The word from the Craft & Hobby Association's HUGE tradeshow...

Well, we've just about caught up on mail and phone messages after getting back from the Craft & Hobby Association's most gigantic tradeshow of the year. We bought more than 3,000 new things for our store, as usual, and shipments will begin rolling in this week. (This is your LAST CHANCE to get many of the great papers and embellishments we currently have in stock, so get them while they're here.) The tradeshow started with a big meeting of our Crafters Home association of independent retailers (shown here). We are about 140 stores strong and working together to try to put together exclusive products and other things for our customers this year. Here we are at a sneak peak presentation that was put on by all our major vendors before the tradeshow started. Read on below to see some of our favorite products from the show. (Of course, we can't show you all 3,000 plus things, so you'll just have to come visit us several times in the next few months!)

CHA: New Storage Options

Check out the new craft storage line launched by Lisa Bearnson and Becky Higgins, in partnership with the folks who make Cropper Hopper. The line is based around unfinished, real wood cubes that you can customize to your heart's content. They are easy to paint or stain. You can also add scrapbook pages, cork bulletin boards, or other special design touches to them. For stuff that you need to be able to grab all the time, they made a wall system to hold your essential tools and supplies. The line also includes great transfers with inspirational sentiments for your walls and canvas banners. We loved the Pottery Barn-esque style of it all.

CHA: Celebrity Watch

Celebrity watch! We hung out with Elsie Flannigan, Marah Johnson, Karen Russell, and Christine Adolph, Danelle Johnson (not pictured) and yes, Tim Holtz. (Tonya, I have to get that photo of you guys to post here!) These designers, and many other designers who are at the booths at the tradeshow, are always so friendly and have a lot of great tips for how to use the products they designed. It is definitely one of the highlights of any show for us to go chat with these folks. Even better, we got to take classes with most of them, too! Another highlight was mingling with Martha Stewart at a special reception for top retailers of EK Success products. Martha is launching a new crafts line that will be available later this year, and she is planning to start doing more scrapbooking segments on her television show, which will continue to boost interest in the hobby. (She really has a very dry, funny wit in person.)

CHA: Our Favorite Thing

This is our favorite release of the recent Craft & Hobby Worlds Fair tradeshow. Fancy Pants founder Jodi Sanford outdid herself with several new lines that offer a variety of color stories and themes -- but that all have a fun, playful, inspirational attitude. And because everything coordinates so well, these lines are just so easy to work with! We LOVE the new 12x12 inch sheets of acrylic stamps for scrapbooking. It has never been easier to make your own patterned paper to match your needs with these! We LOVE the new rub-ons -- Fancy Pants has really distinguished itself with elegant designs in vibrant colors over the past year and this release is no exception. (If you've never tried rub-ons, you really should play with these!) And we LOVE the new "Big Board" chipboard sets. They are a lot of fun to design with. Here are a few of Jodi's recent layouts with her new products. Christina got to take a class with her, which was definitely a highlight of the recent tradeshow.

CHA: Pizzazzill will dazzle!

Coming soon! Get ready for the new Bazzill paper that Creative Imaginations has developed. By adding some lovely patterns to the most popular cardstock colors, we'll have a new basic element for any kind of page on our new "Pizzazzill" display.

CHA: New Scenic Route

I love the new Scenic Route lines and thought that their layout ideas were fantastic! I really like their use of arrows, kraft paper, birds, and bright colors for spring and early summer. They seem to be one of the companies that stays a little ahead of the trends. They were creating a great black and white line, for instance, before a lot of other companies jumped on the black-white craze. One little note: Some of these layouts also use products by Heidi Swapp. (Heidi and Scenic Route's creative diva are pals, so you'll also sometimes see Heidi using Scenic Route papers. This is one reason why we put these companies together in our store's display.)

CHA: New Basic Grey

Here are a few layouts using new items from Basic Grey... We were in the first 150 orders to be placed at the show, so we hope to get these in within the next few weeks. Check out these great layout ideas!

What's just arrived: New Clear Stamps

If you're looking for something to spark your creativity, then you should look into the clear stamp craze! These great stamps make alignment a snap, and the designs and alphabets just keep getting better; though from such companies as Rusty Pickle, Technique Tuesday, and MSE, you'd expect nothing less. Try these wonderful products on your next card, ATC, or scrapbook layout, and we promise you'll fall in love.

Urban Peasant

We R Memory Keepers has just created a great new line of papers with coordinating ribbons, chipboard shapes and alphabets, and we have them all at Carolina Memories! Entitled 'Urban Peasant,' this line combines this season's hot new colors with classic shapes and patterns, enabling you to go all out or keep it simple with your next layout; either way, you're going to love this fun new line.

Merry Glo Round

What's more fun than spending a day at the playground? A day spent playing with EK Success' wonderful lightbox. The Merry Glo Round actually spins to facilitate easier embossing and cutting, and is also packaged for travel. Come in to Carolina Memories today and we'll show you how much fun this great tool can be!