CHA SuperShow • Winter 2010

Due to the resounding success of its very first consumer show in Orlando this past summer, the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) organized a second consumer show which preceded the trade show in Anaheim this month. Supported by manufacturers, local retailers, chain stores and even designers, the show is an opportunity to educate consumers about products and teach crafting techniques through Make-It Take-Its (MITIs) and demos. I taught two free workshops on the show floor for example: a Spirelli (string art embellishments) workshop and a Brushstroke workshop. There was a workshop every hour for both Friday and Saturday. There was lots of excitement on the show especially at the Cricut booth. Since the consumer show was before the trade show, it was the consumers who saw the Cricut Cake first and boy were they excited!!

It was busy everywhere, but for me the most exciting area was the KidZone. KS Productions, the company who has been bringing "Hands On Crafts for Kids" to PBS stations across the US for over 10 years, worked hand in hand with CHA and manufacturers to have MITIs for our youngest crafters. I spent all day Friday helping little ones make Monkey bookmarks. I can't put into words what a thrill it was to watch those tiny hands paint and glue, so here are some photos to share. There are no names, of course, but I did ask each parent for permission before taking these photos! If you are a manufacturer reading this, these will be your customers in the not too distant future, so please remember this when asked to support a childrens program of any kind.
















Future Arts & Crafts Teacher! Tara Smith and Keri Cunningham from CHA

Boys and girls, moms and dads even grandparents had so much fun making ants, octopuses, bracelets, necklaces, bulletin boards, pencil toppers, frames, sand art, bookmarks and more. In this hi tech era of computers and hand held games, etc. let's not forget how much fun it is to craft!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

California Here I Come!

Next week at this time I'll be heading for Anaheim!  God willing and the creek don't rise that is.......  The creek rising is a distinct possibility around here.  It rained so much one year the water almost reached the back fence and the road to and from the area was flooded in both directions.  We had no power for almost 4 days.  The stove is gas, so I could cook, but we had no water since we have a well and, of course the pump is electric.  None of that bothered us too much, it was the huge vultures that sat on the back fence that gave us the "eebie jeebies"........  As usual, I digress.

I've been so busy this month (and yes the tree is still up.  So much for 12th night.)  I'm teaching 2 small workshops at the Craft Academy at the CHA Supershow.  The first is on Friday evening at 7pm. This is a Spirelli workshop.  Spirelli is basically string art and a cool way to make embellishments.  Anyway I'll be showing you how to do it and here's a picture of what it looks like.

 

The second class is all about decorative painting.  Did I say these classes are only 45 mins!  Obviously I can't tell you everything in such a short time, but I'll show you some basic brush strokes and so you'll be able to paint this.  This class is at noon on Saturday.

It's a 4" tile and we'll paint it with Gloss Enamels, so we won't have to worry about prepping surfaces, etc that has to be done with wood.  Did I say already that the classes are FREE, that's right FREE!!

I'll be in the KidZone on Friday then in the Michaels booth for a MITI on Saturday afternoon at 2pm. Hope to see you there!

Yours truly,

Julie  :)

Happy New Year!

I wonder what this new decade will bring.......  the craft industry changed quite a bit over the past 10 years, but that's the nature of crafts - inherent creativity.  Nothing would be happening if things weren't changing.  Seems like the past ten years was the "digital decade".  It was all about computers, digital cameras and social networking.  I love my digital camera and treated myself to the new Canon Rebel for Christmas.  It's great for both photographing projects up close and personal and the grandchildren. Don't really care about the HD movie feature - I like what I call my "Mini Movies" - short and sweet that most cameras can take.  They're good enough for me.  I got a Flip video camera about a year ago, but never used it.  Let me know if you want one.  I'm not very good at the social networking stuff.  I try to keep up, but it's quite apparent that I have a hard enough time keeping up with the blog.  I have so many things I'd like to do do here, but it's so hard to find the time when living a regular life.  I like Facebook, but only to check on friends and family photos.  I don't know how the social networkers do everything that they do.

I'm still working on the projects for the Craft SuperShow in Anaheim.  Yikes it's a little over 2 weeks away!  I'm going to be teaching two classes.  Spirelli on Friday evening and a Brushstroke Workshop on Saturday morning.  I'll also be in the Michaels booth Saturday afternoon showing a line of Woodsie kits I created for Loew-Cornell and later in the afternoon I'll be at the Barnes & Noble for a book signing for Hands on Crafts for Kids - 20 Minute Crafts.  Come see me!  I'll post project photos later this week.

Yours truly,
Julie  :)