CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) --- A Kiwi Viewpoint

Ever since I started scrapbooking, CHA was one of those dreams that I never thought I'd get to see.

After all, at the end of the day, it's a retailers/manufacturers event. However, saying that, there is so much hype each year about the new releases that are coming out and all the people who are going to be teaching/demoing etc etc there that it became a dream of little ole me to go along and see it for myself. Be part of it. See the new releases as they are released etc etc. And this year, I got to be a little part of it.

To say I was excited about going along was an understatement, but to then realize I was going to be one of those people doing the demoing was something else altogether. Especially having taught at Prima's Art Venture prior. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let me set the scene.

CHA was held at the Anaheim convention centre. It's a huge place. Inside, much like a warehouse which can be changed up to suit anything that needs to go on there. If you've been to the Brisbane Scrapbooking Expo, it's the same sort of thing.

From the event centre's front doors, you look down through a fountain, towards the Hilton on the left hand side. It's a huge hotel. And possibly the closest to the event centre. It's also where the Prima Art Venture was held.

From the Hilton looking back, it's like this....

You can see a heap of little food trucks at the top of the photo. They were apparently really good. But I didn't get a chance to eat from them.

Once you go inside it looks a bit like this:

Oh hang on, that's me being a little bit crazy with Prima's divine Alberto. Let's try that again...

You know you've come to the right place right from the get go.

This is the lobby, and there are a billion doors that you can choose to go through to get into the actual CHA floor. Once inside, there are what feels like a billion different 'stalls' that you can visit to see what is their latest and greatest. Walking in for the first time it looks like this:

or this

Why yes, that is Prima just over there. Grin.

Do you want to see what Prima looks like close up?

Prima has a lovely large booth, with plenty of room for people to come in and look around. On either side at the front, they have a demo table and a make n take table (but we'll get to that shortly).

Yep, that's one of my layouts on the wall! Eeeek!

This was a new range from Sandra Evertson. A gorgeous selection of antique styled artifacts that can be easily coloured or changed to suit a project. Pretty cool. See down the end there, that's Frank Garcia's new line. It's called Archivist and is pretty darn cool!

Prima initially became well known for their flowers. And each release they bring out more beautiful creations for us to create with. I'm loving this release!

So back to the make n takes I did. I created the gorgeous little mini albums that I've taught before. This was a wonderful idea for retailers to take back to their shops to teach their students, and at the same time is a cheap way to impress as it only uses one piece of paper.

When I got there, I saw this sign. And it had my name on it! Hehehe....

It was pretty surreal to see my name on this sign and just quietly I brought it home with me. Thanks Prima for letting me do that!

Above was my very first group of ladies. And below was I'm pretty sure my last (including a lovely lady from Art Venture!)?

When you're at CHA, you get to meet a ton of people that you only usually know and talk to online. I got to meet a ton of people....

L-R: Keren Tamir, Delaina Burns and myself. Some of the lovely Prima DT!The lovely Pom, Prima's owner - who I have met before. But was lovely as always to meet her again.

Lisa Bearnson. I was asked to do an 'errand' for a friend, and I have to say it was one of the best errands I've had to do in a long time. Find Lisa, have a photo and collect something to bring home! Easy!

I even managed to chat to Tim Holtz during one of his demos.

Yes, his signature really does look like it does on all his packaging!

I also got to meet the lovely Marisol from Prima. If you're into the Julie Nutting dolls you will know that there is a new doll this release called Marisol. It's named after this lovely lady!

So yes, I got to see and do a ton of stuff that I never thought I would. But, and here's the weird part. It was just like any other show you and I go to here in NZ and Aussie. SENZ is a great show here in NZ. CHA was just like it, but bigger and with manufacturers instead of retailers. But it's the same vibe. The expos in Aussie are the same.

So yes, you get to meet people that you wouldn't normally. And you get to see products IRL that haven't been released yet.

Yes, there were some things that you don't get to see unless you are there. So it can be quite eye opening. I don't know if that is a good thing? Do you really want to know/see all the 'messy' bits of your favourite brand?

But I think we are getting wonderful events right here in NZ that are equal to similar ones in bigger countries!

So if you're feeling a little bereft cause you didn't get to go. It's ok. Just make the most of the next big event here in NZ. I assure you, you won't be disappointed, and you'll even get to use all the new products that were seen at CHA.

As a final note, I thought I'd show you this amazing decoration that tickled my fancy...

Comments

Looks like a fab time!!

Posted by: natalia | January 29, 2015 at 12:01 AM

Well done Trina loved this review as I was one of the lucky gals who got to check CHA off the bucket list.

Posted by: Patty | January 29, 2015 at 01:12 AM

WOW! Thank you so much for letting us share in CHA.I think it's the sheer size that you really notice as the difference between NZ events and others. The event centre looks amazing. Looking forward to seeing the new Prima in our stores. Yipee!

Posted by: Judy | January 29, 2015 at 08:03 AM

OMG Amazing, I am so happy one of your dreams has come true. Love that you had to do an errand lol to the instructions.. TFS too awesome..

Posted by: Brenda | January 29, 2015 at 10:40 AM

Enjoyed reading that ... thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Michelle Frisby | January 29, 2015 at 08:00 PM

Many thanks for that wonderful insight to the very much anticipated CHA..... I agree I think wee NZ does very well with all the amazing events we have on offer to us... especially due to the size of us...But we have some amazing talent down under as well :)

Posted by: Karen Johnson | January 29, 2015 at 09:20 PM