CHA - The Freeze Frame

Reported by: Katie Renz

I was taking another run through and came across this little new item. Its called The Freeze Frame and appears to be a great addition to the scrapbooker, cardmaker, or even quilter, essentially anybody who works in layers.


Its a new idea/concept from the makers of Magic Mesh that looks pretty darn cool. This is a tool that looks especially useful to the scrapbooker. The steps are essentially as follows:

• You would lay down the bottom layer of the frame set
• Place your page down
• Place and position your photos and/or embellishments
• Set the top layer down on top of your finished layout
• Press gently
• Lift up and over
• Place adhesive onto the bottoms of your photos etc
• Lay back down
• Gently smooth down
• Lift off top layer and your page is done

The picture above is the large size and this item will also be available in an 8x8 size too.
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GCD Studios

Reported by: Emilie Ahern
GCD Studios released a staggering 10 new paper lines at this CHA. We did not get clear photographs of all of them so please visit their website by clicking here. We did, however get good photos of our favorite three lines.

Eye Candy

Canta

Spring All Over

And their assortment of alphabet stickers.The great thing about GCD is they have added an additional sheet to their sticker packs which include all vowels. YES! They listened to their customers! Woot!

Donna Downey for Prima

Donna Downey talks with Craft Critique's Emilie Ahern about her new line for Prima. This fabulous and versatile line of canvas scrapbooking will leave you smitten. I have a feeling that she is totally paving the way for this trend. I hope we see a lot more fabric in scrapbooking (on canvas, fabric and paper pages) in the future!

CHA Trend Report

When our Craft Critique reporters attended the 2peas Cupcake Social this CHA we had no idea we would be seeing these goodies all over the show floor in papers and embellishments.

Trend #3 - Sweet Treats

Here are just a few of the products we fell in love with that satisfy your sweet tooth, but won't make your butt any bigger. We love these little cupcakes and fruit. And look at those adorable Martha Stewart punches!



*some photos provided by Kim Kesti.

CHA Trend Report

Surf and sand was definitely on the brain of the designers as they created their lines for this CHA. Waves, ocean creatures, sand and shells showed up from embellishments to punches to papers.

Trend #2 - Beach and Ocean

Here are just a few of the products we fell in love with that inspire us to lounge on the beach (or at least scrap about it).



*some photos provided by Kim Kesti.

CHA Trend Report

Each show brings new trends coming to the floor. This latest CHA was no different. We definitely saw some trends worth watching and creating with. We will be revealing these trends one by one over the next few days so check back regularly.

Trend #1 - Going Green
Green was a theme at this CHA and we couldn't be more excited. It was very interesting to see how different companies went green. Many manufacturers offered their catalogs on digital CD and one of our favorite newcomers, Jillibean Soup, not only has papers printed on recycled paper, but they will also be planting a tree for every order they received at this CHA. How cool is that?


Die Cuts With a View



Fancy Pants



Jillibean Soup



ColorBok



Prima (reusable and recyclable packaging)


We love this trend so much that this April is going to be Green month here on Craft Critique where we will have great tips, tutorials, product reviews and give-aways. Mark your calendars!
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Heidi Swapp Winner

The random number interger picked #22 and that means....

Robin (Tqmnurse) said...
I have to admit that I didn't get the whole invisible thing until I saw the video....NOW I MUST HAVE IT. I've looked at all of the blogs checking out the new goodies...and it is definitely my fav!
3:53 PM

is the WINNER!
I am sending you an email Girl!

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Pebbles Inc.

I went by the Pebbles Inc. booth and was completely blown away by their new lines. If you are a scrapper who loves American Crafts and October Afternoon you will love these new lines as much as I do. The first is So Tweet. It has great blues, greens and touches of reds. And the little birds, although seen on a lot of lines lately, are different in that the scale is small and they are scattered evenly over the paper, making them easier to work with.

Here is Skipping Along. Oranges, pinks and browns fill this line and I love this color combination. Very flirty and feminine without being froofy.

The Downtown collection is earthy tones with touches of blues. This would be great for boy and DH pages as well as travel. But also has a slightly feminine paper as well.

And finally, Linnie Bell. I love the contrast between the light pinks and yellows against the dark brown. This would be gorgeous for girl pages or springtime and Easter themed layouts.

This show, Pebbles has made a slight change to their already popular ribbons. Where they used to include these patterns in a dominant color and a lighter shade for the accents, all of their ribbons are now a dominant color mixed with white. This makes the patterns on the ribbons pop and stand out more on your projects.

Pebbles also introduced new colors and patterns of their Chips. Packs of chipboard shapes that come in a variety of colors and white and various shapes are enhanced with glitter.

And finally. Their new Metallic Cream Chalks. These chalks have a very creamy texture and go on exactly as traditional chalks do, but their staying power is stronger and you can achieve and more bold color with the cream chalks than with traditional chalking products.

Fancy Pants

I went to the Fancy Pants booth to check out their new Eco-Friendly line and came away nearly hyperventilating. You will LOVE what you see in this post! Get ready for coolness.

Okay, first here's their eco-line. As you may have guessed, this CHA was filled with Eco-Friendly and Green lines. I love this new trend and I also loved seeing the many different ways that companies incorporated these principles into their collections. You will definitely be getting more detailed reports on this from Craft Critique in the near future, but for now, soak up the loveliness of this line called KRAFT KUTS. Made from 100% recycled paper. (click image to enlarge)

And then I saw these ingenious albums! Oh, an acrylic album cut into a shape....no biggie. WRONG! Each of these albums has 8 pages including....3 chipboard, 2 felt, 1 transparent, 2 printed transparent, as well as 3 binder rings. Get OUT!!! Isn't that ca-raze-ay fun?!!


And it even gets better. Next we were shown the new line of ON DISPLAY frames. These are window style picture frames in various sizes and each window comes with a removable and interchangeable acrylic pane. That means you can sew on it, decorate it, change it out....anything! Woot!

Heidi Swapp Invisables + a GIVE-AWAY!

Yep. We're Craft Critique and we bring you all the best products and biggest scrappers from CHA. it's because we love our readers! Here is the delightfully quirky and talented Heidi Swapp giving a step-by-step tutorial of how to use her new resist paper line called Invisibles.

Watch this tutorial in two parts and then when you see the finished project you can win the signed paper. This would be super cute to hang in a retail store or in your scraproom.





Leave a comment on this post including your favorite new line of products debuted at this Winter CHA. You must leave your comment before Noon EST this Thursday, January 29 to be eligible to win. We will announce a winner on Thursday evening.
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EDITED TO ADD 1/29/09: A winner has already been sellected for this giveaway. Thank you to all who commented.

Cosmo Cricket

I adore Cosmo Cricket. They are funny, talented and make scrapbooking fun! And their designs are delicious!!! This CHA release was no exception.

They started off with two very boyishly cute lines. Snorkel (left), which is water themed. And Lil' Man (right) which has easy to use stripes, polka dots and cute patterns.



And then they also offered to more feminine lines. Including Ever After (left), a great line for weddings, babies and little girls. And Girl Friday (right), my personal favorite, it's a bright and coloring line for Spring or for little girls.


And then, another stroke of genius. New stacks called Double Decks which carry two line combinations. LOVE this idea!

They also offered a new line of spinners. I predict their will be a gazillion knock offs of this fabulous idea at the next CHA. How could you resist?

Hambly Screen Prints

Hambly is always a dream to work with. Aren't they just the best company? I love that they do a small assortment of things and then do them to perfection. We dropped by the booth and talked to the adorable sisters behind Hambly's products and by the end I was wiping the drool from my mouth. The new transparencies are versatile, gorgeous and whimsical.

And as you look through these products, you'll see one great thing about Hambly...variety. They have cute and cartoonish owls, sleek fancy chandeliers, whimsical butterflies, floral borders and mod circles. Something for everyone's taste.

New Transparencies...

Notice the clothesline transparencies. A definite trend showcased at this CHA. We have seen patterned papers, felt embellishments and these cute transparencies with this endearing design.

And new Rub-Ons... that wood grain is divine!

PRIMA - Pt. 2

To see Part 1 of our Prima coverage from the show CLICK HERE

Seriously, so much new Prima, I was blown away! Clear stamps, burlap fabric swatches (LOVE these!), digi-stuff, rub-ons, new fabric scrapbooking line by Donna Downey (watch for another interview with her!), ribbon, lace, felt overlays, silk flowers, layered flowers, paper flowers. Oh.My.Goodness. I could go on and on. It was beautiful.

And if you haven't been a Prima fan in the past, you probably will be by the end of this post. :)




Adding to their already-beautiful line of ribbon:

Prima really had a lot of great products made from fabric! Can't WAIT to use this stuff...


Layered AND a brad in the middle? Does Prima love crafters or what?! I'm thinking yes. :) Totally fine with us, Prima... the feeling is mutual.

Dinosaurs? Giraffe? Owl? Panda? Birdie? Could their stamps *be* any cuter?!

How cool are these felt overlays? These are some smaller ones... about 5-7 inches.

I think my eyes may need a rest from all the eye candy. Nah. I'm off to drool over these photos one more time... okay, maybe a few more times...