Creativation+ 2021: What I Did and the Trends I Saw

Normally, each January I travel to the Creativation trade show, along with thousands of manufacturers, retailers, designers, and fellow content creators in the craft industry. Obviously, nothing is normal now. Creativation was moved to March, renamed Creativation+ and co-located with Namta's Art Materials World, and took place entirely online. I attended the 5-day conference from my own home. 

A digital experience can't match seeing and touching new products in person and connecting with friends and business partners face-to-face, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good Creativation+ actually was. Sure, there were a lot of downsides to being virtual, but I chose to focus on the positives. And there were plenty. I saved a lot of money I'd usually spend on plane tickets and a hotel room, I didn't have to pack anything (I hate packing), I slept well in my own bed and kept my usual hours, and I was able to eat dinner and spend time with Steve and Trevor each day. (The show was on Central time, which meant everything started around 7:00 or 8:00 am here in California and concluded by around 3:00 pm.) Most importantly, I wasn't exposed to the germs that follow many of us home from an in-person trade show.   

Another major upside to a virtual show was that recorded content made it possible to attend multiple classes that were scheduled at the same time, impossible to do at an in-person show. And the chat feature let us network and ask questions immediately. The content will be live through June, so we can watch anything we missed, rewatch the most valuable stuff, and continue to browse the booths and meet with exhibitors. 

Creativation+ ran for five days. I took around 4 classes a day, most on business topics. They were interesting and valuable, as the education always is at the show. Between classes, I visited all of the exhibitors' virtual booths and had meetings with both familiar brands and those that were new to me. I attended networking events and even hosted one that brought together manufacturers and influencers. Product samples have started showing up in my mailbox. 

One of my favorite things to do at Creativation is to look for trends. It was a bit harder since I wasn't physically in booths taking photos, but I did spot some things that are definitely trending in 2021, including: 

geodes and painting techniques to mimic geodes

stacking blocks that aren't cubes

tall, narrow rainbows with non-traditional colors

resin, paint pouring, and marbling

sublimation

cosplay

'Colors of the World' products and greater representation of human diversity

mandalas

high gloss paints, often painted leaving some bare wood exposed

ready-to-use kits

paint by number

potted plants

vinyl / DIY tumblers

shibori 

Some of last year's trends are still going strong, particularly lemons, bees, and gnomes. 

As successful as the virtual trade show was, just about everyone is eager to return to an in-person show. That is the plan for 2022! That show will repeat some of the changes made for this year, including co-locating with Namta's Art Materials World and moving the date to spring. It will be even later next year, April 10-12 (with education added on one end or the other) and will take place in Orlando. 

I'm looking forward to it. 

Creativation 2020 - Trends

One of my favorite things to do at Creativation is to go on the hunt for the latest trends. The year 2017 was all about cacti, hot air balloons, flamingoes, pineapple, adult coloring, and dreamcatchers. 2018 brought us llamas, mermaids, unicorns, narwhals, sugar skulls, teapots, and hand lettering. 2019 was the year of avocados, 'yay', diamond art, sloths, tacos, toucans, and french fries. Some of those are still around and going strong. 

But what does 2020 have in store for us that's new and fresh? Topping the list: lemons. 

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Lemons / "Squeeze the Day"

Sure, lemons (and fruit in general) are timeless motifs, but this goes way beyond that. Lemons on patterned paper. Lemon booth decor. Lemon stickers, stamps, cards, journals, and everything else. I lost count how many times I saw "Squeeze the Day" or "Main Squeeze" or "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy" on products. By the way, puns are still going strong.  

Bees

Bees were everywhere at Creativation this year. Not actual bees; bee MOTIFS were everywhere. Did you spot one amongst the lemon photos above?

Girl Power

2020 is clearly the year of Girl Power, particularly in scrapbooking and paper crafts. I was happy to see that some of the designers are using a variety of skin tones and hair colors on their products; this showed up most obviously on patterned paper.

Shaker Cards / Polymer Clay Sprinkles

Shaker cards aren't new, but they've exploded in 2020. And this year, we'll be filling them with polymer clay sprinkles (versus the sequins, seed beads, and glitter from shaker cards of years past). I'm in love with the sprinkles that look like slices of fruit - and yes, there were lemons. 

   

Glow in the Dark / Neon

I've been seeing glow parties on the rise (and attended one on NYE!) and was suspicious that it would cross over into crafts as a trend. Indeed it has. Manufacturers were displaying paints, foils, inks, markers and more in neon and glow-in-the-dark colors. There was even glow-in-the-dark yarn!

The Eiffel Tower

I expect to see the Eiffel Tower on travel-related papers and stamps. That's not a trend. It's not unexpected for the Eiffel Tower to show up in a love-themed collection. But when I keep seeing it over and over across many different styles and beyond the expected, it's a trend. Check out the first photo: Eiffel Tower + lemons = trendy, for sure. 

This completely baffled me. It's from a collection called "Capri" and the paper is called "Sorrento" and features Italian writing. Why exactly is the Eiffel Tower there? Perhaps because it's trending?

Mushrooms (with and without gnomes)

I saw mushrooms and I saw gnomes. I saw more mushrooms without gnomes than gnomes without mushrooms, so I'm declaring that mushrooms are the actual trend and the gnomes are along for the ride. 

So what else was big? Paint (and resin) pouring are still going strong, as are vinyl and foil. Expect to see plenty of buffalo plaid, stencils, and upcycling. There were a lot of zodiac-inspired things. I also saw a good number of rabbits beyond the expected Easter- and baby-themed stuff. 

What do you think? Are you all about the bee? Lemons or mushrooms catch your eye? Any trends that are a definite no? Tell me in the comments!

Creativation 2019 - Trends

The year 2017 brought us cacti, hot air balloons, flamingoes, pineapple, adult coloring and dreamcatchers. 2018 was the year of llamas, mermaids, unicorns, narwhals, sugar skulls, teapots, and hand lettering. Many of those are still around and going strong. But what does 2019 have in store for us that's new and fresh? I visited all of the booths at the Creativation show to see what I could find. The biggest trend? Avocados. Yes, avocados.

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Avocados  

I can't explain it, but avocados are showing up in stickers, stamps, patterned papers, metal dies, paintings, wood shapes, and pretty much everything else. Vegetables in general are trending, but avocados outnumber all the other vegetables combined. 

  

  

  

The Word 'Yay'

There's no doubt about it - YAY is trending. Oddly, every example I found had YAY written in all capital letters. 

    

Dotz

After Needleart World introduced Diamond Dotz in 2017, diamond art has spread like wildfire. I was not surprised to see many versions of diamond painting at the Creativation show. Of course, there were also plenty of new Diamond Dotz kits on display, including their newest Disney-licensed designs. Other companies had their own version of 'painting' with a variety of "dotz." 

Sloths

Sloths were almost a trend last year; I found three at the show and suspected they were going to be emerging soon. Sure enough. This year, they are everywhere. 

  

Tacos

Tacos have never been more popular, and that includes in the craft world. 

Toucans

It's hard to believe it's been almost a decade since we first "put a bird on it." Owls had their moment, then peacocks, and then flamingos swept in. In 2019, expect to see toucans (with or without flamingos). Any predictions for the next big bird trend? (Haha- wouldn't it be awesome if Big Bird trended? Stranger things have happened! Like avocados.)

  

French Fries

Sure, french fries are delicious, but have you ever wished you could craft with them? If so, you're in luck. French fries are trending. It's finally easy to scrapbook about your love of french fries! (French bulldogs, and other small dog breeds, are trending too.)

  

It's also a good time for vinyl and foil, sparkles and glitter, hedgehogs, mermaid/animal mashups (mer-kitty, for example), marbling, animals wearing glasses, balloon dogs, food puns (especially sushi and other Asian foods), and pre-formed looped yarn. 

What do you think? Any trends you'll embrace? Any that are a definite no?