CHA day 2- Round up!!

So Day 2 did not have any mind blowing moments but, since all the excitement had soaked in I was able to be a little bit less "ahhhh" and a little bit more "ooh" or maybe I just added in "ooh amongst the draw dropping!  You know like a pro!  Although I won't lie it began to feel a little sad, as I wandered back through places I realized I was both in heaven and hell.  I was in the biggest scrapbook store IN THE WORLD and my burning itching money was worthless!  I could look and touch but I couldn't play!  Not until "... Ships in mid to late February" kept echoing in my ears all weekend!!  

<insert concerto of sad violins here> 

So I made a list of places to go back to and places I hadn't gone, plus the requests of some fellow friends new and old so here's the scoop: 

I fulfilled my desire to want by wandering around and seeking out make and takes, and let's not lie sitting down after an entire day on my pregnant feet was a dream.  So I made stuff... A lot of stuff.  Best make and take ever... Spellbinders!  With their luxurious booth I wanted to move into and all the pretty pretty things it was love at first sight!  

-Best Creations, the company that has the most amazing glitter tape ever.  Is making the most amazing glitter paper ever and it's iron on.  So my ideas...1) ironing on paper is not unheard of.  2) just glue or staple it anyways 3)use it for EVERYTHING!  It's flexible, waterproof... Hint hint cutter people! And it's fixable.. No flaking, no mess... Just awesome!  And look I made this: 

I thought it was a change purse I was later informed it is a cell phone purse... Oh, yeah I see it now!  ;) 

-I then went around and over to Moxie.  I love this company because they are small and yet they are unique and outside the box without being over the top... Remember the zombie paper at Halloween? Yes, they rock! 

So they have some amazing little lines... A Color Run line I KNOW many of my friends, and myself, NEED and a super cute scrapbooking line.  *ding* <--- That is the sound of a lightbulb going off.  Someone FINALLY has paper to scrapbook about when we all get together to use paper and scrapbook.  Loved it!  

Ps... The way they displayed their layouts SO CUTE.  And I learned how they did it... Ruffled fabric they cut apart and sewed the ribbon ruffle to the pages!  Could that be any more cute?? 

-Bella Blvd was full of the most beautiful layouts at the entire show!  I loved them all... And their new product is just so exciting!!  

-For all my die cut fans another company I haven't heard of before Taylored Expressions had some adorable dies... 

-As did Sizzix.  We ran into this gal Eileen Hull who let us sit and even request personal made items from her new adorable collection of 3D dies that were to die for!  

I mean like seriously... Look at that trunk and tool box made with real metal plate papers.  That mini book die took all of 10 minutes to assemble and is so cute.  The possibilities with these are ENDLESS..!!  

-Made it to the beautiful prima booth where they debut their new collection of water color pencils and tricolor family alcohol markers.  Sadly no demo or ability to try them out but they looked pretty.  They plan on releasing more colors in the spring and summer so stay tuned if you love that. 

-Ken Oliver had a pretty unique set up of ink pads... I loved how well traveled they are and the vibrance of the colors.  They store like a USB and you push up the button and then a velvet (not foam) ink pad pops out.  Easy for inking stamps, distressing edges, and the color is smooth and silky!  Dries fast.  He did a demo of spraying first with water and make the water color effect they blended beautifully! 

-FINALLY found a demonstration of the widely asked about FUSE tool from We R Memory Keepers.  This was something that intrigued me but wasn't on my must have list... And now I am counting down the days! It is pretty cool!!  I know there are hacks floating around about using the irock by imaginsce but I do agree that the dotted lines are appealing.  If you know me at all you know I like to push the limits so I asked what I felt was an obvious question... "Can you Fuse acetate to your pages?"  The gal looked shocked to hear me ask and said she didn't know but quickly ran off to grab some and was happy to try it out... The answer:  YES!  Oh imagine the possibilities now!!  Some hints... Go extremely slow, score the acetate first, and run it twice.  It will take some practice so use a spare page protector and scrap first.  The thicker acetate will more than likely not work... But the thinner stuff did!  How fun is this going to be?  Ships to stores late February and big box stores in April.  So if you want to use a Michael's coupon... You will have to wait!  

-Jumping into the mixed media for the final post.  Met Diane Wakley who was just a sweet and fun gal.  I loved her matter of fact humor and her honest chat.  For mixed media she said this: 

"The best pen for writing over light colored acrylic paint is the Fudeball.

Best pen for over crayons or oil based paints.. There is none.  

Best pen for over dark stuff... There is none that work for more than 3 weeks.."

She was showing off her new tips that go right into paints to make them fine points. It was interesting.   I do love the ability to write or doodle in paint.

In other mixed media news: her stencils are awesome she has 9 news ones coming out. When asked her faves.. She loves the floral leafy thing she called it and the alphas.. And her new obsession polka dots!  Ha! 

New stamps by Nathalie Kalbash from Stampendous look oh so delish!  And they will be putting out their version of the Gelli Plate called Creative pallet which is much thinner and yet has the same giant booger feel.  For those interested in gelli printing this looks like a good option.

I will brag a little that I did stop by the Simple Stories and as I know the designer, Traci Reed" who did the "simple stories packs" I just had to touch her stuff and show off only to get busted by Layle herself.. But it was all in good fun!  I also found out that I was losing creative juices when we were given buttons to fill in the blank of "I am..." And lost to Instagram for a chance to win their new line of product when after a serious 4 minutes of thinking I wrote "me".... Really?? That was the best I had...?? Anyone else hear the sad deflating ballon and trumpets going *whomp whomp whomp* in the background?? 

I did go to Every. Single. Booth. I touched, saw, talked to, and made a lot of stuff... If you want to know about anything else please ask! 

In closing I not only met my new idol April from Crystal Ninja who was covered in head to toe handmade rhinestone suit that took her all of 290 hours (including the shoes) but was happy to let her know my nickname of "bling queen" would happily relinquished to "princess of bling" as long as I could be her crafty side kick!  She was awesome!

I failed to mention the tycoons of the industry on purpose because I feel I can write up a separate post about Doodlebug, Echo park, and all the others later.  They didn't jump at me and say "oh what a great line and you must share this immediately..." So we can do a designer round up post CHA.  

Thanks for joining me!  Scrappy hugs to all!