Jan 30 2009
I’m Back From CHA
I’m back! What a whirlwind trip it was too! I took my camera, my laptop, and my card reader thinking I would be blogging every day from Anaheim. Little did I know how hectic and exhausting it was going to be! I woke up last Saturday morning at 3:15 a.m. and flew to Anaheim. I checked into the hotel and headed to the convention center to set up.
The excitement of CHA was infectious, the show kicked off with these bagpipe players.
To add to the excitement Paris Hilton made an appearance. Now for some this was incredibly exciting; so exciting that the masses filled into our booth and the booth beside us. Fans were actually standing up on the displays in the booth beside ours and falling through the curtains into our booth, knocking down our displays. We were blocked in our booth by the crowd for three hours. Once Paris and her crowd left, we put our poor little booth back together again. Unfortunately the damage was done to our curtains and we had problems with them the remainder of the show.
ETA: I’ve received questions about why Paris Hilton would be at a craft and hobby show. From what I understand a company paid for the use of her name on a product they are retailing. I saw scrapbook albums and jewelry kits for little girls. Paris came Sunday afternoon for photo ops and autographs.
Despite starting off with such a disastrous event for our booth, we had a wonderful time at CHA. I met up with many friends and met new ones. Here I am with Carolyn King (Cammie) and Carole Burrage (Tru Car Ma) at the My Favorite Things booth.
Sunday evening I was able to sneak away for dinner with the “dirty girls”. What an event! It was so exciting to finally meet so many of the friends I’ve made at SCS.
Standing - Lisa Johnson; seated - Jenn Balcer and Natasha Trupp.
Jami Sibley and Michelle Giraud
Taylor VanBruggen and Lori Craig
Carole Burrage and Sharon Harnist
Sherrie Siemens and Jami Sibley (Taylor in the background)
Laurie Schmidlin and Carolyn King
Daven, Cindy Lawrence, and Tosha Leyendekker
Amy Sheffer and Carole Burrage
Lori Craig and Val Stangle
Me and Emily Giovanni. Emily is the sweetest ever, totally precious! I’ve decided that since I don’t have any daughters I’m going to adopt her. Which will make me an instant grandmother as Emily has three adorable little boys. Yikes, I’d better tell the hubby our family’s growing. And Emily will need a sister, so I’ve decided I’m going to adopt Natasha as well. Both these girls are totally adorable and were so much fun!
I taught a water color class at CHA and will be back tomorrow to post a tutorial of the picture we painted.
What in the world is Paris Hilton doing at a Craft & Hobby show??
GREAT pics!!
Awesome pictures! Sorry for the rough start - but glad you had an eventful event. ;o)
So sweet of you to share these faces with us. I read almost of their blogs regularly. Can’t believe Paris got such a huge reception. What on earth was she sellilng??? Is she a closet scrapper/stamper or did she develop her own line of paper??
OMG, Paris Hilton at a CRAFT and HOBBY convention. Egad! I am dying to see some of the projects you made! Welcome back!
Cathy
Thanks for sharing your whirlwind trip with us….looking forward to more of the projects !
Thanks for posting the pics, Jerri and waving a great big HI to all these girls - OH, how fun to have been with them — I’m sure your trip was fabulous!!!!
Wow… TFS your aventures at CHA…great pics of yur and all of the girls
Hey Jerri!!! Welcome back!!! Sounds and looks like you had a blast!!! The pictures are awesome!!! Can’t wait till tomorrow - LOL!!! Hugs ~S~
Oh my! How wonderful! I loved all the pictures and SOOO wished I could be there. Too bad about the Paris incident, but hey -what a story! I can’t wait for more pics tomorrow. Hugs, michelle
Thanks for sharing your pictures Jerri !! I love seeing the faces that go with the names. Sounds like a fiasco with Paris Hilton making such a scene. Heard about it on someone elses blog.
I do hope all your contacts were successful for loads of orders for the “Me & Carrie Lou” Stamps. You’ll have to fill us all in.
Rest up my dear…..
Sounds like it always is at Anaheim. mad, bad and very very tiring…Hope you did well , and had a good show:)
Oh I am so sorry to read about your booth and the Paris Hilton incident. The photo that you took of her is fabulous. It looks as though you met lots of the ladies from the Dirty Dozen and that must have been fun.
Mary
Ooooh, Jerri, it looks like you had a fabulous time!!! What great pictures …wish I could have been there!!! I’m sorry about your booth…I hope your did well and I will be sooo anxious for your online store to open!!! Glad you are back home safe and sound!!!
So glad you’re back. Any news on when the online store will be up and running?
It sounds like your trip was exciting and eventful! Please post some pictures of your booth so we can all see it. Thank you for the photos that now puts a picture with a name! I’m sorry about what happened at your booth but I’m glad you had a good time! Looking forward to the online store to open!!
Great pictures, Jerri! It made me sad that I wasn’t there to join in. I had so much fun last year.
Wasn’t that Paris Hilton stuff crazy? I’m still shocked that anyone thought that was a good idea. And I hear you on the laptop thing - why did we bring them?
Sorry I didn’t get to meet you there, but thanks for sharing your pics - I missed the bagpipes!!
What an awsome experience for you. The pictures are great, thanks for sharing them. I’m still trying to figure out the whole Paris Hilton marketing plan. Not the role model I want for my girls. I’m glad noone was hurt during her appearance, but how sad it ruined your display and the one next to you. Glad you had such a good time. Now, just kick back and rest for a bit.
Thank you for sharing your time at CHA. I love the photos (real photos) of the people who’s work we see all the time. It makes me envious of all you people that get to go to CHA. It looks like so much fun and you get to see all the new stuff before us “consumers” do!!! Truly, I enjoy all the sneakpeaks and the sharing. Stampers are such are a warm and sharing group. Thanks for what you do for the rest of us!!!
Jerri, it was such a joy for me to meet you at CHA! I think you are the sweetest ever, and I’m so mad at myself that I didn’t get pictures in your booth!!! It was an exhausting trip, wasn’t it? I didn’t have time to blog from there either. I was too busy spending $$$! Ha!
Great pics, my friend!
What fun pics Jerri!! How awful about the Paris event!!
It was such a pleasure meeting you!! You are just as sweet in person as you are on SCS!! And your artistry is out of this world fantastic!!
Thank you for sharing your experience and photos!! I’m sorry about the Paris disturbance….but happy you were able to meet up with so many wonderful friends!!
How wonderful to have met SO many friends!!!! I’m glad you had such a nice time!
Gosh, I’ve been swamped and missing so much. Too bad I can’t be everywhere at once! What a good time this looks like. I’ve loved seeing all the CHA photos of these familiar faces. Thanks for sharing yours!