Last weekend I was so fortunate to be able to go to CHA for my first time – the Craft and Hobby Association Trade show!
Basically – this is the show that all the companies that you know and love – jewelry, yarn, patterns, scrapbooking, and crafting suppliers – come to show off all their awesome new products to shop owners, buyers and the press!
So I wanted to try and condense down this amazingly huge weekend into a recap post so you could get just a wee taste of the fun!
Hopefully this isn’t crazy. I tried to do photo montages so you don’t have to scroll through for days. :)
I was invited by Plaid Crafts (who make Plaid and FolkArt Paints, Mod Podge, Martha Stewart paints and stencils and TONS more) to do a make and take in their booth. The folks from Plaid were soooo amazing! They were so sweet to all of us bloggers, they made us feel really welcome. So let me show you some of the fun from their booth – which was huge!!
They have a ton of new stencils in really great patterns and designs. I’m particularly in love with the Martha Steward Doily and Chevron stencils, plus this FolkArt line of patterns!
The booth was just so big, and it was full of these darling little wall displays – so you saw something different around every corner.
The top two photos in this set are of one of my favorite new products! They’re called Mod Melts! The Mod Melt sticks can be used in a glue gun, and when it cools it is a hard faux resin. They have super cute molds to use with the too. I believe these will be in Michael’s this spring. You can check out a video by Heather from Dollar Store Crafts of Cathie and Steve sharing all about them here!
And here are some shots of me doing my Make and Take! I was showing attendees how to paint mason jars with FolkArt glass paints and stencils. Yay!
(Thanks to Viv from The V Spot for taking these!)
Now let me show you some more cool booths!
One of my favorites was the May Art Booth. Oh my goodness the ribbon. Obviously I went a little crazy with the photos but they were all gorgeous!
And that bottom right photo? That is velvet rick rack people. Velvet. Rick rack.
May Arts is a wholesale supplier but you can find these ribbons in a lot of your local stores.
The booths were all so impressive. Made up of decorated rooms and pretty styling everywhere you looked!
Top left here is the Simplicity booth. They had some really cute Vintage style patterns that I can’t wait to try.
Top right photo is from the Fiskers booth. These little folded medallions were huge this year – they were in lots of booths!
Elephants seemed to be big this year too! The bottom right was the DCWV booth – they make all the fabulous beads and things that I love, like Lost and Found, Industrial Chic and lots more.
Bottom Left was from the Craft Attitude booth! This new product will get a post of its own soon – but it’s basically a film that you print on with your inkjet printer, then apply to almost any surface!
Jewelry, Wood, Canvas, Shoes or anything! I can’t wait to show you.
Another favorite new product were these Styro cutters from Flora Craft! The make cutting through styrofoam crazy easy. In the top right photo the little deer were cut out with these!
The bottom photos were from the Canvas Corp booth. It was made up of all these cool little rooms that had different themes – retro, vintage, rustic, etc. I found A LOT of new things there I can’t wait to try – including some paper stuff! Shocking right?
And just a few more things I loved:
This Scrabble display was in the Elmer’s booth – it would be so cute on the wall in a loft or game room!
The Crafting Armoire from Ginger Adams was another bit of awesomeness! It’s a new thin cabinet that hangs over a door or you can screw it to a wall – but look at all the storage! It held Soooooo much! And the front of the door has a large corkboard on it – so you could stick notes or project ideas on it. LOVE. Here’s a video on that too.
I can’t remember what booth this bicycle was in – but seriously the whole thing is covered in washi tape. Is that the cutest??
To add to all the fun from the weekend – a group of us headed over to Disneyland on Saturday night!
This was my first time at Cars Land in California Adventure and I was blown away! If you’ve seen the movie (if you haven’t you really must – whether you have kids or not. It’s one of my favorites ever) then you’ll recognize the bottom images. The whole area is a recreation of Radiator Springs and if feels like you are in the town!
Everything is super detailed – just like you’d expect from Disney and it was all so fun! I loved the rides, the food, and just seeing all the building.
Just some info if you’re considering or planning a trip to Disneyland this year –
They are doing something this year called Limited Time Magic. These are special events and deals going on throughout the park for a short period of time – you can check out everything here and plan your trip around what sounds fun! Here’s a great link for planning out your trip, where to stay, what to eat and more! With all the hotels and restaurants, it really helps to see them ahead of time so you make sure you don’t miss anything.
I had such a great time at CHA seeing everything, but also connecting with other bloggers that are such sweet friends. I’m not going to name them all because I’ll forget them and feel like a dork. But I feel so fortunate to work and be friends with such talented and awesome ladies!
I was also able to meet the amazing Cathe Holden from Just Something I Made! She is so super talented and I felt so honored that she actually knew who I was when I stalked her introduced myself!
So hopefully you have an idea of how much there was to see and how much fun we had! If you have questions about anything let me know!
Holly Lefevre says
I have a twinge of jealousy…BUT SO HAPPY YOU HAD AN AMAZING TIME! I want Mod Melts! Awesome. Isn’t Cathe the sweetest! And you too!
Katie says
What an exciting time you had! The Plaid booth looked amazing and being around all those new products sounds super cool. Those molds sound very interesting. It was neat to see your post about CHA since I’ve read several round up post CHA posts but they’ve all focused on scrapbook stuff. Interesting to see some of the other types of products out there. Thanks for taking us “along”!
Bonnie Turner says
What a cool show to go to – such fab things that you gave us just a glimpse of – so I hope that more is coming???
First you show me a wonderful idea for craft organization from Honey Bear (?) – way cool and would be so great for me to do. And now you show me yet another craft organization armoire. It looks a lot like my jewelry armoire that I have hanging from my bedroom closet door and just love. But to have the craft one would be wonderful – and I so, so, so need to get stuff organized so I know what I have and can actually find it. But I don’t have any more doors to hang stuff from (yes, I saw that you can fasten to a wall – but I’m running out of wall space, too. About the only wall space I have left is way, way up in my living room that has a cathedral ceiling. LOL – I’d have to install some kind of ladder system which would freak my daughter out – she’s always afraid of me falling. sigh – guess not
I’ve never heard of the association that you went to, so I’ve learned yet again something new from you.
thanks
Bonnie
liZ evans says
Beverly, that looks like it was so stinking much fun! I am so jealous!
liZ
Luisa says
Oh man…I’ll be you were in heaven! That ribbon is so dreamy and I wished I could find it at our shops!!!
Maggie @ Midwestern Girl says
LOVE seeing your photos, Beverly!!! I didn’t take too many shots of other people’s booths, so it’s awesome to see everything again…thank you so so much for posting them all!!! You rock, sweet girl…
Crystal says
How fun!!! I love seeing all the different booths! Thanks for taking pics and sharing them with us!!
Debbie K in IL says
Loved the Ribbons! And Mod Podge Melts- I’m getting some. They are so cool!!! I can think of many ideas for them. Have lots of shapes of molds used for resin products, soap and ice cube tray that might work with it also.
Hope you post some more from the show.
Sharon says
Hi Bev, So great to meet you at CHA, and thank you so much for attending the Foam Fusion breakfast. I’m excited that you included the Styro Cutters in your round up — thank you! Happy crafting! Sharon
Judy Clark says
WOW!! Looks like you had a fantastic time and just look at all of those goodies coming up this Spring! Can’t wait.
Judy
Caren Smith says
I’m so jealous! Those ribbons were so pretty and the melts look very cool! Did I mention I was jealous? I think my mind would explode with all the project ideas I’d come up with going to one of CHAs. Again, did I mention how jealous I am? :-).
Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe says
Eeeeeeh! It all looks SO exciting!! Look how cute you are in your demo. :)
I swear I’m going to make it to CHA someday. I might explode when I get there from all the awesomeness.
I need to bring my boys to Cars Land at Disney. They would flip.out. My youngest is ALL about Cars right now. :)