Success at EK!

EK Success Brands introduced some wonderful things at CHA this week and I want to share some of them with you. I told you in my last post that the EK Success Brands booth took up the largest amount of real estate at CHA this year, so I am going to show you a portion of it.

This is the classroom (located in the booth....I told you it was BIG!) where make and takes were done and the competitions were held. Similar to Iron Chef, crafters would be given certain ingredients to work with in a certain amount of time and then the audience voted on the best outcome. It was great fun! The winner even received a trophy!

While I did not get to enter the competition as I was working at Spellbinders, I did have the opportunity to do a make and take (pictured above). Tara Gangi (pictured above in the classroom) designed this door hanger make and take and it gave me the opportunity to work with several of the wonderful new tools and embellishments now available. One of my favorite things to try was the new border punches (more on that later). It was kind of neat to sit down and do a make and take as I am usually on the other end.....designing it or helping others do the make and take.

There were also several demo tables around the booth. Pictured below is Kara Ward showing a customer Perler Beads. I have been a big fan of these since my children were young and will confess that I still love playing with them!

Okay, drum roll please......Here are the new fantastic newly engineered punches!!! Paper Shapers have always been great but these are even better! They have a slim profile, they are lightweight and they lock shut for easy stackable storage. Now, how cool is that? Not to mention fantastic new designs.....and available in a border format!

That border punch on top of the stack is just asking to be used with a needle and thread for some stitching!

If this wasn't all enough, there will even be storage containers available for them!

Here is a wall of the new punches. Another thing I am very excited about is the little squeeze scissors located on the bottom row. They are pictured third over from the center in the photo. I have always used these when I would need to clip small pieces of paper, like you sometimes need to do on the ends of the border punched designs. I also like them with coluzzle or SAR stamps if you have those at home. These definitely are a "good thing"! I am glad EK Success Brands has come out with these as they are not easy to find.

How about some sweet talk about paper? Don't you just love K & Company papers and embellishments? I know that aisle at the local craft stores like the back of my hand, but now there are some fantastic new designs coming out. I told Misty from K & Company and Joy Macdonell they really should have boxes of tissues out for all the drooling that has to be going on at these displays!

K & Company has the best embellishments! Love the paper ribbon, rhinestones, etc.! There are six new collections of paper and it is hard to choose a favorite. Brenda Walton's Madeline line sure is beautiful though!

You probably know that I love Inkadinkado stamps too! I have used them for years. My first cover on a magazine was a Inkadinkado stamp (the sandcastle on Rubber Stamper Magazine). Inka has great wood mounted stamps and clear stamps too! They have over 150 brand new designs!

Below are some of the new clear stamps. I love all the 'inches' and they are great fun to work with! Clear stamps are great as they take up less room and you can see through them. Of course, Inkadinkado has the best acrylic mounts too with the lines and nice curved edges.

Something new they have to store the clear stamps and blocks in is a new storage binder. I had already discovered those at Michaels before CHA and have two of them filled!!!

Martha Stewart Crafts has several new Easter products, from festive punches to glitter and egg wrappers! I am enjoying all the new Valentine items they came out with and Easter will be here before we know it.

I have really only touched the hem of the garment when it comes to the new things I found in the EK Success Brands booth. There were new spring stickers from Jolee's, Sticko has "Bling & Shine" and "Soft & Puffy" stickers, Dimensions has handmade embroidery kits which have a very "homey" look and the jewelry displays from Jolee's are beyond description! They are introducing Jolee's Jewels, crystallized Swarovski elements for jewelry making. If you are like me and love Swarovski crystals, you will LOVE these! The examples they had were fantastic. I wish I had snapped some photos of them. Jewelry makers really need to check out this new line as well as all the new jewelry making components they are featuring.

I snapped some photos of some of the Creative Services Staff from EK Success Brands....above is Shane Hershey showing off the new punches.

Kara is joined above by Tara Gangi and Joy Macdonnell. I always enjoyed seeing Joy on DIY.

Above is Carla Sylvester from Martha Stewart Crafts.

Here I am sporting one of the t-shirts EK Success Brands....I think I will bling it up with some stitching and buttons and rhinestones!

Well, that is my and  Perler Mickey's report from the EK Success Brands booth! Hope you enjoyed it!