Back from the CHA Show

I am back and can't wait to share how awesome our booth was! I will post more pictures and talk trends as soon as I sift through all my stuff. I have a couple of totes-worth to go through. I've been at work for the better part of the day today and I am still trying to play catch-up for the 5-days I was gone, plus the time I have spent since before Christmas working to 'urbanize' the showbooth. I must admit I had a fabulous crew of people (Allee, Alexis, Sam, Alyson, Cheryl, Debbie, Suzi) who helped me crank out this street-inspired booth. And there were those people who didn't have to help at all who were so inspired by all the fun we were having that they would stop by and help 'tag' a wall (Lauren and Alexis) or came in on a Saturday (Edd and Nicole) to get it done. And thanks to Linda who helped pack the showbooth to ship to LA. Here's a photo Edd Pilande took of one part of the booth:

Major show highlights for me:

• Hanging out with some of the designers in our booth like Kathy Cano-Murillo, aka the Crafty Chica; Candace Marquette (thanks for the hip book, Craft Candy - can't wait to make something inspiring!) and Traci Beautista (thank you for your fabulous book, and the funky drawing you did inside the cover when you signed it!). So much creative juice flowing and spilling on everyone!
• Hearing all the positive feedback about our booth and our creative attire. Here I am with Lauren and Alexis in front of the dye section of our booth:

• Finding out that our Custom Dye Color Kit (from which you can make 150 dye color possibilities) won the Innovation award and the Best Of Show award for best new product. Here's Lauren (the newlywed Mrs. Binci), showing off her product line:
• Seeing people excited about our hip new website, ilovetocreate.com
• Having ThreadBanger visit, film and hang out in our booth! They said they thought our booth was the coolest!

Most embarrassing show moments for me:

• Being stupid enough to stand in a line (for about 90 minutes) with Alexis as we waited with other hopefuls to have Paris Hilton sign autographs on a piece of paper from her new craft line. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was getting super close to the head of the line only to be told Paris was done signing autographs (even though there were people still waiting in a cordoned-off line and she was still sitting at her table in her booth. Who does she think she is, anyway?) To our credit Alexis and I did hand out booth invites to the crowd in line. And some of those people in line did come to our booth to do a Make-It-Take-It so we don't feel too dorkish.
• Leaving my camera at home and having to rely on others for show pictures. Yes, it's true. I am doing that. Luckily none of my friends left their cameras at home. You might ask why I didn't use my cell phone to take pictures................well, that little piece of equipment fell and broke the day before the show. A concrete casualty you might say. I am going to go buy a new phone after work.

As I said, once I get into the totes full of goodies I will have more excitement to share. Stay tuned!