The Best of the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show
by Terri Wells and Philip Chien
We had the opportunity to attend the Craft and Hobby Assocation's bi-annual trade show in Orlando Florida. This is an industry-only event where manufacturers show off their best products to buyers for craft stores - everything from small mom-and-pop specialty stores to major buyers for Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Wal-Mart, and other major chains. They came to find out what's new and special. It was a massive trade show with over 5,000 attendees. There were fewer attendees than last year, due to the sluggish economy, but more companies participated.
There were lots of new products; whatever the manufacturers wanted to show off - it felt like we were kids in a candy store. It was just too much to choose from. Here are our favorites.
Glass Effect Gel
New this year from Germany-based Viva Decor is Glass Effect Gel. Available in 12 gorgeous colors, this gel attracted our attention because it has the same refractive index as glass when it's dry. In other words, when you use it to decorate glass, it actually looks like it's part of the object, and not just an element added later.
The gel is fairly viscous when it comes out of the tube; about the same thickness as olive oil. With the thin applicator tip, it's best to stick to small dots and lines when using Glass Effect Gel for decorating, at least at first. The company says that you can use self-sticking stencils and even sponges with the gel for certain effects, but I would not recommend starting there; it's better to play around a bit on any spare glass jars that you have to get a feel for how the gel handles. Dots are easy, lines are a bit trickier, anything like large areas will require a lot of experimenting and practice.
Drying time for the gel is about three to four hours. Don't touch it while it's drying, or you'll leave a fingerprint. Don't like the result you're getting? While it's still wet, wipe the gel off with a paper towel, and follow up with acetone and/or Goof Off (or similar adhesive remover) to get rid of any residue. You can also do this after the gel dries, but it won't come off as easily.
After all those precautions, I must say that you can get some really lovely results. I drew a nice little flower, and plan to use it on a mirror, some clear glass beads I have lying around, a fancy glass goblet, and more. Clear globe Christmas ornaments would look beautiful decorated with Glass Effect Gel. The company says it can also be used on plastic, ceramic, and wood surfaces. Glass Effect Gel is weather- and fade-resistant. The company says the finished product is dishwasher safe, but it discourages putting items decorated with glass gel inside dishwashers and encourages you to wash them by hand.
A 25 ml (.9 ounce) tube of Glass Effect Gel retails for $6.95.
Distress Stickles
I didn't think I'd like this product from Ranger, in part because I didn't understand it. It's a glitter glue that's supposed to give a distressed look to whatever it's painted over. It comes in 17 colors, including three metallics and a clear shade, Rock Candy, which is the one I got to experiment with. They come in half-ounce bottles with a needle nose applicator.
So what can you do with them? I squirted some on paper and brushed it out a bit to try to give an antique look. Because the Rock Candy is clear, what showed up most was the glitter effect, though some distressing was obvious as well. It reminded me a little of some effects I've seen on greeting cards. The glitter is not overpowering; you have to hold the paper at certain angles to see it (the light has to hit it right), otherwise it just looks a little aged.
I'm eager to try this item out on other surfaces, such as glass and wood, to see what kinds of effects I can get. I'd also like to see how it looks on paper beads. I'd like to compare the clear Distress Stickle I have with the metallic colors; some obvious ideas for jewelry come to mind.
If you use Distress Stickle, remember that it's a glue. That means if you use a brush on it, do NOT use one of your better brushes, and make sure you rinse the bristles out very thoroughly or you'll never be able to use it again. The 1.1 ounce jar has a brush built inside its cap.
A half ounce bottle of Distress Stickle will set you back $2.49.
Bubber
Bubber is a modeling compound, but that's a bit like calling a Ferrari a car. Bubber is just a lot of fun. It's hard to describe Bubber's consistency - it's a bit like a dry version of Play-Doh. It feels like a very fine smooth sand, but it holds whatever shape you squeeze it into very well. Bubber is an extremely light substance, an entire quart-size container weighs about 4 ounces. I strongly recommend you use a container for Bubber play, like a large open top plastic box. This is not material which I would want to drop on a carpeted surface.
Bubber is manufactured by Delta of Sweden and has a US distributor in Colorado. The company sells a variety of molds, such as alphabet characters (including a complete Swedish alphabet) but you can use any sand or cookie molds you have in your crafting collection. Bubber comes in six bright day-glow colors - blue, white, red, yellow, green, and purple. You can easily mix two colors together to form a secondary color. I was able to make a two color piece out of Bubber with a little care. The first color was squeezed into the mold and carefully trimmed with a toothpick to fill just the portion I wanted in that color. Then the Bubber in the second color was pressed on top into the rest of the mold. In my case I was lucky and the two colored portions stayed separate enough to pull apart with little effort, so I didn't contaminate either color for future use. Like Play-Doh it's easy to mix colors together, but don't expect to unmix them!
Bubber confoms to various shapes better than others. I was able to use Bubber to make a negative impression of a commemorative coin which showed an incredible amount of detail, but a quarter wasn't as clear. The commemorative coin in Bubber was clear enough that I was able to use it to make a positive in plaster of Paris. It's possible to make a handprint out of Bubber, but softer items won't transfer as well.
I doubt I'm ever going to make anything permanent out of Bubber - it's just too delicate. It holds shapes well but it's a little like a sand castle after the sand has dried out - touch it wrong and it will fall apart.
A quart container of Bubber retails for $12.95.
Lift-n-Lok
PDY Systems says that everyone has a use for their Lift-n-Lok, and I believe them. This heavy-duty storage box looks like it can take on the world. The first thing you'll notice is there's no latch to open it up - the carrying handle is the "latch." Thanks to its clever tensioning system, its three drawers and top compartment only open when the handle is in a specific position: all the way down, flat, on one side. If it's in a carrying position or all the way down on the other side, nothing will open. Believe me, I tried. This feature prevents disasters where a tipped over storage chest results in hundreds of tiny objects falling to the floor.
This is no simple storage container. It's a heavy duty unit - and heavy in multiple ways. It's a hefty 9.6 pounds when empty. Lift-n-Lok measures about 15 inches tall by 16 inches wide by 10 and a half inches deep. The top compartment is nearly large enough to fit a newborn child. The three drawers are divided up in different, useful ways. The bottom one comprises three differently-sized rectangles; the middle one features six long rectangles, five of which have slots for dividers; and the top drawer is clearly intended to be broken up into many small sections. The box comes with all the dividers you'll need for the two drawers that take them.
This box would be at home storing tools in the garage or sewing supplies in the craft room. And since it comes in a variety of colors (green, blue, red, pink, and purple), it'll look good wherever you put it. The Lift-n-Lok retails for $59.95 and I think it's worth the extra cost. Regardless of what you choose to store in it, you'd have to work at it to run out of space. Just remember the weight of this thing before you try to move it!
Hot Wax Art Stylus
Kandi-Corp put a new twist on an old art with Suze Weinberg's Signature Edition Hot Wax Art Stylus. The tool is intended for use with "encaustic art," which is basically drawing and decorating with hot wax. The sturdy plastic tool comes in the box with three tips (calligraphy, brush, and flat) and a wire-bristled toothbrush for cleaning.
The different tips screw into one end of the tool. At the other end you'll find the cord and an on-off switch that lights up when the tool is on. I was happy to see that when you lay the tool down on its side on a hard surface, the tips do not touch that surface - an important safety feature.
The tool took a couple of minutes to warm up. Once warm, it was easy to melt wax and spread it onto our "canvas" - simple index cards for experimenting. While Kandi-Corp says that beeswax is best and crayons aren't as good, I got some lovely results with very cheap crayons.
The flat tip is a broad, leaf-shaped item that lets you add a lot of wax to an area fairly quickly, and make swooping forms. The calligraphy tip is split in the center so it can function similar to a calligraphy pen. It would take real practice to form graceful letters with this tip, but lines and dots come naturally. If you do pysanky, this is the tip you would find most useful for egg decorating.
Finally, while the brush tip works nicely in its own right, it really shines at blending colors. You can use it to remelt wax that's already hardened and move it around. I tried coloring with an ordinary crayon, applied the brush tip to the result, and got some interesting effects.
While you can use the wire brush to clean the tips, I found the best way was by stroking them over a paper towel that had been folded multiple times, while they were still hot. Since the wax is still liquid, you can get all of it off. It's advisable to do this as the last step before changing tips. You do need to wait until the tool cools down before unscrewing one tip and putting in the next one, but it only takes about five minutes to cool after you've turned it off.
The Hot Wax Stylus sells for about $25.00 ($28.00 with a plug designed for Europe). You can also purchase sets of four pigments for about $10 each; you get 45 grams of each pigment, which is about the size of a large six-sided die. There are 21 different colors available in all, including white and black (which also come in larger size blocks, good for use in blending).
Photos by Philip Chien.
Links
Glass Effect Gel manufacturer Viva Decor.
Distress Stickles manufacturer Ranger.
Order Distress Stickles Glitter Glue
from Amazon.com.
Bubber manufacturer Delta of Sweden and their U.S. distributor.
Order Bubber
from Amazon.com.
Lift-n-Lok manufacturer PDY Systems.
Order Lift-n-Lok Multipurpose Box
from Amazon.com.
Hot Wax Art Stylus distributor Kandi Corp.
Order Hot Wax Stylus kit
from Amazon.com.
About the authors
Philip Chien is a regular writer and Terri Wells is the craft editor at neatinformation.com.
copyright 2009 neatinformation.com. All Rights Reserved.
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