Talking In Circles

CHA Winter 2010: Day Two Recap

I must first start off by announcing...

Not only am I totally in love with the Bella Blvd. frames... I ORDERED them! 

They are due to arrive around the first of March.  We'll have them on the website (as soon as we figure out shipping) - and I'll definitely have them in my upcoming travels. (I hope to update the left side of my blog with my travel schedule soon.) I'm telling ya - you have to see these! I think even a non-scrapper would love them.  You could put a 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper versus a completed scrapbook page ... and even change it with the seasons and holiday!  OK - I'll stop now. Can you tell I'm excited about them?  :)

 

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The Cricut Cake

Okay, so I'm a little slow.  While I DO love the Cricut, I don't typically spend much time in the Provocraft booth during these trade shows.  But today I finally realized all the hoop-la at Provocraft.... it's the Cricut Cake!  I didn't take a photo of it, but you can click here to check it out. It's a Cricut that can cut fondant for cakes.  It is quite clever, I'll agree - just not for me.

 

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The Highlight of Day Two: Tuesday, January 26

Day two of the show I was on a single mission: to find a new cardstock provider.

Many of you probably already know that my favorite cardstock company in the world, Prism, recently announced that they are closing their doors.  I think I could have cried when Jamie told me the news! (BTW - We will soon be pulling it off the website.) I've been a HUGE and LOYAL fan for as long as they've been around.  So with their announcement, I knew my largest goal at CHA was to find a new cardstock company that could match Prism's standards.  I'm really interested in USA-manufactured paper, with a great texture, and dependable color.  Well.... I think I found exactly what I was looking for!

 

Couture Cardstock! Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon (as I've only seen/felt swatches of the paper). But my meeting with the Director of Customer Service went really well.  I was even introduced to the owner, who "wanted to give me a gold star for the most intelligent questions he had heard."  lol  They are mailing me some papers to "play" with.  So I will keep you posted - *keep your fingers crossed*!  If you've heard of them, I'd love to know your thoughts.

I'll have one more CHA post.  I'll update you tonight/tomorrow with all the goodies that we have purchased so far and you will soon be seeing in classes and kits!

CHA Winter 2010: First Official Show Day

Sunday, January 24

Sunday was the first "official" day of the trade show (the prior two days were for the Crafter's Home activities, consumer show, classes, etc.).  Sunday was the first day the retails stores were able to walk the showroom floor and feast our eyes on the newest scrapbooking goodies!  I had only walked a few steps into the door, when who did I see?!  Renee and Natalie - my ole Scrappin' Sports Design Team friends! ... Then a few steps later... Shane Hershey from my Luv2Scrapbook days!  Catching up with scrappin' pals is always a highlight of the show!

I was able to easily get through half of the show on the first day. Sadly, the show really does get smaller and smaller each year.  I gathered catalogs, took lots of photos of samples, stopped and chatted with manufacturers.  But now as I'm typing, of all the booths I saw that day, there are only two that really stand out.

Provocraft stood out - 1) because they had the cutest little cupcake make-n-take. All the employees were wearing these adorable chef's hats and their booth by far had the most "excitement."  2) They announced....

 

ONE HUNDRED!!!!  Can you image all the kits I'm going to have fun creating with 100 new cartridges to choose from?!?!?!?! The booth was too packed to get in on day one, so I'll go back and "get the scoop" on what designs they are coming out with.

The #1 booth that stood out to me the first day was definitely Bella Blvd.  I'll admit that the sneak peeks of their new products really didn't intrigue me... but wow - the booth was as adorable as it gets!  And the girls working the booth were the BEST!  Check out these new canvas frames to display your layouts throughout your house/office... change with seasons/holidays:

OMGoodness!  They are so absolutely incredible in person!  I want them in my house! They are all hand painted, 25 x 25 canvas frames that are available in cream, brown, and black.  I'm telling ya, all scrappers should showcase their projects in their house with one (or two or three!) of these.  And what a great gift!  Create a 12 x 12 page, slip it in the frame, and voila! The PERFECT gift!  And it could be the gift that keeps on giving... because change the 12 x 12 layout and create a whole new look! They retail for $60, cheaper that a lot of the wooden frames you buy at that size.  You can hang them on a wall, display them on a tabletop... whatever your fancy.

And not only did I fall in love with the frames and the employees (who were awesome!) I'm really diggin their new scrapbook lines! Estate Sale, All Inclusive, Man of the House... I think I have to have them all!  I'm telling ya, looking at them on-line just doesn't do them justice!

So, that's my day 3 recap of Anaheim.  (Thank heavens for texting - I was able to keep up with the Colts game since it was in the middle of the day for me. GO COLTS!  Great win!)  I need to head back over to my last day of the show. But I'll be sure to post yesterday's highlights sometime later today.

CHA Winter 2010: First Few Days

CHA Day One: Friday, January 22

I get a phone call at 9pm Thursday night as I'm scrambling to get my things packed for travel to CHA Winter in Anaheim, CA.  The call is a pre-recorded message stating that my 6am flight HAD BEEN CANCELED and I need to call a 1-800 number to rebook a flight.  Well, after being a hold for nearly a few hours with no luck of hearing a non-recorded voice, I finally gave up and went to bed.  I decided to head to the airport at 5am the next morning to see if an actual person could help get me to my destination.  Well, long story short, I ended up spending the next six hours at the Indianapolis airport, but finally did get flights that took me to Anaheim.  So with only 1 1/2 hours sleep the night before and an entire day of waiting and flying, I finally arrive in "sunny" California at 4:30pm.

Don't let the photo above fool you.  I was pouring down rain when I arrived.  There were puddles and gloom everywhere... but at least I finally made it. I arrived 9 hours later than I hoped, which meant, I missed my first work event for Creative Imaginations :(  But all hope was not lost.  I made it to my room at 6pm, over to the Convention Center by 6:15pm and off to work I went (mind you - it was 9:15 and no sleep to my body).  Thank heavens for Starbucks and the fun guys of CI to keep me going!

I spent my first night in Anaheim doing make-n-takes for the Crafter's Home stores.  We did this adorable little door hanger with the new Real Wood paper and the Be a Man lines (and, yes, it really IS real wood!).  I can't wait to show you some projects with the collections!  I got so caught up in the enthusiasm of showcasing new scrapbooking products that my terrible day of travel had quickly diminished.

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CHA Day Two: Saturday, January 23

Still in a bit of a time-warp, I was "bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed" at 5am California time. The trade show still hadn't started, so today was a day of classes and the brand new CHA Supershow - a consumer event.

My first class was hosted by Imaginisce.  Though a bit, chaotic - the class was good and I walked away with some fabulous ideas that I will put into place at my "That's Life! Mega Scrapbooking Event" in February!

Since I had a two-hour break in between classes, I decided to walk around the consumer event.  It was $15 to get into the door!  So that put me a little off right off the bat. But after visiting the consumer event at CHA Summer in July and feeling the enthusiasm of the crowd, I thought I would give it a shot.  Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed. The crowd was lack-luster. And the first booth I went to I heard a lady point and ask her friend, "Sizzix? Is that some sort of cuttin system?  I think I've heard of it before."  Wow - they haven't heard of a product that's been in the scrapbooking market for years?!  I knew right away, these were not the die-hart scrappers. 

I easily made it through the entire event in an hour. With time to spare, I decided to go back through one more time.  And good thing I did! The highlight of the event?  I got to visit with my dear friend Susan Opel (of PaperCrafts Magazine).

I ended my day with an amazingly fabulous class by Hero Arts.  WOW!  Did the mojo start flowing for me then!  The rut and disappointment of the consumer show was quickly gone and I was back on my scrappin' high.

So, that's it. The extent of my first two days in Anaheim... and look at the shoes I did it in!

The true fun begins today as the trade show officially kicked off at 10am.  I'm off to the Convention Center now.  I can't wait to update you tomorrow! 

In the meantime, let me know if there are products that you think are a "must-have" for The-Whole-Kit-N-Kaboodle.  I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

There's no place like Disney for Christmas!

If you're in central Indiana right now like I am ... we are getting buried in snow today!  I look out my window -- and while it does look beautiful, I've decided I could definitely live without it.  I've always thought I had to have a white Christmas, but after spending the holidays in Disney, I've definitely changed my mind!

Disney was such an amazing place to be Christmas week!  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect holiday.  They actually made it snow on Main Street in Magic Kingdom!  It felt surreal to be standing at Cinderella's castle, literally dancing in the streets with Mickey Mouse, the warmth of the sun on my face, and watching it "snow" in the middle of Disney World. 

AH - HEAVEN!

This post has taken me so long because I didn't know where to begin ... what highlights to mention, which of the 661 photos to showcase... everything was perfect!  If there is a dream job for me in this world - I think it's in Disney!  If I could combine my love of scrapbooking and Disney into a single job... I'm there!  :)

I wanted to keep some of the Christmas traditions in tact for the holidays, so I packed a small Christmas tree complete with a tree skirt, lights, and ornaments - and set it up in the hotel room the first night we were there.  I also took my three boys' stockings and hung them up in our window.  And I wasn't the only crazy one!  The majority of the hotel rooms were all adorned... some with those huge outdoor inflatables.  And the best thing -- Santa still found us all the way in Orlando, Florida!  ;)

We visited all four theme parks - Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom definitely had the most to see... but the amount of people was mind-boggling!  At one point Main Street was a total stand still because there were so many people you couldn't move.  But even with that, I would go back every single Christmas if I could!

This post could be pages and pages of journaling of all the fun things that happened... but I'll just post a few pics instead.  And, of course, since I'm still in the Disney spirit... I'll have more Disney kits this month on The-Whole-Kit-N-Kaboodle.com ! Be sure to check them out :)

 
  

It's Only ONE Week Away!

Gosh - this month is flying by just way too fast! I've still been keeping up with our Disney Advent tags... but haven't been very good at posting them.  Here are the last few days...

It's been a busy week.  Rylan had his first violin concert.  I can't believe how well he is doing for only starting the instrument three months ago!  Also this week, I went to a "Sweet & Savory" party at my friend Mary's house.  We all make an appetizer to share, then combine it with a cookie exchange.  We all scrapbook our recipes and in the end have an adorable recipe book.  I ran out of time to scrap my appetizer recipe... so here it is:

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:
1 can of artichokes, drained & chopped
1 jar (10 ounces) Alfredo sauce
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used more)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:
Blend all ingredients together. Pour into oven safe dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. (I added cheese on top before baking.)

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So many things to do before Tuesday!  Why Tuesday you ask?  Well... I can't tell you yet - but wait until you see Tuesday's post!  :)

Busy Weekend!

Busy weekend!  Went to see Stars Wars in concert last night.  It was fabulous!  An orchestra played to snipets of the six movies.  It was narrated by the man who played C3PO.  It was really really good.  Today we have basketball - then church!  And in the midst of everything - I managed to finish two more designs so far this weekend for Wednesday's new kit release at the-whole-kit-n-kaboodle.com! :)  Goal is two more tonight after church!

 

I Want Your Disney Pages!

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Let’s donate at least 250 pages to this amazing cause!
Please email me with any questions
View The-Whole-Kit-N-Kaboodle messageboard for complete details.

 
 

Time's a Ticking... Only 16 Days!

I can't believe I'm actually keeping up with these tags! lol  I know we already used this Pooh diecut, but he was leftover from a kit I was workking on today and I couldn't "BEAR" to throw him away! :)

The creative juices were flowing again today.  I now have three new designs ready for next week's kit release at The-Whole-Kit-N-Kaboodle.  My goal is one new design a day through next Wednesday!  My Energizer Bunny batteries are in full force!  :)  *knock on wood*

17 More Days!

*Whew* Got this one designed by the skin of my teeth tonight!  It's 17 more days... for another hour :)  Caleb actually designed this one!  I think Daisy will be the closest thing to a Disney princess as we will get.

Huge night of homework tonight!  Caleb has two big presentations tomorrow.  Having a Cricut really comes in handy for these school projects!  {Speaking of Cricut... I've been designing away!  More new kit releases next week at The-Whole-K-N-Kaboodle.com!}

The Christmas Decorating Has Begun!

18 more days until my favorite holiday of the year! We put up two of our Christmas trees yesterday... the main family one, then one in memory of Grandma Hancock.  (We actually have three trees up if you include the Advent tree that we are making this year.)  Just one more tree to go - but probably won't get to it until this weekend.  Busy designing for the December kit release for The-Whole Kit-N-Kaboodle.com!  Be watching on-line next Tuesday!