A review of Live at CHA

On my personal blog, I raved about my experience in taking part in CHA through Charity Wings.  I thought my enthusiasm for the weekend was unique and too silly to share with you all.  However, the adorable Julie Cooper-Hraynyk has since confirmed that I'm not the only overly enthused nut. Ha!

Julie shared a few of her thoughts and actually stated that the

experience was more than [she] ever expected!

"I signed in, focused like I was about to take three days of intense classes. After logging in I suddenly realized I was in a chat room full of nurturing ladies who all shared the same passion for crafting as I do.

Shortly our moderators and volunteers joined the room, coming online to introduce themselves, the countdown started for the beginning of our event. We were all so excited, sharing stories and showing things we had made. Some showing their studios and others introducing their families.  

Once Elena came on the screen she was so energetic, wanting everything to be perfect for all of us, 

some of the time there was more than 100 of us all in the chat room at one time. 

 

This didn't fluster Elena or the moderators and volunteers at all. We met so many "celebrities".   At times we were awestruck and speechless. Vendors came on screen to show us new products and how to use them, then they were generous enough to give us a chance to win the new products as well as donating a second set to be posted as a silent auction on eBay to raise money for the wonderful charity, Crops Of Love. 

I was so touched to know that I was able to be a part of this. It opens your heart to realize that what you give can do so much for others. 

I learned so much from the vendors, got to see generosity first hand, was given the chance to help raise money for charity via silent auctions and last but not least I made friends with people from all over the states, as well as Australia. 

I can not wait to join in on another event with Charity Wings."

 

Julie also mentioned that she had never made a card before this webcast!  I was so shocked to see people say things like that...but then again, I know ther are many crafty things that I haven't yet attempted myself.

The first card Julie made was one inspired and demoed by Nikki Sivils.  She was super sweet and great at inspiring all of us to use the samples to our own liking.

How cute is this card?!

I guess Julie was so inspired by how quick it is to make a card because she made another card that weekend using the Prima flowers and paper.

Second card Julie has EVER made!

inside of Julie's card

 
Great job, Julie!!!!!!!  Hope you will only continue to be inspired to try something new, but I understand how it great it feels to do something like this when you're also benefiting a great cause like Crops of Luv!

Let’s Help Crops of Luv

Did you participate in Live at CHA.  Well, if you did, you already know that many, many items were donated by designers and manufacturers to benefit Crops of Luv!!!  Charity Wings is selling those items on eBay.

Let me give you some examples.  Click on any of the photos to be taken to that auction.

 

 

The first thing donated was this adorable Slumber Party Tote designed and created by the lovely, Laura Bray.  It even includes the cutie pie teddy bear!!!

Isn’t this the perfect set to send that little girl off on her first sleepover?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you like to get organized?  Well, you can certainly do that with a brand new Clip it Up by Simply Renee.  It includes all you see here; the bottom tier, upper tier and the base plus the zip bags and clips.  Boy, would I like this on my desk.  Keeping things out in the open where you can see them means you’ll use them more. 

No more finishing a project and then saying, “Oh I could have used THAT paper but I forgot about it.”   I know I have a whole cart of paper sitting on the other side of the room because I just don’t have room for it near me.    The paper in that cart rarely gets used.

 

 

 

 

 

I am in love with this Vintage Street Market kit.  I’m hoping I win it.  If not, I sure hope it will be in my LSS!!!

What would I get, you ask?  You will receive the Dime Store Vogue Collection I set and you will get 1 package of Linen Tinted Tape, and 1 package of Aged Tinted Tape.  I’ve seen these items put to use on their blog and they are so fun!!!

 

 

 

 

There are several electronic items as well.

  

The eCraft Electronic cutting system.  The first and only electronic cutter that allows you to cut without a mat.  Its ease of use combined with advanced technology makes the eCraft the perfect cutting system for all consumers- beginner to expert. It is ideal for scrapbooking, banners, paper crafting, card making, fashion designing, home decor, and so much more.

The eCraft's unique design and paper feeder system make it easy to cut materials automatically, without the use of a cutting mat. Use the Paper Tray to stack multiple sheets at a time, or use the Roller to cut 12" by ANY length.  The eCraft is ultra slim, and its lightweight design and onboard storage compartment let you take it anywhere. Use it on its own with SD Image Cards, or attached to a computer with the eCraftshop Design Software that comes in the box! With the large selection of fonts, shapes and designs, anyone can be an expert in minutes. Making great looking projects has never been easier!

Brought to you be eCraft, the winner will receive a unit in one of the 4 colors shown above.  I’d be choosing the light blue!!!

 

 

FlipPal Mobile Scanner.  Preserve and protect memories…share them with loved ones.

Memories and stories bind families together.  How will you preserve and share yours?  With the FlipPal™ mobile scanner, no longer will your precious photos, documents and other memories be scattered, lost or hidden. Have fun and enhance your creativity, then share your memories with family and friends. And save time in the process. Take advantage of the patented flip-and-scan technology to scan photos safely while still in the album or frame.

You can scan a lot more than photos too!  Do you remember Elena’s video here?  If you didn’t got take a look!  You’ll have fun going shopping with her as she scans just about everything in sight!!!

 

Echo Smartpen by Live Scribe.  The Echo™ smartpen records everything you hear, write and draw. Later, simply tap on your notes to replay the recording so you can find what you need, instantly. 4GB of memory can hold over 400 hours of audio.

• Record and Play Back--Remember everything you write and hear.  Then replay the recorded audio by tapping directly on your notes.
• Save and Search--Save your notes to your computer. Search for words within your notes.
• Send and Share--Share your notes and recordings either publicly or privately. Pencasts can be sent as an email or embedded in a website, blog, or on Facebook.
• Applications--Customize your smartpen with downloadable applications available at livescribe.com.

Doesn’t that sound like the coolest thing ever!  It would be perfect for you high school senior heading off to college or just about anyone else!!!  I would love to use it for my art journaling!

There are so many more things that I just couldn’t possibly list them all here but here’s a partial list.

• craft books
• Sure Scraps a Lot
• Cri-Kits pen sets for Cricut, Silhouette and Eclipse
• Copics
• and more.

Go check it out and, remember, it all benefits Crops of Luv.

Time…Where Does It Go?

This is reposted from the Brave Girl Club blog.

Lately I have been busy….like crazy busy.  As a mother of 2 babies (ages 3 months and 2 years), wife (of -among other things – a high school wrestling coach), homemaker, assistant to Brave Girls Club and everything else I do, I am always running from one thing to the next – appointments, wrestling meets, breakfast, lunch and dinner, diapers, laundry, work.  At any given time I have a handful of things I could give my attention to.  In the last few weeks I’ve felt exhausted by it…unable to get ahead or even feel like I have a handle on all of the important things going on.  I’ve got to prioritize and that’s a hard job – figuring out which is MOST important from a list of important things.

It wasn’t always like this…I mean thinking back…when I was a kid there wasn’t much to prioritize and if there was I didn’t know it because it was all done for me.  As far as I was concerned at that age, all 24 hours in the day belonged to me.  They were mine to do whatever I wanted with…no worries about anyone else.  My mom woke me up for breakfast and got me to school, fed me lunch and dinner and tucked me into bed at night.  The rest of the day was wide open with possibilities for coloring, building sand castles, jumping rope, playing house and really anything else me, my sister and our imaginations could come up with.

Fast forward a few years and I decided to take on some responsibility and get a job while I was in high school.  In other words for the first time in my life I made the decision to take a few of the hours that belonged to me and give them to something else.  And it felt good, and grown up and like the right thing to do and the right step to take.  I still had LOTS of hours left over for myself and as the years went on and I left high school for college, time for myself increased.  I moved out and soon all 24 hours in the day were mine – to choose who and where to allot them.

Somewhere in college I met a boy…I mean I met lots of boys…but I met one boy who stood out from all the others.  It didn’t take long (and certainly didn’t take a conscious decision) to start giving all of my extra hours to him.  Pretty soon we shared more of my hours than I took for myself and a few months down the road, when he asked me, I made the choice to keep him in my life – to always have time for him and for us.

Fast forward to today and we have made the choice to have 2 babies…babies who require time in order to be cared for and to feel loved.  And as you know from the beginning of my post there are a million other things I have my time going toward.  I have no doubt you are the same way.

The time has come for me to really prioritize…maybe it’s time for me to cut things out all together…maybe you feel the same way.  Because we only get 24 hours in a day…a hard lesson we’ve all learned is that sometimes we just don’t have time for everything we’ve said “yes” to.  And that’s okay!  As long as we are saying “yes” to the right things…the BEST things…and “no” to the things that aren’t going to matter as much in the long run.

In my journey to figure out where to put my time, I am learning that I can only do one or two things at the same time REALLY well.  The time that belongs to my children should REALLY belong to them.  They deserve it, and I deserve it AND they are the choice I made.  That means that the time that belongs to them is theirs…they don’t have to share it with work…except housework, but that’s important for them and it’s not all the time.

The point is…they get some of the time just for them.

My husband gets some of my time.

My home gets some of my time…for my peace…for my family’s peace.

Meals get some of my time because it’s important for me to feed my family healthy, thoughtful food.

I get some of my time…to recharge…to exercise…to be alone with my thoughts…to sleep.

My job gets some of my time.

BUT here’s the big one…once all of our 24 hours are gone, they’re gone.  As much as we wish for some time bank where we can make unlimited withdrawals, there isn’t one.  I say “we” because I’m sure you’ve wished for the same.  Until we realize that our time is limited, it’s easy to spend a few “extra” hours on this or that.  But there are no bonus hours, there are no free or extra hours.  There are 24 hours.  That’s all we get, and we have to decide where they belong and who/what to give them to.

If I want to give more time to my job, I have to take it from somewhere it’s already been allotted, which doesn’t seem like a big deal (and once in a while it probably isn’t a big deal) until I think about those hours as the ones I’ve already promised to my babies or to my husband or to our peaceful home.  Am I willing to take my time from them and give it to my JOB?  I’ve done that…unintentionally like I’m sure you have…and let me tell you, it doesn’t make anyone happy.

So Jackson time belongs to Jackson – not to the computer or the vacuum or the toilet brush and Lydia time belongs to her and to her snuggles.  And work time is for work and if I am going to decide to give time to work, then I’ve got to do that without taking from anything or anyone else.   And once the time is gone…it’s gone.  Maybe before all the hours are gone, we should really think about where we are putting them….and where we are taking them from.

It is such a delicate balance, but we can do it.  We might have to cut things out – so let’s do it!!   Things that are robbing our time…people who are robbing our time.  Things and people that are good, but aren’t the BEST things for us to give our time to.  I can do it, you can do it.  Let’s prioritize…let’s give 100% of our time, attention and energy intentionally.  Let’s give our time to the people and things that mean the very most to us and leave the rest for someone else (or no one else…that would be okay too).

Thanks Kallie!  This is beautifully said and a real lesson for all women.  I met Kallie and Jackson (Lydia wasn’t quite here yet) at Brave Girls Camp in July.  I have to tell you that Jackson doesn’t always look a little unhappy.  He was almost always happy even among over 25 women that he didn’t even know!!!

snOMG 2011 in Chicago...now what?

Well...it's official....the Chicago Blizzaster has hit!  It's almost midnight here in Chicago and this is what I see outside my window.  We've experienced something called Thundersnow (unreal!) which I don't ever recall having witnessed before.

Yup....the snow is really piled up that high and this beast has just picked up steam!

So what does this mean for me tomorrow ?  Thankfully, I can (and have to) work from home tomorrow.  I'm guessing a good chunk of my team, if not all, will be home tomorrow so there won't be a lot of communicating.  This could even get more problematic if the power goes out - eek!

So I'm snowed in...what shall I do?

CREATE!!!!

Having spent the weekend with so many of you, I've been able to see the coolest new and upcoming products and I've been inspired.  If you weren't able to participate in the webcast this weekend, make sure to stop by the Charity Wings facebook page.  All the links to the designers and manufacturers are posted.  Lots and lots of good stuff, I promise!!!!

The coolest product I saw this weekend?  Hmmm.....I think I'm going to have to say that I was awe-struck by TAP (Transfer Artist Paper).  I can't wait to stop by my lss to pick some up and play.

I also can't wait to hear about how much we were able to raise for Crops of Luv!  A lot of items were put for auction on eBay to continue benefiting Crops of Luv...so make sure to stop my and submit some bids.  There is some super cool stuff on there!  I'll gladly take any donations :)

I also just officially joined Club Royalty.  I know, I know....bad blogger Nubia!  I should have signed up ages ago!  But in doing so, I got to see some of the cool initiatives that they just shared...so I'm definitely gonna catch up and make some cards for that.  Maybe that's where I'll start tomorrow!

First day of LIVE at CHA!

If you didn't have the chance to take part in today's webcast from CHA, I will be the first to rub it in....

YOU MISSED A TON!

In all seriousness, the Crops of Luv fundraiser through this webcast has far exceeded my expectations.  The make & takes are great, and we have the chance to hear from various manufacturers and designers.

There is so much that I could talk about....but thankfully all of the links to the amazing people and products we saw today can be found on the Scrapbook Royalty facebook page.

Who's getting excited about Live at CHA?!

Who is?  I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being in Chicago, I often feel like I miss out on a lot of the cool events that Scrapbook Royalty affiliates host or take part in.  So the chance to take part in some on-line make and takes during CHA is super exciting! 

It's not too late to register!  CHA is next weekend, so don't delay!

Come and join me in the fun!

And check out the video by Elena that describes all the goodies in the swag bag you'll receive to take part in the weekend webcast.

Take a Look!

Elena is showing off the contents of our Swag Bag!!!

Live at CHA with Charity Wings

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Why Should You Sign Up for Live at CHA?

Laura Bray has graciously answered this question for you!!! 

In Laura’s own words:

“I'm a CHA member, so I'm going to the show, but I'm almost jealous of the people who are doing the Live at CHA Event!  The lines of make & takes at the show can get long and there are so many booths that you can get overwhelmed and miss out on seeing some great new products.  The CHA Live folks aren't going to have these issues (not to mention the costs of parking, and staying in a hotel and the bad food options!).  If you have ever wanted to attend CHA this is an amazing opportunity!”

That’s not all!  Can you believe it that the one and only  Donna Downey will be demoing for Faber-Castell during the event.  I can’t wait to see that one.  I for one, watch Donna’s Inspiration Wednesday posts on her blog every week!  I wonder what she’s got going this week?

There’s even more to come so stay tyned to this spot!!!

Prima Make and Take

You have got to see this!!!

This is the make and take goodies that will soon be on the way from Prima to use in the Live at CHA Prima make and take!  Can you believe all this Prima beauty?  I love the butterflies, the paper and, as always, their beautiful flowers!!!

If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time.  This is only the beginning.  I’ve heard of more goodness from some of the other sponsors.  I can’t wait to share more!!!

Click here to register now and you will receive a swag bag valued at over $50!

Do You Know Suzi Blu?

Well neither do I but I’m dying to meet her!!!

I have several of Suzi’s Unity stamps and taking one of her classes is on my to do list for this year but I’m thinking that meeting here in person is going to have to wait until another time.

Unless, like me, you are registered for Charity Wings Live at CHA event.  Suzi will be at CHA with our very own Elena interviewing some of our industries finest and smartest and playing along with the make and takes.  And you get to play right along with them!!!

So, if you haven’t registered yet, go to the Live at CHA page on the Charity Wings website to register.  You will receive a swag bag containing things that you will need for the make and takes (worth over $50)!!!

Support Crops of Luv through LIVE at CHA!!!!

Crops of Luv is a great agency that started a few years ago to make memory books for termilly ill children.  They organize supply drives and large gatherings of volunteers to create each of the scrapbooks.

The result?

An incredible gift for the families of these brave little souls.

Many of us, like me, will be unable to attend CHA because we are out-of-state, but you can still take part from the comfort of your own home!  But we can all help support the work of Crops of Luv anyway!!!

How?

Get your ticket for an exclusive ALL ACCESS 3-DAY PASS to Live Video Streaming direct from the tradeshow floor, hosted by the Charity Wings Founder, Elena Lai Etcheverry and special guests.  Event fundraising will benefit the Crops of Luv charity.

More Live at CHA News!!!

Elena almost has the goodie bags ready to go out and CHA is just around the corner.  Are you going with her?
You can go to CHA with Elena via your computer and the internet.  Since my last post, I have more great news to share with you.
First of all and what I’m really excited about is that Suzi Blu is joining Elena there!!!  I love that  girl and have one of her online classes on my to do list for this year!!!  She has so much talent and I can’t wait to see what she is sharing with us at CHA!
That would be enough for me but, hold on to your hats now ladies, Provo Craft is giving an awesome, Cricut Imagine.  Imagine That!!!  And they are giving us a second one to auction and raise money for Crops of Luv! The charity that is benefiting from the LIVE at CHA event. They unveiled this machine at CHA Summer.  Just in case you haven’t heard, this thing cuts AND prints AND embosses!!!  Imagine That!!!  (Don’t ya’ just love my little pun!  I crack myself up!!!)
So, what’s next you ask?  How would you like to come along for free?  If you get four of your friends to join you in this awesome adventure,YOUR registration is free!  Once you and your friends have registered, email your four friends names in and your registration will be refunded!!!







Do you own or no someone that owns a scrapbook store.  They can carry Live at CHA in there store!  Just contact info@charitywings.org for the specific information!

Plus, if you could help us out, we would love it!  Please post one of these ads (the top one or this one directly above) on your blog, Facebook or other social media site.  We really do appreciate it!
So, to recap all that’s happening at CHA--

• 3 days of live streaming video.
• Exclusive live chats with industry  artists and designers.
• First peek at new releases.
• Make & Takes using your Goodie Bag sent to you prior to the event.
• Giveaways throughout the event.
• Auction of new releases benefiting Crops of Luv.

To register click here and scroll down to the bottom of the screen!

Club Royalty

The fourth cycle of Club Royalty is starting now and it’s FREE for the next three months.  It’s our gift to you!!!

Are you a charitable crafter?  What is a charitable crafter?  A charitable crafter is someone who loves to create handmade objects for someone in need.  Simple as that.  Are you in!

For the first project of this cycle, we are making Valentine cards for Card Cupid.  Card Cupid will be gathering handmade Valentine cards to be given to kids at The Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel.

So, go to the Club Royalty page on the Charity Wings website to get more details.  Then go to the Club Royalty Facebook page and “Like” us where you can read all about the projects and activities!  There will be Special Designer Chats where members will be eligible for prizes!!!  We all love prizes, don’t we?

Join us, won’t ya’.

Live at CHA Update

I’ll tell ya’ what!  Elena continues to amaze me with updates about our Live at CHA event!  I mentioned in the last CHA blog post about our wonderful swag bags but now Elena tells me that we are getting a free Make-N-Take from the people at Flower Soft.

Yes, I said Flower Soft.  They are the people that bring you pretty little sprinkles to add to your flowers to give them beautiful, soft dimension.  They will be giving a pot of this magic along with a tube of glue by Duncan and they will be hosting a live demonstration from the showroom floor on how to use the items they are adding to the swag bag!

  

     

       

I hear the Make-N-Take thing is going to be awesome.   It will be streamed live from the showroom floor.  You can work on your own project from home while you chat with everyone else from their homes.   Then, if you want to show off your project, just raise your hand and they’ll turn the cameras on you.  (Hopefully I will have figured out how to use my webcam by then. *giggle*)

You will be able to chat with industry leaders and designers that are attending CHA!  There will be giveaways from manufacturers if you are in the chat room! 

So, how about you?  I’ve purchased my ticket and I’m clearing my schedule from January 29-30th that I can be around for as many live sessions as possible!  Come join me!!!

Click here to join in all the fun!