My Final Thoughts on CHA....

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Reported by Amy Westerman

Well, I’ve been home for a few days now and my body has had a chance to decompress a bit.

My feet aren’t sore and swollen anymore, but I think my shoulder will ache for weeks! Why? Well, because the shoulder bag you carry around with you at CHA gets loaded down with a zillion pounds of catalogs each day! I’m not kidding! Most veteran CHA goers bring a rolling suitcase with them (I wish someone would have told me this!), so they don’t have to lug all the catalogs on their shoulder like I did. The only problem with the rolling suitcases is that you’re likely to get broadsided or rolled over by at least ONE of these puppies sometime during the convention! Trust me, it happened one too many times to me this weekend!

Kidding aside, I thought I would focus my last CHA article on the two vendors that impressed me the most at this year’s convention. I’ve mentioned both of them briefly in my earlier Craft Critique posts and on my blog. Time and time again, over the course of CHA, I got excited every time I thought about these two vendors and the products they will soon introduce to the crafting community. I literally cannot WAIT until I can buy their products at my local scrapbook store!

Without further ado, hats off to Inque Boutique, my pick for best new stamps of 2007/2008! The minute I laid my eyes on these stamps, I was sucked in lock, stock and barrel. Their stamps are an explosion of color that literally jumps out at you when you first see them. There are hundreds of different designs for you to choose from.

The entire catalog of stamps lined a huge S-shaped wall in their booth at CHA! Their designs are so unique and unlike any stamps I’ve ever seen before. Inque Boutique stamps are unmounted rubber that clings to acrylic blocks. Each stamp has the design printed on the cling side of the stamp so you can see what the stamped image is through the acrylic. Want to hear something really fun? They have their own line of $1 stamps!!! Woo-hoo! I love getting something for a buck….especially stamps!!! Truly, I am pumped to start playing with these stamps from Inque Boutique! I think until they get here, though, I’d better start saving up cuz’ I’m pretty sure these babies are going to cause me to go broke!

Webster’s Pages is my pick for best new paper of 2007/2008! I can, with 100% conviction, tell you this line of designer papers is absolutely stunning, mouthwatering, and downright yummy! The parent company of Webster’s Pages is Webster Fine Arts & Crafts. Their new collection of designer papers was created by a woman named Terri Conrad. I got to meet her while I was at CHA. She is a real dynamo! Just listen to the names of some of her collections: Sweet Charity, Coco Collection (everything brown & cream), and Classic Garden. If you like altering projects, this is the paper for you! It is uber elegant and sophisticated and is perfect for cardmaking, scrapbooking and altered projects. I know you'll love it too!

While there were many great vendors at CHA, these two were my favorites. Be sure and keep your eyes open for these fabulous lines to start showing up at your favorite store soon!