I did this video for Imaginisce recently...check it out!

And here is one of the pieces of jewelry I made with the Magni-Top necklace for the video. It's my favorite piece of jewelry I did...and because it's magnetic I can just take it apart and put a new magnetic piece on! 

I started off by quickly tracing an Imaginisce Magnet Daddy onto my fabric with a Zig disappearing ink pen and then  I drew a heart into the center of the circle as you saw on this post.  Then I just cut it out leaving about a half an inch around the circle I drew and made a button out of it with my iTop.  Then I took some of the plastic washers that separate the magnets that come in the pack and wrapped the same variegated embroider floss around each of them that I used to embroider the heart...it's a good TV watching activity!  I just put the washers onto the chain along with the embroidered Magnet Daddy and I was done!

So I've been back from the Craft and Hobby Association's annual winter trade show (aka: CHA-W) for a few days now...and now that I've had time to relax and catch up on the home front I thought you might like my two cents.  ;)

photo credit: CHA

The Show...

While it felt like a smaller winter show then past years (there were "networking parks" set up where I assume they tried to sell booth space and failed, and all the booths combined were only in two of the halls), it was still a great show!  This year I was blessed to be able to "walk the floor" and not be stuck in a booth all day.  (Don't get me wrong, I love to teach and talk, but boy does it wear you out!!)  So I actually got to see outside the path from the booths to the food & restroom!  It was such a nice change!

some of "Love My Tapes" display

The Trends...

The major trends I saw at the show were washi tape, chevron patterns, twine...it's still hot!  -Loved Lawn Fawn's twine since it's lightly waxed it's perfect for mixed media, alterables are still big along with DIY jewelry....everyone from Imaginisce and Creative Imaginations to Darice (who partnered with Tori Spelling) has a line coming out.  And of course mixed media stuff!  Check out "my favs" below to see what I love!

The Celebrity....

Speaking of Tori Spelling, I got to go to her launch party with Darice for her new [Styled] line of jewelry.  It was an intimate get together, with mostly media in attendance.  Tori got up and told us about the new line and how easy it was to use and we got to see the pieces and meet the design team that helped develop the line, and then it was time to mingle! Tori was very gracious with taking photos and talking to people.  I was thankful to be sitting with my friends from Northridge Publishing who were interviewing Tori for an upcoming piece, so we got to chat for quite awhile.  I do have to say that she comes off as "real"...and I mean really real...like she could live next door to you real.  She talks like a real crafter...knows all our slang, and has such a mother's heart.  She puts her family first and it was just really heartwarming to listen to her share examples of how she does that.  

After Tori had to move on to talk with other people, everyone at my table were chatting about how down to earth she is.  Talking with Tori was very much like talking with any of my friends in the crafting industry in that she's a real woman, wife, mother, and entrepreneur.  It was good to see!

Tori & Erin at the [Styled] launch party

Oh, and Tori liked my necklace.  ;)  Every time she saw me she'd tell me that she was still loving it.  Funny thing too, since I changed my top, shoes, and jewelry for the event because I love it too!

My Favs...

These are my top 5 favorite products (in not particular order) that are coming out this year:

1. Basic Grey Canvas Frames....they come with a pre-printed design on them that you can add paint, fabric, canvas, photos, etc to in order to make it your own.

2. SEI's fabric spray...Yes, finally a permanent color spray for fabrics!  Hello new obsession for Erin!!

3.  Ranger & Crafter's Workshop Dylusions masks...and just about any mask Crafter's Workshop makes.  ;)  Love them!!

 4. Kreinik...a new to me manufacture...has iron-on thread!!!  Seriously, my heart skipped a beat.  Of course I love regular thread, but iron-on?  How awesome is that????

Here's they are showing us how to make our own cording.

5. Kodak and Avatrex partnered up to create this cool substrate that you can print on and then apply it to surfaces such as shoes!!  It's really cool and the perfect answer for people who have been trying to jazz up textured surfaces like yoga mats and flip flops with the look of screen-printing (ie: YuDu) and were unsuccessful!

What about paper-crafts?

Well, there wasn't a lot that's ground braking news....it's more of a "flowers in 'new' colors" type of year!  There are lots of awesome papers and stamps coming out, punches too, just nothing that made me feel I have to have that right this instant....which is a little sad.  I will give some honorable mentions for....

1. Bazzill's new washi tape and antique paper.  The paper is thin...kind of like tissue paper but a bit thicker then that...it really has a neat feel to it like old paper.

And Margie (a vintage, totally Margie, line) and Janet (a travel-ish line) also came out with new great lines for Bazzill.

2. Heidi Swapp and Pink Paislee teamed up for a new release.  Now I will have to admit that when I got the sneak peek emails online prior to the show I was not too thrilled with the line...however seeing it in person is MUCH more appealing!  It has a less juvenile look in real life then the emails showed....also, the display & samples in the booth were terrific.

Love the concept of using these cool file folders for scrapbooking

Love the patterns for the Color Wonder line

3. Love the new colors of Gelatos from Faber-Castell as they continue to expand the Design Memory Craft line.

I uploaded all the photos I took at CHA to my Flickr account so you could see them...so feel free to browse through the slide show of them.  I tried to take photos of the manufactures name when I was in a booth so the photos around the "name" photo are where those products and project samples came from...I will update the photo descriptions on Flickr when I have time.

Disclaimer: I work with the following companies that are mentioned in this article and my doing so had no baring on me reporting on them in this article....I only report what I really think not what I'm paid to like.  ;)   (Imaginisce, Northridge Publishing, and Faber-Castell)

Well, Imaginisce has it!  We've just released one of the new Spring lines, Hippity Hop!

Here's a couple of spring projects I created with it.  The first one is a little bird house.

I used the "bird house" Silhouette Studio shape to die-cut my paper with my Silhouette Cameo and then dressed it up with embellishments.  And I have a tip for you if you do make one too...use a quilling tool (like the Imaginisce Petal Roller) to roll up the perch for the bird to sit on.  I tried doing it by hand first and it turned out really wonky.

I used the bird that's on the "Nest" Snag 'em Stamp to stamp for the bird.  I just stamped him onto patterned paper, cut him out, and then I used foam adhesive to pop him up onto the house.  I drew his legs onto the actual house (which is why they are funny)!  

The spring banner is on of the die-cuts from the collection.  I love it and knew I had to use it!!

Supplies: Paper and Die-Cuts - Imaginisce; Bird House Die-Cut - Silhouette; Pom-Pom Trim; Heart Pin - Heidi Grace; Butterfly Pins - Prima; Doily - Little Yellow Bicycle; Twine - May Arts

Another project I created with it is this card.

Once again I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the heart and the scalloped circle card (I just took two scalloped circles, overlapped them, and welded them together).  I added some hand stitching around the heart, wrapped twine around the "day dreaming" die-cut, and added some tiny alpha stickers.

Supplies: Patterned Paper - Imaginisce; Scallop Circle & heart die-cut - Silhouette; Twine - My Mind's Eye; Tiny Alpha Stickers - Making Memories; Ink - Quick Quotes Powder Puff

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the 2012 Planner...it's perfect for keeping track of stuff, or you can use it as a scrapbook or daily gratitude journal! Enter to win HERE!!! 

Sponsor: Imaginisce

I've been so busy that I haven't had much of a chance to update you all on things that are going on...so this post will catch you up! ;)

First off....today I'm featured on D's Paper Studio.  I'm sharing about my family's traditions during the holiday as part of the Home for the Holidays series that is going on there.

Next up....On the Kuretake/Zig blog I shared how to make these fun Christmas ornaments.

And then...an album that I was asked to create this past summer has been published in the current issue of Scrapbook Trends Magazine....pages 42 - 45. (There's also an interview they did with me there.)

I used the new Imaginisce holiday line to create it.  I'll do a post about it later this month.

Ok, I think that's it!  -At least that's all I can remember right now LOL.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope that you are able to focus on all the blessings in your life this week as you celebrate with friends and family.

Since I'd rather you be off relaxing and enjoying yourself, I'll keep this short. Here's a broach that I made out of a silk flower that is perfect for wearing at Thanksgiving. I just ripped out the center of the flower and then created a button out of burlap using my iTop 2.0 with the XL Button Daddies (don't forget you need the X-LG head to make that size button) and hot glued it in place. I then added tulle, twigs, and a chain (which, in real life, is more copper colored) to it and then glued a pin to the back.

If you need to see how to use the iTop 2.0 check out this video tutorial.

Super simple, yet cute!!

Now, go off an have some fun!

Sponsor: Imaginisce