because i like 7...

... i'll dish on my 7 favorite new products/collections released at cha last week.

01. "the boyfriend" by cosmo cricket -  i think we are all drooling over this one. love the deep red test sheet, paper airplanes, and obviously i'm super stoked on the tone on tone mix tapes! plus, i've already gushed about the chip stickers that go with this line, but i'll say it again! love that they went with a tape walkman instead of an ipod, polaroid instead of a regular camera & chucks instead of newer sneakers! still can't wait to get my hands on those, but i was lucky enough to snag some of this paper when i placed our order, so look for it in something fun soon!

02. tim holtz's "film strip ribbon" - this is one of those things we're all going to be seeing in every kit ever as soon as it becomes available, but for good reason. it's well thought out; 3 yards of transparent "ribbon" that looks like film strip, packaged in a mini film can. plus, it's sized to easily fit index prints in the frames and the holes along the edge are actually punched out. 3 yards gives you a lot of room to play and come up with all kinds of killer uses for it.

03. "doilies" rub-ons from hambly screen prints - so, to me, the last few sets of rub-ons from hambly have seemed thicker and a little shinier than the past rub-ons, and i'm totally cool with that. in fact, i think that is what makes them look so awesome on clear acrylic albums, which is exactly what i have in mind for these new "doilies" rub-ons! the colors are awesome and they've already sent my creative wheels spinning with ideas for a cool class.

04. we r memory keepers' "teen angst" mini stamp sets - the paper line itself is pretty hideous, and 90-ish% of the embellishments terrify me, but the mini stamp sets are ridiculous! the one pictured above happens to be my favorite, because of the mix tape and 3d glasses obviously, but other sets also have scooters, headphones, ipods & other awesome little icons! hopefully we'll have our hands on these soon so that i can get to playing!

05. lifestyle's "home letterpress system" - i'm sure everyone's heard a ton of buzz on this already, but i'll share my love anyway! lifestyle (an imprint of quickutz) is releasing a home letterpress system to be used with their new epic six cutting tool, but from what i hear it will also work with the cuttlebug and other comparable 6 inch crank cutting systems. anyway, i know that most diehards will say that this is a total bastardization of the "art of letterpress", which i love as much as the next discerning design groupie, but with this system you can start letterpressing at home for $70-$150 and it's usability is beyond easy. i was lucky enough to win the epic six at the show, so now i will just eagerly await the release of all the letterpress goodies so i can start cranking 'em out! they are starting with 15 printing plate sets (and will release more every 1 to 2 months) & 20 ink colors (which mix easily to create new colors!) the design capabilities are going to be beyond awesome!

06. "amplify" collection from sassafras lass - music notes, vintage tickets, handwriting sheets and all kinds of sweet geometric patterns & graphic, stylized flowers in rich raspberry, deep teal and yummy mango. i mean, i don't really need to say anything else, right? look for this in class ideas already working around in my head too!

07. ranger's "rock candy distress stickles" - so, the magic of distress stickles are that they are gradient matte glitter chunks in the beloved tim holtz distress colors. much like the "antique linen" distress stickles were our go to distress stickles for snow on old-timey & cream based holiday cards last year, the new clear edition, called "rock candy" are sure to be the go to for everything this holiday card making season! they remind me of antique glitter glass chunks & martha's oversized snow glitter that we were all obsessing over last year, but built into the glue already. so pretty!

obviously, there was a lot of really great stuff at the show, but these are the things that came to the front of my mind right away. lots of awesome things will be making their way into the store, and especially the new location, so get psyched!