Gala at CHA

I arrived in Chicago this afternoon by way of a pleasant bus ride from Madison.  It was very hot and muggy at the airport.  When I got on the shuttle bus to the hotel I met MarshaT (somehow we each knew the other was a Cricut person!).  As it turned out - we are staying at the hotel where the Provo Craft Gala introducing the Cricut Imagine was held tonight - and it was quite a night!

I met up with some Cricut friends (Susan, Joy, Melanie and Mandy) and we went downstairs to the Gala.  It was a lot of fun and we met many more familiar faces (sometimes we needed to "decode" by getting the message board names of the people we met!).

The event started with a cocktail party in a very "artsy" space.  People were handing out glow necklaces and flashing rings which most people wore for fun.  After a lot of chatting, we went into the main space and there were couches and brightly colored pillows and a small stage.  The two winners of the contest to be the first to get the "next big thing" were announced.   PC actually sent a team to deliver the news personally to each winner and we watched very touching videos about the winners and why they were chosen.

Then Jim Thornton, Provo Craft CEO introduced the Cricut Imagine and we saw a video that gave some more information about all it can do.  I videoed the video...but I will need more time to get it posted.

The entertainment for the evening was perfect for the theme of creativity and seeing possibilities in your art.  We were treated to some performance painting by David Garibaldi and it was fantastic.  He started with a blank canvas and applied what seemed like random bits of paint to build incredible portraits.  It is hard to explain but I took lots of photos.

 First John Lennon - "Imagine"!

 Then Martin Luther King

and Mick Jagger.  When he creates these portraits he is jumping and dancing and splashing paint everywhere.  It was very inspirational to hear his story of moving from graffiti art into this type of painting.  If you would like more information his website is GaribaldiArts

 I "imagine" that this portrait was newly added to his repertoire!

The final portrait started like this...

 evolved to this - starting to make sense...

and when flipped around and finished - there was Albert Einstein.

At the end we were all given a gift bag with a Cricut cartridge (I got Winter Frolic), some Cricut sunglasses and a t-shirt and a certificate for a new Cricut Imagine!  We will get these in September which suddenly seems very far away!

I got to meet a few more people from the Cricut Circle - Audrey from Louisiana and Deneen from New Jersey...

and it was great to have the chance to meet Gracie who was my "secret sister" on the Cricut Message Board a few years ago.

I'll be at the trade show tomorrow and I will find out more about the new machine and see it in action.  I'll try to think of all of the questions to ask and get as many answers as possible.  For tonight I am just going to "imagine....."


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