This is part of a series about the scrapbooking booths I visited at CHA 2016. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series, please click HERE.
Next on the agenda was the American Crafts … area. I can’t even say booth because there was so much area covered.
I saw Amy Tangerine and Shimelle at the American Crafts booths but didn’t see Lizzy Karcher (aka Dear Lizzy). However, I saw her in some CHA videos so she was there, I must’ve just had bad timing.
I didn’t talk to Amy this time, as she was busy chatting.
I did briefly speak with Shimelle. I told her welcome back, that she was missed, and that all the scrapbooking peeps are happy about her new line and the return of Glitter Girl! She said even though it seemed like she was gone for a while, she actually hadn’t missed any shows and continued to release her products on schedule. Wow, she’s amazing!
When I asked if I could take a photo in front of her new line, she grabbed the basket. I had to make sure and get her sweet silver shoes in the photo too :)
Okay, for the rest of these photos, you’re on your own. There’s SO much goodness. I can’t even.
PINK PAISLEE
PEBBLES
You can see all the new lines from American Crafts on their site HERE.
Check out these preview videos of brand new lines from BLUE MOON SCRAPBOOKING – lots of yumminess to follow. Get out yer drool cup!
“Stitched” by Amy Tangerine for American Crafts due in September 2014
Okay, I’m not into the stitching thing AT ALL. Ain’t nobody got time for that! But I love the rest of her line. Those Thickers especially are going to break my budget.
“Serendipity” by Dear Lizzy for American Crafts due in November 2014
Very girly and I love her handwriting!
Any my personal favorite, “Open Book” by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper (release date unknown)
Love this whole line! Maggie has a special talent for putting together such a variety of images that you wouldn’t think would go together . . . yet they do. That paper pad will be mine for sure.
While I was checking out Blue Moon’s videos of “coming soon” stuff, I found this video of Webster’s Pages “Ocean Melody” (second half of video).
I’ve been hearing everyone online raving about it but hadn’t seen the whole collection yet. Honestly, I was kind of avoiding it, LOL. I live near the ocean and we go all the time – hence, I have lots of beach photos. I knew I would want it if i dared to look.
For instance, we were just at the beach last evening – here are some of the many iPhone photos I took:
So I KNEW I would love and want the entire “Ocean Melody” line.
And I love it.
And I want it.
ALL.
Crud.
Wouldn’t that vellum called “Dusk” go perfectly with my recent photos?
At the beginning of the video, they also show “Strawberry Fields” which is lovely as well. It’s not my style as much as the “Ocean Melody” but I definitely want a few sheets of that bokeh and other papers.
BLUE MOON SCRAPBOOKING has both Webster’s Pages lines in stock now. Of course, they’ll stock the new Amy Tangerine, Dear Lizzy, and Maggie Holmes lines when released as well. I’m headed over there to shop . . . if I don’t come out in an hour, send help!
Because I went to a GOOD Michaels a few weeks ago while traveling and it was a-MAYZE-ing! They had all the stuff I hear other scrappers talking about online and wish-wish-WISHING! that mine did.
This cute project greeted me at the front table.
My store doesn’t even have this whole section called “Craft It” by Recollections. Some really cute stuff to DIY party favors, cards, scrapbooking, etc.
Look at those cute colored clothespins and straws!
I snagged two of these washi tapes!
Four new paper pads by Jolee’s – I’ve never seen paper by them, only embellishments. GO Jolee’s!
Even their Clearance stuff was better than at my Mike’s :P
I was tempted by this watercolor paper pad by Recollections but I still have tons of “COLOR WASH” by Heidi Swapp that needs to be used.
The “Sweet Tangerine” paper pad by DCWV was hard to pass up. I love all the orange.
I swear, “Hey Kid” by Pink Paislee has been on my wish list since I first saw it. But twice now I’ve seen it in person and failed to pull the trigger. I think I need to get just a few sheets and some embellishments, not the whole line. I just don’t love ALL of the papers.
And, oh yeah, all paper pads were 50% off so I expect you to really admire my strength in not buying any, LOL!
My Mike’s doesn’t have any of these cute burlap embellishments!
I had those mason jars and the letters in my hands . . . but they didn’t make the final cut :( I’m hoping my Mike’s will get them eventually and I can use coupons to get them later.
THIS Mike’s has almost a full aisle of paper pads! Does yours? Mine has about 1/3 of an aisle.
Look how high their paper racks go! Mine stop at about eyeball-level with about 1/3 as many racks. Hmph!
They even have a SCRAPBOOKING sign! Not at my store :(
This looks about the same as the Project Life section at my Mike’s.
My store has a section like this of random MAMBI, card sentiments, older K&Co, etc. but it’s not as filled in, has maybe about 1/2 as much product.
Found these cute new letter stickers in 3 colors.
Here’s a close-up so you can see . . . they’re made of a textured fabric and are slightly distressed on the edges.
And here is where I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven! MAMBI MAMBI MAMBI!! Man, their stuff is so bright, cheery, and uplifting. They can turn anyone’s frown upside-down, ha!
I knew I had to get some of these MAMBI Sticks but at $8 a package, I had to make a choice . . . or maybe two ;) So I looked at the backs to see what was in each package. I just love the sayings they use, the pretty fonts, and the great colors.
Love these letters – kraft with polka dots!
Uh-oh, found another set of MAMBI Sticks I like. This is getting ever harder to choose!
They had all the MAMBI Pocket Pages stuff which I’ve bought out . . . ahem, has mostly been phased out at my Michaels.
My store now has the Instax Mini 8 camera, mini albums, and supplies – a better selection actually – but this Mike’s had them 2-3 weeks earlier.
NOTE: These cameras are only about $60-70 on Amazon with free shipping (depending on the color you choose) at my link above. At Michaels, they retail (if I remember right) for $119. Even with a coupon, Amazon is cheaper. And some Michaels stores are not accepting coupons for them. Just a shopping tip!
Here are the 8.5 x 11 “Hot Buy” paper pads I heard about online but couldn’t find at my Mike’s.
This Amy Tangerine one with all the cameras was super tempting!
And, finally, some new embellishments from AMERICAN CRAFTS, aka the Monopoly winners at the game of Scrapbooking (did you get that? huh?). Something in this photo came home with me.
Those plastic letters on the bottom look like some I bought from Crate Paper “The Pier”
line a while back and I know I paid a lot more than $3.99 for them! I wonder if the quality and amount are similar?
If you want to see what I bought, stay tuned . . . you’ll see in my next post!
I hope those of you with a GOOD Mike’s nearby realize how lucky you are. You’re probably the same ones with a Hobby Lobby and a great Joann nearby too, aren’t ya’?? Jeez, I’m really jealous of you. I don’t even have those stores, no LSS, just a (BAD) Michaels. Waaahh!
So, which camp do you fall in? Do you have a GOOD Mike’s like this one that gets all the good, new stuff early on and has hoards of scrapbooking supplies? Or are you like me with a BAD Mike’s that gets new products much later, if at all, and in smaller quantities?
YES! I got to go to CHA* for the first time!!! And it was absolutely amazing! Scrapbook Bucket List item checked off! I could only go for one day (Saturday) but I’m so grateful even for that. It’s like Rome or Disneyland – there is NO possible way to see and do everything you want to in one day. So I ran around like a scrappy chicken with my head cut off and crammed as much as I could into 7 hours.
*Are you wondering what the hay CHA is? Check THIS out.
There was so much greatness packed into those 7 hours that I can’t put it all in one blog post. I’ll do a series over the next week or two and that way I can be more detailed (maybe TOO detailed but humor me, LOL!) Simple Stories and Basic Grey might take 2 posts each. We’ll see how it goes. But I want to share the experience with you of being a total geeky newb in the Emerald City. I must say, Oz was extremely welcoming :) And no flying monkeys. BONUS!
Pinch me. I still kind of can’t believe it. OUCH! Jeez, I didn’t mean ACTUALLY pinch me. It was a figure of speech. Sheesh. That’s okay, it didn’t hurt that much. Between CHA yesterday and the Golden Globes and The Bachelor tonight, I’m in heaven anyway. I still love you <3
For an idea of what’s to come, below are some of the booths I went to and people I met.
I got a tour of these booths, met some wonderful people, and got you some good intel: BASIC GREY – Talked to one of the owners, Rachel Brenchley, and briefly met Kelly Purkey SIMPLE STORIES – Met the owners Kevin and Amber Crowell, and Jodi, Sue, and Layle Koncar ECHO PARK / CARTA BELLA – Met Andrea Smith WEBSTER’S PAGES – Met Allison Kreft and Shimelle PROJECT LIFE – Met Becky Higgins CHICKANIDDY CRAFTS – Met Heidi Sonboul’s husband MAMBI (Me and My Big Ideas) – Met Shelby Strichard
As you can see, I’m a Paper Girl. If you’re looking for inks and stamps and tools, I’m not your gal. I mean, all that stuff is awesome but I had to prioritize so I went for my first love: PAPER!!! I’m a confessed PAPER SNIFFER from way back, remember? I’ve always been open with you about that. Don’t hate.
I also got to meet Nancy Nalley from SCRAPBOOK UPDATE and we had a quick fun convo at the end of the day. I hope I remembered to mention every person and booth I visited. If not, I’ll include them later, swear!
Overall, I will say that my photos will not be the best you’ll see out there (camera problems so most are iPhone photos). I didn’t take a TON of project photos because I know each manufacturer posts those on their blog, etc. My focus will be on telling you the story of the day, how amazing and fun it was to be there, the conversations I had with some of my favorite companies, what I’ll do differently next time, and hopefully some insider information that you won’t hear anywhere else. The posts will be LONG. I’m verbose. Deal with it.
I did offer those I interviewed the chance to do a run-through of our exchange before I post it. I don’t have the greatest memory and I’d feel HORRIBLE if I misquoted someone. I also don’t want to share any details they’d rather keep under wraps for now, or anything too personal. They are businesses, just real people making a living, and I totally respect that. But if there’s a delay in posting anything, that’ll be why – just wanted you to know ☺
So please come back to read more about my adventures at CHA 2014. If you want to make sure and not miss a post, you can sign up for updates in the top right corner. That way, you get an e-mail every time I post.
In the meantime, if you’re Jonesing for CHA product and project photos, I encourage you to check out all the vendor blog links in my Blogroll on the lower right. If you go to their blogs, you can usually find a link to their Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook where they’re sharing photos from CHA and/or products debuting at CHA. Also, in my post above, anything that’s bolded is a link to their blog or website.
Another way to see amazing pics from the floor of CHA is check out Melissa Stinson/Scrappy Jedi’s FLICKR FEED. She has a nice camera and her CHA photos are wicked good. I was hoping to meet Melissa @ CHA but never saw her, dangit! I’ve followed her blog for years and am a big fan.
Sorry no pretty pictures this time. I’m still downloading and editing them – I took almost 500 total. In 7 hours. Yikes. Excessive much?
You can see all the new stuff RIGHT HERE* in a .pdf catalog.
ETA 07-09-13: Well, sugar!! The link I had no longer works so I removed it. I’m hearing that the new PL stuff wasn’t supposed to be released yet. When it actually IS released, someone please remind me to come back and post it again. Becky says sneaks will be release on her blog “soon.”
ETA again 07-09-13: Thanks to the Peas, I found THIS LINK to a Google doc of the catalog. I think you need to be signed in to a Google account to see it (?). I will paste the images in below and hope they don’t disappear as well ;)
My thoughts:
Elsie and Emma “Sunshine” Core Kit: Waaaayyyy too bright and crazy for my tastes but with Elsie involved, I’m sure it will find its following.
Celeste Knight “Heritage” Core Kit: Great colors and patterns for older photos and what better way to finally get all those heritage photos scrapped!
Dear Lizzy “Polka Dot Party” Mini Kit: Usually love her stuff but not sure about this one . . . need to see more.
Amy Tangerine “Cut and Paste” Mini Kit: Great colors and looks good from what little is shown.
Maggie Holmes “Flea Market” Mini Kit: I might have to buy the kit just for that card with the layered hearts. I {heart} hearts!
The albums are all cute but I don’t “do” cloth albums.
Great variety of page protectors and pockets … more the merrier, bring ’em on!
Date stamp and corner rounder are nice additions but not sure I can justify them given I have some date stamps and a corner rounder already.
Love the lined and ledger cards as an alternative to the existing graph cards.
Want the gray arrows, alphas, and label stickers; not a fan of the beige.
They aren’t currently listed as of this writing (07-08-13) but when released, you should be able to see the entire kits in a digital version HERE on the AC Digitals site. I don’t usually buy the digital PL kits but it’s nice to be able to see all the cards to decide if you like it or not.
What are your thoughts on the new Summer 2013 Project Life items by Becky Higgins?
has been on my wish list since I first saw it. But twice now I’ve seen it in person and failed to pull the trigger. I think I need to get just a few sheets and some embellishments, not the whole line. I just don’t love ALL of the papers.
, mini albums, and supplies – a better selection actually – but this Mike’s had them 2-3 weeks earlier. 
