CHA Wrap-Up...

...I'm home, I'm home! Oh how I loooove Canada - snow and all!

It's so hard to believe that just yesterday I was close to the ocean and the sun was shining and the weather was warm (well, warmer than here anyway!) and now I'm surrounded by snow! But I made it back safe and sound, and I'm hoping that all my CHA buddies made it home okay, too!

To wrap up my CHA adventures, I just wanted to include my thoughts about all the shenanigans and to answer any questions that anyone had about the things that we saw and the things that we'll be carrying!

First off, as a first-timer, the whole event was so overwhelming! Even after all the tips and suggestions, nothing could have prepared me for the scope and seriousness of everything! Someone suggested bringing a rolling tote, but someone should have also said a rolling cooler as well - to fill with energy drinks, water, gatorade, non-perishables...LOL! You know what? Instead of a rolling tote, you should just bring one of those strollers that you can ride on...you know, with a basket in the front? Then you can hook up a hitch at the back and then hook up the rolling tote and the rolling cooler. That is the ONLY tip that I can pass along to any other CHA hopefuls!

Despite the serious lack of sleep, I had an AMAZING time! I was SO excited to meet all my Cricut friends and other new crafty friends as well! Every day was different and even full of surprises - Paris Hilton even, who woulda thunk it!? I highly recommending anyone who is considering going to future CHA events to just decide to go for it already! CHA July 2009 is in Orlando, Florida - how fun would THAT be? Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to that one, but I've already got my planning designs on CHA 2010, will I see you there???

So to answer one of the most recent questions I had, the size of the Impressabilities is pretty much exactly the same size as the Cuttlebug folders - so I would say A2 in size, is that right? The only thing is that it's not as thick without the folder! There are a bunch of patterns already and you can check out the Spellbinders website to see them!

All of the new products that Marti will be carrying - a lot of the ship dates (shipping to Marti that is) is scheduled for the spring, ie. March - April. That includes all the Tim Holtz/Ranger products, Zva blingies and flower sploofies.

The Flower Soft boxed sets will be coming in the next few weeks and she's got them available for pre-order as well as ONE LUCKY WINNER can win a box- check out her blog for the details!

To give you a little idea of how I've incorporated a few of the fabulous new products that Marti will be carrying, here's a little card I *had* to do as soon as I got up this morning!

*SQUEALS* (is it bad to squeal at your own project???) Well, I don't care, you can squeal with me if you like *SQUEALS*

So to break it down for you, I used a lot of white on white and to jazz that up a bit, I used my brand-spankin'-new-straight-from-the-inventor's-hands Scor-Pal (sorry, Scor-it, you just couldn't cut it...). I criss-crossed my scores for just that added bit of dimensionality (is that a word?). On top of that I stamped my Penny Black stamp and coloured with Prismas and Mineral Oil and then...FLOWER SOFT! LOOK AT IT! w00t! It's soooo pretty! Tutorials and techniques to come, I can assure you! To add just that final bit of pizzazz (??? how the heck is that spelled ???) I sprinkled on some Martha Stewart glitter!

I hand-stitched the border and added a little bit of blingies as well as the ribbon slider and ribbon, with MORE added blingies to finish it off!

So stay in tune to Pez-a-Doodle Designs as these products will be popping up shortly! Especially the FLOWER SOFT!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: