Editor’s Note: We are so happy to have former blog team member Carolyn King guest posting for us today giving us her take on the recent CHA show!

I just returned from CHA and I am tired but so very inspired. The new lines for 2013 are fresh and fun and I had a blast wandering the aisles to see what my favorite paper companies/manufacturers had up their sleeves for card makers this year! Since I knew I would be writing this article, I tried very hard to stay focused but it was difficult. I zigzagged up and down those aisles getting distracted by one booth after another crammed with paper, bling, stickers and embellishments. Hard work!

It seems that arrows, cameras and chevrons are still a big trend. There are more tactile embellishments than ever before in almost every line. Think clothespins with typed words on them and coordinating canvas buttons—so fun!

For those that could not attend the show, here is a sampling of some of my favorites.

First up is Doodlebug’s Take Note collection which is colorful and fun. I adore all the matching accessories—just look at those little scissor brads.

Next up is Lily Bee Design’s Destination Collection. It is so trendy and I love the coordinating canvas buttons!

I love the trendy designs on Cosmo Cricket’s canvas buttons!

The Urban Traveler collection from Simple Stories is fabulous. I love the colors and the fun square blocks that can be used with their albums or to embellish card fronts!

Echo Park released another adorable line called All About a Boy with their usual fabulous colors and coordinating embellishments and solid colors. It will be a hit for those hard-to-make masculine cards!

Carta Bella’s So Noted Collection is so elegant and will make stunning cards.

I adore the script Wise Word stickers by Jillibean Soup.

Irish Farm House Soup, also by Jillibean Soup, is trendy and fun. The collection includes fun coordinating stamps too!

302 Collection by Farmhouse Paper Company is just gorgeous. I love the striking blues and those fabulous coordinating embellishments. You have to wait for this one though because it won’t be shipping until mid May.

Crate Paper released this fun DIY washi tape that comes in 12 x 12-inch sheets that you cut to your desired width/length.

These fun photo overlays are also by Crate Paper as part of their DIY Shop line. The photo overlays add an “Instagram” touch to your photos. They also have the fun type printed clothespins that seem to be everywhere this year.

Webster’s Pages Composition & Color line is fabulous. Designer Allison Kreft infused the line with great colors, fun tape designs and printed bags. It is a totally different look from the traditional Webster’s Pages lines.

Kaisercraft has tons of new wooden embellishments that are so fabulous.

The 75 Cents line from Kaisercraft is just stunning—amazing colors with a vintage feel.

Little Yellow Bicycle unveiled several wonderful new lines. I just loved the colors and designs in the Vintage Summer Collection shown below.

As always, Little Yellow Bicycle has some fantastic embellishments. I particularly loved the new stickpins in the Naturals Collection. Yes, they also have clothespins with words on them too!

I loved the little stamp rollers (Roller Doodles) from Glitz Design. When used on paper, the stamped images resemble decorative tape. They have all different designs—chevrons, wood grain, cameras and arrows.

Finally, SRM Stickers added a lot of new containers to their line with this release (mini tubes, glassine bags and pillow boxes) but for cardmaking, my top pick is the new black Sticker Stitches. Sigh!

Whew! That is it. I DID edit my choices down from 50 to 18! Yep—it is THAT good! The wonderful news is that all of these products will be flooding the stores soon! Cannot wait to play with it ALL!

~Carolyn