Let's start off with Christmas. I need more Christmas scrapping supplies like I need the proverbial hole in the head, but some of these lines are just so darn awesome that I'm wishing for them anyway!
Bundled Up by Crate Paper is definitely at the top of that list. Crate always blows me away with their Christmas lines, but this one is just really something special! Such a sweet color palette, and those snowmen are too adorable! And, while the collection does have a few cute elements to it, it's not overdone and comes off as more nostalgic than whimsical.
Basic Grey's Christmas lines are a perennial favorite of mine, and their latest, 25th and Pine, is not only beautiful in its own right, but it also looks like it'll coordinate quite well with Crate's Bundled Up. I'm especially excited to get my hands on the Snippets pad from this collection. I'm currently working on a project with some of Basic Grey's Capture line, and the little Snippets cut-apart pads that are part of the system are some of the most inspiring products I've worked with in quite a while!
Allison Kreft's It's Christmas collection for Webster's Pages bring her signature graphic style to the season. I love the holiday-themed starbursts and sprinklings of star confetti, and there are some great embellishments in the line, too. Reindeer shaped paperclips? Yes, please!
Stepping away from holidays and into the everyday, there's a lot to love on the non-seasonal side of this year's CHA releases, too.
Two of Fancy Pants' new collections, Happy Go Lucky and Collecting Moments, are among my very favorites from the show. Ever since the Winter 2013 CHA, Fancy Pants has been gravitating toward a more modern style, and I love it! They've also really upped the number of embellishments that they release with new collection- their mid releases included flair and ephemera packs, and they've introduced resin flowers at this CHA, as well.
Maggie Holmes has a signature line with Crate Paper again at this show, and Flea Market is a beautiful continuation of her first collection. I love the punches of navy that have been added (and that globe chipboard piece- oh, my!), and I'm happy that this will coordinate so well with some of her last release that I still have hanging around the craft room.
Allison Kreft has a non-holiday collection with Webster's Pages in addition to her Christmas line. Recorded does a lovely job of incorporating trendy fall colors without having an autumn theme, and with motifs like woodgrain and star charts, you know I'm going to have to have it!
I've included just one image of Simple Stories' new Sn@p Sets- the Everyday set since it's my favorite of the group- but they have eight of these little collections coming out late next month. Each will include a selection of 3x4 and 4x6 journaling cards, sticker sheets, and a variety pack of coordinating pockets- the perfect mix of items for putting together one of their 6x8 Sn@p albums without having a ton of product left over in the end. Also, chalkboard camera card. 'nuff said.
As much as I've talked about loving non-themed items so far in this post, I do still love a Fall collection that's done well. Lawn Fawn's Into the Woods is cute without being overdone, and really most of the prints are generic and can be used for any sort of page...like a Spring Project Life layout.
Lawn Fawn is also releasing a Stitched Journaling Card die set, and, while I may be a bit biased since I'm on their design team, I think that they've come up with something absolutely brilliant with this one! The little banners and designs that you see inside the journaling card outline are actually separate inserts for the card, so you can cut designs right into it as you run it through your die cutter. I've had one on my desk to play with for the last few weeks, and it's so much fun!
Once again, The Crafter's Workshop is tempting me with their new stencil designs, especially the Mix Tape and Fancy Feathers templates by Ronda Palazzari. Stencils are a tool that I've found helps both stretch my stash and also add depth to a layout without adding bulk, so I don't feel guilty for buying new ones at all!
Rounding out my picks list is the latest entry into the Blueprints stamp line by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous. I will admit that I don't get as much use out of my stamps as I probably should, but as a geeky engineer, I simply have to buy these whenever a new set comes out! I always opt for the miniature version with scaled-down designs that are perfect for Project Life or just as a cute accent somewhere...and I see that Simon Says Stamp already has these up for preorder!
In retrospect, this is really a bit of a short list for me post-show! I think that the fact that I didn't get to travel to CHA this time around (you can find fabulous coverage of it on May Flaum's blog, if you'd like to see booth reports) has something to do with that, and I'm sure that I'll fall in love with more items as we get to see the products and projects up close and personal and not just in sneak peeks. I'm especially excited to see what the new Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy collections from American Crafts look like off the screen, in particular, since AC has only shown us fairly small, low-resolution images of those collections thus far. I wish that they would do image-heavy, full reveal posts in the Crate Paper vein.
And now that I've rambled on about my favorites from the show, I'm curious to know what's on your wishlist this CHA!