CHA Day Three

Today I will try to wrap up some of the things I've seen over the last few days ....nearly impossible to tell you everything I think, but lets see what I can remember.

First, a word about cardstock. After speaking with both Bazzill Basics and Worldwin I learned that a number of overseas paper mills went out of business last year effecting both companies. Bazzill chose to have a new mill match up their colours, but the new mill is having a hard time getting some of the colours exactly right which is why they have had some colours out of stock for a very long time. Worldwin decided to go with complete new colours so all of their old colours have been discontinued. They will have stock of some of the colours but if there is a colour you like from the old line you had best stock up now.

E Clips - The E Clips is the new Sizzix digital cutting machine. When I viewed the demo, of course the question at the top of my list was, what does it do that is different from the Cricut. Sadly, the demonstrator didn't know anything about the cricut, which I thought was pretty bad but I did glean some information myself. The E Clips does have a few added features. There is a pre-cut feature which allows you to see where the cut will be on your paper before you actually cut it. The remote control looks neat, but from what I could see it seems tricker to find the shapes you want to cut. In the current software you cannot weld images and so far they only have a few cartridges.

I'm excited about two new stamp companies that I picked up today. One is The Greeting Farm. Here is their website: http://www.thegreetingfarm.com/ I like the Anya, Ian, Hope and Grace. The other company is Stampavie http://www.stampavie.com/

Slice Machine - One of my biggest peevs with this machine was that you had to hold it in place while it was cutting. It is now hands free...a BIG improvement. You are still limited greatly in the size you can cut, but it is very portable. I'm still not convinced it is something I'll carry at the store, but it can always be ordered in if you are interested.

I have to admit that until today I had never tried the Martha Stewart border punches. I was very impressed. They are much strong than the fiskars one...no fear of breaking them on think paper. Definitely something we will try!

I adored the Litte Yellow Bicycle Snugglebug Girl and Snugglebug Boy lines. I don't see them on their website yet for you to peek at.

A lot of companies were selling completed pages. There were also quite a few companies with clearance sections...something I've not really seen at CHA before. I guess it is a sign of the times.

Well, I think that wraps it up for now. I'm looking forward to heading home tomorrow!