The New Year arrives and with it the annual CHA show, Craft and Hobby Association trade show in Anaheim, CA. Craftandhobby.org attendees come from all over the world; they include retailers, editors, publishers, manufacturers, designers, bloggers and teachers. The show floor is dedicated to every type of creativity from sewing and knitting to mixed media and jewelry making. There are demos and contests, make and take its, book signings, new product releases and aisles of amazing colorful eye candy displays.
In the Kunin Booth #501 we will be making every attendee feel like royalty as they create crowns and royal jewels to wear as they walk the show floor. A throne will be set up for a photo op session and we will be sharing from the show floor on our Facebook page and on the blog. Upcoming blog posts will give the instructions for the crown and jewels so you can be royalty at home too!
One of the projects taking place at the CHA show for this year is the Banners of Hope where designer members are creating small banners to be exhibited at the show. This charitable project was developed by the new CHA Fabric Arts Council Section. There will be Banner making at their booth on the show floor and Kunin is one of several manufacturers providing product for attendees to create with. At the close of the show the banners will go to the Charity Wings Art Center (charitywings.org) on January 15th for a twenty-four hour live Hope-a-thon event. From there Charity Wings will ship them all over the country to hospitals and shelters everywhere that Hope is needed. The Banners are pieces of art, each one an expression of hope, peace, love and comfort individually expressed by the artist. There are sewn, quilted, painted, mixed media pieces. Together they will make a visually stunning and expressive display.
My banner was inspired by the beauty of snowflakes and for us it has already been a snowy one! Yet when you look at each snowflake individually, they are beautiful, each one different. Wilson Alwyn “Snowflake” Bentley, born in Vermont in 1865, spent a lifetime photographing snowflakes capturing their uniqueness. He called them appropriately “tiny miracles of beauty”. The seasonal snowflake felt was perfect for the banner. I layered snowflakes by cutting out individual ones from scrap felt pieces and finishing them off with the colorful Laura Kelly button collection (LauraKelly.com).
I dug out one of my bear patterns from many years ago. Since the banners will be going to many places where there are children, I wanted to create one they would particularly enjoy. With plush felt my sweet little bear came to life. An old knit Christmas stocking cut up for the hat and scarf. Mini clothespins and felt mitts and the message. It was a special afternoon creating my banner. The message a reminder how special each person is and to never give up Hope but to always believe.
To be part of the global Hope-a-thon, full details on the Charity Wings Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/events/586002738132286/
Be creative! Till next time, Debra