Crafts : Editor's Picks: General Crafts : Home & Garden Television

What a privilege it was to attend the 2003 HIA trade show! I was the wide-eyed kid in a candy store, in awe of the wonderful sights and ideas to be discovered around every corner. There were literally hundreds of booths of great products--some that you've been using for years and some that aren't even in stores yet. Here are some of my favorites.

I'm so glad someone has finally thought of this--two companies have, in fact. From the vintage workshop's vintage art and labels on CD and Heart & Home’s peel-and-stick vintage labels, crafters can make a limitless amount of projects. From the vintage workshop’s themed CD collections, you get not only vintage labels but also beautiful vintage art. You can print designs as many times as you want, in various sizes, to use in cardmaking, fabric crafts and lampshades, which is what I first used them for. Their web site has really inspiring samples of dozens of pretty things you can make with their art--many I never would have thought of. The collections include baby images, floral, Victorian, Christmas, Halloween, spring, and more.

Website: www.thevintageworkshop.com

If you don’t have a computer, Heart & Home’s peel-and-stick labels might be for you. These labels mimic antique product labels and come in collections like gardening, the medicine cabinet, water closet (with pretty vintage bathubs), and others. They already have an antiqued appearance, so all you have to do is peel and stick.

Website: www.HeartandHome.com

Judi Kauffman introduced me to Sulyn’s Shimmer Sheetz at the show. These shimmery, sparkly sheets of mylar come in packs of various colors and you can do just about anything to them—emboss them, melt them, stencil them, stamp on them, cut them, punch them, pierce them? The only thing you can’t do with them is ignore them—they’re a really wonderful new product.

Website: www.Sulyn.com

Silkpaint’s Air Pen is a handy little tool that allows you to draw with virtually all paints, glues, icings, liquid clays and slips, glazes, inks, nail polish and more--no tiresome squeezing, no messy brushes. The 110V, four PSI air pump comes with six feet of air tubing, six QuickChange cartridges, and 11 interchangeable applicator tips in various sizes. The trick to this tool is their patented Venturi system that allows precise control of flow and drip-free operation with just the movement of your finger, and switching from one color or material to the next is simple and nearly instantaneous—you don’t have to clean it out in between one and the next. Say goodbye to air bubbles, thin skips and heavy blobs; say hello to mistake-free application of a variety of art and craft materials.

Website: www.Silkpaint.com

Parapluie’s Fleurish boxes were featured on Carol Duvall’s HIA special last year, but they were still one of my favorite things about this year’s show so I’m bringing them up again, just in case someone didn’t see them last year. They are best described as blooming boxes, because several of graduated sizes sit inside one another and, when the lids are removed, bloom open to reveal a lovely sight or whatever favors or gifts you’ve concealed inside. It’s a present around a present, and who doesn’t love to give the loveliest gift at a party or shower? They come in packs of several colors and styles, and you can combing more than one pack to make an even more impressive "bloom" with even more layers. I think they’d also be great boxed up separately and stacked tall, tied up with ribbon and concealing little surprise in each one for a tower of presents.

Website: www.UmbrellaInsights.com

EK Success' ZIG Photo Twin and MooVue are going to make a lot of happy scrapbookers and photographers. The Photo Twin markers allow you to add colorful accents to black and white photos to create those greeting-card-looking vintage styles that have been so popular, or just to add a blush or blue eyes to a cute baby photo.

The MooVue film allows you to take the simplest black and white photos ever for all of you who are crazy about heritage and antique-looking photos.

I also love their ZIG Emboss pens--you can draw your own freehand designs with these embossing-ink pens or use them to fill in and touch up spots that your stamps miss after you've embossed. They come in a variety of tips.

Website: www.EKSuccess.com

I was so thrilled to see Beacon Adhesives’ Foam Finish at the show. I’d spent hours in the weeks before trying to figure out a way to create a smooth finish on Strofoam and ta da! There it was. The sample they featured at the show was a big piece of cake; the layers were uncoated foam painted brown (which looked incredibly like chocolate cake), and the icing of course was Foam Finish. Their clever designers had even used the firmer layer of Foam Finish (in the container before you stir it up) to make faux-icing flowers and accents for the cake. Very clever and very ingenious—I’ve already got projects lined up for this stuff.

Website: www.Beacon1.com

These aren’t new but they were grand and new to me: Coronado Island Stamp’s Bloomers CD and tool kit allows you to print and cut simple spirals with decorative-edge scissors and roll the strip into amazing little paper flowers! The tool kit has tools to help you curl the petals and such to give them an even more realistic look.

Website: www.CIstamping.com

Z-Barten has taken Confetti to a whole new level with their Embellishments, Powderz, Party Ice, Star Dust, Jimmies, Glitter, Tintzl and Ensemble Trios coordinated themes of three of the above. From Easter bunnies and eggs to dancing brides and grooms, they have Confetti in shapes and sizes that will add an extra punch to your crafts. Jimmies are shaped like those tiny little long candy sprinkles, except they are flat, and the Powderz are really fine, small sparkles. Party Ice is just the opposite—it’s larger, chunky, thin glitter, and Tintzl is really long, thin, wispy strands of the sparkly stuff. The Star Dust is my favorite; you get three tiny shapes of glitter (including stars) in one package.

Website: www.Confetti.com

I haven’t tried the ColorCutter yet, but I’m anxious to get one. I somehow missed their booth at the show but found them in a press kit that I brought home with me. According to the materials and packaging I saw, it’s a marker that not only marks but it cuts as you draw. How can that be, I wonder? It piqued my interest! It comes in 10 colors, plus silver and gold; cuts paper, card stock, photos--even some fabrics and foam.

Website: www.ColorCutter.com

Crafting with wire is hotter than ever, but it always struck me as a time-consuming product to work with. No longer! Two products I saw at the show are going to make quick work of wire crafting: the Wyr Knittr and the Wire Writer. The Wyr Knittr is a circular, hand-held knitting machine that allows you to create knitted mesh wire cording in a matter of minutes. Using 28-, 30- and 32-gauge wire, you can make necklaces, purses, belts, home accessories, ornaments—just about anything you want out of it. Incorporate beads, flatten it out, tie it in a knot or braid it—the possibilities are endless.

Website: www.WyrKnittr.com

The Wire Writer is another clever tool that allows you to "write" with wire; the tool holds your spool of wire and disperses it as needed for use with their Jewelry Jigs and other jigs that guide you through making your own wire words, spirals, and other shapes. Just by arranging pegs in the jig and then "writing" around them, you can make your own scrapbooking, card, jewelry or home accents.

Website: www.ArtisticWire.com

If you’re a cookie maker like me, you have probably also been frustrated when you wanted a particular cookie cutter that you couldn’t find. Here’s the solution: the Cookie Crafting Kit allows you to make your own copper cookie cutters! The kit includes 72 inches of solid copper strip, permanent adhesive, a work base, and forming tools and patterns to help you out—even recipes. It’s a simple four-step process—I can’t wait to make my own cool copper cutters.

Website: www.CookieCraftingPlus.com

The Gee-Perz folks were a fun bunch to meet at the show, and they are all excited about their kits for kids. They should be—they’ve thought of everything and these things are hot. Gee-Perz are all-inclusive (and they really do mean ALL inclusive) kits that make four quick, fun projects for kids. They are perfect for birthday parties or play groups, because everything you need for four kids to make a project is in there. The projects are great, too—from frames and jewlery to art pieces and lampshades, plus dozens more. They are age-specific and much more clever than many simple kits for kids that I’ve seen.

Website: www.GeePerz.com

I’m happy to help spread the word about Products for the Cure. Everyone has seen those little pink ribbons that people wear to help spread awareness for breast cancer; this organization has a colored ribbon for every cause you can think of, and they’ve taken their ideas to the crafters with stickers, paper, confetti, stencils, suncatchers, ornaments, and more. The fund-raising possibilities are endless, and I foresee "crafting for the cure" opportunities to spring out of these products.

Website: www.ProductsForTheCure.com

The pewter accents from Atelier de Paris are one of my very favorite things from the show. They are so clever and versatile! They are self-adhesive and flexible, but they are soft pewter and have such a nice sheen to them. They come in alphabets, photo corners, travel themes, scroll shapes and other designs, and you can punch, cut and stamp on your own. They are perfect for scrapbooks, cards, journal covers, bottle decorations, candles (they melt with the candle!) and dozens of other applications. I love the Eiffel Tower ones.

Website: www.AtelierdeParis.com

QuinCrafts makit&bakit kits are for kids but I really believe that they’d appeal to grownups too—especially ones with modern decorating styles. The bowl kits make coaster and bowls using melting pellets in pans—just pour in the brightly colored pellets, melt and voila! You have a nearly clear acrylic bowl or coaster that looks like an expensive glass piece but for a fraction of the cost You can arrange the pellets yourself to make any design you want.

Website: www.QuinCrafts.com

Crafts

Editor's Picks: General Crafts

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Editor's Picks: General Crafts

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