CHA Craft SuperShow - So Much Fun!

Day 1

Friday, January 22

Silly me, who knew the CHA Craft SuperShow opened at 12?  I was so excited to be there that I arrived at 10 am. CHA is a HUGE industry-only trade show. Every manufacturer that you can imagine has a booth at CHA.  It is a crafters heaven! (My goal for 2011 is to score a badge to get into CHA! I'm working on my strategy.) The CHA SuperShow is a mini version of CHA, open to the public and features some manufacturers and crafting retailers. 

I started off my day by picking up a copy of Lisa Kettel's book, Altered Art Circus. I knew she was going to be at the show and I was hoping to meet her in person. No such luck!  Boo, maybe next time!

No sooner had I left the Barnes and Noble booth when the most amazing black and white pattern on a figure caught my eye and, of course, I had to check it out! Suzanne McNeill, of Design Originals, was demonstrating Zentangles.

If you aren't familiar with this awesome abstract art form, you have to check it out! The more Suzanne talked about it, the more I realized I have to try it. It seems like it could put me in the right zen frame of mind to let my mind wander and allow art to just happen.

Next, I stopped by the Treasured Memories booth for a cute make and take.

While walking down the aisle one of the reps from Westcott handed me a pair of free scissors, yes, FREE!  And they are so nice! Perfect for cutting paper without cutting that skin between my thumb and pointer finger, I think Sally Jean Alexander calls it your chicken. I dunno, that's just what she calls it! (I think that's the scientific name) Anyhow, the cutest little 2 1/2" scissors are now mine!  I love getting free useful stuff!

Mona Gettman and Cheryl Mezzetti (I'm the one in the middle!)

After that, it was time for my workshop with Cheryl Mezzetti, designer for Creative Imaginations.  She showed us how to make an altered Bare Elements flower book that she designed using the new Creative Imaginations My Girl Collection from Christine Adolph, new Wood veneers and Luminarte paints. I love Cheryl's techniques, she really encouraged us to give our project dimension by making the elements pop right off the page.  I was so happy to see my friend, the very talented Mona Gettman, who works at Creative Imaginations. 

You may have noticed my gorgeous necklace...I was stopped so many times all day!  It was made by Cheryl Simpson, who has these gorgeous creations for sale in her Etsy shop. One of the ladies who asked me about my necklace told me that the figure of the doll is called a Cold Frozen Charlotte, because these figures were found buried in the ground in Germany. I checked it on google and I can't see any info about it. I'll have to ask Cheryl!  (I figured it out!)

Domino Jewelry

Next, I discovered a great way to play with dominoes. The demonstrator for Auntie Amy Stamps uses mini rubber stamps to decorate the tiles and they can be used in necklaces, bracelets, key chains, and you can embellish them in so many ways!

I go gaga for VINTAGE!

Next, I headed over to the Crafty Secrets booth and boy did those ladies have some eye candy!  I LOVE Vintage!  My favorite item was their clear Alice in Wonderland themed stamps. I can't wait to use them!

Sandy and Vicky from Crafty Secrets

Carol Duvall

It wouldn't be a crafting show without a crafting celeb or two, and Carol Duvall was there signing her book.

One of the highlights of my day was watching Teresa Collins and Stephanie Ackerman create beautiful roses out of Teresa's paper and then embellish them with TC SHIMMER PEARLZ. 

It was getting late, they were getting silly, and it was so entertaining! For a second, I seriously thought they were going to use the roses as pasties!

Isn't this the cutest ever?

One of my favorite stops was the Making Memories booth. Number 1, they have great products and I have been coveting a Slice forever. Number 2, I got a very cute, and FREE, pink apron!  I think Savannah wants it, but she has to promise to make me some crepes!

My other favorite place had really long lines and lots of people wearing chefs hats. Cricut is introducing a new product, called Cake. As it turns out, you can use this really cool new machine to cut out gumpaste to decorate cakes. Genius! I wish I had taken some pictures, because Provo doesn't have anything posted on this product yet. It was amazing!

That's it for Day 1, I'll be back with more info on Day 2, and tell you about my adventure with Savannah.

CHA Craft SuperShow

CHA Craft SuperShow

I'm so excited! I got my tickets for CHA tonight!!! My sixteen year old daughter, Savannah, has graciously agreed to be seen with me. I'm looking forward to checking out all of the new products. Is it just my imagination, or was this event not open to the public last year? Hm, tell me if you know the answer to this one!

Please help Haiti!

Heather Bailey Fabric is Dee-Lish!

I've started my fabric shopping and my first stop was to Heather Bailey's online store.

Wow, so much eye candy I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful her patterns and colors are.

Retro patterns + popping cotton candy colors = in my shopping cart!

 I selected a few yards, but I think that they are really a better choice for aprons, rather than the siggy blocks I'm going to be making. The hunt is still on for the perfect fabric for the swap.

My next stop is to the Fat Quarter Shop, but on the way my A.D.H.Oh shiny object! got in the way and I took a little detour to see what Patty Young has going on. I'm like a kid in the candy store, I just am having such a difficult time making up my mind! So many beautiful fabric patterns and colors, but honestly, I need more time to sew!

I finally made my selection, it's going to be fabric from Patty Young. Her Flora and Fauna collection has me going gaga! I can't wait for the fabric to arrive! Can I hear a woohoo?

modern siggy swap

modern siggy swap
Originally uploaded by rachelgriffith

I'm really excited about joining this swap!

Look, Mom, I'm Blogging!

So, I joined a quilting swap, the Modern Siggy Swap, thanks to Rachel Griffith, quilter extraordinaire. And I noticed that almost all of the other quilters participating in the swap had a blog. Feeling left out, (I am a middle child, after all!), I realized I need a blog! And here it is, in all of its newborn glory.

To start off with, I'll tell you a little bit about the Modern Siggy Swap. As I said, it is thanks to Rachel Griffith, and I can't wait to get started. We have a total of 100 quilters (I can't say ladies, because I'm quite sure I've seen a couple guys who signed up) and we are all going to make 101 blocks out of beautiful, yummy modern fabrics and we'll finish them off with our signature. Then, we ship the blocks to Rachel and she'll send us back 100 blocks to make into a quilt. She is going to make a charity quilt with the extra blocks and bless it to a worthy cause.

I'll be looking for fabric from these designers:
Kate Spain, Heather Bailey, Anna Maria Horner, Tula Pink, Amy Butler, Lila Tueller, Joel Dewberry, Paula Prass, Patty Young, Denyse Schmidt, Sandi Henderson, Erin Mcmorris, Tina Givens, Basic Grey, Momo, & Chez Moi. I especially love anything from Tula Pink, hello whimsy! If you have a favorite online fabric store that you use, let me know! I've recently been to three different fabric stores and their selection of Moda fabrics was...um...not very imaginative.


The blocks are due by March 1, so I better get going. I've got a lot to do:

1. Figure out how to put a button on my blog
2. Find an online fabric store with really yummy and colorful modern fabric
3. Figure out how much fabric I need (I'm new to quilting, this could take a while!)
4. Learn how to make a lot of blocks with straight seams!

Now, I've gotta go, it's time to shop!