Blasting Through CHA in a Day!

I'm back from the 2010 CHA Winter Tradeshow and want to give you the whirlwind 1 day sneak preview inside the show that I enjoyed. From creatively displayed products to unique product samples, you will be creatively inspired. There are also a few pictures with some crafting celebs. Hold onto your seat...we are about to take off into creative wonderland!

If you would like to view these images at a larger size, and pause them, double click on the slideshow to go to my picasa web album.

Valentine Hoot Box and Mini Card

Using my SU bitty box and envelope die with my sizzix big kick, I created this adorable gift box and card set for Valentine's Day. The owls are from Sassafras' Olivia & Pals clear stamp set, the flower petal is an older SU punch, the heart is a Marvy scallop heart punch and backround flower is also a Marvy Punch. The cardstock is a personal favorite collection called Classic K McKenna from K&Company along with Soft Vanilla from Stampin' Up!® and Tan CS from The Paper Co. Other supplies used: Brown satin ribbon, light and dark pink rhinestones, Chocolate Chip ink, Regal Rose Marker, stamping sponge (to distress edges), Glue Glider Pro with high tac adhesive, Glue Arts' ribbon adhesive and mini adhesive squares. I displayed this project at the CHA Craft SuperShow this past Saturday. This is a close up view of the gift card and box top. Scroll down for more photos.

Some design notes: I used mini adhesive squares to make & attach the ribbon loop under the punched flower. If you don't own this punch, you can substitute with a similar size flower. To create the 2 toned owl, I stamped once in chocolate chip, then once using the Regal Rose brush marker to color and stamp. I trimmed out the heart shaped face and adhered to stamped brown image. I trimmed around owl shape and mounted to layers on mini gift card. For edging on card, I used a stamping sponge dipped into ink pad. I drug along CS to distress. I freehand cut the mini pink heart from the wing portion of the owl I stamped in Regal Rose.

Don't forget to dress up the outside of the envelope. Here I used the scallop heart punch with a lightly patterned solid CS from the collection so I could write the name of the person I was giving it to inside the heart. Again, I edged in brown ink to make it pop!

This shows a view of the inside of the mini gift card with the ribbon wrapped around the inside. I added a tiny verse from a retired SU set, called Be Mine, but you can add in your own stamped verse or set up a message on your computer and print out. I edged Vanilla CS with rose marker.

My CHA Travel Experience

I am back from the CHA Craft SuperShow and retailers tradeshow in Anaheim inspired by the creativity that surrounded me. I had demonstrating Glue Arts' adhesives while leading make-n-takes at the consumer and retail shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is always great to see the wonderful Glue Arts gang and get to hang out together for a few days. Participating in the PJ Party Live event Friday night brought stares (at our pajamas & slippers) and fulfillment in showing crafters how to make a winter hat mini album. My experience at this year's CHA show ended with a day of walking the show and getting creatively inspired by the wonderful new products and talent that surrounded me. Here is a peek of my travel diary. I will post show previews later this week. If you want to veiw the captions, just click on the slide show to view at larger size in Picasa.