Back from CHA!!!!

Well all I can say is it was a BLAST!! To walk around and take it all in was fabulous, and to stand there and watch Tim Holtz make some of his famous tags was indescribable!! I also got to meet Kim Hughs and see some of the adorable stamps she has coming out, the snowmen in the winter set are SOOO cute! (For those who don't know snowmen are my weakness!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!! I collect them!) All the new products that will be coming out is just AWESOME! To take in ALL the sights, do some make and takes, meet some MB members, and get to take part in the raffles for some AWESOME prizes was SO much fun! I was not a big winner in any of the raffles, but I did get spotted Sunday afternoon wearing my MM apron and got the last prize they were handing out- 2 packages of the new MM acrylic stamps and an acrylic block!! :) Here's the prize!

And I got these for being at the MM booth at 2:00 everyday for their drawing. On Sunday I was hanging around long enough afterwards and was lucky enough to get the Christmas 5x7 mini album too!

I also got some fun hand-outs from other booths as well! On Sunday while I was doing my BG make & Take we heard this train whistle, after a while a rep from Creative Imaginations came over and was handing out wooden Lionel train whistles-and I was lucky enough to get 2 for the boys which they LOVE! ATB was handing out key chains, Little Yellow Bicycle was throwing out prizes and I caught a package of decorative brads, Glitz gave us some rub-ons, Ribbonshouse (made in US only) gave us a pack of ribbon :) , some guy was handing out nail starters (a magnet that holds a nail while you hammer it into the wall)Then the make and takes were fun! First I did this fun little slider window (can't remember if that is the correct name of the product) sign with some of their new paper!

Then I went over to Ranger and saw a demo by Tim Holtz and did one of the make & takes there. It was this cute little flower made using Claudine Hellmuth sticky back canvas paper & acrylic paints, a MM brad, and my new favorite white pen- Ranger Inkessentials White Opaque pen!!! It writes like Butta!! LOVE IT!! The BEST white pen EVER!!!

Over at My Mind's Eye I made this little flower card using their new "Laundry Line" line. I also used their new stamps, buttons to match the line, and their new inks that coordinate to the different color lines (1 is pinks the other is blue/greens). At first I thought the inks were a great idea, but after using them I think they need to modify them some. The inks are shaped like Cat's Eye and were in a circle that you unsnap and the inks fan out a little bit, then you are suppose to be able to just lift out the color you need use it and set in back in. Well I could not get the ink out of the tray and in the whole process of getting them in/out I got ink ALL over my fingers from that one and the ones next to it! I wish I could find a pic to show, I thought it was a good idea at first, and but in the end I was not liking it at all! Here's the cute little card!

Then I went over to Maya Road and well I am in LOVE with a new product!! Maya Mists!!! Yes Maya Road now has their own version of Glimmer Mist! And I must say my initial thought was copy cats-I DON'T need this! Then I did their make & Take which was covering their chipboard shapes using the Maya Mists. I LOVE the way it sprays- even full coverage! It dried REALLY fast too! It was just amazing to me how well this spray worked! They sell plain colors and then they sell matallic colors if you want to add sparkle to your project! The 2 downsides to Maya Mist- they are water based so they are NOT as versatile as Glimmer Mist (NO acrylic usage), and they currently only have 8 regular colors and 3 metallic colors! The first side is using red and gold, and the second side is using blue and silver! I also did a piece using only the metallic spray.

The next is a make & take from Basic Grey it is a cute little chipboard notepad! This is made using their new Natural Granola line of paper and rub-ons. We also used their new chipboard that is in "Milk Chocolate Chip". I have never used BG rub-ons before and let me just say these were the EASIEST rub-ons I have EVER used!! Just went on like Butta!!! I also now know that I NEED their filing tool kit! I had LOTS of fun doing this one!My final project is not complete yet as I just did the basics and left the tedious job of assembling for home! I felt bad for people who waiting in line for almost an hour to make one, and I would rather be able to move on and do another make & take. So I took a picture for reference and to show you till I finish. This was one of the projects from Provo Craft a safari lunch box! It is made using Cuttle kids die cuts and the Cricut. I wish I could have gotten a second one so each boy could have one, but I think I would cry the first time it was trashed, so I think it will be mine! I think its stinkin' cute!! And worth the 45 minute wait!

Well this post has gotten to be SO long so I will put some of the many phots I took in a slide show. It was SO hard to choose what to show so here are just some highlights of yummy new products and cute projects! So here's a little show for you

I had SOOO much fun!! It was fun on Saturday to get to meet Sherry, Robert, Brenna, Krista and Jeff form Dixie Pieces! I also got to meet Kim and her daughter Jordan from Dixie Pieces as well! I also met up with Marci and she introduced me to Mary Jo and Lynn from I Am A Scrapaholic kits. It was fun hanging out with everyone on Saturday and then I went back on Sunday for some serious looking and make and taking! I wish I would have been able to go on Friday as well and do/see more! I am SAD to hear they will not be coming back to Chicago next year! But I am VERY glad I was able to have the opportunity to go this year and experience CHA! Thank you again to Sherry for the opportunity!

TFL!

Valerie