I am home from Phoenix! I can hardly believe what a whirlwind the trip was.
My mind is jam packed with creative inspiration, new technical abilities and a bit of swoon over all the papercrafting super stars I met along the way.
We arrived in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon and got settled in at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel before heading to the Phoenix Convention Centre to get our badges for the event.
Friday my first event was the CHA Canadian Chapter Breakfast meeting. 7:30 is a bit early in the morning to be social but it was a great opportunity to meet fellow Canadians in the craft industry. Ironically Ecstasy Crafts was there which is funny because I live right around the corner from their store. Karen Beupre the Creative genius behind Southern Ridge Trading Company was there as well as Tiffany Bond from Craft and Create.
I had to cut the meeting short to get to my first class Mastering Affiliate Marketing where I had the chance to meet the ever flamboyant Melody Lane.
My second class was 4 ways to be published. Guess who one of the speakers were! None other than The Crafty Chica.
My third class was on the benefits of establishing a craft collective. I enjoyed their presentation immensely. Guess who the speakers were: The Phoenix Freda's. If you have a chance find them on social media.
The day was very tiring so I thought about playing hookie from my next class but as you know I am a rule following Chickie who would never want to offend anyone. I was pleasantly surprised to be regaled by the story of how a older lady started her YouTube channel to make her Church groups crocheting lessons easier for her 12 members to see and keep up at their own pace. She has over 800,000 subscribers now and quit her fulltime job as a professor at Southern university.
By far my favourite class was with Shanna Noel the creator of Illustrated faith. Her story of her journey to find her connection to Jesus was inspiring as well as at times quite comedic . She has inspired my to include Bible Journaling in my craft repertoire.
Saturday was the main event. The tradeshow floor opened and I was overwhelmed with sheer volume of new products coming to market. I found new companies that I have not seen before that I am now obsessed with. I am eagerly awaiting their new releases. One such company is 49 & Market which just started out 9 months ago and already has Gabriella Pollaka desgning for them.
My favourite moments were meeting Heidi Swap, Sheena Douglas, Debbi Moore and Emmalou from Heartfelt creations.
Though my blistered toes will say otherwise, this was one of the most exciting events I have ever attended. I find it hard to believe I was actually there. It's a perfect example of living your dreams. Now I have to decide on my next adventure.
