hey bloggers! wow – what a crazy busy week this has been at CHA – of course i set out with the best intentions to blog from the show, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. here's a little recap of it all though so you can join me on the adventure…
friday 1/23:
7am: left home for the airport in phoenix to fly to orange county (the airport is about 2 hours from my house)
11am: arrived in california and headed straight to the hotel to meet everyone from ranger
2pm: headed over to the convention center to start booth set-up
4:30pm: headed up to do a presentation of new idea-ology products for a buying group
6pm: returned to the show floor to continue booth set-up.
7pm: headed out to dinner
saturday 1/24:
5am: woke up to get ready for my CHA workshops
6am: arrived at the convention center to set up for the workshops
8am-1pm: back to back workshops for 100 students learning about the new adirondack alcohol inks and fillable pen
2pm: helped set up suze's workshop
2:30pm: back to the ranger booth to finish set up
5pm: headed over to advantus booth to set up
6pm: returned to ranger booth to complete set up, put up boards, and set demo table
8pm: headed out to dinner
sunday 1/25: (day 1 of the show)
8am: arrived at the convention center for last minute details
9am-11am: worked in the idea-ology booth
12noon-5:30pm: demoed in the ranger booth
7pm: dinner with the ranger group
monday 1/26: (day 2 of the show)
7:30am: arrived at the convention center for an appointment
9am-11am: worked in the idea-ology booth
12noon-5:30pm: demoed in the ranger booth
7pm: dinner with my friends from eclectic paperie in downtown disney
tuesday 1/27: (day 3 of the show)
7:30am: breakfast meeting
8:30am: arrived at the convention center to set up for make & takes at ranger
9am-5pm: taught make & takes at ranger using the new memory capsules!
7pm: dinner with the guys from ranger
wednesday 1/28: (day 4 of the show)
8am: arrived at the convention center to set up
9am-11am: demoed in the ranger booth
11:30am-12:30pm: CHA meeting
1pm-2pm: walked the show floor – show ended at 2pm!
2pm-7pm: booth break down, packing up
8pm: headed to dinner
thursday 1/29:
fly home…
whew! so there are the boring, but busy details of my day by day – not much excitement to share in the daily grind, but of course i DO want to share all of the exciting releases from the show. CHA is always a great time in our industry where leading companies and designers show off their latest and greatest ideas, products, and artwork. everyone seemed optimistic of a creative year ahead, but of course the struggling economy was definitely on the minds of many. yet throughout it all, there was still the energy and a buzz these shows bring out in all of us. here's a look at the new releases i wanted to share with you….enjoy!
ranger: well of course there are always exciting things going on at ranger. everyone at ranger came together to release another great variety of unique and innovative products for our industry…
adirondack alcohol inks- yippeee! 24 NEW COLORS including lights and brights in this line to coordinate with the existing earthtones we've all used and love!
adirondack fillable pen- okay so this pen is such an amazing tool to use with the alcohol inks. simply fill it with your favorite adirondack alcohol ink color and you now have an alcohol ink pen with 2 different tips including brush and detail nibs. this allows us to color anything we want with precision and incredible "blendability" – stay tuned for a technique video on this!
adirondack pigment inks: we've added 8 earthtone colors to our pigment line to continue growing this high quality pigment ink line.
watermark resist: we've taken our resist pad to the next level by introducing this new watermark resist pad. achieve incredible detailed resist on glossy cardstock and effective watermark images on colored papers with this new formula – a must have…
memory capsules: this is going to be huge for the mixed media and wearable markets with these new capsules. these are plastic "bubble" type things that fit into our existing memory frame sizes to allow you to incorporate dimensional objects and "shakeable" things into your memory glass pieces. i will be using these in my CKU workshop too…
here are a few photos from the booth…be sure to check the ranger website for some great videos of our show demos and make & takes! 
idea-ology: so i know i've already shared the catalog details with all of you, but i thought you might enjoy a little video tour. thanks to my great "crew" that worked in the idea-ology booth for me (keychain, kim, and aunty pearl) you guys are truly the best! enjoy the journey…
okay, so i just got home a few hours ago, but as promised, i would get this posted for all of you. i hope you enjoyed the recap and if you're looking for more videos on CHA – a youtube search is bringing up lots. now on to the winners of the 2 CHA giveaways from last week. thanks again for all of the wonderful comments – it's really great to hear everyone's favorites, thoughts, and comments on what's new. you know as a designer you just put yourself out there and hope that people like the ideas, styles, and sometimes quirky designs. i appreciate the support and encouragement from many of you – congrats to the winners….t!m
