Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop, Final CHA re-cap and a Cricut Expression Giveaway!

I have joined in another blog hop, this time with a bunch of talented CHA designers! It's going to be a year long party with once a month postings and plenty of giveaways. This months theme is "Wedding" which will be posted on my blog and about 35 others, March 13th! So mark your calendars!
In honor of today's 'kick off" party, Julie McGuffee is giving away a Cricut Expression!
For your chance to win, you'll need to visit each of the blogs by clicking the (hop forward) button. - see Designer Crafts button to the right ---------->
When you find a blog that is sporting a Cricut logo (see logo on Julie's blog) make a note of the blog. Then continue 'hopping' around until you find all 9 logos. Report back to Julie's and post your findings. Winner will be announced march 14th on her blog.
Good luck!

Now on to my photo's...this is the last of my CHA recap, I've saved the best for last!
Besides seeing all the latest and greatest in the crafting world at CHA, I loved seeing friends I've made over the years through various places.
Please "click" on the links I provide!
These people have amazing websites and blogs to further fuel your creativity!
Here are Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza! I loved their show, Creative Juice and now they are with Plaid Craft TV! I met Cathie and Steve last year and it was a joy to meet them again!
Forever my Utee idol, is Suze Weinberg! The treasures she makes with the Utee pot are just amazing!
Meeting Sarah Pink Cricut was a highlight as I only knew her through Face Book. And out of the blue, she recognized me! She's super nice and has lots of great idea's on her blog! Check it out!
Last year I was entranced at CHA by some new Glimmer mist, which happened to be demonstrated by the one and only Nathalie Kalbach. I had only heard of her at the time, never meeting in person, but we hit it off and became best of friends right away! We communicate through snail mail and through FB. I was happy to see her again! She is so talented. Too bad she lives so far away- Germany!
I'm a Fiskateer, #915. So it was nice to run into a few of my favorite gal pals, Anita, Michelle and Leslie. We always have so much fun when we get together!
You know what totally made my day? When as I was passing a booth, Mark Montano called out to me , "Hey you, Faerie Dust Dreams!" - in my head I was like, -"you talking to me?" and I actually looked behind me, as if he was talking to someone else. Silly me! He recognized me from FB! That really made my day!
So I gave him one of my Star Wars charms I made to share and he autographed his book to me! I'll be making some of the projects in this book and posting them on my blog next month!
Another highlight was finally meeting the super talented and beautiful Marisa Pawelko!
For last years CHA in Chicago, I sent her a Mermaid beaded crown I made plus a painted mirror for a Wyland / Wescott silent Auction. You can see them here. Isn't she cute?
Then I came upon Liz Hicks whom I met at a Scrapbook Royalty eventI taught at. She's so kind and soft spoken and introduced me to smooch paints which I can't get enough of now! :)
It's always a joy to meet up with my crafty friend Lisa Guerin. We always seem to find each other at these events and other creative happenings!
Here's my good friend and neighbor, Laura Bray! We like to get together and pour over craft magazines, bounce idea's off each other, sip tea and nibble home baked cookies. Cause, that's what friends are for! :)
I met Kat Baker for the first time when I taught a crown making class for Scrapbook Royalty. We kept bumping into each other all over the trade show!
Another Inspiring person to meet was Jenny Doh. She is former editor of Stampington magazine and now organizes Crescendo.
More of the Fiskateer gals....Tami Bayer whom is also a Lead Fiskateer! And Merlene. :)
Here is fellow scrapbooker and friend, Erica Weinstock! I love her cheerful yellow sweater!
And my friend Debi Voris whom is also in my scrapbook group, West Coast Crafters. :) Debi is a total sweet heart and fun to create with!
I had only know Betsy Burnett through the Fiskateers and FB, so it was nice to meet her in person!
I met Amy Anderson last year at the Mod Podge booth and we hit it off right away! We have been loyal friends on FB ever since and we share our love of crafts and Star Wars on a daily basis! If you love to work with Mod Podge, you have to visit her blog! She has ALL the cool idea's!
I met Alisa Burke last December at a Scrapbook Royalty event. She taught us how to paint on canvas with out rules. What I made in her class was made into my ipad purse. You can see that here. I really love visiting her blog on a regular basis as it's always so breathtakingly beautiful and clean. You will know what I mean when you visit it.
So that's it. Sorry for such a long post! I hope you'll visit the rest of the bloggers so you can find the 9 cricut icons and have a chance to win the prize!

If you want to see more 2011 CHA inspirations and trends, please visit the following links!
CHA Inspiration #1
CHA "Couture"
CHA Inspiration #2
CHA Inspirations #3

~ All CHA designs shown are copyright protected.
Thanks for coming by to see me!