Every year I have the extreme honor and delight of attending the Winter Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Trade Show of which the 2012 edition just finished up last week at the Anaheim Convention Center. This is where manufacturers go to debut their newest products, where retailers go to stock up their stores, where publishers go to announce new titles and where designers go - to paraphrase the Wizard of Oz - "to confer, converse and otherwise hobnob with my brother (and sister) wizards." It's one big wonderful craftapalooza which provides me with enough inspiration, ideas, enthusiasm and fire to last me until the next year's "CHA". There is so much to take in and see but here are a few things which were my favorites:
DecoArt introduced a new line of paints called "Ink Effects" which you apply to paper and then iron onto fabric. You don't get that plasticy feel that you get with regular iron-on transfers and you can get about three prints from one painting. Brilliant!
This transfer was made using a paisley print-out which the company had professionally printed using the Ink Effects paints. As of right now, the paint will only be available in jars. I hope they are big jars because I am totally going to use this!!
The vivacious and vibrant Julie Fei-Fan Balzer led a workshop called "Collage 101" where all the participants got to play with her new line of portrait stencils from The Crafter's Workshop .
Each workshop participant was greeted with a beautiful face stencil and fabulous paints and brushes from Ranger's line of Claudine Hellmuth products.
We started with a fresh canvas which we painted with gesso then onto which we glued down strips of torn pages. We used a leaf shaped stencil to add an interesting background then used the portrait stencil to get the basic shape of the head.
Then we added hair and a light outline of the features just so we could get the shading placement right.
After the shading, we used the portrait stencil again but this time with black paint. That really made the face come alive. A little white to the eyes for highlights and that's it! Easy!
It was wonderful to see how every single painted face in the workshop turned out differently. These stencils are a great introduction to painting faces and really fun to use!
This is but a sampling of all the crafty goodness that was on exhibit at CHA this year. But the best best BEST part of the entire convention was being able to meet fellow designers whose blogs I've followed or with whom I've only ever corresponded online. So many times my mouth would drop open when I met a new friend and I'd sputter out "You're Amy CraftQueen?" or "Mary Contrary? I love your work!" Although it's been a week since CHA ended, my face still has a big dopey smile on it from the warmth that comes from meeting lovely new friends, connecting with dear old buddies and renewing friendships that grow closer and stronger with each passing year.
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Be sure to check out all the other blog posts about CHA in the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop! Just click "hop forward" or "hop backward" on the DC Connection badge to visit the other blogs.
