CHA Day 3

Looking over my posts and photos that I’m sharing with you I can’t help but smile. What I didn’t photograph, what you can’t see is how much WORK a show is. Whether you’re in a booth or walking the floor – it is exhausting and the meetings, get togethers, and events go way beyond the show floor hours. If you’re totally rested during a trade show, you’re not doing it right.

I did a lot of pre-show prep and worked hard on planning (flexible plans, of course) to make the most of my short time in Anaheim. The biggest thing I found is that I simply didn’t make time for eating. Noting that, I indulged in room service as I got ready the final day. Yes, day 3 started with French Toast with toasted almonds, peaches, and bits of funnel cake. Oh- and caramel maple syrup. I wanted to make sure I had the energy to power out the last few hours I had on the show floor!!

This is made from Tim Holtz grungeboard. The use of texture & flowers & color… just wow. WOW.

Speaking of Tim – if you follow me on twitter then you know he told me at the show that I’ll love his scissors (made by Tonic). Is it possible they’ll be my new favorites? It’s a scissor throw-down. (Or walk-off- if you’re a Zoolander fan) He’s got a lot of amazing new products and I was glad that I got to meet with him during the show.

One of my new favorite people? Elizabeth Kartchner. Such a sweetheart and she too was a fan of wearing cute shoes and her outfits were just the best. LOVED her line & can’t wait to use it all.

Don’t you hate it when you’re smiling in your head but it doesn’t look like it or you look weird in a photo? Yeah, me too. But oh well. Here’s Nancy Nally & me.

Something I like about Nancy? You can have a difference of opinion without it being a personal attack. We have an ongoing friendly feud over the color navy right now. It makes me smile just thinking about it. It was great to hang out with her at the show and I’ve got a lot of articles brewing & storming in my head for www.scrapbookupdate.com  (stay tuned!)

So I also found a new creative soul sister over at Tattered Angels and she shared with me that a few of the new color names are inspired by Twilight.  “Man Sparkle” really would have been an awesome name for the color below since maybe if sprayed on your man it could make him look like Edward in the sun. I suppose Dazzling Diamonds is still good. There’s also a private meadow green product that’s pretty. I am still cracking up over this.

Here’s me & Liz. Her hands were totally dyed from all the misting – and she’s amazing with all Tattered Angel’s products. Can’t wait to use them in upcoming projects!

Shortly after that photo I sprinted across the show floor – said hey to a few more people & ran for a taxi. Just 48hours after arriving, I was headed back home. At the airport I had to get patted down/wanded by TSA. They were not amused that I thought it was funny… in fact I am pretty sure they were suspicious that I wasn’t put out or angry about it like all the normal passengers being forced to be in that little ‘special’ area. Me? I was just thinking it added another layer, another moment, and another story to my action packed journey.

Over a plate of warm homemade potato chips smothered in Blue Cheese (oh.my) I thought about the show. Overall? HUGE smiles from me. Getting to spend time with, meet, hug, and laugh with so many of my favorite friends and making new friends makes CHA kind of like a summer camp. I stayed up way too late, my voice is still raspy, and my knee is swollen and in a lot of pain from standing for 3 full days. I’ve got ice on it and I’ll recover. It was so totally worth it. I have few regrets – simply that there are people I wanted to see and spend time with that I didn’t find or get the chance to sit down with and people that I was having such a good time with that I forgot to take photos.

Here’s hoping I get to go to the next show… and in the meantime I’m off to work on new projects & work on my post-show list of things to do. I’m so excited about all that happened and all I saw at this show – I’ll be sharing more as I can!! Watch for lots of favorite picks & trend reports from me at Scrapbook Update as well as a post about the girls’ paperie right here…