Chalk it up to Pinterest

I spent last week in Las Vegas at the Craft and Hobby Association summer trade show, scoping out the latest and greatest in craft industry products and trends. While the summer show is traditionally much smaller than the winter one, there was no shortage of inspiration and must-have items. You can read more about my favorites on the Big Picture Classes blog, and listen to my overall impressions on episode #169 of Paperclipping Roundtable.

Meanwhile, I’ll fill you in here on the trends I spotted on the show floor.

The biggest craze by far was chalkboard-inspired products. Like so many other recent trends in crafts and home décor (like mason jars, fancy straws, and printed treat bags), this appears to be a crossover from wedding industry fads popularized by Pinterest.

Rhonna Farrer is the queen of chalk art, and her line with My Minds Eye was a standout in the category. 

But chalkboard influence and the associated predominance of black was literally everywhere, whether in bits and pieces or complete lines. 

Prima chalkboard flowers

Prima

FancyPants chalkbaord labels and washi tape

Pebbles

Echo Park

Teresa Collins

We R Memory Keepers

We R Memory Keepers

Studio Calico

Cosmo Cricket

What do you think about the chalk art craze? Does it inspire you? Baffle you? Sound off in the comments!

Coming up tomorrow: Summer CHA motif trends.