Hello! I’m back from Summer CHA in Chicago and I’ve spent the last 24 hours downloading a heck-of-a-lotta videos and photos! You can see more photos (if you don’t think you’ll get enough here) on the Carta Bella blog.

Many of you will recognize the booth as my Quilt Market booth. It was fun to see it filled with paper this time around. It’s also fun to compare that baby belly after two months of baking (only a month left!).

Here Lindsay and I pose on Day 1 of set up. I hardly had to lift a box because everyone was so concerned (I think they just didn’t want to deliver a baby).

Set up was also fun because it was a Carta Bella and Echo Park team effort. It was nice to have that many hands putting together the two booths. Check out Andrea (CHA Coordinator for Echo Park and Carta Bella) putting up the Carta Bella sign (below) and Lindsay bolting together the walls.

 

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There were a lot of darling projects in the booth! This advent calendar was made by Deena Rutter who also designed Merry & Bright for Carta Bella (ships September 2012).

I made this Beautiful Moments lamp below. I HIGHLY recommend having a silhouette machine for this project. It turned out darling but took a lot of time to put together.

Samantha Walker put together this fabulous display of silhouette pieces using her Paris Girl Collection.

So many darling cards made by the design team!

Here are my All Hallow’s Eve bottles that you will see in the upcoming Halloween video Lindsay and I do. It should be posted sometime next week. Any guesses on what we dress up as?

I made this banner using the Alphabet Junction Collection by Melanie Ritchie.

Here’s Miss Melanie herself with her first collection! Love the Vanna White pose!

Me and my belly.

Shimelle (from 2Peas in a Bucket), with Melanie and myself. Too bad we aren’t having fun.

Here’s dinner with Lori Whitlock (designer for Echo Park) and Andrea (CHA Coordinator for EP and CB). Matt (THE sticker guy and serious foodie) chose this awesome place. The food was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. If you go to Chicago, it’s worth getting the beef tenderloin (and all the desserts) http://www.carnivalechicago.com/.

Look at the amazing light fixture! (Which also accounts for the bad photo lighting).

Well, there it is! A few photos from CHA and a little of what we were up to. I’ll admit, I was happy to get back home to my own bed. I’m at the most uncomfortable stage of this pregnancy, and it was nice to snuggle into bed last night. Josh and my girls are in Sun Valley at the Bar Convention (therefore making it possible to get all my blogging in before they come home). They should be showing up tonight so I will have my little darlings to snuggle.

Be back in a second with our tradeshow booth video!

—Carina