Craft and Hobby show-2011

I am back from my most recent jaunt to Craft and Hobby Association show and wanted to share some trends and ideas.

I was so excited to be at the Loew Cornell booth and introduce the new line of brushes with them. We are looking for a release in March or April, so keep posted and you will be the first to see them! I also discovered a couple of great products in the line that I had not previously seen. There is a great palette foldable palette and a small, fun sketchbook from the "Simply Art" line. oh, and did I mention some brand new brushes? (can't wait to show them to you...check back for another post later in the month). They also showed some great new woodsie kits and would be fabulous for you and if you have kids a great way to get them started in crafting. They paired some "Little Golden Books" with some animal shapes and they are adorable!

Remember last year when I started talking about "Zentangles"? Well, that kind of black and white art was everywhere....my favorite addition was in the button categories..look for some great black and white stuff in your future. Don't be afraid to pair it up with reds, greens and yellows..lots of that on the floor!

After walking the floor and finding out about the newest products out there, a couple have been haunting my creative mind.

At the "Viva" booth, they had this Crysta "gel" that you put all over a glass bowl and then swirled it around in circles that made it look like the glass was embossed. It came in colors and was gorgeous! I can't wait to play with it. The same booth they had what they call the pearl pen. You squeeze little dabs of liquid (in a variety of colors) and it looks like real pearls. They had a model that was wearing a wedding dress that had the entire bodice done with the pearls and it was unbelieveable. The picture here does not get the idea across, but it was so amazing. One of their designers made a string of pearls by laying down a piece of string and then squeezing the pearls along it, letting it dry and then doing the other side...it looked like a real string of pearls. Gotta get my hands on this pen! They had some other interesting products, but these are the ones that I want to play with. see their other great products at viva-decor.us

DecoArt has a couple of great new products that they were introducing too! My MOST FAVORITE was the MagicCoat, the low odor "Decopage", and glass paints. I am all about using products in different ways, but I gotta copy this heart! They used a piece of styrofoam and carved it into a heart and then carved swirls into the heart...painted it with the magicoat (you know how hard it is to paint styrofoam!!) and then glazed an antique look into the creases. It looked like something that you would buy at Pier One or Target in the home decor section...my mind is reeling!! They have increased their glass paint category and I wish I had taken some pictures of the finished items...they have a great paint markers and some really great colors, are they are dishwasher safe! They also had some great new stencils that I am drooling over. Stencils were everywhere on the floor, and I, for one, am so happy to see them all. All of my classes that paint with a base of stencils are always in demand so I am happy to have such a great selection available to my students. (Yes, I am available to travel to your group and show you this fabulous technique). Check out great projects and the full line on www.DecoArt.com

Tim Holz (idea-ology) booth was packed with all kinds of new embellishments and they are so fun that I love to add them to my art. His booth is a perfect example of how crossing into altered art/scrapbooking can increase your creativity as an artist. He has some great videos on his site to show you how to use them all. timholtz.com. I am thinking that my next project submissions need to be using some of them....waiting for them to hit the stores so I can get some of my own! (I am not a very good, or patient waiter)

One of the most amazing parts of the show is the way that the booths go all out to to show off their products. My favorite was maniquins that were dressed in beautiful, elaborate dresses that were made of scrapbook paper. I wish I had pictures to share! I just stood there and gushed over how creative they were.

Plus...all of the great demonstrations and set ups that are made from designers that know how to get our creative juices flowing.

Wool, felting and anything with yarn was HOT! There were so many wonderful displays of knitted, crochets items that you had to slap my hands away because I wanted to touch them all. The needlefelting category continues to grow as well. They are now molding wire into shapes and felting over them to create 3-d pins and flowers. I watched the demonstration at the Clover booth and have a list of things that I need to start creating. Go to Clover-usa.com for project ideas.

Lots of punches, cutting machines still making their way as well as ways to organize ALL THE STUFF we need to have in our studios.

FLOWERS were everywhere...from punches to hardboard to paper to fabric, buttons...you name it...they have a flower made in it!

Birds and birdhouses still seem to be hanging in there..

I will have to have a month of "hibernating" just to get all of my ideas into my journal. Speaking of, if you have not read my latest article about how to make this your most creative year ever, you need to follow this link www.loewcornell.com and get started...perhaps you can start with the little "Simply Art" journal and get going!