If you’re lovin’ the circus cards we showed in this post, we’re giving away an assortment of circus-themed product in the Under the Big Top Sweepstakes!

It features product from:

• Graphic 45
• TaDa Creative Studios
• Creative Imaginations
• Glitz Design
• Imaginisce
• Provo Craft
• My Cute Stamps
• Starving Artistamps
• Artistic Outpost

Enter HERE to win this prize package valued at over $200! Deadline: Oct. 10.

~The Paper Crafts Team

Cath Edvalson

If you joined Susan and me on the Paper Crafts and Moxie Fab World Facebook Fan Pages during CHA itself, and if you’ve been hangin’ around the Moxie Fab World blog during CHA Week last week, you know what fun we’ve all had in, on, and around CHA Summer.

As trends editor at Paper Crafts magazine, it’s my job to make sure that our publications are on trend–which translates to stay super inspiring–which is why I pore over the product the way I do. And once all is said and done, I put together a post which highlights the 12 major trends from each show in my semi-annual Trends by the Dozen post.

So, without further ado, here are the trends that rose to the top, IMHO. They are here to inform you, to inspire you, and to help us all calibrate where our interests and tastes lie in the grand scheme of this ever-evolving industry which we all love so much.

Ready? Set! Scroll!

A trend that continues show after show after show is vintage. I sometimes wonder what it says about our present that is causing our incredibly strong desire to revisit the past visually. Here are some of the best examples of this mainstay trend from this particular show:

Manufacturers represented: Darcie's, Stampendous, Tim Holtz, and Cosmo Cricket

Perhaps related to our desire to return to a simpler time in the vintage trend, what I’m calling the Country and Western trend. There were two lines with the name “Farmhouse,” two major western lines, and more farm and country influences than I could count. Check it:

Manufacturers represented: October Afternoon, KI Memories, My Mind's Eye, Crate Paper, Webster's Pages, Little Yellow Bicycle, and Studio Calico

And while past trends such as banners, doilies, lace, music, cameras, rulers, chevrons (especially as B sides), bakers’ twine, and yes, even owls, are still going strong, the cameo trend, which was so prevalent at CHA Winter, was too rampant not to mention again this time:

Manufacturers represented: American Crafts, Melissa Frances, My Little Shoebox, Studio Calico, Webster's Pages, Maya Road, and Pink Paislee.

Speaking of popular, lasting trends, the sewing trend was honed by focusing on spools and spool tops:

Manufacturers represented: Wendy Vecchi, Jillibean Soup, Pink Paislee, and Maya Road

There are always a handful of icons that are featured at each show. Here are the trendies from this one, beginning with typewriters:

Manufacturers represented: Maya Road and Jillibean Soup

…eyeglasses:

Manufacturers represented: Imaginisce and Pink Paislee

…and feathers:

Manufacturers represented: EK Success and American Crafts

Maps have made their way to the center stage as a design element:

Manufacturers represented: Unity Stamp Company, American Crafts, Inkadinkado, and Teresa Collins Designs

…while the runaway pattern of the show was hexagons:

This paper from Studio Calico is a moxie fab example of this trend!

There were a lot of French influences at the show:

Manufacturers represented: Glitz Design, Die Cuts With a View, Teresa Collins Designs, Darcie's, Prima, and Stampendous

…and one of my favorite trends, what I’m call the retro family trend, reminds me a lot of the television show Mad Men:

Manufacturers represented: Cosmo Cricket, Unity Stamp Company, Suzanne Carillo, October Afternoon, and Pink Paislee

And apparently, this year we want our Christmas lines to be strictly traditional. In fact, most of the lines we saw utilized just the basic Christmas colors–red, green, and lots and lots of black:

Manufacturers represented: Graphic 45, Little Yellow Bicycle, Teresa Collins Designs, Melissa Frances, Webster's Pages, and Cosmo Cricket

So there you have it, friends. The trends that seemed to speak the loudest to me at the show. What do you think? Which are your favorites? Which could you do without? Which can you see yourself actually incorporating into your designs? I’d love to hear the answers to any and all of these questions. And to thank you for taking the time to do so, I’ll offer one lucky (something really trendy and fun from the collections we have on hand.) Just leave a comment by midnight (MDT) on Thursday, Aug. 11 and maybe you will be the winner! 

I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em,
Cath

P.S. Our brand new special issue, Card Ideas for Paper Crafters officially goes on sale today! Look for our fun online promotion (both here and on the Moxie Fab World blog) the week of Aug. 22-26. Get ready for this sketch-filled issue by hopping over to the Skipping Stones Design web site. Go-to Gal Teri Anderson is their the guest sketch designer and will be posting a new sketch there every Tuesday during the month of August!

Cath Edvalson

As you can imagine, we editors here at Paper Crafts magazine use the information we gather at CHA for at least six months until the next show. 

We pore over our notes and photos, we organize and plan, and in my case, I see what rises to the top in terms of trends. We do this so we can bring you the freshest magazines possible filled with products we think you’ll love. 

And while you don’t have to be trendy to be a good card maker, trends are fun, they inspire, and if you’re aware of them, you can pick and choose which trends speak to you most and then decide if/how/when to incorporate them into your work. 

Here is my semi-annual Trends by the Dozen report. These are the motifs, styles, and patterns that kept popping up from booth to booth. And while butterflies, lace, doilies, and banners are still going strong, here are some new players in the paper crafting field. Check it: 

The run-away trend of the show, cameos were absolutely everywhere. I’m not gonna lie, since cameos were the focus of our January/February Moxie Fabs column, I’m seriously loving the timing of this trend: 

Images from Hambly Screen Prints, Maya Road, Webster’s Pages, Jenni Bowlin Studios, The Girls’ Paperie, Anna Griffin, Teresa Collins Designs, and Melissa Frances

Though closely related, these next two trends were hot, hot, hot! We saw a lot of circus product: 

Images from GCD Studios, Graphic 45, and Glitz Design

…as well as a state fair theme: 

Images from Studio Calico and Echo Park Paper

…and related to these two trends as well are fun and funky moustaches: 

Images from My Cute Stamps, GCD Studios, and Hambly Screen Prints

And dare we say that playing cards are tag-alongs in this genre as well? 

Images from Glitz Design, Kaisercraft, Bella Blvd., and Fancy Pants Designs

The single most predominant style of the show is Retro Vintage: 

Images from Vintage Street Market, Webster’s Pages, The Girls’ Paperie, Unity Stamp Company, October Afternoon, Technique Tuesday, and Cosmo Cricket

…and I think cameras: 

Images from Lawn Fawn, Hambly’s Screen Prints, and Maya Road

…and old-fashioned transportation are tag-alongs to that style as well: 

Images from Maya Road, Technique Tuesday, Lily Bee Design, Webster’s Pages, and Crate Paper

Award badges are creeping in to the trendy tableau: 

Images from Jenni Bowlin Studios and Glitz Design

…and lanterns are lighting up the scene brighter than ever before: 

Images from American Crafts, InStyle Stamps, and Lawn Fawn

Botanicals were absolutely everywhere as well: 

Images from La Blanche, Pink Paislee, Jenni Bowlin, and Tim Holtz

…while mixy matchy patterns have become almost commonplace: 

Images from Glitz Design, Making Memories, The Girls’ Paperie, and BasicGrey

And there you have it, my trendy friends, the cream that rose to the top of the winter show. I’d love to know which of these trends you see yourself incorporating into your projects the most and why. Leave me a comment by midnight (MST) on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and I’ll send one lucky person something moxie fab from the show. 

Your trend-watching friend,
Cath 

P.S. Happy birthday wishes go out to our Lone Design Man, Matt Anderson! May the force be with you today! 

P.P.S. It’s time to announce the three winners from Renae’s Back to Stamping Basics post! 

1. Frankie (Feb. 17, 9:48 a.m.)
2. Shanon Gibson (Feb. 17, 8:09 a.m.)
3. Laura M. (Feb. 17, 9:29 p.m.) 

Congrats, winners! You’ve won a copy of Stamp It! Techniques, Stampin’ Up!’s Classic Stampin’ Spots and their A to Z Background Stamp. I’ll be contacting you shortly to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!

Cath Edvalson

As creative editor for Paper Crafts magazine, it’s my job to make sure that the projects we show are fresh, fun and trendy. So, when I walk the showroom floor at CHA, I’m always on the lookout for what inspires, what’s showing up multiple times in multiple places and what’s getting a lot of buzz as I bop from booth to booth.

On the plane ride home, as I started to process all I had seen, I wrote down the common themes that had risen to the top of my experience. Here are they are—my CHA Winter 2010 Trends by the Dozen:

1. Doilies & Lace. Intricate lovelies straight from Grandma’s parlor:

Products from October Afternoon, Little Yellow Bicycle and Donna Salazar

2. Opaque. It’s been about glitter and twinkle. Now it’s about hard-core shine:

Products from Ranger and Pink Paislee

3. Textured Cardstock. Whether it’s custom to a manufacturer, raised or stitched, it’s all about texture:

Products from Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill Basics Paper and Anna Griffin

4. Canvas. Speaking of texture…

Products from Prima, Canvas Corp. and BasicGrey

5. Peace Signs. A return trend from CHA Summer, these happy icons were everywhere I looked:

Products from Little Yellow Bicycle, Adorn It and Reminisce

6. Altered Art. Anything Tim Holtz is hot and these new tools help seal the deal:

Products from Tim Holtz, GCD Studios and Zutter

7. Music. Carrying its own tune:

Products from Glitz Design, Technique Tuesday and October Afternoon

8. Frames. Picture this:

Products from Teresa Collins Design, Webster’s Pages and 7gypsies

9. Buttons. As in cute as a…

Products from Webster’s Pages, The Girls’ Paperie and Jenni Bowlin

10. Vintage Ephemera. Trinkets, cards, images and more:

Products from Melissa Frances, Glitz Design and K&Company

11. Background Text. These say it all…

Products from Prima, Technique Tuesday and Impression Obsession

12. Sewing—the run-away trend of the show. Keeping us in stitches:

Products from Cosmo Cricket and Maya Road

Which of these trends speaks the most to you and why? I’d love to hear your takes on this trendy dozen, friends! Leave me a comment by midnight (MST) on Wednesday, Feb. 10 and I’d be oh-so-happy to send the Material Girl collection from Cosmo Cricket to one random lucky winner!

Dealing in dozens,
Cath

Jennifer Schaerer

We love our Freebie Fridays around here – getting product in the hands of our talented readers is one of our very favorite parts of doing this little blog of ours. I’m always entertained when I see what hoops our blog hostess P. Kelly has lined up for you to jump through in order to enter the contest.

For example, on the Friday before Valentine’s Day, she got you all thinking about love when she sent you on a hunt through our “Quotable You” feature to find the authors of a few quotes. Seek and find is one of my favorites, and judging by the dozens of entries on that Freebie Friday, I’d say it’s one of yours, too!

Winners received this heart-warming selection of love-themed goodies:

Stampin' Up, Glitz Design, A Muse Artstamps, Inkadinkado, and My Mind's Eye donated the items in this lovely collection.

One of our winners was Kelly Marberry, who took advantage of her product right away and made this adorable card to say thanks:

Paper piecing and stamping – what a great combination!

But what really warmed our hearts was Kelly’s message inside:

We think Kelly is already running with a pretty talented group!

The cycle of creativity, from inspiration to product to completed projects, is what keeps us going around here. Thanks, Kelly, for taking the time to show us your stuff – and we’ll look forward to hearing more from you, too!

From my heart,
Jennifer

P.S. Kelly wanted me to announce the winners from last week’s Freebie Friday – March/April I-Spy! Drum roll, please! Congratulations to Jaquelyn, Belinda, Jeni, Cass and Vianna! She’ll be e-mailing you shortly for your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments and played along!