise.
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Artbin have a wonderful array of storage bins and they have designed a new container for holding your Spellbinder dies with magnetic sheets. We think this will be a popular product. They also have a cricut cartridge storage set up too.
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Pink Paislee is another company that Lowri was a guest artist for this year. They also commented how much they love her work and we think it’s exciting that there’s a kiwi out there getting so much exposure in the international market place. Lowri is a hard worker and gets more than 10,000 hits to the blog a day... so you should go and follow her! Pink Paislee’s releases are beautiful and I’m in love with the new ribbon spools in the London Market range, the well-sized ephemera packs, and the gorgeous tags in Indigo Hill and Prairie Hill. They also stock a great range of wooden alphas at an excellent price. Finally they re-released their Mistables collection due to its popularity at the last show. It’s a range of products that you spray/ink/stain to reveal the pattern underneath.
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My Little Shoebox is a company we haven’t stocked before – but they have some lovely ranges and a fabulous set of great value alpha stickers and roll-up die-cut papers we think you’ll like.
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Just Rite stamps are phasing out their ribbed block stamps and are joining in the trend of cling and acrylic stamps. But they have teamed with Spellbinders to create a range of 5 dies that match many of the Just Rite stamp ranges. They were most impressed with Betsy’s card work for Kaisercraft – so there may be an opportunity for her to display some work here too.
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We are Memory Keepers is always coming out with great new products. These guys released the Sew Easy system last year and experience great success. They have now put out a Stamp Easy system along the same lines. The head is interchangeable and rolls along the page. Their new stack packs are fab value and we can’t wait for the Lucky 8 punches. We saw them months ago in Brisbane and have been waiting for them to be in stock. They are MASSIVE punches with the ability to create up to 3 different effects around the edge of 12x12 cardstock. You can make your own die-cut papers at your house!
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Melissa Frances had a beautiful stall and we think you’ll love some of the items she has on offer. Her 3 new ranges are c’est la vie, Fifth Avenue and Attic Treasures. But most exciting are the cute mini houses and churches kits. They look great decorated up. She also has fun glass domes, banner stickers, envelopes and the hottest seller for them at the show is the mini hangers!
Juanita will be thrilled that they have released cute Cat and Dog albums – where you get to write in their details as they get older…
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Finally I ended up at the HeartFelt Creations store. These guys are teaming with Spellbinders as well to create die/stamp packages. Some of these designs are pretty special – and we suggested Betsy would be a good fit for them as well!
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There is soooooo much to do and see at this show – but I think I’m on target to complete the whole circuit before it shuts on Wednesday at 2pm. I just might not get to do any make and takes!!
Today the emerging trends appear to be resist papers, a LOT of off-the-page projects, and Spellbinders teaming with different stamp companies to make matching sets. There’s a big trend back to home décor pieces too.
So while I was walking around the show floor, Graham was sitting in on seminars. Lots of them related to Social Media interplay and website information – which is timely as our website is just waiting for its overhaul to speed it up and make your shopping experience better and quicker.
There will be loads of work for us to do once we get back home. What fun!
Take me to the Photo Gallery
Take me to more product preview Sneak Peeks.
Take me to the Photo Gallery
Take me to more product preview Sneak Peeks.
The evening ended with Jacob's 40th birthday dinner. The family and us went out to a restaurant for dinner and then spent the rest of the evening at Ray and Sue's enjoying the laughs and company of the extended family. They have 3 children, 8 grandchildren and a dog named Sam - so there was plenty to laugh about! We gave Jacob some more lollies and chocolate and 8 cans of L&P! And we all indulged in the new Cadbury Mousse chocolate. The verdict was a big thumbs up (look at all the kids hovering around Rachel while she opens it up!). Now it's past midnight and my eyes are dropping to the floor! Enjoy the read :-)
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DAY FOUR: Let the show begin...
The first day of the CHA show is over - and I'm glad to be sitting down for a couple of hours to tell you all about it! The show has 10km worth of aisles - that's quite a walking circuit. Fortunately there is carpet and really, really kind retailers upgrade their carpet and also use thick squishy underlay. So it's not as bad as it could be. My back is aching because I am a show novice... I didn't want to take a backpack (I would bump into people) and I didn't want to take a trolley (who wants to put that in their suitcase) and so I went with a small shoulder bag - just enough for my notebook, drink and camera. FOOL! Within 3 stalls it was crammed with catalogues. Fortunately some kind person gave me a bag (with some cute freebies) and I loaded that up instead and hung it over my shoulder. After 20 stalls I was walking pretty lopsided - so I checked them in with the Baggage Service. At the end of the day I saddled up and walked the 1km back to the motel - feeling like a Granny. I am going to take Graham's little suitcase tomorrow :-)
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I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Graham gets to join me for a couple of business seminars and then onto the exhibit floor. He can't wait...
DAY THREE: Ambassadors Conference.
This post is a personal, non-crafting post and includes religious material that may offend some viewers. Any resemblances to actual persons, either real or imagined, are purley conicidental and should be treated as such. No small furry animals were harmed in the making of this post. Click here if you agree to the terms and conditions...DAY TWO: Prima Party and dinner with friends
| After the late night blog post
(and the 48 hour long Thursday) I slept very solidly and thought that
I'd better use the alarm to wake up in the morning, or else I'd risk
sleeping in. Who has an alarm clock on holiday?! As it was, we should
have got up a little earlier to avoid the stress of driving somewhere
unfamiliar on the LA freeway. We headed out to Chino (about 40 minutes away) to attend the PRIMA party. We only made one wrong turn and we arrived with 5 minutes to spare (yay!). The first people I saw were Cari Fennell and Sharon Laakonen - our Prima Roadshow tutors. We hugged and I gave them little NZ sewing kits as a souvenir :-) They were heading back to the CHA booth to keep setting up. I can't wait to see what they have in store for everyone. |
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| I headed off into my class with Jamie Dougherty and we created a very
pretty mini album using the new Sun Kiss range. I loved the use of the
new notecards cards and I think that they will be a great addition to
the Prima range. Mini albums really are the perfect crafting project.
They are great for card-makers because they are just like oversized
cards, and great for scrapbookers because they are a quick and useful
way of documenting a life or a story. |
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Next up was an hour break - which was a great chance to see the store room and the sales area where we could look around and view the new collections up close (without the busyness of the CHA stall). There are EIGHT new collections and a bunch of new products - so we'll be busy for the next 6 months with Prima product. Their collections are Almanac, Doodle-Deux (very cool!), En Francais, Fairy Belle, Meadow Lark, Nature Garden, Songbird and Sun Kiss. Along with that there are new wooden embellies (LOVE), trinkets, pins, stones and more. I know the photos aren't great - my camera was about to run out of batteries and so I didn't have time to change the settings!
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| During the break I also went and decorated a hat! There was a table
filled with Prima deliciousness and we were allowed to use as much as we wanted. I actually strayed from my usual "pink" theme
and opted for the apricot tones to match my outfit for the day :-) In the "hat room" I chatted with Anna Dabrowska from Poland. She's super talented and is on the design team. |
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| Finally I attended Sherry Mendoza's class with a cool and quirky layout
with sides that open. It's got a little fun string pully system whereby
the fairy moves up and down the page. I didn't get anywhere near
finishing mine because some of the kiwis from Scrapaholics were in the
class and I ended up enjoying a chat with them instead! I'll finish it
at home and add the photos and then show it off... A lovely neighbour took a photo of Sherry and I on her Smartphone and emailed it
to me. I think I need one of those things... |
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The day was a lovely day - thanks Prima for your hospitality. See you at the booth!
We got back at 3pm and it was a hot day - so what better way to relax than to sit by the pool. I ended up falling asleep with the sun on my face. Now that's what I call a holiday!
At 4pm we were collected by our friends Jacob and Sarah to take us to Rachel and EZ's house for dinner. They have 5 beautiful children (and the EZ and Graham think they can also join the good-looking club - something to do with older parents and a marriage age gap??!).
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We enjoyed a tour of their lovely home (Rachel has a good eye for colour), a delicious dinner (we HAVE to buy more of that ice-cream), and delightful fellowship. We chatted about about the 180 movie that her Dad produced, NZ politics, some earthquake news, mention of Lord of the Rings and great scenery, chat about friends back home, and some laughs about dual citizenship! Rachel has given up her allegiance to the Queen!
We topped it off by giving NZ gifts of Pineapple Lumps, Party Mix, and good old Cadbury's chocolate. Who would have thought they would want that?!
All up it's been a great day and we're looking forward to tomorrow. We are attending a Living Waters conference and some of our favourite Christian speakers are going to be there. We're going to be waking up to another alrm clock tomorrow - it's becoming a bit of a habit...
I'll have to load the Gallery photos up tomorrow. It's after midnight and the eyes are starting to droop!
Chat soon :-) Liz
DAY ONE: Two Days in One and Double Trouble...
This post concerns Day One of Liz and Graham's trip to LA. It contains comical stories that may make you smile, and some religious opinions that may make you mad. If you're up for the challenge, then feel free to enter...What on earth is the CHA show?! Liz explains...
Hi everyone!This week I'm off to Los Angeles to get the inside scoop on the Craft industry! Yipppee! So what and who are CHA? They are a Craft and Hobby Association who coordinate shows where manufacturers, designers and retailers get to meet, mingle, watch demos, complete make-and-takes and see the new products that will be released in the next 6 months. There are hundreds of booths at these shows - and ALL of your favourite scrapbooking and cardmaking brands will be there. (Tim Holtz, Teresa Collins, Bo Bunny, Basic Grey, Kaisercraft, Prima, Echo Park, Pink Paislee, Best Creations etc).
CHA runs twice a year. The winter show is always in Los Angeles and this year runs from Sunday 29th January and finishes on Wednesday 1st February (NZ time Mon 30th Jan - Thurs 2nd Feb). The July summer show is held elsewhere in the US. Manufacturers (like Prima etc) design and manufacture their products in time for the CHA shows - giving retailers the opportunity to see what's coming up in the next few months. Retailers are only able to order at the show - so I won't be coming home with my suitcases filled with new stock! But I will have plenty of brochures and catalogues though to wade through...The show is not open to the public - only retailers, designers, tutors and manufacturers - and so I'm taking Graham with me to be an extra set of eyes and ears. He will be attending some of the business seminars that deal with websites and social media. Meanwhile I will be walking the floor visiting every booth possible to see what's new in the craft world.
The internet has transformed the craft world and if you look at craft blogs or craft shops on facebook it would impossible for you not to have seen the CHA hype. Contributing manufacturers have been putting out "Sneak Peek" product previews of their new releases.
Artfull Crafts is already posting links to the product previews on a daily basis - so be sure to check in each day to see what your fav brands are up to! We love the new Pretty in Pink from Glitz Designs (right).
Each day after the show we are committed to blogging about what we see, writing diary entries, uploading photos and videos, and letting you know any other information. Think of us like your foreign correspondent for the next week or two! The easiest way to know if we have updated the info will be to LIKE us on Facebook. Then you will be in loop and won't miss out on any of the updates. Alternatively pop back to the CHA section of our website regularly to catch up on all the fun, or sign up to our website to receive our weekly newsletter filled with new products, specials and more.
So, come join us for a fun little trip to America...