Newcomer Authentique kicks off our tour of eerily elegant Halloween designs with their Glowing line. Damasks and fleur de lis reflect the home decor influence in this collection, while the harlequin (diamond) pattern gives a nod to the fashion industry.

In the newly released Apothecary Emporium collection, Echo Park lends its graphic influence to damask, chandelier, and harlequin patterns by pairing them with unexpected b-side prints such as grids and chemical formulas. A touch of distressing – not normally found in Echo Park’s designs – gives the line a slightly grungy feel.

Echo Park also offers digital cutting files (though iDiecut.com) to coordinate with Apothecary Emporium (and many of their other collections). The files are available in a variety of formats (including those compatible with the popular Silhouette cutter) and include several home decor influenced shapes.

Apothecary Emporium also turned out to be the perfect paper line for me to use when scrapbooking photos of the geeky pumpkins carved by my husband and I last fall!

Supplies | Patterned Paper: Echo Park Apothecary Emporium (Alchemy Press, Skull & Bones, Under Your Spell, Black Magic). Letter Stickers: Echo Park Apothecary Emporium. Decorative Stickers: Echo Park Apothecary Emporium (Element Stickers). Color Mist: October Afternoon (Tin Type), Studio Calico (Orchard). Buttons: Papertrey Ink.  Brads: My Mind’s Eye (Mischievous). Rhinestones: Imaginisce (i-Rock). Date Stamp: Office Supply.

I couldn’t help but think of the rich (and slightly eerie) sets of Phantom of the Opera while browsing through Pink Paislee’s Phantom line.  The lush Halloween collection, licensed from House of 3, is rich in damask prints and ornate frames with a few chandelier and birdcage elements thrown in for good measure.

Damask and chandeliers have long been part of Teresa Collins’ signature style, so it’s no surprise that they make an appearance in her newest Halloween collection, Haunted Hallows. The Damask, Chandelier Crows, Candelabras, and Frames prints from the line are laden with the motifs along with a selection of spooky scrollwork frames.

Cricut fans will be delighted to find that Teresa Collins’ Halloween designs are also available on a special seasonal cartridge, Chic & Scary, which includes a number of home decor related images.

Bella Blvd shows that a paper line doesn’t have to have a Gothic, distressed, or vintage vibe in order to include elements from the fashion world. Bella’s Too Cute to Spook collection is brightly colored, whimsical, and fun, and is still the perfect home for this sophisticated damask print (found on the back of the Borders sheet).

Fancy Pants’ Oct 31st line includes both home decor and fashion elements in the form of damask and harlequin patterns (as found in the Eerie and Spooks prints).

Tim Holtz’s new Halloween releases from CHA Summer 2011 reflect a home decor influence, as well. One of Tim’s newly released Sizzix Bigz die sets includes a candelabra, and his Halloween Background and Borders Texture Fades set features a fleur de lis border plate.

Whether you’re scrapbooking photos of costumes, spooky decor, or making cards, the current crop of fashion and home decor influenced Halloween lines will add a touch of spooky sophistication to your projects.

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Pink Paislee debuted four stunning new lines at this CHA, including the rich patterns of the licensed House of 3 Halloween Line, “Phantom.” Many of the papers in this collection have a glossy raised embossing over the patterns, and the embellishments and clear stamps are a perfect match for the line.

Here are some gorgeous projects featuring Phantom, including a spooky selection of cards and layouts.

Pink Paislee’s “Vintage Vogue” line is licensed from Collage Press, and contains one of the most unique color palettes of any line in the show – pink and green mixed with a sweet shade of cool purple.

The line’s embellishments all fit with its retro theme, especially the tiny thread spool tops and crocheted trim. The die cut pack is reflective of a trend across almost all the manufacturers – packages of either die cuts or mixed ephemera that coordinate with the line and are available at a relatively low price point.

The very summer-y “Nantucket” line from Pink Paislee is an unusual – though certainly not unwelcome – release as the summer CHA show is usually full of Halloween, Fall, Winter, and Christmas lines. The breezy patterns and strong pastel color palette made this line a definite standout of the show.

The line’s embellishments certainly don’t disappoint, and I believe this is the first time I’ve seen stickers available in that cute hexagonal shape.

Wood shapes are also a hot item at CHA Summer 2011.

The “Mistables” line follows on the success of Pink Paislee’s CHA Winter 2010 “Parisian Anthology” release. These papers have the same style of embossed “resist” areas as “Parisian Anthology” but in a whole new set of patterns. Pink Paislee has also beefed up the thickness of the paper to help prevent it from warping or bleeding when wet.

They’ve also introduced a whole new line of mistable embellishments, such as trims.

The staff at Scrapbook Update had the chance to play with some samples of the “Mistables”  paper while at the Pink Paislee booth, and it took color beautifully and blended well without warping, even after several spray coats.

Pink Paislee’s design team did a wonderful job on booth samples, showing how all of the lines could be blended with “Mistables” items.

The next stop on today’s tour is perennial favorite Studio Calico. Their new “Calico Basics” line generated a lot of buzz on the show floor! They’ve also added “Calico Shine” to their basic Mister Huey line for those who want a little shimmer on their projects.

The “Calico Basics” line takes Studio Calico’s signature graphic style and interprets it in kraft paper to create a line that will work with almost any of their other releases both past and present.

I predict that these kraft letter stickers are going to be a hot item!!

Studio Calico has also designed a line of masks sporting several of their most popular motifs.

Are those the new Hero Arts stamps that I spy?

And how awesome is this paper? Woodgrain is another huge trend in the industry right now.

“Autumn Press” is Studio Calico’s fall release and comes complete with its own shades of Mister Huey.

A few of the papers have definite fall motifs, but the majority are generic enough to be used for almost any project- even the themed papers have a more graphic “B” side.

And, there’s more new stamps!

Another hot trend this summer? Map paper is hot, and not just in travel lines!!

Even these “Autumn Press” alphabet stickers sport a map print.

Studio Calico’s third CHA Summer 2011 release, “Memoir”, has a much darker color palette than “Autumn Press” and has more of a vintage farmhouse vibe to it. There’s even a pattern or two reminiscent of homemade quilts, bringing the whole sewing theme that was so popular at CHA a year ago back into the mix.

In this shot you’ll see something else that’s completely new for Studio Calico this show – 6×6 paper pads!!

As usual, Studio Calico’s design team knocked it out of the park when it came to booth samples.

Our last stop for this post is the ever-colorful We R Memory Keepers booth. They debuted a new tool at the show – the “Sew Ribbon”, a follow-up to the “Sew Easy” tool. As you can probably guess, it helps you stitch ribbon on your projects in a variety of patterns.

The We R Memory Keepers booth staff was kind enough to demo the Sew Ribbon for us, starting with using the template and included cutter to punch holes in the paper.

A reusable, self-adhesive set of “ribbon needles” are included with each set and is used to help guide the ribbon through the holes as you “stitch.”

We R Memory Keepers is also debuting a new line of distress inks. The “Sweetheart”-shaped inkers feature a unique grip to help control the ink pad during use.

The Crop-A-Dile 3 is a corner and tab setter, and We R Memory Keepers has a huge variety of colors and styles of the embellishments available.

These aren’t new, but I just had to include their immensely popular – and extensive – selection of divided page protectors.

We R Memory Keepers is getting back to basics with a huge range of brads and eyelets that will be available later in the fall.

The Cinch 2 is also not new for this show, but I couldn’t help but include a shot of that lovely rainbow of binding rings!

While We R has a fantastic range of new tools (actually more of them than are even covered here), their paper lines also really shine for this release and I wanted to make sure they got a bit of the spotlight as well.

The “Autumn Splendor” collection has a lovely, soft fall palette and plenty of coordinating stamps and embellishments.

“Peppermint Twist,” We R Memory Keepers’ Christmas line, puts a cute, funky spin on a traditional color palette.

The line also includes an advent calendar kit. (We saw many advent calendars all over the show floor).

“Tres Elegant” would be lovely for wedding photos.

And I spy a set of cameos here! This is a trend that’s continued from the last several CHA shows.

I’ll round off the tour with this fantastic wall of die cuts. I told you die cuts were hot! You’ll be seeing a lot more of them as Scrapbook Update continues to post booth photos.

So did you see anything you like? Did anything in particular jump out at you? Leave a comment and let us know! We’ll be back later with lots more coverage from the show floor!

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House of 3 was founded in 2009 by Janet Hopkins, Heidi Swapp and Rhonna Farrer. The company originally sold only digital products through their website. At CHA Summer 2010, House of 3 expanded into paper production when it launched a licensed line of products with Pink Paislee. House of 3 has produced three total collections with Pink Paislee: Parisian Anthology launched at CHA Summer 2010, and Daily Junque & Soiree launched at CHA Winter 2011.

Co-founder Rhonna Farrer had already announced on her blog three weeks ago that she was departing House of 3. Following her departure, the remaining co-founders decided not to continue House of 3, resulting in Monday’s announcement.

The House of 3 website will be available through May 31st, 2011 so that the company’s digital customers may secure all of their purchased downloads. Their digital store will be holding a 50% off sale through May 8th so that House of 3 fans may make last-minute purchases before the company’s digital products are retired from public sale.

Paper forms of House of 3 products will continue to be available from Pink Paislee through 2o12. House of 3 designer Rhonna Farrer told Scrapbook Update that House of 3′s Pink Paislee released lines moving forward will be already created designs previously available only in digital from House of 3.

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(Clockwise starting at top left): Divine Damask, Darling Doilies, Fancy Filigree, and  Lovely Lace

The line’s embellishments look lovely, and are so full of elegance and feminine detail I can hardly wait to play with more of them. That said, I believe the paper is truly the must buy in this line. The fact that it is all in creams and blacks, and that it can be colored and customized so easily, makes it a timeless treasure that I’ll be adding in large quantities to my stash. Truly – how could I tire of this paper when it can be made different each time?

Each paper has slightly raised and glossy designs created with resist ink, which appear so faint the best way I can find to describe them is as a watermark. The image above does not show the true cream color of the paper, but it allows you to see the faint ‘glow’ of the secondary pattern clearly thanks to a good lighting angle.

Above you can see that I inked the paper, then started to wipe (I used a paper towel) the excess ink off. See how vibrant the pattern becomes? I love it! I really liked the effect of both Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Tsukineko Brilliance Inks on this paper. In addition to inks, I found glimmer mists, color washes, and other similar products to also be wonderful. Here is a test strip I did with all kinds of these products:

The only thing I found I needed to avoid is using too much of a wash or mist product on the paper. If you do this, you run the risk of saturating the paper and the color saturating the paper under the glossy treatment. If misting, I suggest doing just a little at a time and then repeating the mist once the paper dries.

I really love that this paper will be useful with the products that I already have, and that it will allow me to customize the color if I so desire. I applaud all involved in its creation for bringing us a product line that is both neutral and utterly unique at the same time.

Supplies used:
Parisian Anthology patterned paper  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Parisian Anthology elements paper  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Parisian Anthology jewels  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Pink Paislee white letter stickers
Prima rhinestones (pink/white)  Scrapbook.com
Making Memories small letter stickers
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals die for Sizzix  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Dusty Concord  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass  Scrapbook.com | Two Peas
Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Tumbled Glass and Rock Candy
House of 3 Parisian Anthology Add-On brushes
Other: cardstock, vellum, brown rhinestones

On this layout, I used an ink blending tool with my distress ink to start with on my background, and I ended up adding several squirts of glimmer mist as well as washing my paper in the sink. Yes, I took my paper and soaked it in water to try and help blend the colors better. While over-saturating with color was a bad idea, soaking the paper in water was no problem! This is a great advantage to working with products like glimmer mist and distress ink – they can be used with water.

I was amazed at how the paper held up to my torture, and after letting it air dry (and ironing it) it became the base for my scrapbook layout – and what fun I had putting it together! House of 3 has digital elements that coordinate with these paper based products, stretching their usefulness even farther and making it a lot of fun to create hybrid pages. I used a sheet of vellum and a few of the Add-On Brushes here on my page.

My brain is all abuzz with new ideas and things I want to try. You can be sure that you’ll be seeing me use this line as often as possible. In addition to ordering myself more of this paper, I also purchased the tickets as well as the flair. I predict that I will be buying even more of this line – and more importantly finding it tremendously useful in my scrapbooking. I highly recommend it and I hope that this is just the beginning of many collaborations we’ll see from Pink Paislee and House of 3.

Parisian Anthology is available at Scrapbook.com and TwoPeasInABucket.com as well as many local scrapbook stores.

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Today I’d like to share a few of my top picks based on the product images I’ve seen so far on-line. With the show still a week away and many things not yet revealed this is the tip of the iceberg I’m sure – but it’s sure a fun thing to uncover, so I wanted to share.

In no order at all, here are products I’ve seen that I can’t wait to get my hands on:

Pink Paislee has done it again. I am most anxious to see their collaboration with House of 3, but their other lines are awesome too. This “old school” line makes me so very happy – especially the plaids and that die cut “members only” paper.

Despite the cost and (of course) availability issues, I still love Prima products. These pink flowers make me so very happy. I don’t just want them – I need them!

I’m THRILLED to see Cosmo Cricket bringing some new items back into the wild west with the line “Wanted”.

I loved the last batch of Lily Bee chipboard elements – and I really like the new offerings too. Can’t wait!

This paper from Jillibean Soup has me super excited! I just love the filmstrip look and see so much potential for the vibrant fall colors.

American Crafts does cute so very well, and it looks like their Love line is going to be no exception.

Continuing as a top pick – Elementary from Studio Calico is a line I want in full. Specifically, I want about 10 sheets of this paper. It’s die cut and just so cute.

I literally squealed when I saw that Tim Holtz is making more tissue tape (a favorite of mine!) and in holiday themes too. Thanks Tim!

Jenni Bowlin is once again knocking my socks off – from stickers to vellum butterflies to new chipboard buttons.

Glitz Design, a company that has worked it’s way up to favorite status for me will firmly stay that way. I love the new stuff – especially this Scarlett line.

My Minds Eye goes hot and cold for me – but this new offering is smoking hot. I adore Lost & Found, and I can’t wait to play!

Looking for a super cute line for those little girls in your life? This is it. I can’t help but smile at this playful collection from My Little Shoebox.

I have a feeling that Webster’s Pages is going to offer up some beautiful things based on what I’ve seen so far on their facebook page. I hope this tinsel trim is the tip of the iceberg!

I will continue my hunt for the latest & greatest as I prepare new articles, reviews, and features to share here. What great things have you located? Is there something you’re hoping for or looking forward to? Please feel free to share – and for links to all of these and many more sneak peeks click this link.

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