This is a shot of my new Cuttlebug bundles in the Provocraft booth....
And below is one of my boards in the Creative Imaginations booth....
This was a good year for me at CHA because it was local, yippee! I usually don't stay for the whole show because I don't like to be gone that many days from my family. I was up at the show for six days and came home everynight to sleep in my own bed and see my kids off to school everyday, loved that. I met so many terrific people and got to see a lot of my artist friends. CHA is a gathering place for so many artists like myself that are doing their best to make a living being an aritst. It was great to see Claudine and talk about licensing and show her the skirts I bought thanks to her. Traci Bautista and I ran into eachother a few times here and there and I made sure to stop by the F+W booth and see Bernie and The Sisters. I met so many nice ladies while I did my make and takes and was happy to hear that they check in and read the blog. Thank you:).
I loved to see the companies that I work for in action. They all run such class acts and I am honored to work with all of them. I look forward to continued success with my licensing partners and am excited about creating some new licensing relationships with diverse manufacturers. This year I would like to get my artwork into the gift market too, can't wait for that. There is nothing like a trade show to get you excited about the possiblities.
Although I love all the business connections and seeing my product up in various booths and in catalogues, my favorite moment at the show was running into one of my former students from Otis College of Art and Design. I taught Surface Design classes there for four years and I was one of her main instructors during her junior/senior year. During the time I was her instructor we spent a lot of time talking about her future in design. I remember she had already come up with a name for her business "Simply Michelle". After she graduated she moved to Kansas City to work for Hallmark and over that last few years we had lost contact until this show. I saw in the new exhibitor's list her business "Simply Michelle" and I knew it was her. I went and found her booth and we talked about those Otis days and reconnected. I am so excited for her and I know there are big things on the horizon for her. Go Michelle! I am really proud of you! That is what it is all about, having passions and dreams and making them happen. I love that!
my family and I were going through a rough time because our insurance company refused to pay me for a claim and we had no money coming in to pay for ANYTHING! A mother of a friend of mine stopped by unannounced and brought bags of groceries for us, just when we had almost nothing left in the pantry! Wow, it was such a blessing. Then a week later my mom stopped by again, unannounced and brought in several bags of groceries, she had just been to the store. It was better than Christmas! Our church then put gas cards in my mailbox at church. Wow, God really takes care of us, in our weekness he is strong!
Posted by Andra:
I moved to my new house in a new city and two neighbors made us a complete dinner...did know us at all. I was very touched. smiles, andra
There is a lot of love out there. Thank you for touching my heart with your sharing.. This gives me a lot of hope in a world that can seem pretty dark and crazy. Keep focusing outward and we will make this time on earth much more purposeful and bright. Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo-Christine