Familiar Faces

Part 3 of CHA Thoughts

In addition to hanging out with our very own Jennifer Perkins over at the Duncan booth at CHA, I was geeked about some new things Duncan had hanging there on the wall….Crafty Chica was in the house! For many scrapbookers, Kathy Cano-Murillo may not be one of those immediately recognizable names but, for those involved in any of the Craft Mafias or from the Phoenix area, you know and love her crafty glittery self. Kathy has a warm contagious smile and, is a crafter through and through. Her product line is designed for folks wanting to really enjoy themselves and have fun making things. Obviously, there is a strong Hispanic influence in her product line which adds to the overall cool vibe but, it’s the vibrancy and colors that make me want to just be carefree in creating and enjoy the moment. Her line truly has introduced the fun and playfulness back into making random things and I will tell you folks, that cute little chihuahua is a MUST have for any creative workspace! In terms of things you can use on your pages, GLITTER, GLITTER and more GLITTER. I was instantly smitten with the colors of glitter…..my personal favorite being the Bollywood Blue although, those pinks had me at hello as well. I am really proud of Duncan; they had a welcoming booth with really cool make n takes and fun people.

Another loverlie that folks would not normally associate with scrapbooking was Claudine Hellmuth over in the Ranger booth. Now, being a mixed media artist by trade, I have followed Claudine’s career for some time. Leave it to her to introduce her line of gel mediums and acrylic paints coupled with wonderful canvas paper to make it all the easier for scrapping folks to take their art to the next level. Of course I loved her fresh and versatile color palette but, it was actually the canvas paper with the adhesive backing that caught my eye. I could instantly see the applications for those desiring to add texture and another dimension to their pages and projects. Canvas in general is one of those materials that can withstand a lot of rough handling and many layers and surface treatments. It is also more natural in it’s composition which makes me feel better about my scrapping choices as well. This was the first time in a while that Ranger came out with something that really was designed to equip the consumer, take their creative process up a notch and inspire their muse. Having referred many of my students to Claudine to take classes, not only is she a professional in every sense of the word, she truly loves to teach and it shows in the way she designed this line.