CHA Summer 2011 | Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, and October Afternoon

Photographing booths at CHA is a bit like trying to photograph a hyper toddler. That is, if a hyper toddler was made of paper and stickers and constantly surrounded by people. Bending, leaning, and otherwise contorting to shoot around crowds of buyers (that you don't want to disturb as they're the main reason the show exists) is elevated to an art form over the course of the convention, and however hard you might try to capture every little thing in every single booth, it's just not possible.

All that aside, booth photos are the best way that the crew at Scrapbook Update has to share with you the experience of actually being at the show. They're not comprehensive, but they give a glimpse into the presentation of each company's offerings. For full product photos, refer to manufacturer web sites or to Scrapbook Update's own CHA Summer 2011 Sneak Peek page. For some serious booth eye candy, keep reading!

Echo Park has not one, but two new Christmas lines debuting at the show! Holly Jolly Christmas is a bright, cheery line with pops of pink and turquoise, and Season's Greetings sports a more traditional red and green color palette.

Echo Park is also expanding their product line beyond just paper, into embellishments! I totally flipped for their new brads, and the clear stamps are a great addition for both cardmakers and scrapbookers alike.

They've got a nice selection of chipboard embellishments and layered stickers as well.

I featured Echo Park's Apothecary Emporium as one of my sneak peek picks before the show, and the line didn't disappoint in person. Just look at these gorgeous sample projects!!

Happy Days is Echo Park's newest debut and features a bright, fun color palette and 50's-style icons.

And, finally, a couple of projects from the new line Victoria Gardens, another of my sneak peek picks.

The My Mind's Eye booth was also decked out in eye-catching decorations and colors!

And in addition to the lovely sample displays, the product here shone as well. This was one situation where shooting photos was a challenge as the product was displayed in My Mind's Eye's signature (and quite tall) product racks, so I chose instead to go with close-up shots of some individual products (and of course I was particularly drawn to the brads!).

The My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 line is absolutely gorgeous, and with four different color palettes in the collection - there's so much of it to choose from!!

The yellow and gray "Blissful" line (part of Lost and Found 2 and another of my sneak peek picks) features one of the hot color palettes from the show.

As you can see I had some help showing it off, thanks to the helpful booth staff.

Here's a bit of the Mischievous line - all of My Mind's Eye's new collections also come in 6x6 pads, another current industry trend.

In fact, My Mind's Eye has also released "Six By Six," a group of twelve new collections released exclusively as 6x6 pads.

Lime Twist is My Mind's Eye's mid-year release and has been on store shelves for a couple of months now. It's full of fabulous colors and includes baker's twine in several different shades.

October Afternoon's booth was over the top cute with a saloon entrance facade.

My heart skipped a least two beats when I spotted this line of Sprinklers color mists. I love their pigment formulation that really makes the colors pop like no other mist I've used.

There are also new stamps, including background stamps!!

And of course Mini Market letters in colors to coordinate with all of their lines. Mini alpha stickers are sweeping the industry in a huge way right now.

October Afternoon only gave the tiniest of peeks of their new lines before the show (and even with just that "Farmhouse" and "Sidewalks" made my sneak peeks picks list), but I was able to get photographs of it all in their booth! Here's the new "Sidewalks" line, complete with a full range of embellishments.

Their Miscellany packs are jammed full of goodies like die cuts, buttons, and ephemera.

"Sasparilla" is October Afternoon's new western-themed line. Western is hot - watch for more on this trend in the near future from Scrapbook Update's own May Flaum!

Here's more of that lovely gray that's so popular right now.

And of course lots of cute embellishments.

"Farmhouse" is October Afternoon's third release of the show and features a vintage vibe, complete with doily and woodgrain motifs.

And here I spy that yellow and gray combination again!

I also snapped a couple of shots of booth projects...

...and then settled in to play a bit with the new supplies at the make and take table.

And that's just three of the many, many booths I've photographed over the last two days, and who knows how many more I'll visit tomorrow! Keep your eye on Scrapbook Update for more reports in the next few days!