Julie’s Blog

2008 CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Trade Show

February 17, 2008 on 4:20 pm | In Uncategorized |

I’ve just returned from my annual pilgrimage to CHA which was held in Anaheim, CA, 10-13 February. It’s a HUGE show and it literally took me all of the three and a half days to walk up and down the aisles to check out the new product and I still didn’t see everything. This is the show of shows for anyone who owns a scrapbook, rubber stamp, or any kind of store where craft supplies are sold. I’ve attended this show each year since 1991 and I love to see the creativity that unfolds. The amount of new product being developed each year is overwhelming, but always inspiring.

HYBRID is the buzz word for this year. These are digital scrapbook pages with “real” embellishments. Epson had an impressive display of digitally produced pages, i.e. pages created on the computer, printed out then embellished with “real stuff” from a number of different manufacturers. Digital scrapbooking continues to gain in popularity and foolproof, easy to use software programs are everywhere. Shutterfly is now partnered with Creating Keepsakes Media and you’ll just need to check out their website to see what’s available and how this can help your digital scrapbooking. You should also be on the lookout for a new magazine, Scrapbook Dimensions. It’s all about hybrid and more!

Acrylic albums, which made their first appearance last year, were seen in a number of booths. There were lots of basic shapes, but I also found a couple of booths devoted entirely to shaped albums. Shape albums is a trend I saw in England a couple of years ago. They are fun to work with and make great gifts.

For those of you who heard of the “Slice“, which debuted last year, it is now being sold by Making Memories and should be available in stores May or June. The Slice is a small, digital shape cutting machine about 5″ x 7″ and you’d use it for cutting small shapes up to about 4″. There’s lots more information about this particular product, so I highly recommend you “Google” it and check it out.

Spellbinders has introduced a new and improved universal die cutting machine. With the introduction of the “Excalibur” you no longer have to turn or push a handle to produce a cut and/or embossed shape. With the touch of a button your paper and die is fed thru the machine automatically. A Spellbinders’ die will both cut and emboss shapes and, because this is a universal machine, it can also be used with other brands of thin dies.

I’m sure I didn’t see everything. As I go thru my notes I’ll find more things to tell you about, so be sure to check back later for more info.

Yours truly, Julie

BTW: Hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Ours was extra special - we found out we’re having a granddaughter!!!!!