CHA 2012 wrap up

hi all!

OH. EM. GEE.  i am one sick girl :(  i am not sure what i have but wow do i feel awful!  CHA always does me in due to pure exhaustion but this is actual illness.  and poor lil' pezza - as soon as i got in the car i could tell she was sick too - felt hot like fever and then when she started talking i could hear it in her voice.  grab a cuppa coffee folks cuz this is a long one :P

so the big question - what was my fave new thing?  it's hard to narrow it down but i think i have to say it is the new sprocket stamps from inkadinkado - not only because they are so so cool but they are so different.

think spirograph for stamps but way better!


the flight home was mostly uneventful except for a bag of flowers.  the long beach airport we always fly in and out of is small. like really really small.  you know those trailers they set up when the high schools are too full?  well that's what the airport is.  several trailers and an outside baggage claim.  seriously. 

we had to be there super early and i had had NO coffee.  Suzanne just laughed at me every time she looked at me because i looked so bad (what are friends for right?)  so we get through the security trailer and into the gate trailer and there is a little cart selling water, coffee and muffins.  really.  so i go up and get a water, coffee and muffin and hand her my debit card.  she can't take cards there, i have to go outside and over to the convenience store trailer.  i go over there and realize i still have the water in hand.  there is a check out at the front corner and one at the opposite back corner so i walk up to the back one and tell her i accidently took the water from the cart inside and need to pay for it.  she says she can't check it out, i have to use the front register for that water. oooookaaaaayyy.  i walk to the shelf behind her and pick out some chips and then head to the front register to get my coffee and pay for everything and she starts yelling after me because apparently i have to pay for the CHIPS at the BACK register and the water at the front one. really.....the registers were about 12 feet apart....don't these people realize i haven't even had my coffee yet?????

i finally get back to my seat and we are waiting for our plane and i look up and realize that there is a bag sitting in the chair directly across from me with flowers sticking out of the top of it.  there is NO ONE around it at ALL.  it is an abandoned bag.....so i keep looking at it and it starts to mess with my sick and sleep deprived brain and i nudge suzanne and start freaking out about it being a bomb and i am directly in front of it.  so i get up and move down the row to the other side of suzanne but i keep looking at it and getting more freaked out so i go tell one of the gate guys.  he goes and grabs it and this lady across the way comes running over to claim it.  so as we are getting on the plane suzanne turns around to tell me something and realizes the flower bag bomb woman is RIGHT BEHIND ME in the aisle on the plane.  so i am like run, go faster, and suzanne is dieing laughing.  lkuckily the rest of the trip home was fairly uneventful!

so how was the show?  fabulous, absolutely fabulous!  first and foremost is the connections - it is exciting seeing all of the new products up close and in personal of course.  but i LOVE all of the people i get to meet up with!  and i especially love all of the people i get to see again that i only get to see at the show.  first and foremost is my pal terri - this was the first year we did not stay together and i really missed that but we did spend LOTS of time together and i just love her to pieces.  she brought along a friend this year named nadja and she is just AWESOME!  plus she is a morning person like me! so on one of those morning i was stuck in the lobby so my roomie could sleep she and i got together and headed to starbucks.  she also took me out for my first ever indian food!  i loved it loved it!  we found out we have loads in common.  also got to meet sandie dunne - a long time friend from ireland and fabulous folks like suzi blu who's work i simply adore!  also got to FINALLY meet jen del muro in person - the first blog i ever read when i got into this crazy papercrafting world.

i also had a new roomie this year - Tina Gilliland.  suzanne did not stay in our room the whole time - she was staying in her own room somewhere else so tina and i were on our own and had fun.  i had quite a few meetings as well and have some really neat things in the works but i can't share yet until the details are ironed out - exciting stuff though that's for sure!

so what else did i love at the show - well lots of things!  i bet y'all are wondering about provocraft since i usually focus so much of my attention on them.  well there were no new machines, no gala, no craziness and a very small booth compared to previous shows.  Jinger is gone, there was no stage in the booth, all very low key.  they DID have new cuttlebug folders on display that will be coming out soon and i DO love me some embossing folders - i saw many designs i hope to acquire:

and there is one new cartridge coming out very soon - tags, bags, boxes & more 2 - i really like it.  i use the first one quite a bit.  for all of their new stuff be sure and contact Terri at Stampsalive as she always has the best prices and unbelievably fast shipping!  perhaps cricut is going to get a clue and refocus so they can be a stronger company...i guess we'll see....

another highlight of my trip - Julie Fei-Fen Balzer - can i just tell you she ROCKS!  not only is she just incredibly talented she is SO SO much fun and just super crazy.  i thoroughly enjoyed every minute with her and look forward to learning lots from her in the year ahead.

i was a helper in her class saturday night and can i just say she is not only talented, she is a talented instructor which does not always happen.  she has some incredible new stencils out through the crafters workshop and i encourage you all to go out and grab some to play with yourself.  in addition she has an insanely good ebook available through Cloth Paper Scissors called collage fast & furious - it is chock full of great info and easily a must have!  tell her i sent you over to say hi and check out her fabulous self!  dinner with the group after could not have been more fun!

next up Dyan Reaveley.  met her last year in class and she is lovely! 

she has breathed vibrancy into the Ranger product line which it was seriously missing.  Check therse out:

just so fun!  she has added to her product line with fantastic sprays in amazing colors.  and her stamps are fun and funky.

next up - i have to mention Luminarte through Creative Imaginations.  I have had their products since well before they were purchased and adore them.  new this show - the re-release of the shimmering powdered pigments in LOADS of new colors - Artist's Pigments - and the launch of Silks glazes.  i took a class with them and got to play around a bit with the shimmering incredible-ness of the product line.

the project is unfinished - we mostly covered techniques - i still have to put it all together but check out what the twinks did to some plain printed paper embellishments:

i love the subtle mix of colors i got which added to the aged look of the pieces.  the class was taught by Cheryl Mezzetti and she was lots of fun!  besides the uber shimmer want to know my fave thing about the luminarte Primary Elements powdered pigments?  you make your own paints with them and you can make ANY KIND of paint - it all depends on what type of medium you mix in.  So instead of buying a whole bunch of fabric paint, and a whole bunch of acrylic paint, and a whole bunch of other surfaces - talk about a money saver!

finally i have to mention La Blanche stamps - really love alot of their images and the samples in the booth were among my faves of the whole show:

you can check out my facebook page for even more pics but for now i am signing off because i really need to take some more meds and go lay down!  then perhaps i will have the energy to play with my new pencils that came right before i left!

For even more CHA wrap ups from lots of different perspectives head to FaveCrafts!!!