Celebration's Showcase

New this year at CHA (at least I think it was new) was the Celebration's Showcase. Before the show, I got an email from the CHA organization asking me to submit a project. If it was chosen, I would have 30 minutes of demonstration time plus have my project displayed in a high traffic area. Well, I thought, who couldn't use some free advertising........ right?

So, this is the project I made. It was chosen and I got to demo it. Here is where things got interesting. The audience had people in it that I did not recognize and so I asked if they had all heard of Cosmo Cricket. Some hadn't. Now just imagine their reaction when I told them I would be demo-ing our Buck Naked Ornaments. I really thought some people were going to fall off their chairs. I pretended not to notice, but I did explain how it came to be named Buck Naked.

For those of you who don't know, read on. You never know when you'll be in a class and this will be the prize winning answer.

Anyway, when Eric and I first did raw chipboard it was our Plain Jane cigar box. Then we found out that there were other chipboard products on the market named Plain Jane. We didn't want to have any problems with this and so we decided to come up with another name (this is a repeating pattern for us). Unfortunately, Plain Jane didn't scramble into anything good. So, Eric was saying, "What is another name for naked chipboard." And, that's where my childhood memories kicked in.

When I was a very little girl, my mother would get me out of the tub, dry me off and send me running down the hall to my bedroom to get dressed. I had to run "like the wind" because if my dad caught me he would say, in a very loud voice, "Julie, you're buck naked." In fact, it was several years before I realized that buck naked was not a compound word and you could indeed use naked all by itself.

By the way, when I was leaving the demonstration area a man at a neighboring booth stopped me and said, "I just want you to know that I heard you telling the story about your Buck Naked products while I was talking to a buyer and I couldn't help but ask him if the girl behind me teaching the demo had clothes on."

Things I learned at CHA

It's amazing what you can learn in 3 days amongst throngs of people, most being women. Here's some of the quirky, funny and even useful bits of info I gathered.

Glue dots can be used to hold your clothing in place.
McDonald's hot chocolate machine doesn't work in July.
Vitamin E will moisturize your skin and lessen your wrinkles.
If you leave a camcorder out it will be stolen.
People love watching naked chipboard get dressed to music.
Sunless tanner can be totally realistic, but the application process involves several steps and tarter control toothpaste.
People even remember the shoes you wore at the last show.
Union workers can be bribed.
Don't rent a car without GPS.
You cannot buy a slip at Target.
Cricket Cola doesn't taste very good, despite it's name.

PS: We already have five winners. In fact, they already have their prizes, but thanks for playing and spelling better than us!

How to get ready for CHA

1. Buy a completely new wardrobe.
You only see most of these people 3 times a year so you don't want to show up in the same outfit as your last meeting.

2. Color your hair.
You've maintained the myth of your hair color this long, you wouldn't want to ruin it now.

3. Stock the house with food that can be microwaved.
This will insure that your children will be fed while you are gone.

4. Ship your product samples early.
This prevents your two year old from opening the packages and taking them apart. (Learned this one the hard way just yesterday.)

5. Make sure the person you think is taking you to the airport knows that you think they are taking you to the airport.
This will make you less likely to miss your flight. (Eric learned this one the hard way and was taught by Lindsay)

6. Make a calendar of all your kid's appointments for the sitter.
That way you will know what they missed and need to reschedule.

7. Put emergency numbers by the phone.
If you don't they will end up needing them.

8. Buy your kids souvenirs and hide them in your closet.
You will be too busy once you get there.

9. Pick up the shirt that Lindsay forgot.
Otherwise, he will be Buck Naked for his presentation.

10. Kiss your children goodbye, tell them that you love them, and cross your fingers for a really great show.

You know you're an artist if you can't spell.

Besides our sense of humor, Eric and I are notorious for typos, spelling errors and other misuses of the English language. It wouldn't be so bad if it only happened once or even once in a while. But that is not the case. It happens all the time. You would think that the people at Adobe, knowing artists will be using their software, would have the misspelled-word-underline-feature in their programs. Unfortunately they don't, and we're not always good at remembering to spell check.

There are TWO spelling errors in our current ad in the August issue of Creating Keepsakes. One was brought to our attention by a friendly scrapbooker who probably teaches English (I hope it wasn't Mrs. Storey, she would be so disappointed in me.) If you can find BOTH spelling errors and be one of the first five to send your answer, name and address to kristen@cosmocricket.com I will reward your knowledge of the English language and your loyalty to this blog with a free Gretel paper crafting kit. Be sure to put, "I can spell" as the subject of your email so that we know what you're talking about. Good luck!

PS: I just asked Eric to read this before I posted it and he said, "Did you put that typo in there as a joke." I said, "What typo?" Then he pointed to it and I fixed it.

Insatiable Raspberry Cosmo

My friend saw this and had to get if for me. Besides having Cosmo in the name the girl on the label looks just like me. Except that she has brown hair and mine is blonde, hers is long and mine is short, she is super skinny and I am........... well let's just say I really love chocolate! But other than that I look just like her.

Buck Naked Covered Up

Here's just the beginning of things you can do when you get Buck Naked!

Ready-Set-Chipboard

Peel, Stick, Love Love Looooooooooove!

Be Good for the Holidays!

Once upon a time:

Twas the night before CHA and all through the hotel, not a scrapper was sleeping, at least not very well. They were nestled all snug in their beds, but visions of new releases danced in their heads. What would they look like, what would they be, would they get any if they were naughty? They dashed to the show at first morning light and found a Merry Christmas to all. They will sleep good tonight.

Meet Gretel

Once upon a time Hansel and Gretel went for a walk in the woods. They came to a tasty gingerbread house. Unfortunately, when they nibbled on it a wicked witch got them and decided they looked as tasty as her house. In our story Hansel got eaten and that’s why this line is only named Gretel. She does look scrumptious though, don’t you think?