So I thought I would post this here instead of my other blog or maybe
I’ll do both.  I’m back from CHA, I went for 3 days and boy am I
exhausted and I’m sick, but I had SO much fun. 

I had a drastically different CHA than I did last year.  Last year I
only had one day to go and people were not so nice to us.  This year I
had a press pass since I was with Scrapbook Dimensions Magazine so I
had access to the press room and a film pass which allowed us to video
a bunch of new stuff coming out.  All the videos are going to be up on
the magazine website by next week so I’ll let you know when they are up
and running so you can see them.  I hung out with my editor Cindy, managing editor Kristi, thedigitalscrapbookteacher Patty Debowski and the always talented Ms. Vicki Chrisman.

When we were in the Piggy Tales booth Stacy Julian and Ali Edwards
stopped by and got to meet them.  Very nice ladies!  We also went to
the 2p’s ice cream social on Monday night and I chatted with Tessa Ann
for a few minutes…love her and then up walks Emily Falconbridge,
she’s way cool and so nice.  While at the social a lady walked in and I
noticed her from the Scrapbook Memories TV show and I was telling my
editor who she was and we ended up getting her a spot on the show at
some point in the future…very cool! 

There was a lot of talk about hybrid going around at CHA, lots of
people interested in it and wanted to find out more.  There are also a
few paper companies out there that are soon coming out with digital
images for those hybriders out there to take advantage of as well. 

My first day there I was invited by my editor to attend and help with the class they
were teaching which was called Bridging the Gap between Digital and
Traditional Scrapbooking. Basically educating the retailer how they can
incorporate hybrid into their stores.  Most retailers have no idea how
to go about it, what items to carry, etc.  So it was very interesting
and informative and I was really excited to see so many attending the
class which really tells me that more and more retailers are embracing
hybrid scrapbooking.   Tinkering Ink , Ashley Smith from PolkaDotPotato, Doris Castle and a local LSS owner came by to talk to everyone. 

We spent the rest of the day going through the new exhibitors and there
were a few that caught our eye.  Some aren’t scrap related but we
thought were kinda cool. 

1. Clear Scraps
which as you can see from their website they have a HUGE selection of
clear albums, you can use your cuttlebug to emboss them and your
alcohol inks on them, I really liked the little house album the best. 

2.  MOO
erasers.  These things are really cool.  Instead of erasing something
and having little bits of eraser all over the place, these pull all
those little bits into one long string and they erase like butter!
They erase off of glossy paper without leaving a mark and you can erase
over and over again without ripping or tearing the paper at all.  I’m
sold on these!

3.  The Paper Cricket which are push pins or
magnets that have a clip on them so you don’t get holes in your papers
or whatever when you put them on your cork board.  Very cool.

4.  X-album.
They have these things called The Showbooks which are the cutest,
smallest albums that fit onto your key rings or cell phones.  Really
they are that small and they are adorable.   

5.  Sticky Ass Glue
(yes that’s the name and I love it) LOL  The guys who were running this booth were a hoot!  This
glue sticks to anything and bonds anything, you can even apply it to
styrofoam and it won’t melt it, it doesn’t smell.   Probably wouldn’t
be great for paper scrapping a LO but for other craft projects this
would work great. 

6. Sassy Signs
which are really cute yard signs and come in a variety of different
sayings or you can make your own and they bend with the wind instead of
blowing into your neighbors yard. 

7.  Gioielliitaly
which is photo jewelry that comes with a punch for your specific piece
of jewelry that you can use to punch out your photos exactly to fit
into the piece. 

8.  Braggables
which are purses with the photo windows in them but they have sizes
that would fit a 12×12 LO in them if you want and little cell phone and
camera bags with straps on them and the best part is when you purchase
them  10% of the proceeds are donated to Pediatric Cardiology
Research.

9.  Paper Trunk had some really cute clear stamps and papers out and those girls were so nice. 

10.  of course the awaited release of Jenni Bowlin’s stuff, the booth was packed when we went by but I caught a glimpse of it and liked it! 

11.  G – C – D had some really cool papers out, really caught my eye. 

12.  I really liked Holly McCaig’s new line Pink Paislee, very shabby chic, cute.

Ok so those are the new exhibitors….now onto the all the new stuff from everyone else. 

First and foremost…Glitz I am
in love with Glitz.  Not only do they have traditional papers and bling
but they also have digital/printable for the hybriders…LOVE it!
Their stuff is so cute and fun and I can’t wait to play with this.

Creative Imaginations also has some digi stuff out there being sold on polkadotpotato.com

Then there was Kaiser Craft,
which I had never heard of before but they have a huge line of crafting
products, not just scrapbooking and this booth was super busy everytime
I walked by it.  But they have some cute mini albums and
embellishments. 

Doodlebug has this new stuff out called Crushed Velvet which you can use like you would use glitter but it’s fuzzy….so fun!

For those of you looking for easy digital scrapbooking software Arcsoft has come out with a new product called Scrapbook Creator Memories Edition.  I got to see a demo of this and for the beginner this would be a great way to go.  Really simple and user friendly. 

For those of you looking for a wide format printer, Epson has come out with the R1900
which has a few upgrades from their previous models.  They’ve added Red
and Orange inks which improve the quality of skin tones, roll paper
support to print panoramas or on canvas roll and an improved Hi gloss
pigment ink.  You can physically feel the difference in texture from
the Epson 1400 to the new and improved printer. 

Avery and Strathmore have both come out with new stretchable iron on
transfers that don’t crack or distort when stretched.  Currently they
only have it for light fabrics but these are really cool for tanks or
anything that stretches.

Met with the ladies from Scrapbook & Cards Today
from Canada, it was refreshing to actually speak to a magazine who
weren’t rude to us and didn’t look at us as competition with them.

Ok
so that’s it for now…I’m tired from writing all that and just
thinking about the amount of walking and talking  I did for 3 days.
Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos myself…since I was put in
charge of videotaping most of the stuff for the magazine.  I need to go
take a nap with Bella….she’s sick too.   Have a great day everyone. 

I’m adding as I remember things…

Inspired Crafts
has a couple of really cool products out.  One is a mist that you spray
in the air and waft your cardstock through it and it makes it not crack
when you fold it and easier to score.  They also have a product that
will make your punches not stick as well as a cleaner for your tools
and will clean Staz-On off your stamps.  Everything is water based,
solvent free.

Oh and I totally
forgot…Kristi and Cindy were using the X-shot a lot during the show.
If you don’t have one you need to get one.  Now YOU can be back in your
pictures and videos in your scrapbooks.   All you do is attach it to
your camera on the bottom and set your timer.  Check it out…..    It’s small enough to fit in most purses too.  GENIUS!