Thursday, January 29, 2015

CHA #3


The final post about CHA.

My creative juices are flowing again so this was a good thing.  :)

Websters Pages - I'm really only a fan of Allison Kreft and what she's done with them.  I did get a chance to see the new planners and I do like them.  I don't like the fact that the guts of the planner are not interchangeable unless you buy two so you can switch them out.  I really like the aqua book but the guts of another color (A color I don't like).



 Some of Allison's new line.  Too much pink for me but there are enough other colors for me to purchase some of this line.





I saw these out of the corner of my eye.  I don't usually buy anything from Paper House but I thought these two things were super cool.

 Little 1x1 inch Instagram photo stickers.
 And cork embellishments.  A fun addition to the craft.  Scrapbook, Project Life etc.
 I'm sorry, but thats just cute!  I need these to finish off my Whale Watching mini album.
 Surfboard!!!
 The last booth we stopped at before leaving for the day was the Hero Arts booth.  I wanted to see Kelly Purkeys new stamps.  One of each please.







And that is CHA.  These blog posts used to go on for days.  I had so many photos from every booth that I had to do posts by manufacturer just to keep them all straight.  Not anymore.  Kind of sad but then again, it makes the hobby seem real again.  I think it go so inflated that there was just. so. much. stuff.  Your mind would explode after the first day and you couldn't remember which booth had what.

I've compiled my list on Pinterest and will resume shopping as these items are released.  If you have any questions about the products, let me know.  

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

10 Years


Its been 10 years since I went shopping for a new car.  A lot has changed.  I realized my taste in cars has also changed.

I purchased my Expedition in 2005 and the following year, they changed the body styles for the Ford SUV's.  Instead of the large box, they made them sleeker.

I never like the new style so I stayed away.  I paid off my Expedition and kept driving it.  It was the first car I've every driven that I never wanted to give up.  It never required any major repairs.  I changed the brakes a couple of times and the tires when needed.  Got the oil changed and basic services at required intervals.  The perfect car.

And then I got an itch.  I pulled up next to the new Explorer and I totally wanted it.  I think my Expedition knew what I was thinking.  Immediately, things went wrong.  The motor on the back passenger side window stopped working.  Someone hit the side view mirror while I was parked at work and cracked it.  Someone bummed into my front and dented the corner.  The defrost didn't really defrost anything.  The AC needed work.  We started adding up the cost to repair some of these things and realized I could put a down payment on another car.

So we did.  I test drove several cars including the Explorer XLT and the Nissan Xterra.  Both cars I really liked but the Ford won out in the end.  I wasn't impressed with the Nissan guys and they were trying to get me to buy a car in a color I didn't like.  I tried to explain to them that I wanted a specific color.  Nope, they kept trying to get me to take the silver Xterra.  In the end, I walked out and went to Ford.  They've been good to me for my last 2 cars and my husbands 2 Fords so we went back.

I sat on the decision for almost 2 weeks before I found my color at one of the dealerships.  It was hard to trade in Big Blue but I did.  I did cry because that was my car.  I bought that car when we started trying for a family.  We were looking for 2-3 kids and I knew I'd need a big car.  (We also bought the big house for the same reason.....)  Turns out, we had 1 kid.  I had a big car and no one to drive around in it.  

The Explorer is the perfect size.  Still has the third row and enough room to fit the hockey equipment.    




 Hello. Goodbye.

 I love the color.  Magnetic.  Not black and not silver.  A dark grey.  Perfect.

Monday, January 19, 2015

CHA #2

Continuing the tour of CHA, we stopped at Pink Paislee.  What I noticed about this show was the minimalistic approach.  Booths were small and empty.  Not as many samples and stuff to be seen.  Normally the Winter show is packed and you can't even get into some of these booths.  Its a sign of where the industry is going I'm sure.

Pink Paislee had a travel line that I liked (shocker).  It had gold accents.  It really was everywhere.


 Enamel dots and planes.  Yes please!

 Enamel words?  Sure!
 And they had these acetate letters sitting on their demo table.  Really like the crosshatch look on these.  I will pick up a pack or two of these.
 Never heard of this company so it must be new since I left the industry.  They had a really cute line.  I like the black, blue and yellow together.


Doodlebug.  Not a fan of their stuff but they do have enamel dots.  Its all about the dots, 'bout the dots, no squares, just dots!  Anyway, this rainbow wall of dots made me happy.


We were at the halfway point by now so we stopped for lunch.  Another sign that the show and industry are changing.  There are usually little cafe's in between the halls to eat.  They have some seating but not a lot.  Not enough for the thousands of women in the building.  This year, we didn't stand in a long line to get food and then we found a table.  In fact, there were several open tables.  Attendance is down for sure.

As soon as we started walking again, we ran into the Crystal Ninja.  She was coated head to toe in crystals.  She could barely walk and that suit had to weigh a lot.


Jillibean Soup was tucked into a corner and we almost missed them.  While their papers never thrill me, their embellishments always do.  They were a booth that had a lot of home decor in it.  I do like their idea though and was lucky enough to do the Make n Take.  They were down to their last 8 and I had to have one!


I love the reclaimed wood look.  It matches our new house perfectly and I will be purchasing a lot of those frames and boxes.

 Party supplies - again, minimal scrapbook supplies but focus on the party and home decor.  I do like this bags and want to get some for crafting.  I may try to order plain ones and do something for Valentines day.  Who am I kidding, I can't even get stay up past 8 pm anymore.!
 This was one of the Make n Takes but it was at the Hampton Arts booth (the company that now owns Jillibean Soup).  Super cute but they were all out.  BUT, the instructor said the Jellybean booth had a few left so we ran across the aisle.
 This was the other Make N Take.  Super simple but dang, is that cute or what???  I made one.  I will be doing more.  I love that.
 Cute stamps.
 More party supplies.
 Party supplies includes paper straws too.  They cute the monogram with the Silhouette and then layered the straws on it.  And its in one of those reclaimed wood frames.  Must have.
 More ideas with the frames.  I told you they were super cute.  I want one in the kitchen area that I can switch up for holidays and seasons.  Again, I'm ambitious.



Hazel and Ruby - now, they have always focused on the home decor side and thats cool.  But I really like what they did with this stuff.  BOG wash tape.  Like a 12 inch roll!
 Hello washi!
 Gold, gold and oh, look!  Maps!  I WANT that map wash.  Come on.  Map washi.  Every home needs map wash right?!?!?  (say yes)
 I have so many plans for that map wash.
 Ahem, I don't want to give all the glory to the map wash when there is WOODGRAIN washi.  Yes, woodgrain.  Again, I have plans for that woodgrain stuff too.  (My husband is looking at me with a really weird look in his eyes.  He knows I'm planning something crafty over here.  My typing just got faster and I'm pretty sure he can hear my heart beating really loudly.  Come on, its map and woodgrain wash tape!!)

Moving on.....
Bella Blvd - another company that I like but not in the sense that I need to own everything.  Their embellishments are cool.  The papers are little too cartoony for me.

But look what they have? Enamel dots!  And arrows and hearts and stars!  The Lucky Charms cereal of scrapbooking!!
 And fun ways to use those enamel dots (for those of us who tend to hoard them and have drawers full of enamel dots but never use them because you may run out and what would you do if they stopped making enamel dots......)
 That 6?  Its *full* of enamel dots.
 And screen prints again.  Love.

One of the last booths we visited before circling back for anything we may have missed was Simple Stories.  I'm almost glad they were the last because I took a lot of time in this booth.
They aded to their Say Cheese line with Say Cheese 2.  I love everything they added to this line and will be working on a class for a local store with this.  Since we're local to Disney, its easy.
 There is gold in this line but once again, its not enough to overwhelm this line.  Its just right.
 And they added enamel dots, wood veneer and other fun things to this line!







 This line was tucked in there and for a minute, I thought I was looking at the Scenic Route booth.  I miss that company.  So I'll be on the lookout for this line too.  I must have that woodgrain paper.

 The samples for the Disney line were everywhere in this booth and I love every single one of them.






 4x6 Snap albums.  In a rainbow of colors.

 Another sample tucked in the corner.
 I really like this one paper.


 And they had cute buttons.  I wrote AWESOME and then thought I should put 'so fancy!' instead.
I have a few more pictures to upload and I'll post a 3rd update.