CHA Star Gazing!!

So we've arrived in HOT LA (loving it!!) and spent our first full day at CHA ooing and ahhing over each company's displays!!!  Christy forced me to do this make & take... can you guess what it is???

It's quite remarkable how "all out" some of the companies go with their displays... so much eye candy!!  I did manage, however, to not get too distracted by BLING and went in an orderly manner (at least until Christy left me to go demo at the My StampBox booth)... then I went CRAZY!!!

Speaking of CRAZY... the "Canucks" gathered on a bus tour the splendiferous Karen Ellis organized for us and headed out on the town!!!  It was soooooo much fun...

Our driver took us to all the sights... but the most hilarious was in Hollywood where we went to an infamous bar where all the stars go and stood with the Paparazzi (including TMZ guys) as cars with "famous people" came and went!!  We actually got to see some (including Jesus)!!  I will show more and tell more later, but I must say it was ridiculously FUN!!!!  

And we had to go do the walk of stars of course!!  Our bus stopped right in front of Karen's favourite famous person so of course she had to give him a HUGE hug :)

Kay... gotta run as CHA opens again in less than an hour!!!

Question #2:  What star do you think I had Christy take a picture of with me?

YES CHA here we come!!!!!!!

YES!! YES!!  YES!!

For all those asking, YES I am again heading to CHA in LA this weekend for the biggest, best, blingiest craft show ever along with my partner in crime Christy Riopel!!!!

And YES we will be partying and playing with the Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine Team!! We even rented a bus to tour LA with many of the other Canadians that will be there... can't imagine that there will be ANY trouble that follows us on that adventure!!!  

And YES I am on the hunt for my Top Picks from CHA 2012 so if you see something online you would like me to check out (like this new Bo Bunny line!!), leave a comment and I'll try to go see, touch, smell, and photograph it for you (I draw the line at licking... usually!!)

And YES I am also on the hunt for Splendiferous Sponsors for our Crop and Cruise HAWAII event in November this year!!!  I can't wait to take a closer look at this line called "Tropical Travelogue" from Graphic 45!!!

So the only CHA thing I am not a clear YES on is if I should try again to interview Tim Holtz!!  If you don't know what happened last time, you can go HERE to read about it!!!

And YES we are planning another super fun GIVEAWAY event from CHA where all you need to do is comment, answer questions and participate on our blogs from the comfort of your home!!  More details will follow, but we may as well get started even though we don't fly out until Saturday!!  So... 

Question #1:  Should I attempt another Tim Holtz interview?  Why or why not?

Crop for Mexico & Final CHA picks and Giveaway!

Before I pick up again with the final CHA reveal, I have a most exciting invitation for YOU!!!

If you would like to be part of something truly important AND have tons of creative fun at the same time, I'd love to have you attend our Crop For Mexico event!!!!

We have 2 super fun things going on April 2 here in Calgary...  

1. A crop event where 100% of your cost goes towards building homes in Mexico for needy families!  We have special guest instructors and you get to choose a class from one of them as part of your registration (see link for more info and class photos) PLUS you get lunch, supper and tons of goodies!!!!

2.  A "Garage Sale" of new and gently used craft items where 100% is again donated to our Mexico homes!!!  You do NOT need to attend the crop to come SHOP at the Garage Sale!!!

Registration for Crop For Mexico opens TODAY!!!

Now back to some eye candy from CHA!!!

One of my all-time fav companies is Basic Grey and Christy Riopel showed you a peek at some of their fantastic new lines, but here is what caught my eye!!!  Ribbon Doilies!!!!

And still in partnership with Basic Grey... Core'dinations has sandable cardstock that coordinates with Basic Grey!!!!!!!!!!  Just check out their scrumptious patterns and colours!!!!

And YEAH for Canadian companies like MyStamp Box!!!!  Here is a fantastic new set of stamps that has HUGE potential!!!  If you want to see some layouts, check out my good friend Jill Hildebrand's amazing work as she designs for MyStamp Box!!!

Now this got my attention!!  I'm not actually familiar with the Vintage Street Market company, but I'm in love with this Tinted Tape product and it's potential!!!

Looks like you can add a fun edge to your papers and of course I'm thinking of photos!!!!!!!  It comes in a variety of styles like the "soot" one above and the "aged" one below.  Definitely going to be checking out this company!!!!

And I'm always on the look out for new tools and this one from We R Memory Keepers caught my eye as it can help me "sew" or at least look like I've sewn on my layouts with ease!!!  Hence the name "SewEasy"...

And not sure if this is a new release or just newer to me, but I got to see this Distressing tool by Zutter called the "Distrezz-it-all" in action a couple weekends ago at a retreat I was at and the local store sold out of them once we saw it work!!!!  I distressed an entire layout with a ton of assorted pieces in a matter of minutes!!!  It was a beautiful thing :)

Okay... I know there is so much more, but this will do it for our recap for this Winter CHA 2011 event!!!  I must say I missed seeing all the goodies up close and personal and really missed catching up with some of my friends in the industry (and our Crazy Canuck dinner we always do), but I've been busy with some pretty important "LIFE" stuff so I don't regret my decision for a moment!!!

Final question you can enter to win (remember that we will pick a winner on Monday... VALENTINE'S DAY between all entries from all days on my blog below and on Christy's blog!)

If money were no object, what "creative experience", event, tool, product, etc. would you splurge on?

CHA TOP PICKS 2011 #2 and Scrapbook Your Heart Retreat!!

REGISTRATION OPENS: 

FRIDAY, FEB. 4, 2011 for PAST attendees

FRIDAY, FEB. 11, 2011 for NEW attendees

To start today, I have the privilege of announcing our 4th annual 

Scrapbook Your Heart Alberta-wide retreat!!!!

This retreat is truly a big part of my personal WHY I am on this earth!!!

  It is NOT a crop, but rather a retreat for the soul using art to help us dig deeper into matters of the heart and it is the only event I do where attendees report "life changing" results.  In fact, last weekend a past attendee showed me a butterfly tattoo she got after the year where we discussed the journey of the butterfly :)

So in honour of our Scrapbook Your Heart retreats, my next CHA TOP PICKS are all about retreat themes we've seen or will see!!!!  

And today's just happen to come from one of my all-time favourite companies...

BO BUNNY!!!!!

Check out their first new line called "Gabrielle"... it's so beautiful I'm gonna die!!!!!!!! (phrase slightly adapted from Dispicable Me movie :)

And when I saw Bo Bunnys new line called "Timepiece" I was heartbroken that we didn't have this last year at the Scrapbook Your Heart retreat where our theme was "A Time For Everything"... so I'm just going to regress into the past once I get my hands on some of this!!!!

So I think I'll stop here and leave a few more for next time!!!!!  Meanwhile, here is my question of the day for a chance to win a $50 prize bundle between my blog and Christy Riopel's as we reveal our CHA favs!!!

What "motifs" do you like to use in your scrapbooking and even in your interior designing?  

BTW... I looked up the definition of motif : is any recurring element that has symbolic significance.  Pretty wide open :)

Taxes are Done, Now Onto the FUN!!!!

This "Sneak Peek" of one of the projects for our

  Scrapbook Your Heart 

Alberta-wide retreat coming this May 14-16, 2010 took my breathe away!!!  (and YES YES YES, there is still room to come!!!!)  I'm so excited for this year's theme... "A Time for Everything" and even more excited about the special projects we have in store for each lady like this one by Christy Riopel (YES YES YES this project and two others come with your weekend)!!!!

Know that this weekend retreat is oh so much more than just a scrapbooking getaway... it is girlfriend's retreat offered to woman who are anxious to:

• meaningfully and artfully explore matters of the heart
• be pampered and feel special about who they are
• share their life experiences in a safe environment
• dig deep to discover new truths about themselves
• laugh, cry, play, create, share, learn and grow together!

We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have you join us!!  Check out all the details at www.ScrapbookYourHeart.com.

AND.... we made "BEST OF BREAKFAST TELEVISION"!!!!

So last week Christy and I got to go on Breakfast Television to do our CHA overview and also highlight some of the fun from Camp Croppin' that took place in Calgary with some of the HOTTEST companies out there!! BTW... did you know Scrapbooker's Paradise now has a BLOG and they're doing a BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!!  Check it out!!!!

And although there were some technical difficulties with the video (arghh!) the segment still went great and we made it onto the "Best of BT webisodes"!!  Now you don't even have to wait for me to upload it to YouTube this time!!!  Just click HERE to watch it!!!   

CHA Day 2 - AKA "Up Close and Personal with Tim Holtz!"

You know how when you hand your camera to someone else to take a photo, they usually take such a far away photo?  Well, not today!!  Crystal and I were trying to do a real quick Tim Holtz photo (I'm sure the man gets tired of this!!) but I forgot to "unzoom" my lens first and this was our first attempt.  Crystal, knowing how picky I am about my photos and knowing that this was an important one (Tim and Ranger are sponsoring our Crop and Cruise!!!), she insisted she try again and backed up all the way to the wall this time!

I'm surprised he still had a genuine smile through it all... he was awful nice and patient with us as we frantically attempted to capture the moment at the water cooler!  Can't say the same about Heidi Swapp, however...
Now Heidi had some AMAZING products that I have put on my short list of favourites (I'm trying to come up with my  top 10 BEST OF SHOW), but at the end of her presentation when asked about shipping to Canada, her reply was "Move your store to the States and we'll ship for free."

Well... needless to say, that did not go over well with those from north of the border who struggle with this issue constantly!  Fortunately a rep from Advantus was being uber nice and personally offering to help us figure out a special for us Canadians.

Meanwhile, we were HUGELY impressed with the amazing Little Yellow Bicycle both in quantity of goodies they gave us and in their presentation!  I LOVE smart companies!!!  I'm so going to check out their full booth and take some photos and video!

And another favourite of the day was Bo Bunny!!  They were so fun (everyone got party hats, energetic and we got to play some fun games to win extra goodies!  Here is Christy and I dancing for free stuff!!  Those who know me know that I must be pretty desperate if I'm willing to dance in public!Anyways, that is enough for today even though there was much more!  Another great day with great friends and great companies!!

CHA Day 1

I spent a delightful day with retailers across North America (and one from Australia) watching a whirlwind of presentations from assorted companies!

My personal favourites of the day were Canadian Melissa Frances (you MUST read her story about surviving breast cancer and see her "Thankful" line).  Christy and Nancy from Scrapbook Pantry also gave it a thumbs up!

Sandylion's fellow Canadian Kelly Panacci and Rouge de Garance were also impressive and My Mind's Eye always strikes my fancy (and with Trisha Ladouceur designing for them, I'm terribly anxious to see some of her samples at the show!)

I will hopefully be able to get more photos of the delish goodies here coming soon so be sure to watch!

Getting ready for tomorrow at CHA!

We've arrived safe and sound in California for CHA and all 4 of us are sitting on our beds on our laptops!!  Signs of the times eh?!  We have the amazing Crystal and Nancy from The Scrapbook Pantry and Christy from Monday Night Class and we are all going to try to get some beauty sleep tonight (wish us luck!)

Meanwhile, be sure to check all our blogs for updates on the yummies we discover over the next week!

I'm going to CHA!!!!

Last minute uber wonderful surprise for me.... I'm going to CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) in California this week!!!!

This is THE SHOW for everyone and anyone involved in the industry... the place where all the new releases are revealed, major schmoozing takes place and new companies make their debut (I'm on the hunt for Canadian ones and our Crop and Cruise sponsors in particular!)

I will be there with bells and whistles and of course my camera and video camera to do media coverage of it all!! Be sure to watch here for sneak peeks (I will try to post while in California) and will be hunting for my favourite new yummies and looking for assorted "celebs" to interview... not sure if I read correct, but apparently Paris Hilton is going to be there releasing a new line of crafting supplies????? Is it just me or does this seem... well... wrong on so many levels!! Oh well, I shouldn't judge ahead of time... but you can be sure I'll check it out and fill you in!

Please drop me a line if you are going as well!! Would be fun to meet fellow crafters!