I know its been almost a week since I went to CHA- but its taken me this long to recover! What an OVERWHELMING experience! There was SOOOOOOOOOO much to see and take in. There were freebies and make and takes, SO MANY new paper lines, embellishments, and other crafting goodies... I cant even begin to fill you in on all of it. I can however- tell you how I am kicking myself in the rear for not taking my good camera. I left it home because I didn't want anything to happen and I didn't want to get tired of lugging it around... ugh. Sometimes, I do not have the best ideas. I used the camera on my phone for the pictures I took so they are less than stellar. LUCKILY- there were many other people who took REAL cameras and have posted their pictures on various places on the interwebz for me to borrow :) (I have given credit for photos where its due- feel free to click the links and check out some of their other stuff!)
And now onto what youre REALLY here for-
The vendors were over the top with their booth decor. The Girls Paperie had one of the sweetest booths. Lots of bunting and streamers and pretty things everywhere. They had wonderful projects on display like this wreath-
photo courtesy of Shopping Diva's Flickr stream
Fiskars had some layouts with mind boggling punch work- AND they were kind enough to GIVE away a freebie grass border punch! (go ahead and click on that picture to make it huge so you can see that EVERY INCH OF IT is created with fiskars punches. How do people get so creative?)
photo courtesy of Shopping Diva's Flickr stream
One of my FAVORITE new things from Making Memories are these Bravissimo pins. They come totally finished, semi-finished, and you also have the option of putting a totally custom one together. They are made of heavy paper and ribbon, and each one has a pin (like to attach it to your shirt) on the back and a tiny envelope with a card to write a sweet note on for the lucky receiver of your gift. They have birthday, new baby, graduation, sports, and everything else you can think of for themes! Seriously- these are SO CUTE! Click the link and go check them out!
One of my new favorite companies is Canvas. They are very new and their website isnt even up and running yet (but the link takes you to where it will be). I love htem because they have all the basics. Lots of canvas- banner pieces, pillow covers, artists canvas, etc. They also have burlap and denim. You can pair their items with pretty much ANYTHING out there. They do have various lines of paper- but they are all kraft or cream or white base that will also go with lots of stuff. I cant WAIT to get some of their product in my hot little hands to play with! The photo below was a project hanging in their booth-
The Zva booth was showing off their bling and had several super cute cards on display-
One of my all time FAVE embellishment companies, Maya Road had the best projects at their booth. They have one AMAZING design team. layouts, mini albums, calendars, wall hangings, you name it- they had it! Of course NONE of my pictures from their booth turned out blog worthy- so you'll have to trust me and head over to their design team blog and check out the talent. (There is even a few of their CHA projects on there!)
And now for the GRAND FINALE! I loved all of the booths, and the vendors did a fabulous job. BUT there was one that was super amazing. Their featured projects were ones that NO ONE is going to go home and do- because they were SO awesome. I have to give my "Raised The Bar SKY HIGH" award to DCWV. The way they showcased their new paper stacks was beyond anything I have ever imagined...
See that dress? Its made ENTIRELY of paper. Every last inch of it. Think thats amazing? There is WAY more showstopping paper amazingness over at the DCWV Diary. Got look. You wont regret it. (scroll down to the CHA Day 1 continued post for their fabulous paper runway show- but be SURE to check out ALLLLLL of their CHA paper fabulosity on the way :)
So there you have it... CHA in a nut shell. Oh! I forgot about make and takes... lots of paper flowers. That pretty much sums it up. There were a few other things happening, but mostly I didn't wait in the make and take lines because we only had 2 days to cover the WHOLE show floor. (the show is actually 5 days long). SO now back to my catalogs and brainstorming...
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