CHA - Trade Show Day 3 & Super Show Day 1

Thursday was the last day of the trade show and I spent a lot of time going around and picking up flyers and order forms from various companies on behalf of Custom Crops. I found a new line of paper called Lillie Bee  that I really liked, the new e-craft machine (the new die cut machine that does not use mats), the Spellbinder's new really big cutting & embossing machine, and peel-offs - awesome gold and silver card or page embellishing strips.  There were so many amazing products.  I found some "must have" tools and the papers - OMGosh!  The papers were so pretty, so varied, and so amazing.  And the papers were used in such creative ways, like this "store" with it's paper flowers.

I love this Christmas banner - the glitter and elegance of the design.

The trade show ended at 3:00 pm and then it was time to set up the booth for the Super Show.  The staff at Custom Crops did a super job of setting up the booth - it is open but has lots of product.  It has the most unique and fabulous paper, wood, and tag tree.  I just love it.  It is truly a work of art and I would love to take it home.  I suspect the airline would not be as excited about the trees.

One of the elements of the "Centers" theme booth layout (or stations if you prefer - DVD Stations, Demonstrations, Pink Stamper, Retail lines, and make and take area) that I particularly like is the Framed Photo area.  There is a Custom Crops contest for those who use the frame and post photos to the Iternet.  Below the uber-talented Amy Chomas and I are goofing in the photo booth while we were trying to get it into position.

Thursday night included dinner out with part of the Custom Crops group; I just hated that Maria couldn't be there because she is so nice. Kelly took us out for authentic Chicago pizza and it was FABULOUS!

( Maria McGuire, Me, Donna Mundinger, Diane Campbell Payne [Capadia], and Melanie Brown.)

Friday morning I had a two special treats - I attended the Cricut Circle gathering.  It was really nice to see so many Circle folks present.  Mike from Provo Craft spoke for quite some time attempting to dispell rumors and such.  I have enjoyed getting to know him this week.  He is such a nice guy.

(Me, Joy Tracey, Diane Campbell Payne and Melanie Brown circling.  I loved spending time with these three women.  Diane was my roommate and Melanie & Joy are just fabulous!)

We had a special guest at the circle gathering and he was so amusing:  The Cricut!  The photo below was taken on the floor of the show but he was so cute I decided to use this photo instead of one from the gathering.

My second treat on Friday morning was my friend Peggy from home was in Chicago for a few days and she was able to join me at CHA for a few hours of shopping and make & takes!  It was so nice to be with a good friend and she had fun seeing the new products and viewing all of the booths.  As a HUGE bonus, Peggy took two large shopping bags full of products home so that my luggage will not go over weight and my carry-on will not dislocate my shoulder.  While Peggy was here, of course I HAD to photograph her with the Cricut!  You cannot come to CHA and miss the Cricut!

We also had to visit the Custom Crops photo booth!

I purchased a two of these AWESOME stamps, but I wanted to purchase more! 

After Peggy left, I helped out in the Custom Crops booth.  The CC booth was one uber-busy place!  Each of the five areas was constantly packed.  It was awesome.  The next few photos are from the booth:

And now I am off to day two of the Super Show and then tonight I fly home.  If all goes well I will be in my own bed tonight!!!

Evergreen Madhuri Dixit is presently pretty upset

Madhuri Dixit, the evergreen and once sought after Bollywood actress is presently pretty upset. She wishes to re-connect with her fans via social media network, but can’t. She is finding complexity to confirm her actual identity in the very popular social networking site, ‘Twitter’.

Shakira World Cup Concerts Photos

Hilary Duff Sexy Celebrities
Recently, the ‘Twitter’ bug has caught up with the B-town biggies. There are so many counterfeit accounts in her name that the fans are having a tough time to track the authentic Madhuri and chat with her.

madhuri dixit As per report, Madhuri had joined Twitter on May 30 this year. The verification is taking a lot of time and this is what is both upsetting and annoying her.

She contacted the headquarters in order to get hold of the fake accounts. She says that she would never want her fans to be disappointed by talking to her fake identities. The actress has submitted all the requisite credentials needed for confirmation.

The verification is taking longer than usual, since she’s in the USA.
From:www.bollynewz.com

CHA Day 3

Yesterday was the second day of the Trade Show.  This place is HUGE.  I still have not made it to all of the paper crafting booths yet... and I wonder if I  will get to see them all.  I did spend a lot of time at the Provo Craft booth.  The booth is really whimsical in appearance and I like it a lot.  The photo above is just the stage portion of their area.  I love the huge 3-D house on top of the storage area. 

 

I cannot remember if I mentioned yesterday but there is a special Cricut Circle Members only section - a secret room where you go in a meet a couple of the PC designers.  While there they gave us Circle lanyards (because you MUST wear the badge at all times at CHA) and we got to look at albums full of cuts from future cartridge.

A word about being a Circle member and being here in Chicago.  99% of the Circle memeber who are attending the trade show are store owners, designers for stores (like me with Custom Crops), or are manufacturers of their own products (like My Pink Stamper and again like me).  It costs about $100 to get into the show and the CHA membership is about $150.  So those who feel that all Cirlce members are not equal (on theMB), please remember that some circle members are business members of CHA.

 

I share the above paragraph because there were some unhappy feeling regarding those of us who were invited to the Gala receiving a Cricut Imagine machine for free.  Most of those in attendance were store owners, etc who will demo the machine in their stores so it was an investment in future sales for PC.  In my case I spoke with Brad, PC VP and he told me that they expect me to have projects made uising the Imagine posted on my blog so that everyone can see what this machine can do.

In the photo above Donna Mundinger and I are posing with Suede from Project Runway.  He used a new machine, E-CRAFT to cut the dresses displayed being us.  I must share that I think the e-craft is an AWEDOME machine.  One of my jobs here is to help Custom Crops find new product to see in their store.  This machine is a MUST HAVE for the store.  It is another die cut machine but it does not use mats and the software comes with the machine.  I  suggest you check this machine out if you would like to add to your cutting machine stock.

Finally Diane (Capadia, who is my roommate here at CHA) and I went to dimmer with about 15 women from the message board.  I had such a great time and met some truly nice women. 

In the photo above I am posing with Chirsty from Provo Craft.  She a Jim Colby joined us at the dinner.  They were SUPER NICE and we had a great time.  In fact, Christy picked up the bill for all of us and that was an unexpected treat!!

The photo above shows the group that attended, all but Dawn, Nurse Viper, who had already left when we pulled out the cameras. Below Diane and I posed for a silly photo with our empty glasses.

When we returned to our room were were joined by Joy and Melanie from Everyday Cricut for some girlfriend time.  I do not know when I have giggled so much.  I just wish my BFF girlfriends from home could have been here too.  They would have loved this.

And with that said, I am now a half hour late for today's show so I have to run......... 

CHA - Tuesday - Long & Awesome Day

Today was the offical first day of the Trade Show at CHA.  And tonight was the Provo Craft Gala.  All I can say is:  OH MY GOSH!   I met Joy, Melanie, and Diane IN PERSON today.  I speak with each of them on the telephone regularly so meeting in person was awesome.  They are exactly like they come across on their blogs - wonderfully warm and humerous.

The Show is amazing. There is so much to see and I have only made it about 1/3 of the way across the floor.  SO it is a really, really good thing that I have two more days to go. I did have a photo taken at the Doodlebug booth - because it was soooo adorable.

We all rushed back to the hotel and changed clothes to attend the Provo Craft Gala.  And again I must say, OH MY GOSH!  The gala was great.  Drinks and appetizers while we mingled.  And then we went into the Gala.

Provo Craft officially released their new machine, Cricut Imagine.  It sounds like a really interesting machine.  It can use all of the current cartridge plus a new line that will be made just for the imagine.  Cricut teamed with HP to create a machine that prints and cuts.  How cool is that?

I was able to get some fun photos.  After we arrived at the Gala we were joined by Glenda (from the Cricut MB) as well as Mandy Ferg!!!   This is a photo of Diane, Joy and Glenda.

Clockwise from the back left we have Melanie, Mandy, Glenda, Joy, and Diane.  We were having so much fun.

And the Custom Crops group - from the left Susan T., Amy Chomas, ???, Maria McGuire, the infamous Donna, Kelly, and Libby.  Super sweet women!

Provo Craft hired a fantastic performance artist to entertain us at the Gala.  This man was sooo amazing.  He danced and painted to the music of his DJ.  He could complete a painting in  7.5 minutes.  The photos below are from the performance.  John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Mick Jagger, and Einstein.  I so wanted to take the Lennon and Einstein home with me! 

Martin Luther King, Jr

I completely forgot to mention that he also painted the cricut head at the top of this post.

Near the end of the evening, Provo Craft presented anyone with an invitation to the event a gift back that contained a certificate for a free Cricut Imagine machine!  We also each recieved a new cartridge, a t-shirt, sunglass.

I had a photo taken with Jinger -  above.  And below, check out her cool shoes.

CHA - Monday - Education Day

(Lori from Imaginisce posed for a quick photo with me)

Wow!  What a long day!  My morning began with room service at 6:30 am.  I kept justifying this to myself by thinking, "It's really 7:30 EST."   I had my first class at 8:00 am, Holiday Cards with Flower Soft.  The class was not a ball of fun (did I mention the 8 am start time?), but the techniques were awesome and there were tons of door prizes! I learned everthing that I have been doing wrong with my flower soft!  How awesome is that?

The second class was by Imaginisce and used their new Birthday Bash paper line.  The sales rep for southeast were excited when I shared that I had used this same line (which was released in the last month) on the project Birthday 2 on my DVD.  Our class project were a birthday reminder calendar with cards to change for each month, and a really, really cute birthday card.  There are materials and instructions for at least 4-6 more cards in my package.  They also gave us printed phrases, in color, that match the paper line, that can be printed and cut to match for the inside of the cards.  This class was so much fun - lots of prizes, though I did not win anything - and a super fun teacher and teaching assistants.  Can't wait to take their class again in January!!

My last class of the day was by My Little Shoebox.  It was all of the materials needed to create an album, including the album.  Also we received lots and lots of additional packages of adhesives - 2+ packages each  of three types of adhesives.   Great products and class.

(layout using the I-Rock tool)

I assisted Custom Crops with their Cricut for Beginners class yesterday afternoon. Maria McGuire taught the class.

And finally I ended my day being taken to dinner, along with Donna Mundinger, by Kelly - the owner of Custom Crops.  What a super-great dinner!   I could write a full paragraph on what I ate... It was such a nice place and the food was fantastic!

It is already Tuesday... the show opens at noon so I should get moving.  Tonight I am invited to the Provo Craft Gala and will then be able to tell you about the cool, cool product they are releasing.  START SAVING NOW!!!

MGMT x SKY ferreira

Visual Melody



I remember when they featured her in a late issue of Missbehave. Now she's more grown & definitely making some noise.

These video's are creative & beautiful.

Fifi Lapin Exclusive | Limited Prints

Get some limited prints from Fifi lapin while they last. They already ran out of the one I fancied :/ but I still got a chance to get my hands on one piece of her beautiful art work. I can't wait to add it to my collection.

Lindsay Lohan had her jail sentence due to failure

Lohan failure to admit that I know this sound stupid, but honestly, I think if Lindsay went to jail, that the constant flood of fraud and save to crack daily updates about his life. I was wrong. Because even if you can not see the visual "pleasure", which is in a state of Lindsay on a daily basis, we still have some legal changes. And the news is not good for people to see, crazy, true love, crazy drug forcibly thrown in jail for long. Radar reports that Lindsay had two days beard, and had his prison sentence of two weeks. Lindsay should appear next week, be:


Lindsay Lohan costs is as quick as possible to the plan. RadarOnline.com has learned that Lindsay only had two days shaved off his sentence. This means that 24 years, the actress left the Lynwood Correctional Facility in late July - far earlier than expected after his sentence was reduced to 90 days. RadarOnline.com learned exclusively that the judge was up to two days credit for time in custody Lindsay had been contractually agreed. Shawn Chapman Holley Lindsay lawyer presented evidence it was entitled to two days of credit.


http://hotcelebrityhollywood.blogspot.com/
In addition, the team hopes that Lindsay will live because of overcrowding of Lynwood. Lindsay is the first August and 2 August will be released which means that 14 days would serve his sentence of 90 days. But now it is in July. Another source said Lindsay RadarOnline.com team is working to strengthen its official release date forward. It is hoped that the actress could also be published this weekend! "Team Lindsay is doing everything to secure his release from prison this weekend, a source said in the RadarOnline.com said Lohan. Will not you succeed? Guaranteed, but we think in all, the source said.


[Radar ]   In addition, it was believed that because Lindsay was a special treat in every direction - even on days when no visit to bring the tourists. In prison, seemed relieved Finishing Special (Lindsay finally had a power outage from prison), but the radar reports was from the attorney Lindsay, Shawn Chapman Holley, was to "spend hours" with her in prison yesterday's talk of legal strategy, I think. MA come - Dina and Ali this weekend, so sad. Oh, shit - I just saw this: Some sources in Los Angeles complain that Lindsay could go today. I hope we were just talking about their asses. So Lindsay is under control 24 hours a day because he was self-mutilation. Since his incarceration.
...................................................................................................................

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan says he enjoys his own movies

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan says he enjoys his own movies because they have universal appeal, something that other films lack. "I only like my movies, which are universal like 3 Idiots, Lagaan or Tare Zameen Par. Other people do not believe in making anymore films which
related storiesare universal. According to me, the only director who caters to the non-multiplex audience is Raju Hirani, others make cinema for cities," Aamir said in an interview on Zee News Celebrity chat show Kahiye Janab to be aired Saturday.

The 45-year-old, who has produced Peepli Live, a satire on farmer's suicides and subsequent media and political response in the country, rues filmmakers ignore rural India.

"There is a clear divide between Bharat (Hindustan) and India. If I were to go to Hollywood to earn my living, I would feel much cut off from my roots, my home in Mumbai. Filmmakers these days no longer care about rural India," he added.

Aamir, who is playing one of the lead actors in Dhobi Ghaat, says getting the role in his wife Kiran Rao's directorial debut was not a cakewalk.

"Kiran is a fantastic director. People think that I am a perfectionist, but I had to go through an audition, to help her decide that I am good for the role and then she cast me. I am one of the four lead actors in the movie".From:www.hindustantimes.com