Best Blogger Craft 2016 Announcement

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Best Blogger Crafts 2016

Every year, we here at Prime Publishing LLC and FaveCrafts.com throw a blogger party at the CHA Mega Show. This event is open exclusively to bloggers in the industry and allows the best of the best to mingle with some of their favorite companies, allowing them to make crafting connections that can last for a very long time! To celebrate, we host the Best Blogger Craft Contest every year where bloggers who attended then create prizes from the samples they receive from the companies! After this, we vote on these stunning projects.

This contest ended April 6, 2016. So, we’re here to present the winners!

Without further ado, our Best Blogger Contest Winners for 2016!

First PlaceThe Powertex and Foil Ballerina

The Powertex and Foil Ballerina from Roberta Birnbaum

Second Place

Shabby Chic DIY Scrapbook

Shabby Chic DIY Scrapbook from Cathy Parlitsis

Third Place

Life-and-Live-DIY-Canvas_2_Large500_ID-1579732

Life and Live DIY Canvas from Irit Shalom

Check out the rest of our entries in our list of the Best Blogger Crafts 2016 and stay tuned for an eBook featuring all of these stunning new craft project ideas.

Special thanks to our 2016 Sponsors:

  1. Yarnspirations 2. Plaid 3. Sizzix 4. Simplicity Creative Group 5. Leisure Arts 6. Sakura 7. Premier Yarns 6. FloraCraft 7. Fairfield World 8. Design Master 9. Testors 10. Create and Craft 10. Therm O Web 11. Beadalon 12. Snap

Craft Inspiration: Latest Trends in Sewing and Fabric from CHA 2014

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AllFreeSewing was thrilled to explore the Craft and Hobby Association Show in Anaheim this year. With all of the new products, amazing bloggers, and eye-catching displays set up it was more than a little difficult to keep our focus. Regardless of our enthusiasm we still managed to get the scoop on what the latest trends are for sewing and fabric.

Simplicity Felting

So, what’s on the radar for all things crafty? We saw a lot of attention this year towards time-saving products and fine materials. Color will also have a huge presence in your 2014 projects, so get ready for something fabulous. Products from Simplicity, Green Sneakers, Crystal Ninja, Camelot Fabrics, and more reminded us that new crafting techniques are always available.

Ribbon Reigns

Ribbons are all the rage this year. At the May Arts Ribbon booth tons of ribbons flaunted various colors and designs. Of course these notions can be used on any kind of craft, but as hems and embellishments they’re perfect.

May Arts Ribbon

May Arts Ribbon Dress

We even came across The Ribbon Print Company’s amazing custom printing machine. With this innovation you can print your own personal ribbons for your business or personal crafts. The software allows for printing more than just letters.

The Ribbon Print Company

Color Statements

In Plushi

AllFreeSewing editors noticed no shortage of color at CHA. Starting with the 100% wool fruits and veggies at the Barefoot Fibers stand, we saw bursts of color everywhere.

Barefoot Fibers Fruit

Therm-O-Web provided astounding shocks of color in their designer displays. Whether in the form of an owl or plush sewing machine, color was everywhere you looked.

Therm-O-Web Owl

 

Clothing That Counts

If you’re going to put the time into sewing your own wardrobe, make sure the fabric matches your efforts. Bright and bold looks kept catching our attention. These projects weren’t just for the kids. Besides Barefoot Fabric’s cute coats and The McCall Company’s darling dresses, we saw color creeping into adultware too.

Barefoot Fibers Coats
McCalls Kids

The McCall Pattern Company wowed us with their designs. As a giant in the sewing community we knew they’d have fabulous finds, but our jaws dropped when this Vogue Badgley Mischka glittered under the CHA lights. If you’re on the lookout for patterns that can handle bolds, go for classic designs that will flatter your figure.

 Vogue Badgley MischkaMcCalls Jacket and Skirt

 

Innovation Without the Headache

Seriously one of the coolest innovations at CHA was Ann Butler’s line of stamps. If you don’t have the time or money to devote to an entire quilt, you can simply stamp your art to give the effect of a quilt! After it’s pressed this ink doesn’t wash away!

Ann Butler Stamped Quilt
Ann Butler Stamped Pillow

What has the sewing and paper crafters excited is Brother’s new Scan n’ Cut machine. Instead of struggling with fussy cutting you can indulge in your favorite shapes and delicate letters without picking up a pair of scissors or a razor blade.

Brohter Scan N Cut

 At Clover we fawned over this new Iron Safe. The materials for your projects can now be protected with this simple guard.

Clover Iron Safe

We had so much fun exploring everything new to the crafting community. A BIG thanks to all of the lovely companies and bloggers for their time during the show. We’re already counting down for next year!

 The McCall Pattern Company

Camelot Chalkboard Fabric

 

Making Friends at our 2014 CHA Blogger Event!

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Hey crafters! For anyone who isn’t familiar, the Craft and Hobby Association puts on a giant winter trade show every year. Manufacturers, buyers, press, exhibitors, and more have the opportunity to network over the course of a four-day weekend. This year, the team at Prime Publishing (our company that hosts FaveCrafts, AllFreePaperCrafts, and 26 other cooking and crafting websites) not only attended the trade show, but we put on our second annual blogger and company networking event!

CHA 2014 Blogger Networking Event from FaveCrafts

(Click any of the photos to view a larger version)

The event itself took some preparation from team Prime Publishing. Perhaps the most important part was making mustache props for our beauteous photo booth:
CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

Chris-Photo-Booth

Just kidding. This was absolutely not the most important part of preparing for the event, but it was necessary and good fun! We used our office Silhouette machine. . . .Making Mustaches with the Silhouette

. . . . and we produced these gorgeous creations, one type of mustache for each of the sponsors:Making Mustaches for the Blogger Event

The event opened with a mini cocktail hour (more like a cocktail fifteen minutes). Each blogger got free drinks and free food!CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

The bloggers then filed inside the ballroom and filled their plates with hors d’oeuvres:CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

  Simone Collins, the director of the craft sites as well as our social media director, gave a brief opening talk that introduced all of the sponsors and explained the speed-dating style that this event would take on. FaveCrafts, AllFreeCrochet, and each sponsor had a table, and the bloggers moved to the various tables each time a bell was rung. It was a great way for everyone to meet everyone!IMG_0089

For the next hour, bloggers networked with companies and we got to meet bloggers who already work on FaveCrafts and other Prime Publishing sites! It was a great way for bloggers to put a face to an email address!CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

At the end of the event, the sponsors were extremely generous to supply not one, not two, not three, but FOUR swag bags to each individual blogger! The amount of swag literally filled this table:

CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

 

And the bloggers needed to carry it all like this:

CHA 2014 Blogger Event with FaveCrafts

All in all, it was a HUGE success and we can’t thank our sponsors enough!

Coats & Clark

Darice

Design Masters

Elmers

Fiskars

I Love To Create

Krylon

Leisure Arts

Lion Brand

Plaid

Polyform

Rit Dye

ShurTech – Duck Brand

Simplicity

Sizzix

 

What would you make with all that swag?

 

Nothing But Nautical: Anchors Away at CHA!

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The California sunshine was a welcome surprise to the Prime Publishing team at this year’s winter CHA Trade Show.  We left the cold Chicago snow behind and headed out west to Anaheim for a week filled with all kinds of crafting classes and seminars, as well as several networking events and a sneak peeks of upcoming releases and craft products.  We’re excited to share all the fun stuff we learned with you over the coming week, so let’s get things started with some popular trends!

One trend that took CHA by storm this year was nautical craft supplies.  From anchors to sail boats, seashells to seahorses, everything and anything under (and above) the sea found its way through the doors of CHA.  Here were a few of my fave’s!

This adorable card from Lawn Fawn was made using their new stamp set, “Float My Boat” (available soon!).  Great for Valentine’s Day or just any time you want to tell someone how much they mean to you, this card is a fun and easy one to make!

Anchor's Away Card

This cute card trio from Ranger Ink is great for those who are looking for a fun and easy way to send a friendly greeting.  I love all those cute little shells and they would look adorable framed hanging in a beach-themed bathroom!

Sea Shell Cards

Stamp fans might also love this classic sea-inspired stamp collection from Inkadinkado.  With iconic images like whales, seashells, anchors, and sea plants, this collection is a must have for those who love ocean life.

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Our friends over at Graphic 45 were also inspired by the sea, with this nautical collection of paper products.  I think they did a great job finding new uses for scrapbook paper and they definitely made me want to take a day off and head out to the beach!

Graphic 45 By the Sea

Graphic 45 By the Sea

Finally, Authentique Paper had some really sweet nautical paper patterns that would be great for a seaside scrapbook or card collection.

Authentic Paper

Authentic Paper

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Are you ready for a beach vacation yet?  I know I am!  If you’re still in the mood for sun and sand, be sure to check out some of these nautical-inspired patterns:

Making Friends at CHA with FaveCrafts!

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For anyone that doesn’t know yet, the Craft and Hobby Association puts together a lovely trade show twice a year where all the craft companies come to sell and show off their newest products to retailers, bloggers, and the press. Lucky for us, Team FaveCrafts get to go every time and take in all the newest trends and products. Unfortunately, we work with tons of companies and bloggers and getting around to seeing everyone can be tough at a huge trade show like CHA. So this year for the 2013 winter show FaveCrafts put together a little get together with the help of some wonderful companies and invited all our favorite bloggers to stop by eat, drink, and chat!

CHA Networking Event

We wanted to give an opportunity for some hard working bloggers to meet some great craft companies and it was a hit! The room was full of delicious food, good chatter, and meeting new faces. Everyone was really excited to be at the event and to have a casual opportunity to meet up and chat.

CHA Networking Event with FaveCrafts

CHA Networking Event with FaveCrafts

Prime Publishing, the company that makes FaveCrafts, AllFreeKnitting, AllFreeCrochet, AllFreesewing, and all of our other sites possible was the official host of the event so our president Stuart Hochwert and our Craft Editorial Director/ Director of Social Media / Soon to be Mom Simone Collins gave little speeches thanking everyone for coming because we were so excited to meet with all of them and  get a chance to put a face to an email address. You may recognize (or will soon recognize) a lot of the faces and company names from FaveCrafts.com. It’s amazing how quickly the time flew by!

CHA-Networking-5

CHA NetworkingDesign Originals had an adorable tree decoration at their table!

CHA NetworkingThe Westcott team loves being the center of attention.

CHA NetworkingDesign Master was super busy all night!

CHA NetworkingThe Clover table was having lots of fun!

CHA NetworkingXyron in deep conversation.

CHA NetworkingWho didn’t want to talk yarn with Coats & Clark?

CHA NetworkingThe crew from Spellbinders is chatting it up with some very talented designers!

CHA NetworkingThe team from Fiskars had a line of people waiting to chat with them!

CHA-Networking-15Bloggers at Oliso testing out the products.

CHA-Networking-16An in depth conversation at CraftArtEdu.

CHA-Networking-17Lots of busy bees chatting with Lion Brand Yarns!

CHA NetworkingWe got a chance to catch up with some designers too! If you haven’t checked out FaveCrafts Radio, you should because Vickie Howell, Kathy Cano-Murillo A.K.A. The Crafty Chica, and Steve from Cathie and Steve have all been guests on it!  Maybe, we can convince Liz Hicks to be a guest too!

CHA NetworkingJenny, editor of AllFreeCrochet, and Melissa, editor of FaveCrafts, got to meet the fabulous Mark Montano!

CHA NetworkingNaturally, we got to get a little crafty with the name tags at the end of the night!

Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors who helped make this event a total success!

Spellbinders

Fiskars

Coats & Clark

Clover

Design Master

Westcott

Xyron

Design Originals

CraftArtEdu

Cosmo Cricket

Lion Brand Yarns

Oliso

Plaid

Thermoweb

 

All of our blogger and designer attendees recieved a special goodie bag filled with products from the companies that sponsored! Want a chance to get your own? Jenny from Craft Test Dummy is giving one away!  Enter over on her blog for your chance to win this exclusive prize pack.

CHA-Networking-Bag-2

 

Now we’re busy planning our next projects with these companies and bloggers. So tell us:

What projects do you want to see more of this year?

2013 CHA Trends: Smells Like Team Spirit!

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This past weekend the FaveCrafts team packed up our bags and headed out to Anaheim, California for the winter Craft and Hobby Association trade show.  While there, we chatted with hundreds of craft companies, bloggers, and designers and were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at brand new products that will be coming your way in 2013.

We also noticed some popular trends that meticulously weaved their way through the CHA floor.  While Valentine’s Day, baby themed crafts, and neon colors remain ever so popular, we noticed a new trend at CHA that will have crafty sports fans jumping for joy.

From paper to yarn, companies were all about team spirit at CHA.  School colors, sports embellishments, and team inspired fabric iron-ons had us humming our own school songs as we walked from booth to booth.

Our first stop found us at Red Heart Yarns, where we found this awesome Team Spirit yarn.  It comes in a variety of popular school colors, so you can make fun scarves, hats, gloves, and more with just 1 ball of yarn!

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I love this potato chip scarf that they had on display at the Red Heart booth.  And wouldn’t you know it, there’s something just like it on FaveCrafts!  Check out the Double the Fun Potato Chip Scarf pattern to make your very own scarf for homecoming or to show off your school pride.

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Several companies at CHA also had materials to make your own cheerleading outfits and team shirts.  Simplicity Creative Group had some fun decals, bows, and iron-ons for every popular sport.

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I also loved the iron-ons from SEI.  These are great for pickup football or basketball games, family sports leagues, and even great for little league teams or boy/girl scouts.  They work on tee shirts, bags, and other types of fabric, so there are lots of ways you can show off your team spirit!  They even have iron on letters so you can personalize the backs of the shirts to look like jerseys.

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Paper crafters will love this sports themed paper line that’s due out from Jinger Adams in 2013.  With great papers to scrapbook baseball games, football games, basketball games, and everything in between, these papers are awesome for upcoming Super Bowl parties, NBA games, and the start of spring training.

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We had so much fun at CHA and we know you’re going to love what’s in store for the crafting community in 2013!  In the meantime, don’t forget to register to win our SWAG BAG GIVEAWAY!  We gathered up some of the best SWAG from CHA and assembled a one-of-a-kind giveaway that you can win by visiting our Swag Bag Giveaway Blog Post.  Simply answer the question at the end of the post to be registered to win!

CraftFusion CHA Summer 2012 – Cool2Craft TV

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CraftFusion CHA Summer 2012 - Cool2Craft TV

We’re excited to invite you to join us for Monday’s Cool2Craft TV.  Our Cool2Craft special reporter, Lisa Fulmer, tours 10 booths to bring you our special CHA Summer 2012 episode featuring the coolest ideas, products and tools! Featuring Art Clay World, FloraCraft, USArtQuest, ImpressArt, KellyCraft, Stampendous, Rhinestone Genie, Little Darlings Rubber Stamps, Tombow and Westcott Scissors.

It’s easy to watch the Cool2Craft TV Channel right from your computer. Monday August 13, 2012 at 9 am Pacific/ 10 am Mountain/ 11 am Central/ noon Eastern. Watch craft demos and join in the live chat at showtime at Cool2Craft.com. See you Monday!

CHA Celebrates Christmas in July + Swag Bag Giveaway!

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As the editor of AllFreeChristmasCrafts, I am constantly searching for new and innovative holiday tutorials and products. When I entered the 2012 Craft & Hobby Association Summer Show in Rosemont, Illinois, I was so excited to take a look at the newest Christmas products!

Scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper crafting companies were well represented at CHA. Many companies displayed their newest Christmas papers and embellishments and included sample layouts for festive scrapbooks. Some manufacturers went the non-traditional route and featured drawings and cartoon images on bright paper. Other companies stuck to the green, gold and red motifs traditionally found during the holiday season. It seemed that overall craft companies were really trying to reach out to crafters of all ages.

Here’s an example of the cute Christmas cardstock from Doodlebug. Their North Pole collection is bright, fun and non-traditional. The cartoon-like snowmen and reindeer add a fun, unexpected touch to the design. This would be great for young paper crafters who want to make a statement.

Cosmo Cricket‘s Jolly Days collection immediately caught my eyes because, let’s face it, the characters featured on in their chipboard package are adorable. How could you not love a smiling Santa? I also liked that they displayed the products and showed how to use them. You’ll notice that the actual layout above features a variety of chipboard images (the photo of the adorable redheaded child is not included, unfortunately). These products would be perfect for a family album. The light colors make this collection a delightful treat!

Not all of the Christmas products were non-traditional. Little Yellow Bicycle showed off some green and red designs that make me want to pull out my Christmas tree and warm up some cocoa. The understated patterned paper and pretty layouts screamed Christmas. I also liked the “Peace on Earth” and “Believe” embellishments, which were featured on an example scrapbook layout.

Though the temperature outside was almost 100 degrees, winter was on the minds of many craft companies at CHA. Colorbok showed off some pretty winter embellishments that can be used for seasonal cards and paper crafts. The images used in the Woodland Winter collection immediately caught my eye. The self-adhesive metal accents were so pretty and unexpected – I don’t usually associate birds with winter! Birds were also featured in the self-adhesive sticker collection, as well as phrases such as “Boughs of Holly.” Overall, the muted colors and unexpected images were unexpected and anything but boring.

Don’t forget to check out our complete coverage of this summer’s CHA show.

 

 

You’d didn’t think we’d go to CHA Summer 2012 and not bring back something for all of our lovely readers did you? We went to the Craft and Hobby Trade Show like we do every year and collected all the swag we could into a large CHA Swag Bag Giveaway! We picked up some awesome prizes from Mod Podge, 3M, October Afternoon, and so much more! So don’t hesitate! Enter today by answering the question below in the comments section.

 

Giveaway Rules:

When do you start crafting for Christmas?

Live Coverage from CHA by Charity Wings!

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Do you love winning prizes? More importantly, do you love giving to charity? Then you need to tune into the live coverage by Charity Wings! Charity Wings has graciously set up a live feed right from their booth so you can see all the action from their point of view. How exciting is that? All you need is a raffle ticket and an  internet connection. All proceeds go to support A Place to Bark, a no kill foster and adoption rescue dedicated to the welfare of animals.

Find all the details on how to buy a ticket and join the coverage on their site. 

 

Who is Charity Wings, you ask? If you’ve never heard of them, they are a volunteer run organization that serves as a resource for crafters and artists that want to fundraise for their favorite causes. Their mission is to raise money and awareness for noble causes through unique creativity based events and online fundraisers, like this one.

So what are you waiting for? Check out all the fun at CHA and give for a good cause, it’s a win-win.

Check out full details below:

Live Event Info

Live Event Coverage

Prize Details and Show Floor Coverage

Charity Wings on Facebook

 

Craft and Hobby Association Convention: We’ll be there, will you?

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It’s that wonderful time of year again where we here at FaveCrafts get to attend the CHA Trade Show! It’s so much fun every time we go and the Chicago show is extra special because it’s so close to our offices that all of the editors here at Team FaveCrafts get to attend!

CHA Convention

Source

If you aren’t familiar with the Craft and Hobby Association, you should definitely check them out. They are around to help out business of all sizes. If you are a member and this will be your first trade show, don’t worry! Check out these articles from our friends at Creative Income Blog on Trade Show Tips, they’ll help you prepare for what to expect.

For the winter show, we can only send a handful of people to cover the whole floor, so we don’t have a ton of time to hang out and connect with you all. That is not the case in the summer show. We want to meet you!

Our very own editorial director, Simone Collins, will be spending some time in the iLovetoCreate booth on Tuesday from noon to 1:30 in the afternoon. If you have some free time around then, stop on by and say hi!

As always, be on the look out for our re-cap posts! We’ll be covering all the hottest crafting trends coming for next season as well as the coolest booths from the show and new technology being presented at the show. You definitely won’t want to miss out on that!

Will you be attending the show? Let us know in the comments!