It’s been awhile since I last updated my blog, and I have quite a bit to post about…

First, I wanted to share some photos, links and memories from CHA (the Craft and Hobby Association trade show), which I attended in January of ’09. I spent most of the trade show working in the Clear Scraps booth, meeting Clear Scraps customers and demonstrating how Clear Scraps acrylics can be embossed in the Cuttlebug machine using Cuttlebug embossing folders. You can see one photo of the Clear Scraps booth above. From left to right in the photo are Janet Blair, Elisa Kammerdiener, Sally Lynn MacDonald, and me (Amy Solovay.)

During the CHA trade show, I embossed lots and lots of the new Clear Scraps mini keychain albums in the Cuttlebug machine. So, naturally, now that I am home, I have been working on projects that use embossed acrylics. I wrote a couple of new articles about embossing Clear Scraps acrylics. One of the articles has been published at clearalbums.com. The more detailed of the two articles will hopefully be published on associatedcontent.com in the next couple of weeks. Edited to add: Click here to read my article about Hot New Scrapbooking Trends: Tiny Mini Albums.

When I wasn’t working in the booth at Clear Scraps, I did get out and about a little bit to look at all the other booths and see what’s new and trendy in the world of crafting. I caught a little bit of the Fashion Show sponsored by Lion Brand Yarns, and I saw some of the gorgeous new yarns at Premier Yarns. I posted quite a few of these knitting photos at my new knitting web site, Knitting With Color.

Click here to see knitting trends and knitting photos from winter CHA 2009.

I also took lots of photos of the brand new scrapbooking supplies too, so you can look forward to seeing those in future posts here and also at clearalbums.com and paperlaces.com.
I have also been writing lots of new articles and posting new crafts projects for various web sites around the internet, and I have been submitting my projects to magazines for publication too.

I just updated the page about Martha Stewart punches at paperlaces.com: Martha Stewart Punches (along with some other brands of scalloped heart punches that make good alternatives to the hard to find Martha Stewart Scalloped Heart Punch.) I have also been working on updating my free paper lace idea book too. I updated the chapter about using punches to make paper lace, and I have also been working on expanding the other chapters with more detailed diagrams and information. I’m hoping to get even more updates posted in time for Valentine’s Day, but I’m not making any promises. Hope you guys are all enjoying your Valentine’s Day preparations! I know I am. It’s one of my favorite holidays.

Thanks so much for dropping by. I hope you are having a lovely and creative day!