Kristl Pelz: August 2009 Archives

Whew! Orlando in July. Even this southern lady can melt a bit in the withering Florida heat and humidity. Luckily, I was staying right across the street from the absolutely tremendous Orange County Convention Center. A quick walk and I was in the A/C breathing the creativity filled air of the Craft and Hobby Association's Summer show. I'll hit the highlights, but I'm not giving away everything we'll be bringing you. I want you to have a few surprises when they hit the web site.

We will be creating a fabulous needle arts category starting in September. I met with my wonderful Rowan Rep, Carol, before I went to Orlando. She guided me through a maze of beautiful yarns in a myriad of colors and luxurious fibers. Those fabulous fibers will be arriving on the web site in mid September. At the show, I spoke with the nice people at Clover. They make the smoothest bamboo knitting needles that are a joy to hold. They have a new kind of needles called ''Velvet.'' They are even smoother and have very precise point for the Power Knitter. We already carry many of their needle felting products, and we will have more to come!

On the yarn side of the things at the show, I also met with Lion Brand Yarns. They have some wonderful basics that we will carry. They also carry Vanna White's yarns. She is an avid crocheter, but these yarns can also be used for knitting, of course. Pisgah yarns will bring us the Peaches and Cream brand of 100% cotton yarn. It is still made in the USA, and it comes in more colors and variegations than I imagined. My sister loves this yarn for knitting her Miniature Schnauzer's sweaters. They will also supply us with 100% Mercerized Pearl Cotton. It's most classically used for crochet.

I saw a booth filled with funky buttons, and I knew you would love them. Blumenthal/Lansing has button collections that include very modern motifs in fantastic color combinations! Some are opaque and some have a little clear area to feature whatever is beneath. These buttons have lots of applications outside of making a garment fabulous. They also have a terrific collection of ceramic buttons. I can see them on a beautiful sweater or jacket. This booth had a Make and Take mini class. I made a cute button pendant. They promise kits for the pendants in the future.

One of the most popular Make and Take classes at the show was at the Plaid Booth. They have simplified screen printing, and made it so cool! They have created about 30 different reusable stencils in some fabulous motifs! There's a chandelier, a skull with a crown, yoga motifs and more. They have a screen printing paint, and a ''medium'' that allows you to use foil or glitter on the designs. And it's all washable! You can just squeegee on one color, or get in there and hand paint, glitter and foil within the stencil. I see a lot of possibilities and a Craft Day for our staff in the future so we can show you more!

The show was full of all kinds of crafting possibilities including a great deal of scrap booking suppliers. Those booths were full of inspiration and eye candy. I did a couple of Make and Takes at those booths as well even though I do not scrap. I do wear jewelry, and those mini classes were a lot of fun. There are so many tools and mediums out there. Some of them have a fabric angle. I am going to have a lot of fun trying to figure them out and bring them to you!