Hi scrappy friends! Aly Dosdall here, welcoming you to day 1 of CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) week. Twice a year the Craft and Hobby Association hosts a conference and trade show where arts and crafts manufacturers from around the world display their products and newest innovations for retailers, designers, and the media to see. The winter show is usually held in Anaheim, CA, and the summer show in Rosemont, IL. I had the pleasure of attending the CHA trade show in warm and sunny Los Angeles this week, and I thought you might like a virtual tour of this amazing display of the latest paper craft and scrapbooking goodies, along with some fabulous inspiration.
Here is a run-down of what you can look forward to this week:
Monday: a CHA prep project, some projects from the CHA floor to inspire you, and perhaps a little challenge
Tuesday: launch of the February gallery with tons of inspiration
Wednesday: some of the WCS team's favorite new lines and tools, plus video of some of our favorite manufacturers
Thursday: CHA give away day--you won't want to miss this one!!
Friday: a tour of some of the WCS team's favorite booths
Saturday: some of our favorite trends from the show, plus challenge projects from myself and YOU
CHA prep
Each time I've had the opportunity to attend the trade show I feel like my creative senses are on overload! There are so many amazing new products and so much incredible talent and inspiration on display that it's hard to soak it all in. So, this year I went well prepared. I decided to make myself a CHA notebook where I can easily record everything I want to remember. Of course I had my camera and video camera on hand, but I needed somewhere to write down notes:
This notebook has 3 divided sections: people, products, and to do. It also has an envelope and pocket for business cards, and a pocket to keep receipts. This idea doesn't just work for CHA, though. If this project inspires you, you can adapt it to meet your needs. It could be an art journal with sections for color inspiration, design ideas, and future projects. Or it could be an address book, or an organizer with sections for grocery lists, schedules, and to-do lists. The pockets could be for receipts and coupons. Whatever tickles your creative/organizational fancy! For more photos and details about how to create this notebook, visit my personal blog, Scrap Your Story.
Inspriring CHA projects
Fun text treatments
Bella Blvd released these new alpha sheets with their Sophisticates line. They've got 4 different fonts, sizes, and styles on one sheet--very cool! Look what one of their design team members did with them--I just love the varying fonts and styles.
Basic blocking
I love the Elements patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket. This Elements sheet is from one of their new lines, Upcycle--fun, trendy, and playful. Check out the cool blocking their design team member did on this page using the Elements cards--love it! Great use of product.
Using shapes as a design element
I saw several layouts where different shapes were used as design elements--from simple circles and squares, to rectangles, hearts, and even hexagons. The left two pages were made by design team members from Lilly Bee Design, the top right page by a DT member from Cosmo Cricket, and the bottom right page by one of October Afternoon's talented designers.
Home decor ideas
I love this Basic Grey designer's take on the popular specimen art. The varying sizes and styles of the butterfly punches/die cuts look so cool! And how cute is this hanging tree wall decor from the Nikki Sivils booth?
What can you do with items from your sewing box? Well, this Nikki Sivils designer made an adorable threaded button frame, and Jennifer Harkin from Jillibean Soup made this amazing wooden spool wreath! I love how she wrapped the spools in patterned paper--so clever.
A little challenge
Of course I could have spent this entire week posting inspiring projects from the CHA floor, but I've got lots of other things I want to share with you so I kept it down to only a few. SO...here's my challenge for you: pick one of the above projects and create something this week inspired by the project you pick. You could "scraplift" the project literally, or just use a concept from it as a starting point. Once you finish your project (layout, card, home decor, etc) upload it to our Flickr gallery with the title "CHA-inspired". I'll create a project inspired by one of these CHA projects (not sure how I'm going to pick just one) and post it, along with YOUR CHA-inspired projects on Saturday. Sound good? Great!
Check in tomorrow for our February gallery launch, and I'll be back on Wednesday with some more CHA excitement to share! Happy scrapping!
