Having lived in the Valley of the Sun for many years; I was excited to come back to my old stomping grounds. Some amazing changes have taken place since I lived there; one of them being the expansion of the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport which is now the 5th largest in the United States. The days of the single terminal are gone! I love the palm trees, cactus and sunshine. Even though the sunshine stayed hidden for most of the trip!
Next is a picture of our hotel from the 11th floor. A beautiful view!
Outside the hotel at the bus stop. It was really nice when the bus showed up. Sometimes it didn't; and I was caught hailing a cab.
Designer Sue Eldred was first up on Saturday for the Make 'n Takes. Deflecto has many products that make a wonderful surface for a plethora of craft projects. Sue designed a very cute little desk calendar for the class. A good time was had by all!
Here is another broader view of the Deflecto Make n' Take table. All of the gray shirts are the Deflecto Team members. You won't find a more wonderful group of people!
Designer Monica Taylor was a member of our first Deflecto Design team. Many times we don't get to meet our design team members in person until we are at a trade show. It was a pleasure getting to meet Monica.
Below is "Coach" Pat Foley of Deflecto fame. He keeps things hopping in the Deflecto booth with the deflecto caddy challenges and is a gracious host to anyone who visits the booth. We kinda like him.
There is always something going on in the Deflecto booth. Charity Wings came by for a visit and did an interview with Pat.
And the winner is..............................................Pat.
Got a photo op with some more of our Deflecto team. Ken, Mark, Chris and Rich.
Our deflecto design team members all love Jesika! She sends out our monthly product boxes and always makes it personal, crafty and fun! Thank you, Jesika!
Coach Foley prepping between Caddy Challenges. He is really good at this! The grand winner went home with $350.00!
I taught the Make 'n Take on Sunday. We made wet erase sign boards from one of the deflecto frames. I always love to see the creativity of each participant. They always make the project their own and inspire others with their ideas!
Here is another lovely project by one of our Creativation attendees!
There were caddys stacked up on each side of the booth. Lucky ticket recipients got to take one home after the show. There were 400 free caddys given out at the show. How cool, right??
The last day of the show. Sue was on her way out and we ran into each other in the Plaid booth. I was excited to see all the new product that Plaid has this year. I am looking forward to working with some of it!
As you can see by this point....I did NOT get out of the booth much this year. When I was out; I had hurting feet and just couldn't get around the entire show. I couldn't resist these gorgeous paper flowers though. I love making paper flowers of all shapes and sizes and these beauties shown here are making a BIG statement!
I also got a peek at Canvas Corp. Their booth was right behind Deflecto and they always have wonderful products! Fun and inspiring!
Marilyn, Pat, Tammy and Anita. Thanks Anita for sharing your pic!
From what I could see; journaling, embellishments, textures and memory papers are still huge.
Paints, surfaces, organic and vintage are still prevalent. Upcycling and DIY will be around for a long time!
This is the 4th year since Deflecto joined the crafting industry. They continue to create and innovate with new products. The products are geared toward craft storage and event signage. What a great company with wonderful people. If you haven't gotten to know them; make sure to check out the website and plan on stopping by their booth next year!
Make sure to take time to enjoy the small blessings along the way,
and
Live Life with a Flourish!
Marilyn
