Creativation 2017 - Classes

Education is a huge part of attending Creativation.

This year there were two full days of classes before the show floor opened, as well as classes during the three days the floor was open. I attended twelve classes.

• 25 Pins and When to Pin Them / Patti Biro
• Who is Gen Z and How Will They Change Your Marketing Plan? / Tanner Bell
• Social Media is Just Like Retail / Lindsay Anvik
• Master Affiliate Marketing / Jen Goode
• When to SEO: The Easiest Approach / Simone Collins 
• 4 Paths to Getting Your Work Published / Kathy Cano-Murillo and Maria Segares
• How to Create and Successfully Grow a YouTube Channel / Yolanda Soto-Lopez 
• Video for Brands and Bloggers / Angel Peterson-Hicks
• Color/Design at a Crossroads: Directional Trends / Leatrice Eisman
• Brands and Bloggers / Angie Holden
• 7 Steps to Freshen Up Your Website in 7 Days / Leanne Pressly
• Best Practices to Utilize the Blogosphere to Promote Your Brand / Leanne Pressly

Overall, the classes were outstanding. I walked away with a better understanding of the topics and a to-do list a mile long from each. I'm slowly working through my notes and prioritizing. For example, I'm putting a lot of effort into SEO and affiliate marketing, and have decided not to tackle video any time soon. I'm upping my Facebook game by focusing on my business page and am being more intentional and examining the analytics of my Pinterest account. I'm keeping my social media focused on just those two, which is a manageable amount for me and best in line with where my readers are. I'm continuing my efforts at improving the appearance and usability of my site. 

I am also going through the copious notes and handouts that Vickie gave me from the classes she attended that conflicted with mine. Those include:

• Measuring Your Marketing / Lynn Ruby
• A Beginner's Guide to Facebook Marketing / Jennifer Cario
• Simplify Digital Marketing with a Color Wheel Marketing Plan / Dr. Minette Riordan
• Surprise and Delight: Build Audiences Across Social Platforms

There was one hour where there were three classes that I desperately wanted to attend. Steve to the rescue! We parked Trevor in a comfy chair with homework, then Steve, Vickie and I went to three different classes. Steve attended:

• Boosting Revenue and Rankings Through Content Marketing / Amberly Dressler

Thank you to all the presenters for all the hard work you put into these classes! There's no question that my blog and my business are better for having learned from you. 

Creativation 2017 - Make-and-Takes

During my time at Creativation, I tried to do as many make-and-takes as possible. There is no better way to learn about a new product than to try it yourself, under the guidance of an expert. I did about 20 make-and-takes during the three days on the show floor. These are some of my favorites.

First up, my painting from the DecoArt Splatter Room. I absolutely love how it turned out and had the best time making it!

I made this tile at the DCWV booth. I struggled with what to put on it, as everything I could think of wouldn't fit. I was really happy that our names fit so nicely. And that plus sign? It's actually two lowercase i's. 

This canvas bag is also from DCWV. 

Here it is in progress. See the huge cookie? This wasn't just a make-and-take. It was a make-and-bake-and-take! They had a toaster oven and were serving hot cookies right there on the show floor. Heavenly. 

I made this foam cactus at the FloraCraft booth. I love how it turned out!

This bird was also from FloraCraft. It was, by far, the most time-intensive make-and-take I've ever seen (45+ minutes). The sample was cuter, but I do like my finished bird.

I made this sparkly metal wallet project at Eclectic Products. I used Fabri-Fuse to glue a fabric scrap to the metal, then embellished it with Allure dimensional glitter paint. 

This mini calendar is from Deflecto. I love their products. 

This cute glove project was at the Best Creation booth. The words were precut from their fabulous glitter paper. All I did was iron them on. 

My biggest make-and-take disappointment was at the Beacon Adhesives booth. It was my first time using Fast Finish Decoupage and I loved it. I covered a wooden bracelet with a beautiful black and white tissue paper. I lined it all up carefully and chose exactly where to put each piece.

The bracelet needed to dry between coats, so the woman running the make-and-take told me to leave it there and return in an hour. As I was leaving, someone sat down next to me, admired my bracelet and announced she was going to use the same tissue paper and copy it. When I came back an hour later and retrieved "my" bracelet, it was immediately obvious to me that it wasn't mine at all. The tissue paper wasn't straight, the patterns didn't match and it wasn't perfectly smooth. I added a second coat to "my" bracelet, telling myself that it must be mine, that maybe I was imagining that I'd done such a perfect job on it. I brought "my" bracelet home. Alas, when I compared the finished bracelet to this photo, the patterns are not the same. I knew it. I hope someone out there is enjoying my bracelet and that the mix-up was accidental.

Creativation 2017 - Trends

A few weeks ago, I identified trends that I believe will be big in 2017. Time to see how I did, based on exhibits at the Creativation show! 

Cacti

The most obvious trend for 2017 is cacti. Booths had cacti of all sizes, shapes and colors on display. 

"But wait," you might be saying, "the Creativation show was held in Phoenix. Of course there were cacti everywhere!" And you'd be correct. Many exhibitors embraced the show's new home in Phoenix by decorating with cacti, but that does not explain the dozens and dozens of cactus-themed products that were on display. Manufacturers do not make dies, stamps, papers, stickers and more unless they expect to sell them, not just in Phoenix but globally. Trust me. Cacti are trending, big time.

Hot Air Balloons

Did you notice the hot air balloons in the cacti photo at the top of the post? Hot air balloons were all over the place, especially among paper crafts.

Flamingoes

Flamingo papers, flamingo stamps, flamingo displays. 

Pineapple

Pineapple is the new watermelon. A few years ago, we saw watermelon everywhere. Now it's pineapple.

Coloring

Adult coloring books have become so big that you can buy them at the grocery store and pretty much everywhere else you go. With such a saturated market, would manufacturers still be showing coloring books at the Creativation show? Some did. But the surprise was that coloring has moved beyond the book and onto every surface you can imagine. I saw color-your-own clothing, journals, wrapping paper, stickers, canvases, calendars, and dozens of other things.

Dream Catchers and "Dream"

Both dream catchers and the word "dream" were all over the Creativation show floor.

There were plenty of other trends present at Creativation, including feathers, foxes, tassels, ampersands, arrows, and tropical leaves. Any that you're excited about? Any you wish would just go away?

Creativation 2017 - The Best Booths and Displays

When you bring creative people together to display their products and projects all under one roof, you end up with beauty and innovation as far as the eye can see. Attending Creativation is a feast for the eyes and so inspirational. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite booths and displays from the 2017 show.

Yarnspirations had this year's showstopper with their Bernat display. 

It's almost entirely yarn, right down to the logs and flames.

Here is Fabric Editions. If I'm not mistaken, they're new to this show. What a beautiful booth. 

I did a literal double-take when I passed by this piece of artwork at Little B. 

It's made with tiny bits of washi tape. 

I think Hoooked is another new exhibitor. Their booth had such a fun vibe, with lots of little surprises. 

The Craft Yarn Council had a lemon tree in their booth. 

 Upon closer inspection, those lemons are actually knitted stress balls!

The DecoArt booth featured the Splatter Room, which was extremely popular and so much fun.

I loved the Edible Arts Shoppe by Satin Ice. Everything about this booth was awesome. 

 The cityscape across the top of this portion of the Ranger booth was incredible.

Yes, that's a gigantic, rhinestone-encrusted shoe at the John F. Allen booth. 

I just loved the colorful mix of products and projects at The Beadery. 

There were dozens of other beautiful booths or displays I could have just as easily featured in this post. So much creativity!