Winter CHA Recap

Donna and I arrived home safe and sound on Tuesday night. We had a great trip with the most beautiful weather, lots of walking and lots of laughs. I still have not unpacked all of the stuff I brought home with me, but I did manage to throw a load of laundry in and start going through all of the samples. I had to leave behind a lot of the catalogs that I would like to have kept, but my luggage was way overweight and I ended up checking a second bag just to get products home.


As usual, Ranger and Sizzix were very generous in what they gave out in classes so we got lots of fun stuff.  We had to miss our class with Donna Downey at Prima's warehouse because the cost to get a shuttle to take us there was unreal; $138 each way!  Had I known, I could have rented a car for the day!  Oh well, that freed up our day on Saturday so we were able to get into Sizzix classes and a Vintaj class.  We also were able to take a couple of mixed media classes that we really enjoyed.


The CHA show itself was much quieter than I expected. It was nowhere near as crazy as the shows we had attended six or seven years ago when people lined up before the doors opened and stampeded for their favorite booths.  There was none of that this year. There were a few lines at the make and takes, but all of the booths had plenty of room to get around and talk to the vendors. I did get to see a few "celebrities" and meet an online friend who owns a store in San Diego.

Me with Mario Rossi and Tammy Tutterow

Simple Stories Year-o-logy

Simple Stories- AwesoME

Glitz

October Afternoon 9-5

Prima

Sizzix Dies

Sizzix Dies & Texture Fades

The best part of the show is always seeing what the designer do with the new product.  There are some amazing artists out there.  The samples we saw ran the gamut from simple and elegant, to cute and whimsical, to fun and funky, to amazing and drop dead gorgeous.  In the Prima booth I honestly spent more time admiring the artwork than looking at any of the products. It was like walking through a museum.

I did manage to spent a great deal of money buying new lines, however. Many lines are shipping in February so we should be seeing them soon and some others are scheduled for March.  We should be fully stocked with goodness for the Bus Tour on April 15th.  By the way, registration for the bus tour begins next Saturday, Feb. 11th at 10am.




Here is a sampling of some of the new lines you will be seeing at The Inspiration Station.


New Penny Black Stamps:

Graphic 45 Little Darlings

Teresa Collins Fabrications

Bo Bunny Weekend Market

MME Miss Caroline