First the CHA show. I didn’t see much that really stuck out. Some new Tim Holtz stuff, which I’ll cover in a bit, but otherwise nothing really new. There was new papers obviously, and new lines, but there were a lot of people NOT at the show, and a lot of the same old stuff really. It seemed that was the general consensus on the show floor. Even in the parking garage elevator a complete stranger asked me if I saw anything cool, cuz she didn’t. I think just about everyone I talked to blamed the economy. (As a side note, I paid $4.40 something for gas in Chicago… it’s down to $3.85 around here today. Although I’m sure that is short lived.)

Anyway, here are some photos layout with some new stuff I liked…

The great part about CHA, and I’ve said this before, is that I get to catch up with people I don’t get to see all that often…

Now to what you’ve all been waiting for… the one and only Tim Holtz. Each and every single time I see him I learn something. Usually a lot of somethings honestly. This time was no different! If you aren’t a stamper or what I call the artsy fartsy type and thus have kinda stayed away from Ranger products, (besides Distress Ink, which everyone seems to have), then you need to think again! It is really very versatile and the uses outside of the stamping world are pretty vast.

Tim Holtz came out with a new line of masks. They are a lot like the Heidi Swapp masks with some improvements that make a big difference. First, they are CLEAR. Which at first I didn’t think was going to be all that big of a deal, but once I saw it in action, the concept really does make life a lot easier. Check it out.

Those are the masks on the tag and you can actually see what the masked area is gonna look like under all the inks and such Tim is adding.

The after!

Another tidbit is on the crackle paint. Apparently the paint is self-leveling. Meaning you put it on think and it will level itself out so you don’t have “piles” of it on the surface. Tim says it takes about 15 minutes to start to crackle and that you really should leave it to crack up on its own. Once the cracking starts, it is then safe to speed it up with a heat gun. That being said, the heat gun does make for fairly large cracks. So it depends what kind of look you are going for. Here is a photo of the application.

Thick application on Grungeboard.

Paint Dabbers – you can’t cross-contaminate them. Tim did this embossed Grungeboard bird with several different dabber colors and showed just how that works. I hadn’t ever really though about it, but being they only “put out” paint, they don’t take any up.

Ok embossed Grungeboard, then painted and wiped off to reveal the embossing. Then he started to ink.

I also learned a few other things and some Tims personal phobia, lol. I’ll share that tomorrow. Today is my wedding anniversary and Denny will be home soon so I need to get ready. I think we are going out for dinner and I need to stop at the jeweler as I see I’m missing a diamond in my bracelet. Poo!

Happy Anniversary to me… Now go play with all your Ranger stuff now that I’ve given you all this inspiration!

~j