CHA: Day 1

{CHA = Craft and Hobby Association. Twice a year they have a show where manufacturers debut new product… I’ll be telling you about my trip to CHA Anaheim this week}

CHA. Where do I even begin? Let’s start at the Sacramento airport when at security the button on my khaki pants flew off into TSA somewhere. Good thing I had a belt on! I made it through the day without further wardrobe malfunctions (and yep – pants stayed up fine). I was amazed at how smooth my travels went. Flight came in early, bag was ready before I even walked to the baggage claim, taxi ride was super fast, and I went from being on a plane to the CHA show floor in 45minutes. CRAZY!

The best part about the smooth travel is that it meant I made the Big Picture teacher lunch/get together. I love that I got to spend some time with women I usually only see in avatar form or via e-mail. The perfect way to start the show!

I then wandered around the floor feeling dizzy. There was SO much that was good, and the list of people and things I wanted to see so great that I just let myself wander & roam. I really didn’t take many photos I was too busy seeing, experiencing, looking, and totally loving.

Above is a view from one isle. Just picture 30+ of those isles… and a whole lotta carpet to cover. It’s overwhelming to say the least! I only took about thirty photos on day #1. In comparison days 2 and 3 yielded about 275 photos/day so you know I was just in overload/adjust mode. Everything was sooo pretty!!

Mel, Alison, and Raqual from Kaiser Crafts were just the sweetest girls. I’m so glad I got to meet them and hang out that night in the hotel room get together. (more on that later). I hope to see them again.

Do you know who I’m with here? The damask goddess herself, Teresa Collins. Her booth was incredible – I was instantly drawn to all the pretty things! She’s such a sweetheart too – so happy to see her thriving. My friend Becky Olsen was also in this booth but dang it – I never got a photo with her! That seems to be a common problem in my photos. “whoops. was so excited forgot camera was with me!”

The above sign (and all those lovely beads and things) were hanging in the GCD booth. Melody Ross & her latest? Well more on that later.

Provo Craft launched a new tool that is rocking my baking world. It’s called Cricut Cake and it cuts sugar gum paste (and frozen thin fondant) into die cut shapes ready to make your cookies, cupcakes, or cakes into masterpieces. Check out the cookie I got at their special party. Also here’s a photo of the dessert table at the party…

Now the real head smack moment. I had a bunch of friends over for pizza & hanging out back at my hotel room and I so never took out my camera! WHAT!?! I know. Totally lame. I’ll have to watch blogs for images of that part of the night because I forgot. I did get one shot of my friend Stephenie Hamen and her friend Mark Montano who popped in for a few minutes.

Stay tuned for more fun, TSA searches, product throwdowns, more sparkles, hugs, girlie things, man sparkle, cute shoes, and more. Also be sure to keep an eye on www.scrapbookupdate.com for all my product picks, trend reports, and more!