Happy Wednesday, Everyone!  What do you mean it's not Wednesday anymore?  Well it still is to me until I go to bed...  Here's the highlights from todays activities at CHA.

Today we ran from place to place to get everywhere we needed to be in time during the shorter day.

First we went to the Loralie Art Stamps booth to place an order for the store.  Totally cute and unique stamps!  I know you're going to like them.

Then we went and browsed the Stampavie booth where I actually tried to stamp something.  I'm sooo not a stamper!

Then we ran to the KaiserCraft both for a project we'd signed up to make on Sunday.  She was booked all the way until Wednesday but the project was well worth the wait.

Then we booked it to the Cricut booth for their last drawing.  Gues who won a Cricut Create?

Then we made our way down to the very first row.  We really liked the Best Craft Ribbon Organizer.  Michelle ordered a few for the store.  They look so cool!

While we were there, lo and behold, the new Silhouette America company was across the aisle!  They are now a seperate company from Quickutz.  The guys there were very nice and helped us make rhinestone T-Shirts.

Then we trekked all the way across the show floor back to the Wacom booth for their last drawing.  Guess who was lucky today???

Well folks, that's it!  We really had a wonderful time.  Michelle, Shirley and Jenette were so fun to be with.  We saw so much and ended up with so much!  I had to ship a big 45 pound box of stuff home this evening!  Here's the spread that Michelle laid out of all the stuff she aquired at the show.

The highlights of the trip?  Winning lots of stuff was right up there.  Meeting amazing people from around the world, definitely.  Meeting people who actually knew who I was as Sam & Hailey Designs and were excited to meet me?  Priceless!

That's all folks!  Thanks for playing!

Jan

 

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!  Okay, I know it's not Tuesday either.  Just pretend with me for a moment!

First we went to the Cricut booth and made some cut cupcakes.  The flower on top was cut with the new Cricut Cake machine.

 We got to see a nice demo of the Cricut Cake.  The lady in yellow is Chef Biggers from TLC's Ulitmate Cake Off.  So talented!

Everywhere we went we saw mannequins with paper skirts or dresses on.  It was THE theme of the whole show.

There was near hysteria at the Making Memories booth over the Slice.  They are obviously deluded!

 One thing we really liked was the new Cinch from We R Memory Keepers (makers of the Crop A Dile). Very very cool.  Michelle ordered a few for the store right then and there!

At the end of the day, Michelle won a new Wacom Bamboo Craft tablet!  Jenette had won one on Monday!  We were awfully lucky at that booth!

That night we sure were pooped! More for Wednesday next...

Thanks for playing!

Jan

Happy Monday, Everyone!  Okay, it's not Monday, but I was too tired on Monday to post these pictures!!!  Here's the scoop on what we saw on Monday.

The first thing we did was stop by the Theresa Collins booth. There was a nice make & take book and some really lovely products.

 

Can you tell I have baby girls on the brain?

The very lovely Theresa Collins herself was there in the booth!  It was fun to meet her.  Earlier, Stacy Julian was in the booth chatting with Theresa and taking pictures.

We also got to meet the Worldwin paper guys.  The new colormates looks nice!

I stopped in the Pink Paislee booth.  I like their little tape rolls.

The Adorn-It by Carolee's Creations collection was so pretty.  I spoke with Carolee herself but didn't realize it was her until she'd walked away!  I really like her laundry room decor.  She had tons of home decor items that were just fun and funky!

Got peek at some new Bazzill products.  Pretty glazed patterns.  I especially liked the ribbon flowers.  I could totally make those.

I can't remember for the life of me where I saw this flower but it was soooo cool!  I need to make some of these.

New BasicGrey lines.  I wasn't head over heels with anything in particular there.  Very business like.

 Got a good gander at the Your Story from Provo Craft.  It's the same as the UniBind... wonder which is better?  Got a demo of the YuDu... now I want one!

In closing here are two fun pictures.  Here's all of us in our cool Paperthreads shirts (thanks Kylee)!

And here's us at dinner on Monday night at Buca di Beppo.  We got to sit at "The Kitchen Table" which was fun.  Jenette harrassed the kitchen staff and flirted with the chef and the assistant manager.  She has a thing for restaurant guys.

Thanks it for Monday!  I'll get to Tuesday shortly.

Thanks for playing!

Jan

 

Happy Day 1, Everyone!  Today has been an awesome day with the ladies!  I must appologize if this page takes a long time to load.  I didn't have time to resize any of these images to be smaller other than to display smaller.

We barely scratched the surface of CHA but we did manage to see quite a few of the new products we've been dying to know more about.  Michelle and I are both blogging tonight.  She's going to talk about the technical details.  I'm going to post the pictures of fun and interesting stuff we saw along the way!  So be sure and check Michelle's blog to find all the details.

The first thing we did was head right to the Craftwell booth to see the eCraft.  Michelle cornered the head guy and asked him all sorts of technical questions.  Jenette, Shirley and I holed up with the software developers to ask them about their file formats and import capabilities.  It was fun!  

The base machine looks pretty and comes in a few colors.  The pro machine, not so pretty.  No cutting mat, but it leaves those darn "chads" we all detest so much on commercial die-cuts.  Giant paper roll?  Can't think of why I'd need that, but it would be nice for vinyl.  

Next up we headed for the Sizzix booth to harrass the eclips people.  That was fun!  They definitely seemed to know their product better than the eCraft people.  It was a pretty nice machine, but no computer capabilities "at this time" we were told.

We saw lots of pretty paper and creations along the way.

Here's a cool cake decorating idea!  Fondant with clear acrylic stamps pressed into it.  Pretty!

The Offray ribbon wall was so pretty.

 

I really had to show you the cool Lion Brand Yarn knitting sculptures in the yarn section.  Look at those huge animals!  I especially liked the peacock but couldn't get  a good picture because some guy was standing in front of it and wouldn't move.

We got a good look at the Xyron Craftopia.  It seems more than a little spendy for me.  

Here's some really nice work from Donna Salazar at the Product Performers booth.  They had a really great make and take but I forgot to take a picture!  Will try to remember.  We got to use the new "Distress It All" from Zutter.  It was a fun little power tool that chewed the heck out of the edges of our paper.  The new paper trimmer from Zutter called the "Zutter Cutter" was really a beast.  Supposedly it can cut through masonite!  What???  

This lady at the EK Success booth was demoing the Jolees Jewels.  Pretty stuff!

My favorite make and take of the day?  Definitely the SEI Booth.  We got to make "Make Your Own Monster" T-Shirts with irons.  I made one for each of my girls.  Oh so sassy monsters, they are!

Here is Jenette working on hers for her grandson.  You can see Michelle's she made for her son in the background.  Cute and fun!!!

I really liked these flowers at the Quick Quotes booth.  They had a page canvas make and take.  Forgot the take a picture of that one too, will work on that tomorrow!

 

 These gorgeous creations were are GCD Studios.

The sweet demonstrator at the Tombo booth made pretty cards with my girls names on them.  Pretty!

But at the end of the day... I was so happy to see this foot massage station!  My feet are killing me!  Sneakers tomorrow!!!!

Thanks for playing!

Jan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Saturday, Everyone! I'm here at the Craft & Hobby Association Trade Show in Anaheim, California with Michelle, Shirley and Jenette. (That's Jenette there with the show directory she made me pilfer) Check back over then next few days as we find some cool new products to share with you. I'll be snapping photos and posting as we find them!

Anything you want us to look for?

Thanks for playing and stay tuned!

Jan

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!  I know, I've been a little insconsistent in my blogging lately.  I wish I could say way, other than I'm scatterbrained lately.  So sorry!

I have some wonderful news to share with you (in case you didn't already know).  We are grandparents!  Can you believe it?  I almost can't.  Our oldest son Zak and his wife Weezie have a new baby girl named Zoey.  She's just over a week old now!  Sadly, they live very far from us so we haven't been able to see Zoey in person yet.  Thank heavens for technology and webcams though!  Here are some cute pics of our litte sweetheart!

Newborn Zoey

More Newborn Zoey

Daddy and Mommy with Newborn Zoey

With Gramma Judy... look at that little smile!

Wonder who is more exhausted?

Going for a ride.

Remember that monogram onesie I made for Zoey?  I'm loving how cute she looks in it!

Well, that's about it for today!  Thanks for playing!

Jan

Happy Friday, Everyone!  I know normally, Friday would be the Fantabulous Friday Freebie day, but today I've decided to do something a little different.  You are probably like me and have been watching or listening to the tragic events in Haiti.  It's so heartbreaking to think of all the people left behind who need so much help. 

We talk a lot in our family about how we can help others and serving those in need.  The other day in the car on the way to school there was a radio report on about Haiti with an eyewitness describing some of the things going on.  I almost turned it off because I didn't want it to be disturbing to the kids but I didn't.  It sparked a lot of questions for Samantha about what happened there and why it was so bad.  I had to explain that our house is built to be safe in an earthquake but that their houses were not.  Now there are a lot of people without houses, food, or water.  I also had to explain that a lot of people died.  She actually seemed to understand. 

We then talked a little about how we could help. Last year the girls watched and helped as I coordinated making humanitarian kits for the Releif Society at church.  We made 30 newborn kits and 50 hygiene kits.  I read on our church website about how they are sending hygiene and newborn supplies to Haiti and I wondered if the kits we made would be among those sent.  It was a good feeling to know that work we did last November would be helping people now.

So, when Ileana Russell (of I Scrap Designs) contacted me about joining her in "Cutting for a Cause" I jumped right in.  What a wonderful way to give a little to those in need.

Did you know that Haiti is the poorest nation in this hemisphere? 80% of their population lives in poverty. The average family income in Haiti is $1,200 per year. The life expectancy there is 52 years. Compare that to the life expectancy in the US--77 years. In Haiti, the infant mortality rate is 73 deaths for every 1,000 live births. In the US, it is 6.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births. In Haiti, of those who are 15 years of age or older, only 53% can read and write. In the US, that number is 97%. The amount of land that is fit for agriculture in Haiti is also severely limited compared to the US. The normal diet in Haiti includes dirt.

Life in Haiti before the earthquake was very difficult. To have to suffer through an earthquake of that magnitude and such horrible destruction has got to be simply devastating.

So, here's my challenge to you. For every one who contributes to the relief efforts in Haiti through the end of January 2010, I'll let you choose any file you want from my design line. Simply forward me your receipt or your thank you message from the agency to samhailey.designs@gmail.com and I'll send a file out to you. You get to help the people of Haiti and you get a free file you like and a tax deduction too! How does that sound?

Ileana has even gathered some information on agencies where you can make a difference. Now, you do not have to contribute to these agencies--yes, you may choose your own; however, each of these agencies is directly involved in Haiti. She has also listed them in the order of their ranking. That is, the one with the lowest administration and fund-raising costs (and, therefore, the highest percentage of your donation going directly to the relief effort) is first and so on down the list.

 

My personal favorite, LDS Humanitarian Services was not on the Charity Navigator list.  Maybe because it's a church, I'm not sure why! But here's the article about the Hygiene kits (like the ones we made) and there's a link at the bottom to donate.  The great thing about donating to LDS Humanitarian Services is that the operating costs of the program are paid through our member's tithing donations.  100% of Humanitarian Services donations go directly to the people in need. Here's another great article about the temprary medical center they are setting up and staffing in Port-Au-Prince.

I appreciate your participation in this! I know the people of Haiti will, too.

Don't forget to let me know what file you want when you donate!  Again, just send me your receipt or the thank you message you receive for donating to me at samhailey.designs@gmail.com.  And be sure to check out Ileana's blog too for the same offer!

Thanks for playing, and for donating!

Jan

Happy Friday, Everyone! Sorry, for the lack of blogging this week!  With the big site outage and server move there were a few kinks to work out.  I wanted to wait to blog until I knew my posts would be staying put!

In case I haven't mentioned it... I'm going off to the Craft and Hobby Association Winter 2010 Trade Show next weekend!  I'm so excited to get to see all the new fantastic products out there.  And of course, try to convince Michelle to carry them in the store!  Well, before I go, I thought you'd all like a little sale!  I'm offering 30% off all my individual designs and collections, today and tomorrow only!  Don't forget to go shopping!

Thanks for playing!

Jan

Happy Friday, Everyone!  I'm just popping on for a moment.  Michelle asked us to post on our blogs today warning you that there will be a Paperthreads Site Outage some time this weekend while she does some much needed maintenance.  Don't worry, it shouldn't be too long.  So, if you come to any of the Paperthreads sites, including the store, forums, membership groups, and yes, this lovely blog and find it unavailble during the weekend, just come back later and check again.  Don't panic!  You might go into a little withdrawal but I promise, you won't die.  Well, hopefully not.  :-)  Just think of all that you'll be able to accomlish in the real world! Have a wonderful weekend! 

Oh, and the Fantabulous Friday Freebie will be back next week!  Don't miss it!

Thanks for playing,

Jan

Happy Thursday, Everyone!

So, this weekend there's going to be a site shutdown at Paperthreads.  Before you ask, I'm not sure when it will be.  But I had to get anything outstanding done in the store today before the last backup.  Funny how that motivated me to finally get those 11 new designs up into the store!  I sometimes say that I work well under pressure.  That's not entirely true.  I am motivated under pressure, but I don't neccesarily work that well!  Anyway, I just added 11 new files.  Some you might already have because they were either part of my Handmade Christmas series or the Sam & Hailey Designs Membership Club.  But there might be one or two you haven't seen before.  Might want to check them out!  Click to browse my newest additions!

Here are three that have never before been available:

 

Have a great day!  I'm off to get some more stuff done!  :-)

Thanks for playing,

Jan