Trendspotting: Winter CHA

Well there is good news and there is bad news…First the bad news: The Winter CHA (Craft and hobby Association) trade show was this week and there is a lot of yummy product coming out that you are going to want to empty your wallet to get. The good news:  Most of it you can make yourself for a fraction of the cost and in less time that it will take you to drive to the store! Another plus: Makin’ stuff is fun!

Here are some trends I noticed:

Shaped Paper: It was very popular last year and continues this year as well. If you have a cricut machine you can easily shape your paper with the push of a button, and if you don’t you can do it almost as easily by hand, details in these posts here, here and here.

Felt: Still hot but with more detail, think paper piecing but with felt. Below are some offerings by Sassafrass Lass. How cute are those. You can get the look by digging out your felt scraps and free hand cutting or use your paper piecing patterns (remember they were all the rage 5 years ago) to create some cuties. For fabulous FREE paper piecing templates check out Scrapbooks Etc magazine, they print great templates in their magazine but also offer them free on their website. *Note Nature themed products are still very in from owls and birds to trees and flowers.

Clear Stamps are still very big. They are cute cheap and easy check out these from Maya Road:

Die Cuts are huge this year in the form of frames (think swirls and flourishes) and in lace paper and even page toppers that were big before I started scrapping. I wonder if the “Cricut” has influenced this trend? Everything old is new again I guess…

Speaking of old things Vintage is still very hot. Check out new offerings from Jenni Bowlin, Crafty Secrets and K&Co. I’m thrilled that this tred continues!

As you can see we have some lovely crafty things to look forward to this year and I of course will keep up on the trends and show you ways to get the latest look on the cheap! Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!