Back From CHA Winter 2009 Trade Show!

Whew! What a ride... 7 days of busy, busy, busy times. Despite the economy, our Ranger booth did very well. We are usually a pretty popular stop on most retail store's buying lists. Check out the new products we introduced at the show! And here's some of the fun parts...

One of our signature artists—Claudine Hellmuth—doing her make-and-take. She created a tiny, wearable house pin using her Studio Paints and Stickyback Canvas...
Here is the final wall of houses from the Claudine Hellmuth Designer Challenge. Everyone did such a great job...
Maya Road had some fabulous new ribbons, stamps and chipboard books... including a cupcake one! Must have...
Melissa Frances came out with mica flakes and bottle brush trees in baby blue, cream and light pink. Also must have...
And Darice had these cool fuzzy stick things with wire down the center so you can bend them to your crafty delights. Hmmmm, the possibilities...
Lots of cool stuff... but I am glad to be home again.

Pretty Please... With Sugar On Top!

Okay, here it is... my secret project that I made for CHA using Claudine Hellmuth's Studio line of products from Ranger! Our challenge was to create a "house" using a papier maché dimensional form we were provided, Claudine's products... and the rest was up to us! So I created a shrine dedicated to my favorite sugary treat... the Cupcake!

The circus tent awning, pennant-style flags, and the back and sides of the shrine are made of Claudine's Sticky-Back Canvas. And the gorgeous colors I mixed using her Semi-Gloss Acrylic Paints. I glued everything on using her Matte Multi-Medium. I love the line so much! It's so versatile.

See you when I get back on the 30th. I'll be sharing pictures from CHA then...

CHA Here We Come...

I'll be flying out tomorrow to California and attending the Craft & Hobby Association trade show with my employer... Ranger Industries. While being in a giant convention center, amidst all the craft industries' cutting edge new products sounds like fun... we are actually there to work! We'll take a 5-and-a-half hour flight, check in to our hotel and go to the convention center to begin assembling our booth for 2 days. Then we'll be doing sales in the booth for 4 days, breaking down the booth on the last day... and then flying home the next. Whew!

But... in-between there is a little time peruse other company's booths, do some quick make-and-takes, relax in the shade of the tall palm trees and enjoy some nice meals with friends, associates and favorite designers. I'll be posting some photos from the show after I return on the 30th. In the meantime, I'll be posting my finished top secret project I made for CHA on the 25th! See you there or see you later!

Yup, It's That Time Again...

The busiest time of year at work for me, is when Ranger is preparing to attend the Craft & Hobby Association's Winter Trade Show in Anaheim, California. We've had months and months of preparation, creating package designs, logos, press releases, testing product and making all kinds of creative stuff! And all will be revealed the first day of the show, January 25th! As you can see here, my little helper Juliet is assisting me in picking out my wardrobe.

Pick-A-Photo Tuesday: Birthday Me

Here is a whimsical canvas project I made after perusing Claudine Hellmuth's craft technique book Collage Discovery Workshop: Beyond the Unexpected. I used a baby picture of mine as the head of this funny birthday girl and utilized some of the methods in the book to create a polka-dotted background. Fun stuff.

It Was A Dirty, Low Down Trick!

Yeah, that's right. I'm sayin' it! My favorite, favorite, favorite all time radio station —106.3 WHTG, New Jersey's only rock alternative— sneakily changed formats today! Yup, on my way in to work it was awesome alternative rock music, and on the way home it was cheesy Top Hits radio. I was so sad. I am so sad! How could you do this to us? You bite! You leave me no choice... I guess I'll have to get XM Radio now.

Tabletop Dedication Party...

So here I am toasting my finished pink table with pink champagne! A few months ago, I was one of 12 artists who had their round canvas selected to become a permanent tabletop for the Belmar Arts Council.