CHA Chicago 2006: Trends Part I

I have never been very fashion-forward in my wardrobe, but I have always enjoyed looking at and reading about the latest in fashion. That holds true for my scrapbooking as well, because I don't follow trends on my pages, but I love finding out about them. As I visited the booths at CHA in Chicago, I noticed certain themes, styles, colors, and products making an appearance over and over again. Some of these are trends carried over from CHA Winter, and others are the early signs of new trends. Whether you are a trendy scrapbooker or not, here are some trends you may see next time you are shopping for scrapbook supplies. The product links below will take you to each company's products at Scrapbook.com. As Scrapbook.com receives the new products, you'll be able to see full lines of the items noted below.

Themes

Since CHA Summer was held in July, many companies introduced product lines that were themed for the second half of the year. I found at least six new product lines for each of these themes:

Halloween

• Adornit (Carolee's Creations)
• Bo Bunny
• Cloud 9 Design
• Creative Imaginations
• Hambly Studios
• Heidi Grace
• Junkitz
• Karen Foster
• Making Memories
• me & my BIG ideas
• KI Memories
• Paper Adventures
• Pebbles Inc.
• Rusty Pickle
• Sandylion
• SEI

Christmas

• American Craft
• Cactus Pink
• Cloud 9 Design
• Creative Imaginations
• Flair Designs
• Hambly Studios
• Imaginisce
• Junkitz
• Karen Foster
• Making Memories
• Memories Complete
• KI Memories
• Paper Adventures
• Paper House
• Paper Salon
• Reminisce
• Rusty Pickle
• Sandylion
• SEI

School

• Adornit (Carolee's Creations)
• Creative Imaginations
• Karen Foster
• Memories Complete
• Paper House
• Pebbles Inc.
• Recess (Carson-Dellosa)

Sports

• A2Z
• Adornit (Carolee's Creations)
• Creative Imaginations
• DejaViews
• Hambly Studios
• Karen Foster
• Paper House
• Scrappin' Sports
• Stamping Station
• Sugar Tree
• Wubie

Summertime/beach

• Adornit (Carolee's Creations)
• Creative Imaginations
• Flair Designs
• Hambly Studios
• Karen Foster
• Making Memories
• Memories Complete
• Paper Adventures
• Paper House
• Wubie

Pets

• Adornit (Carolee's Creations)
• Bo Bunny
• Creative Imaginations
• DejaViews
• Karen Foster
• Pebbles Inc.
• Rusty Pickle
• Sandylion

Halloween and Christmas were the most popular themes by far. Other themes that weren't quite as common included kids, military, fall/Thanksgiving, family, and travel.

Familiar movie- and television- character themes made me smile as I saw embellishments, papers, and punches in several booths.

• Disney punches (Nemo, Mickey, etc) from All Night Media
• Shrek, Curious George, Garfield, Land Before Time, and Veggie Tales from Blue Sky Designs
• Sesame Street, Little Mermaid, Nightmare Before Christmas, Dr. Seuss, Nemo, ToyStory, Incredibles, Monsters Inc, Lion King, and Bugs Life from EKSuccess
• Mickey, Princesses, Winnie, Cars, Go Diego Go, Holly Hobbie, Thomas, and Superman from Sandylion

Styles

Here is an area where at least one trend is definitely continuing from CHA Winter. The "boho" look is in. The flowers, swirls, and paisleys that were popular then are still in full force. Flourishes, handwriting, and circles add to that style.

Another style trend that was visible at CHA Summer is "bling." Many companies have added glitter or shimmer to their papers, cardstock, and embellishments. Rhinestones, crystals, and jewels sparkled from several booths.

• Creative Imaginations Rhinestone epoxy stickers, papers with silver foil
• Diecuts with a View Glitter Pocket Full of Posies papers
• Heidi Grace Shimmer paper
• Heidi Swapp Borders, frames, words
• Imaginisce Jewels and charms
• Junkitz Glitterz chipboard letterz
• Li'l Davis Designs RockStar paper (glitter), Tinseltown, Glitter Garden
• Making Memories Shimmers, sparkle paper
• me & my BIG ideas Rhinestone stickers (words & shapes)
• Melissa Frances Glitter chipboard
• Mark Richards Crystal stickers
• Paper Cellar Glitter stickers
• Paper Company Glitter paper, gold foil leaf, metallics
• Robin's Nest Glitter papers
• Rusty Pickle Glitter monograms
• Sandylion Essentials Rhinestones
• Tulip Iron-on crystals

Exotic foreign influences made up another trend. Asian-inspired papers and embellishments were the most popular global imports, but I also saw Indian, Russian, and Spanish. Several companies were based in foreign countries, including Thailand, the U.K., Japan, Indonesia, and China.

• Amate Paper handmade in Mexico
• Diecuts with a View Far East stacks paper
• Dove of the East Russia Journey and China Journey collections
• Hambly Studios Asian papers
• Imaginisce Exotic East
• Janlynn Handmade exotic papers, kits from Thailand
• Kodomo Japanese vellums, papers, stamps, ribbons, Bako Boxes, wood paper
• Princess Mirah Designs Batik papers with self-adhesive from Indonesia
• NKOK Scrapbook Sewing machine
• Eco-Friendly Papers Handmade sheets of paper from India
• Spanish Memories Project kits with themes
• Stix2Anything An adhesives company from the U.K.
• Wishmade Paper lines with embellishments from Shanghai
• Paper Cellar Embellishment and card-making company from the U.K.

Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow!

Shop at the Scrapbook.com Superstore for all your Scrapbooking Supplies!
Enjoy 5-Star service, HUGE selection and LOW prices!
Click here to start shopping!