If I had a nickle for everyone who asked me if I was going the CHA (the craft & hobby Association trade show in Anaheim CA) I’d be a rich woman…well, maybe not rich…OK, I could buy a pizza. But none the less I am always interested in what is coming out. And really, why would I want to go to the trouble to cover the event when so many fabulous bloggers do it well already? Yep, folks, I’m lazy. You too? Well good because I have come up with a list of links to great videos and photos you can peruse from your comfy chair at home!
****Just Added! I have to thanks Hilda for recommending Suze Weinberg’s blog, the has tons of great CHA coverage that is very different that the others I mentioned in this post. Lot’s of jewelry and non-scrapbook craft stuff, well worth a visit!****
If you are a scrapbooker you will love Noell Hyman’s video coverage of CHA, also if you have time, listen to her CHA paerclipping roundtable podcast. All of this can be found on the Paperclipping website.
Craft Test Dummies shows some of the same stuff as Paperclipping covered but also had more general crafts, I love the photos of the Lion Brand Yarn booth!
Britta Swiderski’s Flickr album has great photos of the vendor displays at the show, again mostly scrapbooking and paper arts but I spied some wonderful Penny Black stamps that I like and believe it or not I have no Penny Black.
Check out Debbie Hodge’s CHA 2014 trend Wrap up here. Lots of gals reporting with organized albums and Pinterest boards, go ahead and make a pot of coffee before you even start…
Oh and the new Becky Higgins Project Life catalog is up…(second pot of coffee, or is it third by now?)
I wish I could find more coverage on the random craft innovations being showcased. Is CHA mostly aimed at scrapbookers or is it that mostly scrapbook bloggers cover the event? Maybe I’ll just have to go one of these years and see for myself. Have you seen any good non-scrapbook CHA coverage? If so please leave me a link so I can check it out:)
I hope you enjoyed the posts from fellow bloggers and you-tubers as much as I did! Oh and if you were wondering what the most innovative products were according the a panel of judges you can see the list here. I have the Tim Holtz marker spritzer (because it is an old product marketed by several companies long ago, mine is the Stampin’ up one and it is identical but Tim’s technique of using them with alcohol markers was fun and new and I tried it and by golly those copics DID fit in there LOL!) and the tool I am excited about is the Spellbinders Tool ‘n One and the new Keppi hat yarn from Lion brand, you can make a self striping hat with one ball and it comes with a supper fluffy (think trolls hair) pom-pom in each ball. More on that later. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
I do the Cha-cha every time courtesy of Suze Weinberg!! She just knows everyone and covers such a wide variety of crafts. Personaly, I am only into paoercraft, mostly cardmaking and mixed media stuff, but so much of what she shows carries over into all kinds of pprojects. Hope you enjoy – she has LOTS of piccies!!
http://suzeweinberg.typepad.com/
LikeLike
awesome, I’ll check her out, I love her stuff too:)
LikeLike
wow…first to leave a comment 🙂 …I subscribed to Noelle YT channel last year just for the CHA stuff…she does an awesome job…I don’t subscribe to CTD but I did check out their stuff also… Britta has a YT channel also, but I haven’t seen much of her on there lately… I def had CHA envy….would love to be there in all the action…thanks for a great post!!!
LikeLike
Thank you for the links to CHA–so very nice of you to share them here. I’ve never been, but have watched youtube videos covering past CHA’s and most of the non-scrapbook coverage I’ve seen is Tim Holtz, and Claudine Helmuth demos.
BTW–I loved your coverage of the convention you recently attended. I know that when you showcase a product it’s not as much about promoting yourself as it is promoting art and creativity.
Some of the big name people are big because of self promotion. I have no problem with them doing that, but I am a bit wary because I know a lot of the promotion they do is primarily profit driven.
Being a capitalist I have no problem with anyone making a profit–but I think the drive to gain must be tempered lest one become greedy and self-serving. And the craft world seems to suffer more of that than the art world. As you’ve pointed out many times when a product is categorized as a craft item the price usually jumps way up compared to hardware or art product categorization.
LikeLike
Yes I like the coverage of the CHA that Noel does. I been a watching her CHA videos for some time now. I hear that they won’t be a CHA in the summer. How sad. I would like to see more of the show that is not scrapbooking. I Yes I like the coverage of the CHA that Noel does. I been a watching her CHA videos for some time now. I hear that they won’t be a CHA in the summer. How sad. I also would like to see more of the show that is not scrapbooking. I also would like to go to the show. Did you see that new alcohol marker. What if you could find a metal brush and see if it will remove the pieces of paper from your die. It would have to be small. The pad would be the problem. I did hear Noel mention your user name. Did you see the bead knot tool? To me I just didn’t see much that I had to have this year. I guess that is a good thing. For my bank account. The companies are playing it safe. Well this is my two long cents. Everyone have a nice long weekend.
Wanda also would like to go to the show. Did you see that new alcohol marker. What if you could find a metal brush and see if it will remove the pieces of paper from your die. It would have to be small. The pad would be the problem. I did hear Noel mention your user name. Did you see the bead knot tool? To me I just didn’t see much that I had to have this year. I guess that good. The companies are playing it safe. Well this is my two long cents. Everyone have a nice long weekend.
Wanda
LikeLike
Wanda, there is a tool to remove the bits from intricate dies….. It’s called the “Tool n One”. Suze Weinberg mentions it in her blog’s CHA coverage. It has a revolving brush on the end – imagine a Ferris Wheel direction and that’s the way it turns.
LikeLike
The top three new tools at the CHA Show were
1) Brothers Scan N Cut
2) The bead knowtting tool (forgot the name)
3) Tool in One by Spellbinders but created by Cindy Echtinaw one of
their designers.
Seen the Brother on UK Craft TV and its quite amazing. Lindsey, you can scan your drawings in and it will cut it out. Takes 12 x 12 paper and does not need a computer hook up.
The Tool in One I cant wait to get my hands on. I hate the pokey tool, but I love the lacey dies.
LikeLike
Love the Ask A Crafter videos.
For CHA videos with emphasis on scrapping, check out Scrapbooking Made Simple https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scrapbooking-Made-Simple/182607285333
Scroll down through the posts to catch them all. There are 30 or so.
LikeLike
Hi Lindsay – I have seen lots of Noell’s CHA videos and enjoyed them. I also watched the ones made my Stacey of Scrapbooking Made Simple, which were also good.
I’m wondering, what is the Spellbinders Ultimate Tool that you referred to please? My searching has been futile, haha 😀
LikeLike
it is a pokey tool on one end (paper peircer) and the other end is like a bottle brush on a wheel and you roll it over your dies and all of the little bits magically pop out! Let’s see if I can find a link: http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/products/c-152-tools.aspx opps, I had the name wrong on it, better change that!
LikeLike
Hi Lindsay, Christine at http://www.scraptime.ca has just returned from CHA and is uploading multiple short demo videos each day. She is mostly into art journaling so paper, tools and colouring media are her thing but her interests are a bit off the beaten track from traditional scrapbooking. So far there are a lot of Tim Holtz videos with a few others mixed in.
FYI: Your videos make me smile. You are so lively and entertaining. I have actually learned a few things also 😉 Thanks for brightening my day!!
LikeLike
I look forward to ‘watching’ the CHA videos that come out, too! I think it would be more like ‘CHA-cha-ching!!’ if I actually got to GO to the convention……..I mean to tell you……I wouldn’t be able to come home for having busted my bank account and I think it would be hard to hitch-hike home dragging all the STUFF I just couldn’t live without!! WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS END?!
LikeLike
Would really like to see the Spellbinder ‘Tool in One’ being used and what tools are inside the barrel???? Can’t imagine you not having any Penny Black stamps….they are one of my go-to stamps!!!! LOL!
Jan
LikeLike
Inside the tool is housed the pokey tool attachment and a little plastic spatula. Both of these vp can be screwed into the handle. I have been using a small very stiff bristle hairbrush to clear my dies for years!
LikeLike
Margie…..you don’t usually come home with stuff unless it was a freebie or perhaps a vendor wants to get rid of supplies at the end of the show so they don’t have to ship them or carry them back home; however most vendors do not do this. You basically place orders for your store, etc. It is fun to see in all it’s glamour and glitz, but if you do not own a store or belong to CHA, you have to know someone who does and possibly they can get you in if they have not filled all the slots with their own people working the show, etc. It is not open to the public. I went in a couple of years to work in one of the booths, so that is how I was able to get in.
Jan
LikeLike
I watched the cha videos and a company named little B showed cut dies in magnetic folders but can’t seem to find where they can be bought. Any ideas? Anita
LikeLike
Great post Lindsay. I am glad you asked the question about whether they have other types of crafts. I was wondering the same thing. Thanks for all the links.
LikeLike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPxwWM5v_A this is the product I’m interested in because I’m a marbler. It’s been imported from Germany and is enamel so is used on solid objects rather than paper or fabric
LikeLike