My First CHA - A Recap

I am usually NOT a lucky person.  I never win raffles; I don't even win at Bingo.  So imagine my surprise when the incredibly talented TINA WALKER invited me to attend CHA Winter 2014 in sunny Anaheim, California.  I am a h-u-g-e fan of Tina's.  Not only does she make all sorts of lovely things as a design team member for MY MIND'S EYE, but she is an incredibly talented mixed-media artist and the owner of FROG DOG STUDIO, a monthly mixed-media kit club.  Tina and I have been "facebook friends" for quite a while, and I jumped at the chance to meet her in person!

For the two or three of you who read my blog and are NOT into scrapbooking or crafting, CHA is a huge trade show that happens twice a year.  The newest lines and the next big thing in the crafting industry are made available to buyers so that they can determine what products they want to stock in their stores or provide in their kits.  And in addition to the new products on display for you to touch and drool on admire, all the big names in the industry are there!  The icing on the cake?  Quite a few of my crafty friends were going to be there, too.  To say I was like a kid in a candy store was an understatement!  There are not enough thumbs-up or like buttons in the world to convey just how excited I was - seriously.

Of course I INSTAGRAMMED all about it!  And, just in case you missed the flood of pics on Instagram or Facebook, I am sharing a few of my faves here. 

I am pretty sure I took a picture of every single piece of paper and ephemera pack that was being displayed by every single manufacturer.  I won't make you sit through all of them - pretty sure Blogger would ban me for life if I tried to upload all of my paper pics here!  But I will share one of the crate wall at HEIDI SONBOUL'S booth - simply because I have so much fun saying the name of her new company.  Chickaniddy.  chick-a-niddy.  chickaniddychickaniddychickaniddy.  Yep, it makes me smile saying it.  And all those fun crates made me smile, too.

So...what made my very first CHA so incredibly special to me?  These people (and a fun lil' adventure or two):

I flew in from H-town with my wonderfully talented friend, HEATHER LEOPARD.  Before we even got to our hotel, we had to make a stop here:

Say what you will, but I am a huge luvah of the double-double with a chocolate shake!

I spent a lot of time hanging out with these two wonderful ladies - Tina and Melissa - who renewed my love of all things mixed media:

So many light bulbs went off as they answered my mixed media questions that I am positive you could see my head lit up from outer space!

I loved hanging out with the friends I knew and making new ones, too:

And it was super cool to meet my Facebook friends "in real life" like the CHIC TAG girls Malika Kelly and Jennifer Haggerty:

Yep, that would be me with my eyes closed.  Maybe I was trying to show everyone my expert application of eyeshadow?????

Heidi Swapp taught Melissa and me how to expertly apply mist on a stencil:

She even graciously signed my work and posed for a picture with me...

...as did my idol (because she designs many of the MY MINDS EYE papers that I hoard as well as does all sorts of cool home design/decorating projects) JEN ALLYSON (nicest.person.ever.)

See that dazed look in my eyes?  Pretty sure my brain had just finished short-circuiting...

And...most totally adorable picture?  The one of me with Baby Jack...

...oh, and his mom, Amy Tangerine.

And, of course, you haven't fully experienced CHA until you've had your picture taken with Tim Holtz...

...who, as it turns out, is just as fond of the cheesy grin as I am - ha!!!

And...there were purple cows...

And Disneyland with my besties...

...where we rode rides, and talked, and laughed until our sides hurt...

Until next time...I'll be back.

Displaying My Love for Tim Holtz

This Configurations Tray ended my month-long love affair with Tim Holtz over at Let's Capture Our Memories. I have been wanting to do a printer's type tray for quite awhile and decided to take the plunge when I saw this one at the LCOM STORE. I'm not going to lie - it was pretty labor intensive, but I think the end result was well worth the time put into it!

Creating a project using the Configurations Tray was a no-brainer for me. The boxes can be moved around and arranged in any formation, and they are perfect for inking, painting or covering in paper as I did. And, of course, I was able to ink, tear, crackle paint, and otherwise distress to my heart's content - and let me tell you, I had a VERY CONTENT heart by the end of this project!

Want to see some close-ups? Here you go:

I think the two things I enjoyed the most about working on my tray were that 1)the depth of the boxes allowed me to create little individual 3-D tableaus inside each space, something that's not really possible with a traditional layout; and 2) I had a field day pulling out all my old stickers, charms, ribbons, buttons and, of course, all my Tim Holtz goodies. I was able to use so many cute, eclectic things from my scrappy stash of goodies that I had to have over the past two years but had never found a use for - and I felt totally rightous about those past random purchases!!! In fact, I felt so vindicated that in a post-project shopping orgy...spree...fit of madness...um...trip...to Hobby Lobby I didn't even think twice about buying 8 drawer knobs from the clearance section. Do I have a clue what I will do with them? Nope. But I am positive that the right project will come along. And when it does, my drawer knobs and I will be ready!

Everyday Tim Holtz, Marketing Team News, and Sketches!

I don't know about you, but when I think about Tim Holtz I don't normally think...everyday all-occasion cards. And I CERTAINLY don't think "quick design project" that is easy to put together! But...that is exactly what I was able to do last night using my yummy papers and supplies from the Let's Capture Our Memories STORE. I think the main thing that made creating these cards so quick and easy was that I used Timmy-Poo's Crowded Attic paper collection which, much like its namesake, is packed with old, vintage images that are perfect for cardmaking, especially when combined with some of his ribbon or those had-to-have-them-could-not-put-them-down miniature hangers.

Speaking of Let's Capture Our Memories, did you know they are looking for a new MARKETING TEAM? I can tell you from personal experience, this is a fabulous group of ladies to work with! And to get free supplies every month to create your projects - well, it just doesn't get much better than that! Entries are due no later than September 15th, and the term runs from November 2011 to March 2012.

For those of you who are having a hard time finding inspiration or simply finding the time to scrap due to school that has just begun or getting ready to begin, here are a couple of great sketches from my favorite sketch sites:

From SASSY LIL SKETCHES, here is the August Week 3 sketch:

And here is my take on it:

You know the Design Team has come up with lots of great ideas, so if you still need a little inspiration, click HERE.

And, last but not least, from LET'S SCRAP, here is this week's new sketch, hot off the virtual press:

Want to see what the Let's Scrap Girls and I made? Well, you're going to have to click HERE!

Until next time - be creative!