Creativeworld Frankfurt 30.1.-2.2.2016

Hi there! Have you been waiting to hear about the Creativeworld? I got back home Tuesday-Wednesday night and even though I did update the Instagram already I haven't blogged about the experience yet. Well, here we go! Be prepared for a long post with also some info what I though was trendy or hot in there. If you'd rather read something in Finnish or see another set of photos, here's a link to Minna's post (link)! And then there's Sanna's post (link) in English for another set of photos and experience!

The event is the biggest one in Europe and actually consists of three different shows in one place. Or one and one, the whole fair area is huge made our of 11 great halls with multiple stories. There's even mini buses shuttling from one hall to the other so we're not talking about a teeny event here! Part of the sheer volume is the three shows which I mentioned. There's Creativeworld which one I attended and which concentrates on crafty and arty things, Paperworld which is more office supplies oriented and then Christmasword, which like the name says, is all about Christmas and decorations. Here's the official site to the Paperworld (link) and here to Creativeworld (link) if you are interested to study more. 

 

I was demoing or rather doing a make and take in Prima booth (link) but also had free time to go around the show and even saw a glimpse of the city itself. The event was so amazing and it was truly a pleasure and great honor to work in the Prima booth! I still can hardly believe it but there's the ticket on my table with my name on it (link). 

I want to take this opportunity thank everyone who stopped by the booth and said hi and did the make and take - you made the event even more special for me! I'm also in gratitude to the wonderful people with Prima also attending and working in the event, Tami, Molly, Adam and Anna! Beautiful people, great company and awesome chats! 

 

I started my journey on Saturday morning and was lucky to travel with two other Finns to the show - so thank you for the company Minna Enqvist and Kaarina Korventaka! It was so awesome to have an experienced fair goer as a guide as Kaarina had attended the show many times and boy was it wonderful to see Minna! It has been too long since I last saw her! 

In no time after the plane had landed we were in the show site already and I was getting ready for my first day of make and take! After the work hours I met up with lovely Marsha Valk and Birgit Koopsen and toured a bit of the event before we gathered a bigger ensemble and hit a restaurant with Elina Strömberg, Sanna Lippert, Anna Dabrowska, Minna and Kaarina. It was so awesome to meet everybody and have a chat with them! 

Next day I got some time to tour the show before work and then again afterwards. It was a joy to demo the new products and show how they can be used. And it was also lovely to walk through the show and see the displays and companies. But it was actually Monday, the third day of the show that I really got to tour the show floor as then my make and take was in the morning leaving me the rest of the day off so to say. On that day I also briefly visited Christmasworld as I had been told about the real flowers in there and that it was worth seeing. 

In three days I went through the Creativeworld part of the show so just one hall and its two floors. But it was awesome to really have time to study the booths and talk to the people there. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly encourage and recommend it! 

One of the best parts of the event was meeting friends! Marsha, Birgit and me were staying in the same hotel, just one train stop away from the fair area so it was really easy to get there in the mornings and go back in the evening. It was also so lovely to go around the show with these two great ladies!

  

It was also great to meet crafty friends in real life. Like Karolina Stopyra or Stephanie Schütze or Gerry van Gent! Sanna was working just across the isle in Elisabeth Craft Designs but even though we waved many times a day it was unfortunately little we got to talk too little! 

  

 

It was also great to see brands and products I love (besided Prima) live and most importantly meet the people behind them. Carabelle Studio had a lovely booth with the fabulous stamps and new dies, MT Masking Tape's wall was just stunning. I really enjoyed visiting Wow Embossing Powders booth and my tries to take a good selfie with lovely Tania and oh boy was it cool to see the new GelliArts mini shaped plates in real life. I also visited lovely PanPastels and learned about paperclip sculptures, took a selfie at Sizzix, saw interesting new products at Talens and Pentacolor and many more. I even got to see the "must have" stapler live! Oh, can't wait to be able to purchase that one! 

 

But onward to what I saw in the show. One very visible thing was pens and markers.There was new kind of writing and drawing tools, new nibs and colors. In this time of coloring books this might not be a big surprise actually. There was also a couple of different booths concentrating on calligraphy. Crafty booths had the brush script in their products and then there were calligraphers demoing in the booths concentrating on the art of writing.

The different writing and drawing tools also turned my thoughts to art journaling and one of the booths really stood out on that branch. It was Lamali with stunning books and notebooks! Really hope those land in Finland at some point!

  

Another strong thing in the show was street art. There was a big section of different works in one of the show levels but the art was visible throughout the show. It was marvelous to see the artists at work! And not only the street artists but there was also comic book artists, mixed media artists and painters! Really captivating to watch them at their work!

  

Third thing that got my attention was rust. It was in small details or in big surfaces! And I saw at least two different new mediums to make rust or rusty effects. Other textured surfaces like weathered wood were visible, too, but most of all rust. 

Even though I use brushes while crafting, I must admit that it came to me as a surprise actually how many companies there are solely concentrated on creating wonderful brushes! Meter after meter of different brushes with different measurements, different hair and different tips. It was really captivating! 

 

 

Last day, the February 2nd, was different from the others as then I hit the city. I was back to the fair later that day, but the morning I spent in an art museum, Städel, and walking through the streets of the city near the main shopping area. It was fun to see other parts of the city as well than just the fair site!

All in all, I had a marvelous time and hope to be able to do that sometime again! Underneath is a something I brought home from the journey, missing the homecoming gifts to my husband and daughters. There's some clock faces and watch parts from Global Solutions Online, a beautiful and special necklace from France Papillon, a lovely stamped rose from HeroArts, a splendid watercolor Molly painted in the Prima booth, golden letter A done in We R Memory Keepers booth and a button from GelliArts booth.

Thank you for your visit today! For more photos, please see my Instagram account (link)!