Hi y’all!
No, I’m not lost. I’m posting over here for a reason!
One, I’m moving into a contributing editor role! Woooo Hooooo! :)
Two, I’m sharing the goods from CHA…what’s hot, what’s cool, and what I loved! :)
Ooooh, that got your heart racin’ a bit, didn’t it? Of course it did! We’re scrappers and shopping for scrap stuff is in our blood!

So, you want to know what you’re going to be blowing your scrapbook budget on over the next few months? Yeah, I thought so! Just remember, you heard it here first! ;)

TREND SPOT #1:
School Lines – The best part of the primary color scheme that made up most of these lines is…(drumroll please)…the mix it up possibilities! :) You’ll have lots of choices, but here’s my top 3 faves…
* KI Memories School Days – Love that the always a must-have skinny stripe is there plus lots of usable patterns. Add in new glitter lace cardstock designs and Sheer Delights, and I can’t wait to get my hands on these goodies!
* Scenic Route Appleton – This line has a fun hand-drawn look, from alphas to rulers to wheel-cog shapes.
* Die Cuts with a View – I stopped cold in my tracks when I saw this line! It has an *adorable* patterned apple paper that I wanted to sit down in the floor & start chopping to bits right there! Also has a paper with a wise owl perched in a tree. Did I mention the apples? Yeah baby! :)



TREND SPOT #2:
Earth Friendly – Many companies are responding to the push towards ecologically responsible living, even in our hobbies. And the best part…they are doing it with style!
* A few companies that are showcasing recycled papers, some even printed with soy-based inks: Piggy Tales, Anna Griffin Sierra collection, Tinkering Ink Becoming Green, Sonburn Designs eco-chic, Amy Butler Lotus and Re*Make

TREND SPOT #3:
Halloween – The key color you must know for fall (and therefore Halloween) is…purple. It’s all over the fashion mags as the “it” color and CHA was the same story. Some faves to check out:
* K & Company Halloween Whimsy is perfect for kid-projects with cute cartoon character drawings!
* Heidi Grace collection has a softer purple color added and some spooky clear eye stickers that are perfect for bringing ghosts, pumpkins, etc to life.
* Lil Davis web diecut cardstock
* Polka-dot filled witch silhouettes at Rusty Pickle (paper) and Making Memories (stamp)
* Pink Paislee Vintage Moon has a totally different color story, which makes it usable for all your fall layouts. Besides, the collection is headlined by a cutie owl who looks like he’s wearing a lil sweater vest!! How squeal-worthy is that? :)

TREND SPOT #4:
Christmas – For those of you making your Christmas plans early…pffft on you! LOL Totally kidding! You go for it with your early Christmas self…just promise to send me a card! :)
* I talked to a lot of folks, and continually asked “What’s your favorite Christmas line?” and the answer was always the same…Fancy Pants Happy Holidays. The FP line’s distressing gives the papers so much depth that it stood out in the sea of red/green/pink collections.
* For you non-traditional girls…first, come sit by me! Why, you ask? Because I’m about to rock your Christmas season! Glitz Designs Kringle line had the traditional red/white (of course) mixed with…wait for it…yellow and black! Aaaaaaahh…did you hear the angels singing? I sure did! With cute iconography, like a fat Santa, beautiful trees, and more, it’s a fully Christmas line but with a fun twist to shake up your holidays!

TREND SPOT #5:
Cupcakes! Can I start with a big ol’ Yummmm? There was cupcake cuteness of every variety (paper, embellishments, stamps, etc) throughout CHA, but my hands-down fave was…
* Colorbok. So full of bright colors that I wanted some sugar sprinkles! :) And the embellishment packs are packaged so ridiculously cute, it made me want to collect every “flavor”.
* But maybe you want to play along with the cupcake trend, but have papers in mind…then you need some Maya Road! With cupcake albums, chipboard sets, and stamps, they can fill you up with no calories! ;)

TREND SPOT #6:
Aliens, Monster, and more…oh my! It’s a big ol’ boy parade of fun with these characters everywhere!
* Prima had a cute Spaceboy line featuring some cute little aliens, especially the stickers!
* And my favorite monster line…October Afternoon Night Light!! OA mixed the gotta-have-it cuteness of monsters with a line fleshed out with a variety of usable patterns.

TREND SPOT #6:
Die cut papers – It seemed like almost every single booth had diecut papers, both patterned and cardstock solids. A few that stuck out of the crowd were:
* TaDa Creative Studios offered detailed lasercut patterns in your choice of cardstock colors.
* Scalloped + dots equals a great diecut cardstock at Crate Paper
* Little Yellow Bicycle had a great selection of themed diecut cardstock to go with each of their lines. My fave was the orange open-dottie from the Halloween line.

TREND SPOT #7:
Glitter! Unless you were there in person, you truly cannot comprehend the sheer volume of glitter present! There was glitter on paper, on embellishments, loose, and more! If you like a little bling in your scrappin’ life, check out…
* Pink Paislee Pixee Stix combine the fun of glitter with a cute package that actually makes “sprinkling” easy.
* Fancy Pants has Glitter Cuts…transparency elements jumped up a level with the addition of glitter.

TREND SPOT #8:
Red + Turquoise = HOT! This continues to be a super-hot color combo, something I’m excited about since it’s a personal fave! ;) Most lines were adding in a 3rd color to the mix, usually either yellow or green.
* Cosmo Cricket Jack’s World mixes red/turquoise/yellow/green for a fun boy line with everything from polka dots to sunshines to monkeys holding hands! Makes me smile! :)
* Dream Street Papers Mod Posy has a more rustic version of the red & turquoise colors with some cute vintage vibe flowers that I want to chop to bits!
· Mix it up options for red/turquoise from Chatterbox because their Together collection follows the color line (and has some great fabric stickers) and/or you can pick and choose from their artsy.licious collections that have color family sets in both red and turquoise.

TREND SPOT #10:
Do Your Own Thing. There are always some folks that have stuff so unique that you realize you’re looking at a trend as its starting…before anyone else really has it. Some that stuck out for me…
* Bikes and tire designs were obviously different and cool at both Hambly Screenprints and Glitz Designs. I can’t wait to use them on layouts!
* Sassafras Lass whole release made me giggle like a little girl, with rainbows, mushrooms, and all varieties of animal friends. Their 70’s-80’s child vibe speaks to me (not revealing my age too much with that!) and I wanted to just sit on the floor in their booth and chill. :)
* Moustache rub-ons to joke on your family pics made me smile. Found them at Hambly Screenprints and Colorbok.

Well, there you have it. A list of 10 HOT trends that I saw at CHA! Some may totally rock your world, others may leave you scratching your head. But that’s the point. A little something for everyone is what makes this world go round. Now, go forth and use this CHA inspiration to create your daily masterpiece! :) And THANKS for letting me sneak over here to the editor's blog! I'll see ya again here, but in the meantime, I'm still on the MMMaster blog!
XOXO…Staci