CHA Chicago 2005 Wrap Up
 After another enormous CHA trade show in Chicago, the scrapbooking industry has proven to answer the call of scrapbookers everywhere by providing new ideas, new products, and new tools to make our hobby even more fun! Expansions of our favorite lines and introductions of brand new products made this trade show nothing less than exciting. Here’s a quick look at what is on the horizon for scrapbooking this fall:
15 of this Season’s Hottest Trends
 Chipboard Embellishments
Chipboard was by far the most popular new embellishment and is being offered by several companies in all varieties of styles. Giant coasters, album covers, alphabets, tags and words are all great ways to add some lightweight color and texture to your pages.
 Ribbon Accessories
Last winter, ribbon was all the rage. It still is, but now there’s more! Ribbon embellishments are now the best way to dress up your ribbon even more with charms, alphabets, and word plates.
 Clips & Fasteners
These aren’t just for the office anymore. Now paperclips, bookmarks, and tiny little trinkets are a fun new way to attach items to your scrapbook pages.
 Oversized Alphabets
Big is in. Alphabet letters are getting bigger and better. With the popularity of monograms and oversized titles, these products will help you create big bold titles that will catch anyone’s eye.
 Mini Albums & Unconventional Albums
To appease those altered art fanatics, many companies are offering small mini-albums that can be decorated from cover to cover. In all different sizes and styles, these make fantastic end-table books or gifts.
 Paisley & Diamond Patterns
In addition to the standard polka dots, stripes and flowers adorning patterned papers, this year paisley and diamonds are a hot pattern among many paper lines.
 Dark Color Combinations
With fall and winter on the horizon, many companies are offering an alternative to the bright, citrus summery colors that we have enjoyed all spring and summer. Purple, blue, brown and deep red are prevalent in many of the new paper lines.
 Sports & School Themed Products
It seems like this year everyone is an athlete or a cheerleader or is at least scrapbooking about them! College, professional high school and little league sports are all represented through various product companies. Get those sports photos ready, because the products are here!
 Puffy, Gel and Hologram Embellishments
These puffy, gel-like and hologram stickers and embellishments are a flashback to the 80’s. They’re full of bright colors, themed designs, and fun texture.
Personal Cutting Machines
There’s a personal die-cutting system for everyone. Whether you want a stand-alone cutting printer, a handheld machine, or a desktop cutter, you’ll find it among these products!
Stamps
Foam, clear and unmounted rubber stamps continue to be a must-have tool for scrapbookers. Alphabets, words, and artistic designs are all used to create gorgeous accents and embellishments for scrapbook pages.
 International Products
Slowly, but surely, scrapbooking is spreading throughout the world. Several companies have emerged offering Spanish, Italian and Asian products to accommodate.
 Decorative Photo Corners
I was excited to see more photo corner products this year. Decorative photo corner pockets, triangle shaped brads, and rub-ons were some of the ways I saw them decorated.
 Portable Storage
Based on the new products, it looks like scrappers are traveling with their supplies more and more. Most of the new storage containers I saw were portable and perfect for holding little embellishment or the basic tools.
 Unique New Products
Occasionally, a company goes above and beyond and comes up with something really innovative. Here’s a quick list of some of the most innovative products at the show:
New Paper Companies
My favorite part of the CHA convention is the New Exhibitors section. Most new companies this year happened to be patterned paper companies. These are a few that caught my eye:
Uniquely Mine
Thumbprintz
The Creative Garden
Paper Heart Studio
Polar Bear Press
Editor’s Note
Overall, I was impressed with all of the new products. We’ve seen scrapbooking go from cutesy to bright, shabby to collage, and now we’re seeing vintage and retro as an emerging trend. I’m continuously amazed at all the new patterned paper designs that come out each year as well as all of the innovative embellishments. I’m thrilled that ribbon is still a primary embellishment and that there are so many options for colors, widths, and patterns, many of which coordinate with my favorite paper lines.
My only disappointment—very few companies offered 11” x 8 ½” landscape albums, most offered 8” x 8” instead. After trying the landscape orientation out this year for a vacation album, I’ve fallen in love with it! Maybe next season!
Check the Scrapjazz Product Reviews for photos and information about more CHA product releases!
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