See you at CHA Blog Hop! Win $650 gift card!

Are you ready for the biggest, most epic blog hop ever? 

Nearly 60 CHA members from around the world are coming together to help us celebrate the CHA MEGA Show 75th anniversary for a whole week until December 11. Each blogger highlights something special about the upcoming CHA MEGA Conference and Trade Show. Sneak peek of new products, details about workshops and make-n-takes, an inspiring project tutorial, or what they are most excited about doing and seeing at the Show.

You'll want to hop with all of us because you have a chance to win $650 Visa gift card! You can find the complete hop list here.

I want to share with you my story of how I became a designer member and how I went to my first show.

You know the saying "God works in mysterious ways"? Well...in my case it is so true! I have already shared with you the start of my journey to become a professional designer. Finding out about the CHA trade show was a stepping stone in that journey. However the story of how I found about it is truly amazing, because it seems like something was directing my steps as I went on my way...

Should I really work here?
After deciding that designing is what I want to do in life I started looking for ways to earn a living doing just that. I started teaching scrapbooking classes in a large craft store. It was far away from where I lived, they didn't have the right supplies and the money wasn't that good. After awhile I asked myself should I really work here? Is it the best way to go forward, to earn a living? I was about to leave when my boss invited me to go to a training day at one of their big suppliers. I went...

"I went to this big show..."
When I got there it turned out the training was all about using new supplies that supplier ordered in a big trade show. Our instructor said: "I went to this big show in Las-Vegas and it was amazing! An entire show all about craft and hobby" This sounded like music to my ears. I tried to get some details from her but she didn't remember the name of the show but she did remember that the organization was called Crafts and Hobby Association.

Me?! A Designer Member?
That was enough for me to start investigating the issue. I found the CHA website and decided to apply to become a designer member. Little me, a designer from Israel, where there are hardly any designers, let alone members in CHA. I was accepted as a Designer Member and started to make plans to go to the show.

Craft Disneyland
I bought my ticket, booked my hotel and flew halfway across the world without any idea what was waiting for me there. I was by myself, an inexperienced designer, attending her first professional trade show in the big world...I was in shock! This was back in the days when the show was huge from wall to wall in the convention center and there were so many companies. I went from booth to booth, did every make and take, did so many workshops and went to all the events. I felt like a kid in a candy store. For me it was like being in Disneyland!! The high was unbelievable!

It still is...
Since then I try to go to the show every year and it's still feels like Disneyland. Now of course I'm in a different place I have goals for the show, I demo, teach classes and participating in the Designer Showcase. I love seeing all my designer friends and meeting new people. It's the only place where people are like me and I'm not considered a crazy artist Lol!

To wrap things up...staying in a job I wasn't so happy about, led me to one of the most important discoveries in my designer career. Because finding out about the show led me to becoming a designer member, which opened the way for me to work as a designer! Now tell me that this is not amazing!

So...it's that time of year again! Time to get ready for another CHA show. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach and the excitement building and I can't wait to go!

And now for the prize...

You have plenty of chances to enter to win $500 Visa gift card each day of the hop, on any of the participating blogs You can find the complete hop list here.. Everyone is eligible to win, whether you’re in the U.S. or international.

Their are just three entry options to win our $500+ Visa gift card:
1. Leave a comment (mandatory) answering the question - "What is your favorite "can't live without" craft supply or tool?"
2. Tweet about the giveaway  (tweet text includes #CHAshow hashtag; can tweet daily for extra entries)
3. Answer a multiple-choice poll about how often you "cre8time" for crafting  (double entry value)

Here's the prize drawing widget a Rafflecopter giveaway

So hop with us and you might just win!!

Don't miss out! Keep up with all the crafty goodness by subscribing to the Einat Kessler creative newsletter

Have fun creating!