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Trend Spotting At The CHA Show

Craft, scrapbooking, embellishment, paper and art material exhibitors filled the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, for the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) 2008 Summer Convention and Trade Show, July 18-20. The energy on the CHA show floor is different from all other trade shows, says John Erich, CHA’s Marketing Manager, and despite a challenging economic environment, exhibitors reported a successful show.

Product displays at the CHA Show focused on the Kids Crafting theme. A design team led by Lorine Mason created the Retro Kitchen Party utilizing supplies available at the show.

The entire show was organized around the Kids Crafting theme. With a robust seminar schedule, product displays and demonstrations, the Kids Crafting programming focused on informing retailers about how they can capitalize on the youth market, and provide merchandise that appeals to children and their parents. Keynote speaker Jean Chatzky presented “Make Money, Not Excuses… Even In A Recession!” to inspire attendees with her financial insights into the craft and hobby industry.

In addition to show programming, buyers got a preview of trends impacting the industry:

Go Green: From materials to color to themes, craft manufacturers are responding to the environmental movement with green products. AmateStudios, for example, introduced earth-toned handmade scrapbooking paper incorporating the paper pulp into the overall design and texture of the product. Meanwhile, K Company, another scrapbooking supplier, showcased its stylish eco-friendly paper collection. The next CHA show, in fact, will have a Go Green theme.

Thinking Outside The Scrapbook: Crafters are no longer keeping their layouts and handy work in a scrapbook, they’ve gotten creative and applied their crafty touch to a variety of surfaces and materials. Likewise, manufacturers are offering products made for display. Advantos is one such manufacturer offering a memory clock. Crafters go to work on the clock face to turn a home accessory into a memory. Trading Card Collector, a new CHA exhibitor, brought to market its juvenile wallpaper with photo pockets. Once the wallpaper is applied, parents and their children insert images into the predetermined photo holders to make the memories part of the room.

JustRite demonstrates how to think outside the scrapbook. The company created a diaper cake and baby shower party favors incorporating its new customizable rubber stamps.

Crafting Kits: Not every crafter is born with a hot glue gun in their hand. Whether looking for a layout with the embellishments pre-packaged or searching for an activity to keep the kids occupied during a long trip, crafting kits are emerging as a successful niche for retailers and manufacturers. Creative Hands, which has just launched a new branding campaign, introduced smaller versions of its children’s foam jewelry kits. While the sets with hundreds of pieces and dozens of activities are still available, the company is also carrying smaller kits for travel or short attention spans.

Licensing!: As licensed film and televisions characters become popular lines throughout the juvenile industry, the trend continues in the crafting market. Licensed lines include Wall-E, Hello Kitty, Crayola, Disney Fairies, High School Musical and more. In addition, embellishments are popping up with coordinating themes.

Of its many licensed lines, EK Success is introducing sassy Disney Fairies stickers and embellishments timed to coincide with the movie’s theatrical release.

Every Kind Of Embellishment: What does mom do with those pictures she took of baby’s first visit to the dentist? Scrapbook, of course! The trend to commemorate every moment, no matter how small, continues with the introduction of embellishments for any, and every, moment. EK Success is leading the way with its vast embellishment offerings. From braces, voting, and potty training to school uniform shopping, doing the laundry and even writing a book report, the company has every scrapbook-worthy moment covered.

The CHA show also included an array of monogramming, customizable stamps, storage caddies and bags, and digital srcapbooking products. The next CHA show will take place in Anaheim, CA, January 25-28, 2009, at the Anaheim Convention Center. For more information about CHA, visit www.craftandhobby.org.