CHA Summer 2010: More of “May’s Must-Haves”

August 11, 2010 By 10 Comments

I did not attend CHA two weeks ago, but that certainly hasn’t stopped me from drooling over new goodies coming out. From where I sit, the scrapbooking industry is doing amazing things and I feel super inspired by all the products I’ve seen – and I know I’ve not nearly seen it all!

As I surf the internet and manufacturer websites I’ve been gathering some of my favorites. I shared an article before the show with some of my sneak peek favorites, and now I’m back with more. It certainly wasn’t easy to narrow down.  There are a lot of great things! A few I’m especially loving are Tattered Angels, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Bella Blvd, October Afternoon, and Crate Paper. They all have fantastic looking product coming out.

This article contains a few of my top picks. Oh yes – I have a whole new list of must-have items that are soon to be available. (And I hope it’s sooner than later!)

Jenni Bowlin has been a favorite of mine since discovering her years ago. Guess what? This release is no exception. Her products build on past releases and work well together to help breathe new life into older products and inspire with new amazing cuteness. I am smitten with these star stickers!

I have seen samples with these Hambly rub-ons where designers have partially filled the images with buttons and rhinestones, as if the jars are filled with the treats. I love that idea, and I adore this sheet of rub-ons! I think they’ll be a whole lot of fun.

Kaiser Craft has a lot of great stuff coming out, and I especially love their ‘beyond the page’ line of alterable items. This wreath is so lovely – I simply must have it. I have visions of a Christmas wreath for it, and I hope to find one of these in a store soon.

Making Memories, a company I’ve used and enjoyed for years has a bunch of must-haves this go around. Their Paper Reverie line really works for me. It’s got sparkle and vintage charm, and is fairly neutral, so I see it having a long shelf life in my stash. The pieces shown above are my favorites.

The Je t’Adore line from Making Memories has a lot of great stuff. This cute box of creative ‘chocolate’ has some interesting bits and pieces as well as being presented in fun packaging.

Studio Calico continues to grow and delight me. I am currently envisioning misting and enjoying playing with these notions. I wouldn’t have thought flowers would be so exciting, but I can not wait to get my hands on these unique ones. They also have a great paper line, some mists, and wood veneer stuff that I am anxious to get in my eager hands.

I am really excited about the “Freestyle” and “Celebrate” lines from Teresa Collins. I like the infusion of more color into her collections while still maintaining the style and look she’s known for. This argyle patterned paper will be perfect for scrapbooking about my girls.

If I were doing an article entitled “I want everything ___ company put out” then Webster’s Pages would certainly be in it. Their new “Sweet Season” line really captured my attention. I love the fusion of color and sweet treats in a winter line like this.

One more pick from Webster’s – I simply can’t live without these trims. I don’t know how they do it, but they bring out more vintage inspired trims each show and each time they are exquisite!

I must add Pink Paislee to the list of companies who had a “want every piece” release. I am so impressed with all they’ve come out with, from the line with the House of 3 to this line called “Sweetness”. I want every single item! They’ve come out with fresh ideas and new products with their signature flair and sensibility for useful but trendy product.

Before you faint with shock, yes that’s me (the ‘no die cuts’ lady) picking a die as a favorite. I’ll talk about that more some other time. For now, just know that Tim Holtz ROCKED the summer show with die cuts and texture fades and all kinds of other awesome goodies for his Sizzix line.

Tim’s idea-ology line is packed full (as are his stamps, and everything else he came out with) of amazing possibility. These trimmings are a must-have. Ink, spray, or paint them – heck, stamp on them, too! I just love everything about this line. The designs are great and I love them all. Just call me a crazy fan girl – I want it ALL!

[Editor's Note: Crazy Tim Holtz fan girl May became crazy Tim Holtz design team girl last week after she wrote this article but before it was edited & scheduled for publication. Our sincerest congratulations to May on getting her dream gig, and to Tim on getting a talented designer that I know from personal experience is as passionate about his products as he is.]

Cupcake Love is a new collection from Little Yellow Bicycle that is over the top girly, and frosted in pink. I love it! These layered felt ribbon sliders are my favorite piece.

Claudine Hellmuth released some stamps with Ranger that are intriguing. There are both foam and acrylic stamps that can be layered as shown above. She has several sets and I’m really excited about this look. I think it would be great on her canvas paper, with stitching or other elements added, and for all kinds of projects from cards to layouts and so much more. I look forward to seeing more of these.

As you can see my shopping basket is quickly filling, and this has been a fantastic show for new and exciting products. I haven’t gotten into the seasonal releases like the amazing Christmas and Halloween goods coming from the Girls’ Paperie [whose design team May also just joined recently - Editor] I can’t stress it enough – this show was FULL of good stuff!

I can’t wait to stop dreaming and start creating! What are you looking forward to working with? What are your favorites?


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Winner: Claudine Hellmuth Extra Time Medium

May 24, 2010 By 4 Comments

It’s time to announce the winner of the Claudine Hellmuth Extra Time Medium from May’s review!

And the winner of the random drawing is…

Jacquelin G on May 14, 2010 at 11:38 am, who said:

Love her products – can’t wait to try this!!!

Jacquelin, watch your email box for a notification email from Scrapbook Update about collecting your prize. And thanks to everyone who reads Scrapbook Update who entered!

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Review: Claudine Hellmuth Extra Time Studio Medium

May 12, 2010 By

I have found each product in the Claudine Hellmuth line for Ranger to be a good quality, and items that make a great base for my projects. From adding paint to a scrapbook layout to printing photos onto her Sticky Back Canvas, I have had very good experiences.

In February of this year Ranger introduced a new Claudine Hellmuth product called Extra Time Studio Medium. The idea is a simple one – adding some of this product in with her acrylic paint will extend the time you have to work with it by preventing the paint from drying as quickly. The label suggests using equal parts paint and medium, but I found good results with as little as half the amount of medium to the amount of paint.

Why would you use this? Well, any time you want the drying to slow on the paint – either on the project or just sitting out waiting to be used. I found it incredibly useful as I work and wrangle two preschool-aged children. I don’t end up with dry paint on my palette after I run and solve a problem with the kids – it remained useful even through delays and I really appreciated that.

Extra Time Studio Medium is water-based, safe, and non-toxic; and in addition to extending your working time with paint the packaging suggests this is a good product to use in blending multiple colors of paint, in drier climates, and for creating various paint techniques. The product says it’s for use with Claudine Hellmuth’s paints, but of course I tried (and had success) with other brands as well.

I tested the product a number of times over the last month, and in the right situations I’m finding it a tremendous resource. I covered a small frame with the Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas, which is a staple product in my studio.

First I took the $1 frame apart, and then got the paint and medium mixed together. I used a purple paint by Claudine Hellmuth for this project.

Then I cut and folded pieces of the sticky back canvas to go around each side of the frame. I cut until I was fairly happy with the fit, then removed the backing and stuck the canvas down around my frame.

As you can see above, it’s not always perfect. That’s alright! Paint will be covering the canvas soon, and flaws can be forgiven. Once you are satisfied with the fit, coat the entire canvas surface with the purple paint mixture. Once the project dried (it did take 30 minutes or so) I coated it with Multi-Medium in Gloss to add shine, and to create an adhesive surface for rhinestones and pearls that dot the edges.

Finally, I added a flower to the bottom of the frame, replaced the glass & backing, and inserted a photo.

There is one downside to this product, and that is that when you’re ready for the paint to be dry, you’re going to need some patience. I suggest just setting the project aside and working on something else for a bit. This product is really so simple, yet it’s already saved me a lot of dry paint heartache, and I can see if I decide to produce multiple projects, or take on any variety of crafts where I want the paint to last it will prove invaluable.

Would you like to win some Extra Time Studio Medium to try out yourself?

Thanks to Ranger, Scrapbook Update has a bottle of Claudine Hellmuth Extra Time Studio Medium to give away!

How to Enter:

All you have to do to be one of the lucky winners is leave a comment on this entry before Midnight U.S. eastern time on Sunday night, May 16th. Make sure you include your email address in the line reserved for it on the comment form (for your own protection, don’t put it in the text of the comment, where it will be visible to the public – just in the line labeled “email” in the form where only Scrapbook Update staff can see it). We will need it to notify you if you are a winner. Winners will be drawn by random drawing from all eligible entries. One entry per person.

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Paperclipping Roundtable #13: Taking It Beyond The Page

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I had to miss Paperclipping Roundtable this week because I was traveling for a speaking engagement, but just because I missed it doesn’t mean you have to!

Episode #13 featured Izzy & Noell Hyman, Claudine Hellmuth, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, and Lain Ehmann.

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To listen to this week’s episode, you can use the player embedded above [may not be visible to email subscribers], visit the Paperclipping Roundtable web page or to make things easy, you can use this link:

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Here’s this week’s show notes:

Product Picks:

Other Links:

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Top Ten Product Trends at CHA Winter 2010, Part 2

February 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s time to look at part two of the top ten product trends from CHA Winter 2010! (In case you missed it, here’s part one.)

Please note that these trends are intended to take a look at the types of products that are being offered, not the specific design and style trends that were being applied to those products.

6. Fabric/Canvas

Top row, left-right: Studio Calico, Prima, Prima. Middle row (l-r): Adornit, BasicGrey, BasicGrey. Bottom row (l-r): Melody Ross for GCD Studios, Claudine Hellmuth Studio, Webster’s Pages.

Maybe it is a reflection of the homemade/vintage feeling that is sweeping scrapbooking, but a lot of CHA Winter products were created from textiles. Replacing the hard metal embellishments of a few years ago, fabric is both more versatile as a material and more affordable. There’s also less government regulation to worry about for manufacturers, such as issues created recently by the CPSIA.

Some fabric items, such as Donna Downey’s products for Prima, are a blank starting point for projects. Others, such as Studio Calico’s Fabrips borders, are full-featured embellishments designed to be incorporated into other projects.

7. Embossed Cardstock

Left-right: Jenni Bowlin Core’dinations, Bazzill, Tim Holtz Alterations.

Products that were either already embossed or for creating embossing are becoming quite common in the scrapbook market. All of the manual die cutting systems seem to offer embossing accessories, and Tim Holtz caused big buzz at CHA with his new Alterations embossing designs for the Sizzix machine. Many of the cardstock companies (like Bazzill and Core’dinations) seem to be entering a gray area between cardstock and patterned paper providers by branching into embossed designs. It’s also becoming more frequent for patterned paper companies to include embossed designs in their lines (K and Company has a long history of this, for instance).

8. Spray Ink/Mist

Left-right: Smooch Spritz, Inkadinkado, Chalkboard Glimmer Mist.

Ink of all kinds is a hot product right now. But spray ink, which has only recently gotten attention as a category, is the hottest of all the inks – attracting attention even from papercrafters who don’t own a single stamp. Tattered Angels offered up a big expansion of its Glimmer line at CHA Winter 2010 and many other companies also either offered the product for the first time or expanded existing offerings.

9. Fancy Buttons

Top: American Crafts Glitter Buttons. Bottom: Bazzill Vintage Buttons.

Buttons are back as part of the vintage trend, but with a twist from their classic scrapbooking incarnation. Instead of plain buttons we now have glitter buttons, textured buttons, and bling buttons. Gone are the days of companies selling color assortments of plain buttons to coordinate with their lines – now they must have extra detail of some kind. Offerings from companies like GCD Studios and Bazzill remind me so much of my grandmother’s button jar!

10: Die Cutting

Top row, left-right: Cottage Cutz, Sizzix eClips, Tim Holtz Alterations. Bottom row (l-r): Cricut Cake, Spellbinders, Craftwell eCraft.

At CHA Winter 2010, there was plenty of proof that lots of companies see both digital and manual die cutting as a viable market. Several new exhibitors were associated with die cutting, and some of the show’s biggest buzz was centered around the Cricut Cake machine. Besides the Cricut Cake, Sizzix and Craftwell also showed new electronic cutters, greatly expanding the options in that area for consumers. On the manual side, Cottage Cutz was exhibiting as an independent producer of dies, an indicator of the perceived strength in that market. Tim Holtz’s new collection of vintage style dies for Sizzix has potential to reach a new audience for their machine, which is known for a more graphic or cute style of design.

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