Marker Pro Layout Paper Pad



Canson Marker Pro Layout Pad

When I was at the CHA convention in January, I waltzed over to the Canson booth to ask them about a particular product but then got sidetracked by their papers. 

After some discussion they offered to send me their Marker Pro Layout Pad to try because they didn't have any with them.  Well, it arrived as promised (thanks guys!) and, as usual, I was so busy it took me a while to try it out.

It was instant love.  This paper keeps beautiful crisp edges and hairlines and is translucent so you can see your liner through it, putting it above any good copy paper.  I haven't had it wrinkle yet. Neither have I had any bleed-through.  (But you know if you try hard enough, you can make anything happen!)  Y'all know I use Mitchell nibs and Higgins Infernal, er, Eternal ink, so I can tell you those tools and this paper are a match made in heaven.

Oh my, I just tried my Gillott 303 and Higgins and I love this paper even more!!  Sweet! Wow, great hairlines!

I think what agrees with me is the tooth this paper has. It's a smooth surface, but not slick.  I've read that there are 2 sides to this paper (okay, yes, there are always two sides!) and the "topside" is better.  I believe it was "marker people" noticing that.  I didn't find any noticable difference.

You can find the Canson Marker Pro Layout Pad on my site in the Paper>Calligraphy department!

Let me know what you think of it!
Happy lettering, Suzanne

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And just to show you things don't always to as planned....  Here is my hissy fit when I started to date a certificate 2011. (this is NOT lettered on the Marker Pro Layout paper.  I wish!)  Hey, it was already ruined.....  I wonder where my mind was?

Our Small Presence at Summer CHA

As many of you know, the Summer CHA is in full swing.
The Craft and Hobby Association host two conferences per year.  A winter one in California (which I was lucky enough to attend) in January and the summer conference in Chicago. The conference is for retailers and designers to see the latest products soon available to the retailers.

Although I am not in attendance this week, thanks to Spellbinders, Quietfire Design does have a "presence"!  There wasn't enough time to get artwork from the Design Team, so I almost didn't submit a display board.  Then I shook my head and though, well gee, I could always use my own cards....  So here is the display board from Quietfire Design that should be somewhere in the Spellbinders aura at Summer CHA!  Thanks very much to Spellbinders for the opportunity.

If you haven't yet seen them all together, here are the dies which Spellbinders released just prior to the convention.  There are some additional dies which were released the day the conference began and we will have those available for purchase when they arrive at our studio.  So make sure you're signed up for our email newsletters on our site so you're up to date!

Spellbinders - new dies for 2011

Here is a little slideshow of the Spellbinders dies arriving soon!  You can pre-order these here on my site.  So many beautiful possibilities!

While I was at CHA, I was lucky enough to pick up the new Spellbinders 2011 Catalogue.  They should have them available to download on their site soon (but it might be a month or so).  I was delighted to see that they had included artwork by Becca Feeken featuring Quietfire Design Rubber! I've scanned the page so you can see it!  Beautiful project!  Thank you so much Becca.

I was also incredibly lucky to receive a complimentary copy of Spellbinders Nestabilities Basics & Beyond and have it signed by Stacey Caron, owner of Spellbinders. Once again thanks to Becca Feeken for her exquisite artwork.  This project is included in the book with complete directions.  The projects in this book range from cute to 3D to elegant and beyond.  It's a great resource.

 Just a reminder this week that the February Spellbinders Pre-orders are on sale as well as the Wizard.  If you need to know the details of pre-orders, please email me.  (If you already receive the email updates, you'll know all about it!) Click here to see all the Specials.

Here is a slide show of the soon-to-arrive selection of Spellbinder Dies.

Dreamweaver Stencils Update

Just as Becca Feeken introduced me to carrying Spellbinders, Design Team Member Deborah March introduced me to Dreamweaver Stencils.  I'm getting quite the selection in the stockroom!  Deborah is also on the Dreamweaver Design Team so is well acquainted with them!  She wrote a fabulous article a while ago which you can see here.

I was lucky enough to finally meet Lynell Harlow, creator of this oh-so-classy line of metal stencils at the CHA convention.

Below are the new stencils coming in soon.  The Stripes can be used as stripes or can be used a second time overtop of your stripes at 90 degrees to the original orientation and you'll have your very own plaid pattern! You can see that done in the photo to the left.  The Damask stencil comes in two sizes and we'll have both. 

You might want to visit the Dreamweaver Blog for more ideas - in today's entry you can email Lynell for a copy of her Double Glitter Techniques handout shown. (which is the technique shown on the left using the Rooster stencil and sounds a lot like the Burnished Velvet technique)

Happy Stenciling!

Kanban Crafts

Another booth I had to visit while at CHA was Kanban Crafts.  I became aware of them just before the conference.  They are a British Company from Shipley, Yorkshire.  (Funny coincidence that I taught calligraphy at the Shipley Museum, but that was in Gateshead, across the river from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne - long ago and far away....).  Kanban Crafts makes exquisite papers and I am delighted to be bringing in a very yummy selection.  Here are the ones which should be here soon!

There is a slide show here!  If you can't see it, try switching browsers!

CHA 2011 - the Tim Holtz perspective

Oh, this kills me, I'm such a sucker for a music video.  I'm going to have to visit iTunes AGAIN.... (I'm paying attention even more because it's not U2).
If you're a Tim Holtz fan, then you've probably seen this, but it's worth watching again.  Tim Holtz's booth displays were spectactular.  I could have sat on the floor all day and just looked at them, but then I would have been a squashed puddle. 
It's dangerous to watch this just before I place my pre-orders!
Enjoy!

A Minute of Tim Holtz

Here is a far-too-short minute of Tim Holtz demonstrating at the Ranger booth at the 2011 CHA convention in Los Angeles.  Makes you want more, eh? 

He's charming, witty, informative and able to smoothly multi-task. Not to mention he designs amazing things!

CHA - Sunday January 30, 2011

Day 3 at the CHA started a bit later than the other days. We spent about 3 hours on a sightseeing tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. We found the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, cruised up to Universal Studios, had a fascinating climb via a twisting residential “street” up to Mulholland Drive and exclaimed at the mansions of Beverly Hills.

We drove out to Santa Monica to have a coffee and look at the beach and pier. Driving is pretty easy on Sunday mornings before noon in LA!

Back at the conference, I dragged my husband onto the exhibition floor where one of the first things we saw was the display at Die Cuts With a View was a real show stopper!

My husband hung around with me for a while absorbing the size of the show, watched me fumble through a demo and took note of the number of men attending.  Then he left me watching Tim Holtz to find some lunch!

Marie Browning was at the Tombow booth doing demonstrations – she has a new book hot off the press using Tombow markers. I revealed my klutziness during the creation of my make-and-take by gluing the wrong side of my paper. Marie "punished" me by sticking the ruined piece of paper to my shirt, which I completely forgot about and wore for most of the rest of the day....!  Great projects, great lady!
With a little bit of practice, I could become pretty adapt at using these markers.

The next stop was back at the Ranger booth. Oh! Look who was there! I was surprised Tim Holtz didn’t have a million women around him!  But if there were any more around, you couldn't have seen what he was doing.

I had been wondering about the formulation of the new Distress stains and I heard it right from Tim that they were basically fluid Distress Inks and are easy to spread.  Mix them on the paper when they're wet, and/or layer them over dry layers.

So I watched as Mr. Holtz wove his magic and took pictures and a short video, then I had to run off to grab some lunch before my classes.




I tend to love little things and instantly fell in love with his little ATC hangers! Watch for them on the site soon!

In the afternoon, I had two hours of business seminars – one was protecting your brand and the other was marketing for manufacturers. The first one was presented by a lawyer and was loaded with information and the second one might require more review to access how useful it was. Asleep yet?

After the seminars, I had a meeting with an advertising person at the Creative Crafts Group, publishers of Creating Keepsakes, Paper Crafts and Stamp It! Magazines. When I first tried to get near their booth, it was impossible..... Something about prizes and cake and a lot of women...   Sounded like heaven to me!

My meeting did finally happen and the information has been tucked away. Anyone buy these magazines? If not, maybe I need to advertise there!

I had a quick little visit with Simply Renee, makers of these very cool organizing tools. I love my spinning organizer and wanted to see what else they had. (One of our cats thinks this organizer is quite interesting, too, but has been fairly reserved about torturing the items on it.) 

I particularly like their swinging wall arm and think it would be a great asset when you are working on mulitple projects - just hang the items for that project together and swing the arm out of the way while you finish another project.  How many of us have more than one project on the go at a time?   Guilty as charged, Your Honour!

My last stop was at Dreamweaver Stencils where I met the lovely and talented Lynell Harlow. Unfortunately she got away before I could snap her picture, but I did get several demos from her assistants and will be getting a selection of her new stencils.

Laura really wanted to demo the rooster for me - and I have to say, she did an amazing job with Glitter Ritz and double-sided tape!

Dreamweaver demonstrator Laura playing with Glitter Ritz!

Another products I watched a demo for is Stampee's Stamping Transfer Foils technique.  Pretty cool stuff!  You can read about it on the Craft Critique site here.

All in all, it was an amazing trip and I didn't do too badly with my "game plan".  I just underestimated how easily it was to be pleasantly side-tracked!  Next time, I'll make sure to add another day to my visit when the exhibition floor is open!

CHA - Saturday, January 29

I hardly know where to start!  I guess with the first event of the day.  I'm not sure I got too much from the keynote speaker, but then maybe that's not what it's about.  It's not a workshop or a seminar, after all. I began chatting with the woman who sat down behind me.  Her name tag said Maria, but I couldn't pick up her last name in the gloom. After only a few words, I said to her - "I know you".  Turns out it was Maria Nerius who used to appear on Aleene's and Carol Duval.  She has a very distinctive voice.  So that was a fun start to the day!

Next to the exhibition floor and I made a direct bee line to Spellbinders.

And look what I found there.... 

In real life! - a recent project done by Becca Feeken .  Oh, my - it's back on her blog today again!  Let me tell you - Becca takes very good photographs, but it's spectacular to see her artwork in real life.

I looked around the booth a bit more and found another of Becca's gems.  Let me tell you, they better frisk me next time I visit their booth, because I  think this box wants to come home with me....  I adore this box! I'm sure it will grow little legs and follow me   :-)

 I was one of the lucky ones today and was there at the right time to receive a signed copy of Stacey Caron's new book. Spellbinder's Nestabilities Basics and Beyond.  Now how cool is that?  Thanks very much to Stacey and Spellbinder's for the fabulous treat!  This is a book well worth owning and is now available.

When I examined the book info, I saw the editor was Tanya Fox.  Whoa, hello! She was there, too. Tanya Fox used one of my stamps in one of her books and I finally got the chance to thank her! 

Did you know those naughty Spellbinders have released MORE beautiful dies to tempt us?  As soon as I get home, I'll add them to my site for pre-order.  Wait till you see these!  The order has been placed directly with Spellbinder's on the first day they were available, so we should be in good shape to get them sooner!

Included in the new book are these Christmas creations!  Again by Becca Feeken.  Thank you so much Becca for loving the Quietfire Rubber stamps.  After I took this photo we fixed the bow that had slipped. Now everyone could see the Naughty Nice stamp with the sweet pearl in the Nice box!

I was walking by the Ranger booth and guess who was there?  Heh, heh.  I got within about five feet of Tim Holtz.  That was another thrill of the day. I know that won't impress a lot of you who have had classes with him, but it worked for me!  I didn't stay at the booth long - I went back later to check out the Kraft Glassine.  And they have the cutest bitty dispenser for Tissue Tape.  It's on my list!

Another visit was to the Kaisercraft booth.  I talked to the cutest young Australian woman (Kaisercraft is an Aussie company) and picked up their current catalogue.  They are now producing their 6x6" paper pads in 6-1/2 x 6-1/2", which will help those who make 5x7" cards! (Yogi!  vbg!)

I had a good chat with the Kuretake rep and really want to get in some of their marker sets.  I talked to Canson about paper and ink!  Bored yet?

I had a seminar this afternoon on making videos from Kathy Cano-Murillo and Patti Wilkinson.  These ladies are upbeat and fun and gave some good tips for the newbie vid-maker.

And last is some yummy paper that doesn't show up better, but this won't be the last you see of it!



Thanks for reading!  I hope to have more tomorrow!

CHA - A Quiet Day for Many of Us

Let me just say that LA is one busy city!  We arrived in the dark last night and well, it was busy! 

The LA Convention Centre is in downtown LA, right beside the Staples Centre (the LA Lakers were playing tonight) and the Nokia Center.  We're staying at the Downtown Marriott and it's not too far from the convention.  There are hotel shuttles every half hour at least - and these are not little shuttle buses, these are coaches!  They open the luggage bays for everyone to load their boxes or wheelies.

The convention floor was not open today as it was another set up day for the exhibitors.  Let me tell you, if you have any craft supplies, there is almost certainly a booth here representing them. 

  

Most attendees today were like me, taking seminars or workshops (I registered far too late for workshops, but I experienced some fabulous seminars! - about things like taking a product to market, advanced Photoshop and new members info sessions).  These photos are of the entrance/lobby.  The convention center is HUGE! The place seems to go for miles with meeting rooms.  I'm sure the whole population of Courtenay could fit in here easily.  And have room for their second cousins....

 

 The convention center is as long as 17 football fields according to the local touristy info.  Somehow I don't think it will look this quiet tomorrow when the booths are open.

 

I'm here as a buyer, although I guess I could have come as a manufacturer or a designer - or, perish the thought, an exhibitor.  (I think manufacturers pay a lot more to be here though, so this weekend I'm a buyer.)

I got lucky this afternoon after a meeting with designer Judi Kauffman and slipped into onto the exhibition floor with her.  Yes, that was my chin dragging on the floor when I wasn't in danger of being run over by a fork lift.  I ended up lending a minor hand at one booth with some very wonderful people.

I'll try to get some pictures of the lobby tomorrow as well as some booths.  In my brief nosing around, I can say that EK Success has a BIG space.

Tomorrow at 8:30 is the keynote speaker.  It was originally Randi Zuckerberg, marketing director of yup-you -know-that-name Facebook, but that changed in the last few weeks.   Too bad! We'll have to see how her stand-in makes out.

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow!  Thanks for reading - wish you were here!

P.S. Usually this conference is held in Anaheim and will return there next year.