Non-stop CHA

Hey all,

Goodness me! Has this been one hectic and intense few days or what. We arrived on Tuesday but haven't had a chance to breathe at all. Only now, am I able to find fifteen minutes to sit down and write this while I wait for the others to finish their workshops.  Every night, we've just collapsed into bed and had to wake up to the rising sun to start the day.  To top it off, I thought we’d get away from the cold weather in Hong Kong and be able to soak in some sun. Sadly, it’s been the same weather here and we’re still wrapped up in parkas and scarves. No bikinis by the pool then.

Ready for a summary of what we've been up to during these last few days?

The first day, we trotted down to Coco’s (I know some of you are super jealous, and yes, the pancakes are as yummy as ever). After stuffing ourselves with a full day’s worth of calories in one sitting, we were ready to face a whole day with Tsukineko. That opened our eyes to how many ways you could use the inks and sprays. We left with inky fingers and a pretty new mini album. That night saw us pushing the largest trolley in history down the aisles of Tarjay, stocking up on socks, cereal and eye drops. As you do.

L-R: Sunrise over Anaheim, the convention centre right across from our hotel, that's Disneyland beyond the trees, delicious blueberry pancakes at Coco's, inks and sprays at Tsukineko workshop, us with our finished projects, learning some encaustic techniques, working with Spellbinder's new jewelry line, the new Big Shot coming out soon.

 L-R: the new range of Distress paints, Maya Road album, Maya Road framed tags, Tim at work.

The next day was not so much fun. This was where we strained our buttocks (and brains) with sitting for ten hours as we watched company after company parade their wares and give us lots of sneak peeks before their official launch on the show floor this Saturday and we confirmed half of our orders.  

L-R: such a cool product to rust up everything and anything, copperize anything, a pic with the man himself, an Ideo-logy project.

Yesterday was filled with back to back workshops and seminars, filled with even more products and techniques; starting with a Graphic 45 workshop and ending with some mixed media techniques. Blown away is one word that comes to mind and we are super excited to show you all that we learned.

L-R: Angela with Dyan Reaveley (creator of Dylusions), Teresa Collins layouts, gorgeous holiday altered book at Sizzix, a washi-taped bicycle at My Mind's Eye.

Today, the real madness began. Three and a half days of us oohing and ahhing over all the prettiness. With over four hundred companies exhibiting, it will be hard-pressed not order everything. There are lots of make and takes, lucky draws and give-aways.

 

L-R: a Tim Holtz ideo-logy necklace, Anna Dabrowska work of art, my Tim Holtz make and take which I queued an hour and a half for.

Our first plan of attack was to run for the Tim Holtz booth and do a his famous make and takes. After queuing up for one and half hours, we finally got to walk away with a cute Paris tag. We watched Tim demo his new range of distress paints (love them and have to get them) and took countless photos of all the beautiful samples made with the whole product range. Can I just say that there are some seriously talented artists and crafters out there.

 

L-R: a paper wedding gown at Bella Blvd, cute mini at Authentique, beautiful tag at Ranger.

We then tried (with the best intentions) to place all our orders. If you've been to the show, you will know it's not the easiest task; just because you will stop so many times on the way to the actual booth you want to go to and veer off into one you didn't. Just too many pretty things to look at.

Six hours later, we had only done one-fifth of the show floor. Tomorrow, we will have to put our roller skates and blinkers on and rocket around the rest of the floor.

See you tomorrow, when I will bring you more goodies,