A Creativation show recap and some prize winners!

Jen Gallacher, Nicole Nowosad, Catherine Tachdjian, Meghann Andrew, Susan Opel, Anya Lunchenko (missing: Paige Evans)

This past week many from the SCT team attended our industry trade show Creativation in Phoenix, AZ! A little sun, saw some great sights, and enjoyed some fun with the team. We started with a fabulous trip to Scrapbook.com for a quick tour of their operations and what an operation it is! Rows upon rows of neatly organized papers, embellishments, tools, OH MY! A perfect warm-up to get us ready to hit the trade show floor the next morning.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday we spent our time in many meetings at our partner’s booth to see all the latest and greatest that will be heading to stores around the world in the coming months! You will not be disappointed! We shared our first ever Facebook Live videos (remember we said they are our first ones!!!) and hope you’ll head on over to see us live from the showfloor. We toured American Crafts and all their brands, the Heidi Swapp booth with Heidi, Doodlebug Design with Cynthea Sandoval and Simple Stories with Layle Koncar. We wanted a way to take you with us so you could enjoy it too.

We also asked our Editor-in-Chief and Creative Team to share some of their thoughts and what they loved too…

“What fun it was to represent Scrapbook & Cards Today at the recent trade show in Phoenix last weekend. There’s absolutely nothing like stepping onto that show floor! My head is still whirling from the creative overload. It just never gets old! Some of my favorite finds from the show include the entire release from Avery Elle (seriously one of their best EVER), the Altenew Mini Blossom Die Cutting Machine, and the Florida, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Napa Valley stamps from Hero Arts that honor places recently devastated by natural disasters. 100% of the profits from the Hero Arts stamps will go to those in need. AWESOME.

In addition, I’ll never tire of meeting vis-à-vis with designers, buyers, and manufacturers. There were so many hugs and laughter! Those connections are so special.” ~ Susan Opel

“There was so much to see at the show, it is hard to wrap it all into a few phrases! For sure, I loved the trend towards navy in several collections, such as the fun Hello collection by Doodlebug Designs! I also am a huge fan of the floral stamp trend – so many pretty stamps, like those from our friends at Pinkfresh Studio and Altenew.” ~ Nicole Nowosad

“I was so excited to attend Creativation and launch my fifth collection with Pink Paislee called Pick-Me-Up! Getting to see some the products in person for the first time, and especially all of them together at once, is such a treat! I loved spending time with like-minded friends who appreciate scrapbooking and all that it entails! I am loving the trend of bright colors and cute icons!” ~ Paige Evans

I loved seeing a trend towards mixed media at the show, and for someone who is not a pro at mixed media, there are new products that have been created to make it simpler for me to experiment and learn, like Vicki Boutin’s All the Good Things collection for American Crafts. I also loved the new collections from My Mind’s Eye—all of them are on my “must buy” list! Plus, after seeing all of the gorgeous options for traveler’s notebooks from companies like Webster’s Pages, Doodlebug and Simple Stories, I think I may just give this format a try! ~ Meghann Andrew

“This show was full of beautiful new releases and products, and I’m quite excited because so many things spoke to me. Traveler’s Notebooks were a huge trend this year. I particularly loved Webster’s Pages’ mini books, Echo Park new suites with ephemera and embellishments for the notebooks, and Doodlebug Designs’ scallop and fabric details. I will be adding several of these to my collections this year for sure. Whimsical animals were another big trend in paper collections: unicorns, llamas, and flamingos seemed to be everywhere. Another trend I noticed were the change in scale for embellishments. Many embellishments are either moving to really large items or very tiny details. American Crafts has some incredible new large titles I can’t wait to play with, and Doodlebug Designs has mini enamel hearts that must be mine. I saw several collections with the name “Good Vibes,” and I think that describes the show releases overall they seemed happy, upbeat, fresh, and colorful. Very much my personal style, so I think 2018 is going to be an exciting creative year.” ~ Jen Gallacher

As products arrive we will continue to share more on Facebook and Instagram so be sure to follow us there too!

Of course, we also came home with an extra suitcase full of fun new products and are excited to offer another CHA prize package that consists of some American Crafts, some Spellbinders, a little My Minds Eye and this cute Milk & Cookies pin from Doodlebug Design!

GIVEAWAY:

For an opportunity to win, tell us what you have seen from the new releases that are a must-have! Leave your comment by February 1st. Good luck!

Two weeks ago we gave away a mystery box for one lucky winner and a friend. We had some wonderful comments left but this one touched not just ours but many of your hearts too…

Jena Baker January 12, 2018 at 12:02 pm
I would love to share this with my friend, Lori. Lori and her family were one of the 5,000 who lost their homes in the terrible wildfires which tore through our town, Santa Rosa, CA last October 9th. Lori, I and others were just ending one of our twice yearly scrapbook retreats and when Lori arrived home she had minute to evacuate with the rest of her family. All of her scrapbooks and supplies were lost in the wildfire along with everything else she owned. Now she is in the process of slowly rebuilding it. Our next scrapbook retreat is the weekend of March 9th. I have scheduled a surprise “scrap shower” for Lori at my home on February 3rd. All of us regular scrap retreat ladies are gathering supplies to surprise her with so she can feel like she is ready for our next retreat. Since the end of the last one was a pure nightmare. So I think the surprise box would be exactly what Lori needs to feel positive and motivated to start her scrapbooks once again. THANKS!

We want everyone to know that Scrapbook & Cards Today will be sending Lori a box of goodies so that she can start rebuilding from scratch! Many of you read Jena’s comment and offered to send the mystery box to Lori. You’re amazing! Know on your behalf and through your kindness, Lori will have some new things to help her start out again.

But we did choose a random winner for the mystery box…put your hands together for…

I have a very generous crafty friend – we haven’t me YET! She is in New Jersey, and me in Michigan – a day trip!!! She is constantly sharing her crafty booty with me… I’d love to surprise her with this prize! Thanks, Catherine, for your generous heart! xx =]  ~ Michele F January 12, 2018 at 3:42 pm

Congratulations Michele, please send us your mailing address and your friend’s mailing address to us at ideas@scrapbookandcards.com!

We also had our “Pin It To Win It” contest and our winner is Kim Klimovsky! Congratulations Kim!

Have a wonderful weekend friends!