CHA 2015: Day Two

Today was my 2nd day on the show floor. I concentrated on scoping out fashion brands and products for new things and people to work with. It was a crazy day of talking and walking. I saw more things than one post can contain, but I'll share some highlights. I might go into depth in later posts.

The day started with touring the Plaid booth with various designers and people. They have a chalky finish line, Folk Art Home Decor, complete with wax, antiquing glaze, brushes, and scrapers. Perfect for that distressed furniture look. There are a several chalky finish lines popping up, so it was nice to see the full line from my favorite paint company. There are several stitched lines, from Bucilla and Handmade Charlotte. Wood, wearable, vintage Christmas, and wall art. I grew up doing embroidery, so it's nice to see it make a comeback. They have a new line of block printing stamps that are made of resin. They can be used with any paint, but they were being paired with a very soft fabric paint. I'm looking forward to playing with that in the future. I received a great swag bag from them, full of their chalky finish product line. I have an old dresser in need of a serious makeover. While on the tour, I got to chat with Margot Potter. I swung by ImpressArt later to check out their new tools and metal stamps.
After a quick look at the Sizzix booth, I headed back to my hotel room to unload the swag bag. I headed back to the show floor. Shortly after checking out a new product called jelly yarn, I found Cathy Attix again. We made plans for lunch, then wandered our separate ways. I looked at a bevy of jewelry companies looking for new products and people who want to work with me. I found Weave Got Maille, which specializes in chain maille jewelry kits. I checked out the new Bracelet Jig from Beadalon, demonstrated by Wyatt White, which is something I'm looking forward to trying out. I stopped by Kelly DeFries' Crystal Ninja booth to see the amazing crystal panels she decorated with crystals. She has a new sharpenable version of her Crystal Katana, the Crystal KuBaton, which is still in production. I'm excited to try it out.
Close to lunch, Cathy texted me to delay lunch, because of the Lion Brand Yarn fashion show. I went over to the show to watch and photograph it. To my surprise it featured Vanna's Choice yarns, and had an appearance by Vanna White herself. The show was beautiful, showcasing blanket and clothing designs using knitted squares mostly. I'm not a knitter, but I appreciate the work. I'll do a separate post about the show, so you all can see the range of designs better.
At lunch we saw Cathie and Steve of Mod Podge again. They were sitting with Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude. We chatted for a bit. We took over their table, and were quickly joined by two ladies from Stampington and Company. That is a huge craft magazine publisher, so it's great to have those contacts and information about the publisher. As a craft project designer, it's important to promote brands in projects, featured in various kinds of media, including print which is still very popular.

Another highlight was swinging by the Marvy Uchida booth to show them the skirt I'm wearing. I used their fabric markers to hand color white embroidery on a thrifted skirt. Their team was very excited to see what their markers are capable of doing for an upcycled craft. I'm looking forward to playing with their fabric lines on more fabric projects.
After finishing on the show floor, I headed to dinner with the ladies from Fairfield World, to celebrate things and get to know my teammates better. Now it's time to pack up all my stuff, so I can head back to Richmond, VA in the morning. It's been a fantastic experience seeing so many things and amazing friends. I'm sad to leave them, as seeing them in person is amazing compared to just online. Three days of craft talk is living my dream job to it's fullest. These are people who share the same passion as me, and it's hard to not be sad to go back to the limitations of online. They do say that distance only makes the heart grow fonder. I already want to come back to CHA again, as the experience is unforgettable.

(A version of this is cross-posted to Craft Test Dummies. I was going to write more photo heavy articles for them, but without going into detail, she settled for this style.)

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