Craft Test Dummies

Here is Wendy Vecchi again at the Ranger Ink booth showing off a fun technique using her brand new Studio 490 metallic embossing pastes!   Amazon.com Widgets

Here is the fabulous Wendy Vecchi showing us some fun tips and techniques using her Studio 490 Art Parts and Tim Holtz’ new distress paints!   Jenny’s note: I love all of that sparkle and layering. Do you layer inks, paints, and sprays? We’d love to hear what products you use and how you layer [...]

Here is Tim Holtz at Winter CHA demonstrating his new line of paper with Core’dinations, Shattered Kraft-Core.  What a fun pack of paper this will be to play with and try all different kinds of inks, stains and sprays on! Here is a photo of the paper that Tim worked on in the video:   [...]

It was the third day of CHA and a dead-eyed, glazed-over expression had started to permeate accross my face as I walked the show floor.  Up and down the aisles I went glancing from booth to booth to see if I had missed anything.  All of a sudden I heard someone say my name.  I [...]

Last year at Summer CHA in Chicago I picked Tim’s Rock Candy Distress Stickles dry glitter as one of my top product picks of the show.  I guess it was a good pick, because this CHA Tim debuted a brand new larger size!  Now in 210 grams, this will let you cover just about anything [...]

Making bows is not really my forte in crafts.  I mean, I can barely even cut in a straight line. How am I supposed to make those fancy shmancy bows you see in magazines adorning perfectly wrapped presents? How am I supposed to make those teeny tiny bows for cards and scrapbook layouts? Oh, by [...]

I had already reviewed the Epic 6 by Lifestyle Crafts and I was so super excited to get this fabulous demo by the very sweet Missy at Winter CHA 2013.  This looks like a great machine if you are interested in getting into Letterpressing or want to upgrade your current Epic 6.  I know I [...]

Hello Crafters!  It’s that time again!  Time for me to round-up some of my favorite products from this CHA!  There was a lot of excitement at the show this year; lots of fun new paper lines debuting with a handful of tools and machines.  Below, in no particular order, are some that caught my little [...]

  As the Craft Test Dummy in charge of all things jewelry I have a hard time finding new products to get excited about at CHA amid all of the scrapbooking companies but this year Beadalon gave me something to get excited about.   The Jewel Loom was created by my friend Julianna Hudgins and [...]

Here is the phenomenal Dyan Reaveley at Winter CHA 2013 showing off some of her new stencils and Dylusions inks! I so enjoy watching other artist’s creative process and Dyan’s proved to be nothing short of fantastic! I love how she never let one drop of inkgo  to waste on her new stencils and continues [...]

The iLoveToCreate booth is always one of my favorites at CHA, and the CHA Winter 2013 was definitely no exception. The booth was bursting with so much color and joy that I couldn’t resist taking a little break from walking the show floor to snap some photos to share with you guys. Get ready to [...]

Here is Claudine Hellmuth at the Ranger Ink booth showing a fun technique using one of her new Studio stencils and her fabulous studio paints!  

Because this is my first CHA show I have felt like a kid in a candy store all day.  I picked my top 5 booths on the wow factor.  The booth displays that made my mouth fall open in amazement.  There were so many amazing displays but these are the 5 that really stand out [...]

I think most of the regular readers know at this point that I’m a huge fan of Tim Holtz and all of his products. CHA is like a Tim Holtz La-La Land for me because he has products releasing with multiple companies such as Sizzix, Ranger, Idea-ology and Stamper’s Anonymous.  I visited these booths every [...]

Did you think I’d forgotten about my Blogaversary Giveaways? FEAR NOT!!! Today we have an amazing goodie-bag giveaway from our friends at FaveCrafts.com!   They are offering us a wonderful goodie bag FILLED to the BRIM with crafty goodness from your favorite craft companies!   But before I tell you how to enter, I want [...]

What a whirlwind! I’ve shared photos from Days 1 and Day 2….and now…..yup, you guessed it! I caught up with Steve Piacenza, who was demo in the new MOD PODGE MELTS. He was a sweetheart and took a minute to do a demo video for us! Take a look:   Then my Crafty BFF Vicki [...]

Clockwise: Jenny, Vicki, Haley, Sarah, Angie and Polly   I am finally home and recovering from Winter CHA Show 2013 and thought I would share a few of my favorite moments with you. One of my favorite meetings was the Craft Test Dummies breakfast meeting on Saturday morning. Once everyone had arrived and settled in [...]

The second day of the CHA winter conference and tradeshow brought more familiar faces, awesome booths, and for me- MEETINGS. One of the drawbacks of being the head dummy is that I have to wear the business hat more often. But I did get to roam a bit and see a few things: I am [...]

Winter CHA Show 2013 was a blur- so much happened in 5 days I can barely remember it all! After speaking at a panel on Friday morning, I hustled off to be a judge at the Innovations Showcase and picked MY top three of the CHA Hot 20. Make sure you click the links to [...]

Here I am a survivor of my very first CHA.  It was a whirlwind weekend of fun, laughs, inspiration, and (believe it or not) work.  Right before I exited to hop on the plane home, I took a picture with Glossy.  Everyone needs a picture of themselves with an extra large Mod Podge bottle don’t [...]

On Sunday morning, I attended the Clover USA media breakfast at CHA Winter 2013. Much to my excitement, I saw a ton of great sewing-related products that made my fabric-loving heart very happy indeed! Here are a few items that caught my eye: Remember the slap bracelets from the 90s? Well, the Pin ‘n Stow [...]

As a first-time attendee to the Craft and Hobby Association Tradeshow, I was told to expect big things. But I really didn’t know how big until I arrived at the convention center to find the that the sign for the event was almost as big as my house.  Once I got through the doors, I [...]

They are here, ladies and gentlemen!  Tim Holtz for Ranger Ink has created distress paints in his signature distress colors.  These things will blow your mind, as they did mine!  I can only imagine how they will increase the creativity of  mixed-media artists, art journalists, altered artists and well… just about every other crafter!   [...]

One of the best features of the Craft and Hobby Association Tradeshow is the Innovations Sneak Peak. (Fit’s a marriage of the CHA Hot 20 and the Innovations Showcase. ) It’s a chance to see some of the cool new products demonstrated in an intimate setting. Here are some of the products we took a [...]

It’s time to gather my clothes, biz cards and electronic paraphernalia to head to the CHA Conference and Tradeshow. For some of my first-time team members, it’s pretty overwhelming- so this is the advice I give to them and use myself. These tips work just as well if you are heading to a blogging conference [...]

Wait? WHAT??!!! Already???? Yes! The Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Tradeshow (CHA) is just around the corner- January 12-15 in Anaheim, California. And I’m going with the WHOLE #TeamCTD this year! I’m so excited! There are tons of amazing things to see; new companies, new products, craft celebrities, designer friends, amazing booths, cool demos….ahhh. [...]

This year I was asked to judge the “Hot 20″(formerly the Innovations Showcase.)  It’s a short list of the “hottest” new products appearing at the show!  One of BEST perks of being a “CraftTestDummy” is that I’ve already had the chance to try out some of the products listed below. Take note of the products [...]

CHA Summer 2012 was a smallish show- there weren’t any elaborate tools or big-ticket items to knock our socks off. That’s OK, thought- I get excited by simple, time-saving or clever tools. Here are my picks for the items I’m most looking forward to trying out! Here they are, in  no particular order: #1. Tab [...]

There was so much to look at this year at CHA this summer!  As I walked the show floor I took mental notes of what made me, “oooh!” and, “Ahhh!” the most.  There were lots of new, fabulous paper lines premiering that made my heart skip a beat as well as a few new crafty [...]

As many of you know, I specialize in fabric and yarn crafts here at Craft Test Dummies. So, while I was walking the show floor at CHA Summer 2012 last week, I kept a special eye out for new and exciting products for the pins, needles, and hooks crowd. Here’s what I saw: Knitting, Crochet, [...]