CraftStylish Reports from CHA

An Alarming Day of Celebration at CHA

Michaela Murphy, contributor

3 users recommend

There was lots of merry making at the CraftStylish booth today as Jeffery Rudell strut his pulpy best for the CHA crowd.

Erika Kern

Yes, there was a yummy cake too.

Michaela Murphy

We were alarmed!!! And then evacuated! But really it was just that CHA needs to hire a cook.

Michaela Murphy

Me with Jennifer Worick, Sarah Hodsdon, Diane Gilleland, and Jessica Aframe.

Michaela Murphy

After a day of doing nothing but talk about making things, we literally took matters into our hands and had a craft party in my hotel room. Wait until you see what Erika Kern did to my CraftStylish T-shirt!

Michaela Murphy

There was lots of merry making at the CraftStylish booth today as Jeffery Rudell strut his pulpy best for the CHA crowd.

Photo: Erika Kern

Add Comment
Print

Today CHA got off with an alarming start. Around 10:00am a great whooping horn went off and everyone looked around to see how everybody else was reacting. After a few moments of basically nothing, conversations resumed and it was back to business as usual. A few minutes after that there was another loud bellow. But this time a rather ominous voice instructed us all to evacuate the building immediately. It only took several minutes for everyone to gather outside (and a brief stay in the sunshine) before we were ushered back inside. The general buzz was that someone had burned a pizza and set off an alarm, but no matter, all in all we had a laugh at the best kind of nonevent and then got back into the CHA groove.

And it was a groovy day of fashion shows, live demonstrations, and, of course, the CraftStylish party with our own booth demonstration by Jeffery Rudell. Around mid-afternoon, the CraftStylish faithful gathered around with our new admirers and watched in wonder as Jeffery showed us how to work our own paper magic.

Jeffery charmed the onlookers with his witty style and then like a pulp magician he whipped up a bunch of dainty flowers seemingly out of thin air. Everyone oohed, ahhed, and gathered closer for some tips on how to make a bouquet for themselves. Then we cut the cake and toasted the first year of our crafty site. 

It was such a great day and none of us wanted it to end. So after dinner, we moved on up to my hotel room where Diane taught Jeffery, Jessica, and me how to make a granny square, while Kayte, Jennifer, and Erika worked on their embroidery projects. Actually Erika worked on restyling my CraftStylish T-shirt and I am in absolute awe of what she did. We had a blast crafting together while we bombarded Jeffery with questions for a guy's-eye view on matters of the heart (you know what big day is right around the corner). Around midnight, we said goodnight and then like a good little blogger I booted up.

So yes, we've been super-busy, but I promise we'll post more pics tomorrow of our booth and bring you up to speed on CHA 2009.

Add Comment Print

Reflections on Crafts and Crafters  

Back to List

Celebrity Watch at CHA

Comments (5)

lcampb writes: The booth looks great - it's exciting to see the awesome results of all that folding! :)
Posted: 1:45 pm on January 28th

VictoriaNorth writes: CHA stands for the Craft & Hobby Association. We are attending their trade show in Anaheim this week. You can see more information on the show here: http://www.chashow.org.
Posted: 11:20 pm on January 27th

mep writes: Pardon my ignorance but what is CHA stand for?
Posted: 7:49 pm on January 27th

cathyofcalifornia writes: was so fun to hang out with you guys!
Posted: 11:26 am on January 27th

Char50 writes: I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post this, but I couldn't find a better one...Has the CHA addressed how the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act which takes effect on February 10th of this year will affect the millions of crafters who sell their items???? I just learned of this law today on another forum and was appalled by the overreaching scope of it.

It says in effect:
"The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead."

This law is going to hit thrift stores, resale shops, and presumably crafters who want to sell children's items they have made.

Would like to hear comments on this. Thanks.

Posted: 10:49 am on January 27th

You must be logged in to post comments. Log in.