hey bloggers! hope you're having a great week. all is good here – really good…honestly even better now that i have news to share with all of you. i confess that me personally, like most of you, can't wait to get my hands on the new products. as a product designer i've come to acknowledge and understand that sometimes "things" happen in manufacturing. sure, we all have the best intentions to have product to market when it's released at the show, but as we all know that doesn't always happen. as a very hands-on product designer, sometimes the first time i ever see or get to work with my new products is at the trade show – crazy huh? yet sometimes that designer (that would be me) would like a few changes made to those certain products after working with them for the first time. those changes, of course, are not good news to the companies i design for especially when they're taking orders for that very product at the show. therefore i want to commend the companies i work with for their integrity in supporting my creative vision no matter what challenges they face based on my decisions. in defense of designers everywhere it's such a challenge to design, develop, test, prototype, create packaging, and get inventory in for a product every 6 months in time for the cha trade shows – oh but we try!
….okay stepping off my soapbox now because to be totally honest – i love the challenge!!! all of that being said, i'm here with an update on the balance of some of the new products released at cha from ranger, idea-ology, and sizzix alterations that we've all been waiting for!
ranger: black and white enamel accents are shipping from ranger this week! the formulation needed a little tweaking to create the perfect dimensional and glossy enamel accent. this duo will be hitting the store shelves soon so that's good news from ranger…
alterations: my texture fades from sizzix have to be one of the most anticipated products for me! i could not wait to work with these, however after working with them at cha, i decided to make minor changes in all of them (yep all 16 of them). i tip my hat to sizzix for having the patience and trust in me as a designer to make sure i got the product i wanted even though they were already in production and had to go back and rework everything! these texture fades are perfect now and designed to create a deeply embossed texture in thicker materials like grungeboard, chipboard, metal, canvas, plastic and of course paper. they're unlike anything you've used before. the random and sometimes dimensional designs of the texture fades give the effect of certain parts of certain textures fading away. ah, the ultimate texture! so good news, the texture fades will start shipping the last week of april through the first week in may – it's soon i tell you…soon…
idea-ology: tissue tape is the last of my new products to ship, shipping mid-may and again totally my fault! this time it wasn't a design change or anything like that, but after working with it, i wanted to change the finish of the tape. tissue tape is a transparent tape made of tissue paper with similar qualities to japanese washi tape…but of course, now with a different twist. i wasn't a fan of the shiny finish the washi tape had – after all, i was going to use inks with this stuff! so my tissue tape is created with vintage collage ephemera and now has a matte paper finish. that means the tape can be used as a resist, or inkable – it's up to you! yes, what they say is true – good things are truly worth waiting for…
so i hope my update brings a little good news to many of us impatient crafters. just think it's like one new product every other week. i just think it's important to share what i know so now you know. stay tuned for a video on friday on the new alterations and yes, it will now have the texture fades in it! can't wait…t!m
