Fun Crafty Products at the CHA Summer Show

The exhibitors at the Summer CHA Trade show showcased some really cool products and displays in spite of the heat outside!  I attended the Craft and Hobby tradeshow which was held in Chicago during July and had a delightful time checking everything out.  The focus of the summer show is scrapbooking and all the papers and products that go with creating anything with paper.

Amazing paper dresses have been created for Paper Runways in past shows and this show hosted a Crafty Couture Runway featuring dresses made with mixed media.  Two displays featured 18 dresses with the 6 winning entries to be featured in Coth Paper Scissors magazine.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer‘s dress won “fan favorite” with her fabulous dress of art journaling and made with paper.

This dreamy white dress was created by Lorine Mason and Eileen Hull.  It may look like fabric, but the dress was created with white craft foam.

As a purse and shoe addict, I loved the displays in the booth for Zutter Innovate Products. Check out this paper purse and the paper shoes. Aren’t they “to die for”, although I wouldn’t dare to walk the show with heels this high. Let your imagination run wild and you can create anything with paper.

The Ribbon Ring booth made your mouth water and your stomach growl with their displays of luscious pastries made with ribbon. A chocolate cake, a wedding cake, cupcakes, bonbon’s and candy were all gorgeous!

And although it was July, Christmas trees covered with paper ornaments were displayed in the DCWV (Die Cuts With a View) booth. All of the trees were beautiful but I especially loved the whimsy of the upside down Christmas tree.  I took some close-ups of a couple of the other trees to show the beautiful paper flowers.

The eCraft electronic cutter by Craftwell caught my eye. I love that this cutter does not use cutting mats and can cut to any length. And as a bonus, the color choices for the cutters are yummy. With this sleek and streamlined design, it looks like the sports car of cutting machines.

I just adore the seals and sealing wax in the Manuscript Calligraphy booth. I love the way the sealing wax with the seals can be used to decorate gifts and notes as you can see in the close up of the gift wrapped boxes on display in their booth. If I were to receive a gift wrapped so elegantly, I would have a hard time tearing it open…but I would, just carefully on the back side.

The day before the show opened was filled with educational seminars, workshops and classes. I presented a seminar on Adobe Illustrator covering the basics of using Illustrator and the tools. CHA has a well rounded education program geared to all memebers – designers, retailers and manufacturers.

Here’s a peek at the show floor.  Although busy, I caught an aisle during a brief lull.

Happy crafting to all of you! I’m already looking forward to the winter show in Annaheim, CA.

Phyllis