NOTE:  JUST CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO GO TO SEE IT LARGER IN MY ZAZZLE STORE.

CHA, the Craft & Hobby Association Show was held in Los Angeles this year at the end of January.  It is always one of my favorite shows to attend.  It is filled with such incredible creativiy – both in the art being used to create the craft, scrapbooking and other kits that are offered and in the creativity of the designers who are creating projects from that artwork.

Designers use existing products to create new and fun crafts with.  Their interpretation of the artwork is incredibly fun and diverse.  There were “make and takes” every where you turned.  Displays of projects and extravagant backdrops or centerpieces such as paper dressed mannequins were all around.  Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and I don’t have my pictures to share with you.  I will ask my daughter if I can take a peek at her pictures and see if I can add later.

I didn’t get to do as much wandering around as I usually do.  My time was mostly filled with meetings – some of which were very productive meetings (so I’m not whining, LOL!)  The other place the bulk of my time was spent was getting to spend time with some very special artist friends – you know who you are!  My artist friends inspire me so much.  I love seeing what they’re doing, discussing the industry and our goals going forward.  I’m friends with some VERY motivating people!

If you’re snowed in, how about beating the boredom by crafting something with all of those supplies you have stashed away?  How about pulling out your scrapbook papers and creating 5 or 5 greeting cards to have ready to use when the need arises?  I love to make a mess just once and end up with lots of goodies to use later throughout the year.  Try making some matching gift tags to add to your birthday or Christmas gifts during the next year.  It’s a wonderful way to pass a cold and miserable day with the warm sense of joy creating brings.

Kids driving you nuts?  Bring out your craft goodies and set them to work creating.  You might be amazed how much they enjoy the time and remember it fondly decades later (as I do my Mom’s rainy day projects!)

I thought I would also share some of my newest invitations in my two Zazzle stores.  If you know a young bride that is getting married this year, or a new mother welcoming a baby, I would love if you would pass my website along to her!

Are you looking for a fun gift for a young mom, whether for Christmas, a birthday or for Mother’s Day next year?  These Speck iPad and iPhone cases are AMAZING quality and can be customized with her children’s names.  For that matter, if you have a grandmother hip enough to have an iPad or iPhone, she could have one too!

The text is very easily customized so if you are interested in the design but wish it to say something else – no problem!  There are so many different iPhone and iPad designs to choose from.  If you’re looking for a product to protect your device and do it beautifully in a way that declares who you are and what your style is, these products at Zazzle are for you.  Simply click on either image and it will take you to them in the Zazzle store, then if there are other items you would like to check out use the navigation bar at the top of the page.

“Precious Little One” is a design with an adorable sleeping little lamb cuddled up with the man in the moon amongst a sky of stars.  The new baby’s name, birthdate, weight, length, and time of birth are included.  These designs have been on the drafting board for about a year and I managed to finish them today.  What I love about these is that you can personalize them really easily and the gift will ship to you within 24 hours most of the time, if you order the print through Zazzle!  Simply click on the image and it will take you to more information.  All you need to know is the new baby’s vitals and you’re ready to order a keepsake gift that can be treasured for a lifetime.

Available in 4 different colors for boys and 4 different colors for girls, these are prints that are suitable for framing.  To create them, we cut a double bevel cut matte, scanned it in and layered it over the image, so the print is ready to frame as is.  OR you can buy an 11″ x 14″ frame with a matte in it and place the print behind the pre-cut matte – a very cost-effective way to frame things as both Costco and WalMart have some really great frames at great prices.  OR you can take the print to your local Michael’s Frame Shop or local Framer and have it framed to suit your decor.

If you would like to order these the old fashioned way, from our company directly.  Personalized, framed, double matted costs $49.95.  Print only, personalized is $24.95 through Zazzle.  We do still manufacture them with frames and mattes directly from our company , you can simply email steveataje (at sign) earthlink (dot) net and customer service will take care of it.

For those that aren’t familiar with the Zazzle marketplace, there are literally billions of products available from millions of artists, photographers and designers.  Each day, Zazzle selects 30-40 of those products to reflect what they felt were the best and/or most interesting new items created that day.

I have been blessed to be selected many times in the four months I’ve been active at Zazzle, but this last week I was really pleased to have my products selected 3 days in a row.  It’s quite an honor and a reward for your hard work.  Thank you, Zazzle!

The contemporary flower design was a lot of fun to create.  So many of these contemporary designs are just drawn and colored in on Photoshop.  I love to bring  watercolor art into contemporary design and give it a flair that flat graphics will never achieve.

This collection was created out of the art work I designed for my “Paradise” fabric collection with Studio E Fabrics.  There are three different collections within this collection which makes it perfect for the bride that hates “matchy-matchy!”

And finally, a contemporary baby girl baby shower or birth announcement.  One of the things I love to do with my Zazzle store, is play with creating more contemporary work than might be my usual.  This “Circles ‘n Booties” ensemble is a great example of mixing classic Audrey Jeanne art with a contemporary twist.

I am just 1400 visits away from 700,000 hits!  Thanks one and all for taking time out of your day to let me share my art and my heart