'Lights, Camera, Action'

What's happened to the Summer? It would seem that we get a couple of nice days and then pay the penalty for the next two weeks - at least! The only good thing about it is that I don't feel quite so guilty about spending time inside in my craft room prepping, which is where I've been this afternoon and most of the evening..... with not a lot to show for it I'm afraid.

Glenda and I have another two live TV shows scheduled for Monday the 18th August on Ideal World and Create and Craft (all being well and subject to the usual last minute changes). We will travel down to Peterborough on Sunday as we have an early start on Monday and have to be in the studio to set up at 7 a.m. to be on air at 9 a.m. We then have a couple of hours down time before the second show at 2 p.m.

The nine o'clock show is going to be another Christmas show with Snow is Falling, Hearth and Home, the Three Kings themeplates, a 'premier' product and Season's Greetings CD ROM. After the Christmas Workshop last Friday I feel 'all Christmas'd out' and need to do something radical to get me back in the festive groove..... and NO! I'm not going to put up the Christmas Tree. I don't think I need to do anything quite that radical. But it may have to be a nice Christmassy movie when I get in from work tomorrow evening to help move things along while I'm prepping.

The two o'clock show will feature brand new stamps (yey!), another 'premier' item???? and Artylicious CD ROM's. We won't have the 'premier' items to work with until tomorrow, so I think once everything is pulled together it will be a lot easier to decide on what I'm going to do for demo's. My problem is narrowing it down, the stamps are all so beautiful there's soooo much I want to do with them but I just know that we won't get the time.

The last two shows in July were so fast and furious, I don't think I've ever seen products sell out quite so quickly. I hardly got into the demos before the stamps I was using became limited stock. So if you were watching and didn't get to see the whole demo, here are the finished cards I made from the show.

'Snow is Falling' Stamped with VersaMark ink and coloured with Pearlescent Shimmering chalks. The whole surface was then dabbed with VersaMark and embossed with clear embossing powder.

' Following Yonder Star'

Stamped on acetate with black StazOn and guilded from the reverse side with multi-coloured gold leaf.

'Hearth and Home'

'Christmas Fusion'

When we went down for the last two shows both Glenda and I took our cameras with us and we snapped away pretty much the whole time (except for when we were on air of course). I have several scrap books just waiting to be filled and I thought it might be fun to record our visits to Ideal World and Create and Craft.

This is 'Orton Hall Hotel'. A 17th century manor house set in 20 acres of parkland where we stayed the night before the show.

Here's Adrian relaxing in the Green Room. This is where the guest presenters hang out and get ready before shows.......

......and Glenda in the Green Room snapping away at something very interesting on the floor?

This is our dressing room. There are two attached to the green room plus a small kitchen. It all looks very exciting doesn't it, but if you could see us when we arrive with all our craft trolleys, samples, carrying wardrobes, bags and NO MAKE-UP! at seven o'clock in the morning, you wouldn't think so. The poor security men on the gate get to see us 'warts and all'. A frightening concept (speaking for myself of course).

Once we've put on our faces and coiffed the hair, the floor manager comes to collect us and we go through to the studio to set everything up. This is usually about an hour and a half before the show starts.

Glenda is getting all the samples and her demo equipment set up while Adrian is checking that the computer is loaded with the right Artylicious CD ROM and that the PC WORKS! You can see the bank of camera's and cue screens in front of the set.

Adrian is putting the PC through it's paces to make sure that it's not going to let us down once we're on air. This is a live show and we can't stop and start again if something goes wrong. Oh how I like 'living on the edge'!

Hey Glenda, you're on the wrong side of the camera. But doesn't Adrian look the part? He looks so at home and comfortable behind that camera all he needs now is the head phones.

Ok, we're all set up and ready to go. Just waiting to be 'mic'ed up' for sound. Then we have a final meeting with the producer and floor manager to decide the running order for the show, meet with our Ideal World presenter who for this show was Stephanie and then it's 'Lights, Camera, Action' and you know the rest.

Before we know it the floor manager is counting us out and the show is over. I've never got used to just how quickly it goes. We have a quick tidy and set up again with new demo's for the next show which is in just one hour.

The show was a sell out (including the stock we had for the eleven o'clock show) so we have to get back to the green room for a meeting with Adrian to make sure that we do have stock for the next show. Never fear, Adrian has already been on the phone to the office and the Production Department are in action as we speak getting more stock manufactured and ready to ship down to Ideal World..... like NOW!

No time for a cuppa, it's straight back into the studio to get mic'ed-up and do it all again. You may ask, why bother taking the microphones off when we're only off set for such a short time? Well, they are radio mic's and you can never quite be sure if they're turned off and sometimes you may just have to pay a visit to another 'little' room in the green room..... get the idea? It could be quite embarrassing to say the least.

After the second show has finished (another sell out - yey!) we quickly get packed away in the studio and return to the green room for yet another meeting, this time with our buyer. More shows are programmed in for the coming months and then we can hit the road back 'up north'. Here is Adrian packing the last of our equipment into his car before we leave. It's a good job his car is so roomy - you should see just how much stuff has to fit in there, especially when our trip is an overnight one.

Well, that's it for now. We do it all again starting with the prep and pack the car up for the journey south on Sunday! I know it can be quite frustrating at times, especially when everything is prepped and ready and a show gets moved or cancelled at the last minute but on the whole, it is great fun. We're crafting after all..... can it get any better?