2nd Day at CHA

Today was not as hectic as yesterday. I did expect more people today even though it was pouring rain this morning. I figure the majority of the people coming to the show were from out of town and the weather would only affect local people showing up. Dremel still had a steady stream of people coming by for the make 'n take. I recognized a lot of faces. It was very interesting to hear about their businesses. People really liked out make 'n take. Geri and Cindy are the two Dremel experts. They are fabulous and a huge help. It is kind of funny that they both have a different accent and they are just the next state over. I have been told that I have a real midwestern accent - whatever that means.


The last couple years at summer CHA, there were be tons of people in the aisle and you would have to navigate the crowd. It was not like that at all this year. It was pretty quiet. The only thing that did not change were the throngs of people in front of Tim's demo area.

Suze Weinberg had a moment and stopped over to say hi. Christina from skybluepink.com was also there. I couldn't go to dinner with her because my son was sick and I had to leave right away. I was extremely sad about that.

There were some really good make 'n takes at other booths this year. Plaid and Duncan had some really fun ones. I like the texture stuff they have out. They were doing a snowman with it. I could see the possibilities for school and for my own art. They also had some glittery texture paint. Plaid always has some really fun beads. Candie was their demo artist. She is a great jewelry artist. She is so much fun and has a lot of energy. Very friendly. I love that her dh's name is Butch and the dog is Rocker.

http://candiecooper.com/index.htm

Tim Holt'z idea-ology stuff make 'n take was fun and fast. It was a variation of what it was yesterday. I am so loving the new masks that have not come out yet. I'm not holding my breath for that though. I came across something I want to try. I saw Suze using it. They are background roller stamps from Glitz Design. I could really see the potential in that. I can never pass up fun things for texture.

Yes, I am totally exhausted from standing all day. I only walked around at lunchtime since I had to leave when I was done. I woke up really tired and probably won't recover next until next week. On Monday, I need to get my stuff ready for teaching two mini-workshops. I am going up to Dremel on Wednesday. I am teaching one more mini-class on Thursday nite.

Suzanne McNeill from Design Originals stopped by the booth. This was my first time meeting her. I saw her at her booth but she was busy. She was really nice and we chatted for a few minutes. I got to show her what we were doing and gave her a quick tour of a few of the Dremel tools and accessories. I like how Design Originals are doing more focused books and they can be for the more experienced artists. I liked the Design Original book that skybluepink.com has - Altered Surfaces. A lot of artists are still confused about which products to use, for what, and how. It does not necesarily have to be Golden.

http://www.d-originals.com/ Design Originals link

I absolutely love the Creative Options totes and organizational stuff. They even have a funky knitting bag out now. I love the polka dots. They give out the best totes at CHA. I used one all last year as my bookbag and it still looks like new.

http://www.creativeoptionscrafts.com/products/

The theme of this year's CHA is kids. There were a lot of kids' crafts and items at CHA. As a teacher, I loved seeing all of it. There was one booth that had these things called noodles. They looked like huge-o pipe cleaners to me. My 6th graders could do a lot of building with those. They might not complain so much about the projects I give them to do. I have noticed that quite a few of the booths were not as pink as before. I think that there is more overlapping of the mixed media products with scrapbooking now. Digital seems to be pretty popular. Lots of die cut stuff and paper cutters being introduced. I did not get a chance to stop by my favorite crafty tool booth - the people who make the crop-a-dile. Lots and lots of really great preprinted paper. Too bad I don't use a lot of that any more. Did I already say that I was groovin' on the copper bezel rings that Amate introduced. I so need to play with that. So love copper. I stopped by the DIY bangles booth to see if they had any new shapes. They had some great samples and a fun make 'n take. I did not have time to do it. I hear that Bind-it-all's new machine is pink. Say it isn't so!!! I thought that I would be to Simply Swank for soldering today but I got sidetracked.

Going for a cup of tea right now. I have to go through all my stuff and scan some of it. I will post the picts as soon as I can. I might have a few things in my bag that I can use for my next blog give-away. Stay tuned.

Be well and hope you are enjoying your summer.