Craft Super Show

Sorry for taking so long to get more photos posted...I was one tired girl after our whirlwind trip to Florida for CHA and the Craft Super Show! Julie and I had such a great time! It was a real treat to get to meet some of my favorite stampers and bloggers and to see all of the amazing products. Although we were there for the last day of CHA, we heard from many vendors that the entire week was rather slow. While that wasn't the best scenario for the vendors, it did provide Julie and I with an excellent opportunity to talk with manufacturers about participating in our Stamping Around events. We can't share too many details yet but we're excited about the prospect of bringing in new companies at our 2010 events! On the flip side, the Craft Super Show was just that...Super! It was amazing! I don't think CHA anticipated how many people would attend, last I heard it was over 5,000! The hallways were jam packed and there were excited crafters everywhere, dragging giant bags of crafting supplies behind them! (Note to self - Next time bring a bag on wheels!) The hit of the show was Papertreyink. Holy cow - their both was a mob scene! They had an adorable booth and I confess that Julie and I managed to buy enough goodies to receive the free stamp set! *big smile* I'll share some samples with the new set later this week. Onto the photos of those stamping rock stars...

Like many stampers, my life was made complete when I got to meet Deb Olson. While Deb and I have emailed back and forth a few times (she was gracious enough to do a blog post on our Stamping Around CT event), we've never met in person. She is just a sweet and genuine as she seems on her blog. Deb was working in the PTI booth, helping with a make 'n take. Julie and I would have liked to stay for one of the PTI make 'n takes but we probably would have had to wait about 12 hours to get to the table! Meeting Deb was definitely the highlight of my trip! :-) The Splitcoast Stampers booth was packed too! They also had some great make 'n takes and we were able to sneak in one hosted by Taylor. I'll have to get a picture of Taylor's card...it is adorable and we were even given a mini stamp set to take home with us! Here are Beate and Jenn working the front table where attendees could make a I *heart* Splitcoast pin that was very cute! And only once during the entire two days did someone come running up to Julie and I and say, "aren't you from Stamping Around?" Ah, finally our rock star moment! LOL! This is Beverly and we had a delightful time chatting with her!

We also had an excellent time chatting with Taylor and her mom at a cocktail party hosted by MFT.

Overall, we had such a great time! I've been in the high tech industry for over 20 years (hey, I started when I was just 12...really...) and being at a craft show was such a different experience. Everywhere we went we were greeted by hugs instead of handshakes. On the whole, stampers are a warm and wonderful bunch and we loved making new friends, catching up with old ones, and soaking up the experience! I'll leave you with my oldest modeling my Slice apron...you just gotta love that look! Tim Holtz, watch out, you've got competition! ;-)

Later this week I'll have more product photos to share...