The Winter 2013 Craft & Hobby Assn. show was a whirlwind this year--I had one day to get through the show, so there was a lot of flying through ailes. I was happy to reconnect with a bunch of people I hadn't seen for a while, and while perusing booths a few unique things did catch my eye. My compatriots this year were Craftside maven and "Sweater Surgery" author Stefanie Girard, and artist and photographer extraordinaire Maria Del Pinto.
The dress above was created by Beth Gerlach for Bella Blvd. Yep, it's paper. Paper dresses seem to be everywhere these days, but this stunner is truly exceptional. I can't imagine the amount of time it took to create it.
Here's a close-up of the train:
I wonder if Kleinfeld's would ever carry something like this?
More paper fun was found at the Sizzix booth, which introduced a new line of Brenda Walton dies. Not just any dies--dies to make three-dimensional shoes (two styles) and tea cups, plus other lovely designs such as swans. Those are the shoes above, and below are the cups.
Here's a lovely idea board with some of the other dies on it, such as the swan and the cake. Can't wait until these are available. Love the Brenda Walton papers that were used, too.
Going green is still a strong trend in the craft industry, and I'm not talking about a shade of chartreuse. Several companies make use of recycled materials and offer toxin-free supplies. At this show sewing thread company Gütermann introduced its Sew-all Thread 100 m rPET, which translates into thread made from 100% recycled polyester, as in water bottles. I hope this inspires more companies to follow suit.
And last but certainly not least, American Tag thrilled me to no end with its line of vintage-inspired tags and other paper goods. Styles include travel tags, post cards, tags with decorative borders, and decorated envelopes. My favorites were the vintage hotel tags, shown below. Are they not amazing? Can't wait to make a travel journal and include these.
Well, that's it. I told you it'd be short. Soon to come, though: candy, and a bookbinding tutorial. Yum.
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