CHA Mega Show 2016 | Succulents are Hot!

The CHA Mega Show is a great place to distill scrapbooking trends and craft trends, with so much of the industry and its products in one place for the show. Walking the show floor, patterns and themes become easily apparent - trends!

One thing that kept popping up as I walked the floor of this year's CHA Mega Show was succulents for crafts! This trend, an outgrowth of the general 1970's trend in crafts, fashion, and home decor, started to manifest in 2015, but really became prevalent at this show.

Several companies were using real live succulents in their booth decor as a touch of green:

Webster's Pages planner display with succulents

Webster's Pages planner display with succulents

Webster's Pages planner display with succulents

Succulents in the Crate Paper booth at CHA Mega Show 2016

Succulents in the Crate Paper booth at CHA Mega Show 2016

Succulents in the Crate Paper booth at CHA Mega Show 2016

Crate Paper booth display with succulent mixed in

Crate Paper booth display with succulent mixed in

Crate Paper booth display with succulent mixed in

But the greenery was just a tip of the iceberg! The CHA Mega Show was also full of actual craft products that were themed with succulents for crafts.

Since the succulent theme comes largely from home decor, it's fitting that we start with Cosmo Cricket, where Julie Comstock has brought succulent imagery to her 5" x 7" Just Add Watercolor Art Deck. This pack of watercolor resist sheets is designed to be used with watercolor and other mediums (like Cosmo Cricket's own Pixie Paint or Swatch Sticks) to create custom gallery wall art.

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent wall art

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent wall art

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor succulent wall art

At Spellbinders, their new Tammy Tutterow signature line includes steel rule dies (a first for that company) that cut two different styles of succulents. Since they are steel rule, these dies can cut a variety of materials in addition to paper.

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent dies

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent dies

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent dies

Beautiful samples on display in the Spellbinders booth made from the Tammy Tutterow succulent dies showed them created out of felt.

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die samples

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die samples

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die samples

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die sample

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die sample

Spellbinders Tammy Tutterow succulent die sample

There was another set of succulent dies on the show floor. They went with the woodblock succulent stamps available from Hero Arts - perfect for cute cards.

Hero Arts succulent stamps and dies

Hero Arts succulent stamps and dies

Hero Arts succulent stamps and dies

Trendy stamp start-up Waffleflower has been showing multiple sets of succulent stamps and dies since last summer's show season, and has retained these designs (pictured at the SPC show in 2015) in their catalog for 2016. These designs are also notable for including a second trend as well, layered stamping.

Waffleflower succulent stamps

Waffleflower succulent stamps

Waffleflower succulent stamps

Altenew, another popular new stamp start-up, also has a succulent stamp set that is targeted at cardmakers. It includes hospitality and congratulatory sentiments, including a retirement sentiment that is difficult to find.

Altenew succulent stamps

Altenew succulent stamps

Altenew succulent stamps

For many in the over-40 crowd, the trend of succulents for crafts is a nostalgic one. I personally remember my mother growing a whole host of succulents on her huge lighted plant stand when I was a child. They are notoriously difficult to grow, and expensive as house plants go, but now a new generation is taking on the challenge. Like in so many areas of the craft industry lately, everything old is new again!

Nancy Nally

I’m the owner of Nally Studios LLC, which owns the websites Nally Studios and Craft Critique. I’ve spent the last 20 years working in the crafts industry as a writer and marketing consultant. My newest venture is the Nally Studios etsy store, where I sell digital files for scrapbookers. I live in Florida with my husband, teenage daughter, and a cat who thinks its a dog.

https://www.nallystudios.etsy.com
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