Extravaganza

The alarm went of early this morning and I thought 'what on earth are you doing getting up this early - it's Saturday'? Well, yes it was but I had decided it was time to spend the Birthday money and what better place to head off to than The Great Northern Papercrafts Extravaganza at the Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate.

So at 0800 hours, I jumped into my little car and headed off down the A1M. I had had little withdrawal pangs yesterday at work when I looked at my watch mid afternoon and realised that under normal circumstances we would have been setting up our stand - I really miss the show 'buzz' and the great fun of the team being out on the road. So the next best thing was to enjoy it from the other side of the counter and boy, did I plan to do it justice.

Got there nice and early, I think my little Punto had wings today instead of wheels. It was great to see everyone and really nice to have time to talk to all. Of course, I did plenty of shopping. Magazines, papers (new Basic Grey collections in Stella Ruby and Perhaps) Cosmo Cricket double sided papers and some fab Fancy Pants designs. The paper collections were flying out. I hammered Once Upon a Stamp where I bought the new Invoke Stamps and Basic Grey, Rob was trying to get me to demonstrate but I was determined to shop. So it was on to Impression Obsession stamps from Wendy and some lovely floral collage images from Jean and Malcolme at Crafty Individuals. There were several other things in several other bags.

By about 1400 hours I'd had enough and to be honest, a lot of stuff had sold out. It was absolutely heaving from the doors opening at 1000 hours and all the exhibitors seemed to be doing really well which was great, as I understand that the Glasgow and Newcastle shows were poor. I saw quite a few people walking around with Cricut machines and there were at least two companies demonstrating them.

Oh! one other find that I was really delighted with was an antique printers drawer from Daphne who was demonstrating for Crafty Individuals. I will clean it up a little and turn it into an altered art project........... one day!

Well, this was my plan to get back in the groove. Has it worked? I don't know. I am so exhausted and my head is full to bursting with ideas. I even managed to find a few things that I plan to use to do some prep for the next TV show which I will start work on in the morning. But for now, I'm off to bed to flick through some of the lovely altered art mags I got at the show.

Night Night..........

Ooo! just remembered. Got to put the clocks forward one hour so it's not 2355 Oh NO! It's 0055 hours. Well, maybe no mags tonight!

Inspiration Lost

I've been really naughty again! No blogging for several weeks now but I didn't really have anything that inspired me to blog. In fact, the last few weeks have been a real none starter.

I had a Birthday, yes 'another' one! Didn't do anything special to celebrate it but I did get some lovely cards from family and friends - Kath sent a wonderful quirky sheep card called 'Down at the Trough' from a watercolour by Alex Clark, Carrie Anne's card featured one of her own fantastic carvings and my card from everyone at work really got me going........ Glenda made it and I felt so privileged as it was made from one of her new Artylicious papers. What really made it special was the fact that this was the first time the paper has been seen. The CD ROM will launch in a couple of months and I've had a sneaky peek at some of the designs. Well, if you're fortunate enough to have got your hands on the first two (Fantasy Florals and Filigree Fusion) let me tell you, 'You Ain't Seen Nuthin Yet'! Wow, the colours are unbelievable and so are the designs. Let me at them! Back to the cards, I got lots of lovely cards from the family and a 'Chocolate' card from Lynn and Jessica. The Chocolate bar on the front looks so realistic that several people including me, wanted to eat it. Thank you to everyone who sent cards, I love them all.

I was a very lucky on the pressy front too. From the girls and boys at work I got a Maya Road Lunch tin full of fantastic crafting goodies that I haven't seen on the UK market yet - must take a photo for the blog. Lynn and Jessica sent crafting treasures too and I can't wait to play with them all. The family donated money to feed my habit and my wonderful brother sent a fab spring bouquet that smelt heavenly and lit up the lounge.

Then the following week I hit the ground with a thump and haven't really picked myself up since. We heard that a very dear friend who I have known for many many years, lost her husband to cancer. Life is so unfair............

The weather, which up until last weekend had been quite spring-like, suddenly took a turn for the worse. We took my parents out for lunch on Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day and encountered flurries of snow during the drive out to Barnard Castle. Of course, that was just the start of things to come during the week. Tuesday and Wednesday saw overnight snow which layed but cleared throughout the day. It reminded me of last March at the Glasgow Craft Show when we got snowed in on the Sunday morning. I still think that was one of the most memorable shows that I have done and most definitely the funniest. But that's a whole other story!

I'm hoping that the sun will come out this week end and that I'll 'find my groove' again and with it, some inspiration. I have a plan in mind for tomorrow that should get me going big time. I'll report back soon with the outcome.

Play Time vs Work Time

I have to go work in my little studio today...... must do some prep for the TV shows on Thursday. Problem is, there are so many things I want to do as well.

It's a beautiful bright sunny day, just a little nip in the air but a day that is perfect for getting out and about with my four-legged-friend in the presence of a camera. Nooooo! Too much to do. The nearest we got to it was his early morning constitutional and then when he hopped into the back of the car for a quick trip to Teesside Park - more accurately, Borders Book Shop.

Another project I should be finishing is a friends birthday pressy. Nooooo! It was only her birthday two weeks ago now. I hope she'll forgive me for being late. I might get a chance to finish it over the weekend.

Then there's all the housework! Definitely Nooooo! Far too busy.

These pictures are of a Star Book ATC holder that I've made complete with ATC's.

I really enjoyed making this project as the book signatures are stitched using some traditional bookbinding methods. Note to self: must make another one!

Ok! time to go create. I've managed to procrastinate for long enough, now I must go and try to come up with some fresh ideas for the Victorian Ladies and Accessories stamps that are featuring on the TV on the 8th. I also get to play with the Artylicious papers again as they are on too. This is a big problem for me because every time I print off the papers I come up with so many ideas for how I want to use them that I go off on a tangent and forget what I'm meant to be focusing on.

Must focus......... must focus.......... must focus!

Back from the Abyss

I am exasperated! I have tried so many times to get onto Blogger over the past week that I had just about resigned myself to the fact the I should look at another site. Finally managed to get on tonight through a back door. Is anyone else out there having problems?

Well, we're back from the trade show that was held in Birmingham, seems like an age but it was only a week tonight that it drew to a close.

However, it all started when Emma and I set off at 0800 hours on Saturday the 17th to drive to the NEC to meet up with Glenda and Adrian who had driven the van down in the early hours of the morning. Set up was pretty straight forward with no major hitches. It was a long and arduous day but with the most magnificent 90 minute respite for Glenda and myself when we attended a work shop in the afternoon with the wonderful Mr Tim Holtz. Then all too quickly, it was back to work and dressing the stand. We finally finished for the evening at 2055 hours and headed off to our hotel to meet up with Paddy, the fifth member of our team, have something to eat and off to bed at a reasonable time. Sunday would be a very long day.

The stand looked absolutely fantastic and drew so many compliments from our visitors and other exhibitors. We were all very proud and it was a real team effort, from everyone back at the office and in Production to the team at the show, that made it the huge success it turned out to be . So many people stopped to admire the artwork and Kathlene had done a wonderful job of setting out the art boards in the run up to the show.

In fact, the official photographer turned up to take photos of the stand and all of the beautiful artwork.
The days were very long, very tiring and very,very successful! Paddy demonstrated some of the new Stampbord products coming in April which went down a storm and complemented all of the new stamps beautifully. The Creative Acrylics were a runaway success and everyone loved our new catalogue.

The show closed at 1630 on Tuesday and we had to tear down the stand, pack up the van and make our way back to the North East. We had a good journey home, traffic was light and the road conditions were good once we were clear of the M42. All in all, it was an exhausting week but one that was extremely successful. We were all left longing for the weekend and days off and they couldn't come quick enough.

It was a quiet weekend for a change and not a lot got done - a little tidying here and there, washing, food shopping, Sunday dinner with Mum and Dad and just a little crafting - in a round about sort of way. Whilst sitting watching TV, I mounted some of the new stamps launched at the trade show, onto KlingOn and cut them out. There are so many new designs, I didn't get them all done but concentrated mainly on the A4 themeplates of Flora and Fauna and the Alphabets. I had already had the opportunity to use the Grungy Uppercase Alphabet on some Stampbord pieces:

This alphabet is fantastic, I really love it and it goes so well with the Stampbord, I can see that it is going to be one of my all time favourites.

There is another alphabet that I can't wait to use on some scrapbook layouts I have planned.

Here it is mounted onto KlingOn and all trimmed up. I'm pleased with my scissor work, just have to test them now. I was a bit brainless at the weekend (what's new I hear you ask), just hope I haven't decapitated something I shouldn't have. Time will tell...........

Busy, Busy, Busy.

It really has been such a busy week and the weekend won't be any different. At work, we are preparing for the trade show 'Stitches' at the NEC Birmingham which starts next weekend. But I shall start back to the beginning of the week - Monday! Although cold, it was a bright sunny day and despite having to food shop and do the housey chores, I managed to get out into the garden for half an hour and have a tidy round the beds. Things are really greening up early and this mock orange blossom has tiny new buds appearing.

As soon as I got the camera out Diesel decided to get in on the action and climbed into the shrubbery bed. Next thing I knew he was sticking his head through the bushes and pleading: 'Take one of me Mum......Pleeease!' Well, how could I refuse his pleadings? So here he is looking cute for the camera.

Unfortunately, this was the last we saw of the sun this week. We have had dusting's of snow (but nowhere near as much as in some parts of the country), freezing temperatures, ice and more freezing temperatures.

Tuesday at work was funny. I was the first to arrive and I thought it was cold when I went into the office so my first job was to turn up all the radiators. They were all on the highest setting and stone cold! As we are working between split sites at the moment, all of the portable heating units have gone up to our new premises. I wish I had taken my camera with me on Tuesday I could have made a fortune. We were all sitting at our desks with several layers of clothing on (in fact, as many as we could get our hands on) including: hats, gloves and I even had Diesel's travelling blanket from the back of my car, wrapped around my legs. We had run out of oil for the heating - it had to happen in the coldest spell of the winter didn't it.

Glenda soon arranged for some heaters and we managed to all operate from one room for the day - it was quite good fun and we had copious amounts of steaming hot tea, chocolate and Chocolate cake to keep us going. The cake was for Judiths birthday which we celebrated at lunch time.

The preparations for the trade show have dominated the week for us all. The team will be heading off down to Birmingham next Friday to set up the stand on Saturday. There is still an awful lot to do and in amongst all the show activity, we have two TV shows on Tuesday to prepare for. Glenda is doing a live show in the morning and I have a pre-record to film in the afternoon. Stress? What? Who? Me?........nah!

This weekend will predominantly be taken up with prep for the TV and getting some more artwork done for the stand but I will hopefully find time to post some more photos at some stage and of course......... watch 'Dancing On Ice'! tomorrow night.

Finished Art Work

On the left is a sample board of techniques which resulted in the canvas above.

The canvas features an image taken from a photograph of the heron on top of the fountain outside Graphicus, together with bird feathers, yarns, mosaics and images (by Elusive Images) stamped onto tissue paper and adhered to the canvas.

The canvas (below) features an image transferred by gel medium from a photograph of a stone carved fountain (photograph courtesy of Glenda Waterworth, thank you Glenda). Images again stamped onto tissue paper, stencils, metal embellishments and dried flowers by Joanna Sheen complete the collage.

This is the result of my shopping expedition last weekend. 'What a Stash'! Haven't started anything yet as I have several projects underway and a whole load of work to do for the

trade show which is coming up in February. Me thinks I am going to be very busy!

Shop 'till You Drop!

The last time I blogged, I did say I might be quiet for a while as I had a lot of prep work to do for the TV show last weekend. Well, I was quieter than I had imagined for longer than I imagined.

The night before filming the TV show, whilst still madly putting things together and trying to get my mind, my equipment, demonstrations and samples ready to go, I started with a burning sensation in the back of my throat. I didn't really have much time to think about it but when I got up at six in the morning to drive to the TV studio my throat was on fire and I was streaming. Fortunately, my husband Stuart had agreed to share the driving. It's a long haul, over 350 miles round trip. Anyhow, as soon as we arrived I went to the pharmacy and got Night & Day Nurse capsules, nasal spray, Strepsils and anything else I could think of that would keep me going and stop me from sounding as if I had a peg on my nose.

It worked! but by the time I finished the show I had a raging headache as well. We drove home Sunday night and on Monday I felt like blah! It got worse and by Monday night I had a touch of gastro-enteritis to add to the list. Quite unusually for me, I stayed home and slept most of Tuesday and Wednesday. Just to add insult to injury, on Wednesday night I started with conjunctivitis and on Thursday morning my left eye was welded together and needed bathing before I could get it open even a little. So most of Thursday was spent with and ice pack on it.

Friday I felt much better. Still taking the 'Night Nurse' capsules - they really do work, I headed off to work and got through the day without any major relapse.

By now, I was getting withdrawal symptoms on two fronts. Having not been out all week I needed some retail therapy and I was longing to get into my studio and do some crafting without all the pressure of having to do something specific..... I just wanted to play. I decided to satisfy both yearnings in one fell swoop - I'd shop for 'crafty things'. Bright and early Saturday morning after filling up the windscreen washer on my car, I headed off up the A1(M) to Ikea at the Metro Centre. The wind was still very strong and gusting across the motorway but I got there safely and the traffic was quite light.

Ikea brought a good yield of bargains: I bought a fabulous Zamioculcas house plant reduced from £20 to £9.99, a pack of three metal storage tins with glass tops, and a couple of packs of cards with an architectural theme in what look like pen and ink drawings which have been water coloured - very usable and recommended by friend Kathleen. Also, three stems of aubergine velvet poppies (great for crafting projects) and my best buy of all - several broad frame mirrors just screaming "alter ME!"

I left Ikea and was heading towards my next stop at Team Valley when I realised that I was on the same road as Ward Graphics soooo, my little car decided all on its own, to turn into Wards and have a little rest in their car park. While it rested I did the descent thing and left it in peace and quiet and had a wonder around store. It was quite well stocked and I added a few more things to my Saturday morning shopping stash - a miniature canvas and wooden easel, awe cute. Rob & Bob Studio mini clipboards, a pack of sticky stuff applicators, and a selection of PM brads which were on offer.

Next stop Hobbycraft at Team Valley. Boy did I get some bargains here. A 6"x6" fabric gate fold scrapbook from K&Company at a clearance price of £6.99, loads of Making Memories metal frames, snaps and decorative pewter brads all with 50% off, two balls of beautiful ribbon yarn, one in green/aqua the other in coral/mushroom shades and both reduced, an 8"x8" bevelled edged canvas with 50% off and a lovely selection of ribbons - some of which have adhesive backing, all for 99p per spool. Most surprisingly, I also found a large pack of Freezer Paper (really hard to find in the north east). Oh! I'm on a roll now. Back in the car, the weather is really beginning to look foul and while I'm entering the details of the Scrapbook Shop at Framwellgate Moor into Thomas (my Tom Tom) it begins to throw it down.

Thomas safely navigates to Durham and deposits me right outside the Scrapbook Shop. One of the projects on my 'to do' list is to make a Christmas scrapbook for my brother and one for my parents, so I need to get papers. I'm fancying the new 'Fruitcake' range from Basic Grey and I need some Bazzill card too. Half an hour later and with two more bags full of goodies, I'm finished for the day. As well as a great selection of paper and card I also found some lovely ribbon collections, Making Memories acrylic scrapbook paints, a beautiful tin full of Prima Flowers, some Bazzill Blossoms and last but not least some Playing Cards in a tin for ATC's.

By now, I can hardly put one foot in front of the other, I'm exhausted but so happy and eager to get home to examine my stash more closely. Bliss.......... it was a wonderful day. Retail therapy really does work but such a pity that it's not available on the NHS!

I have taken photos of my haul but having just changed to the new Blogger, I'm having a few problems posting photo's to my blog - strange that I never had problems before. I thought it was supposed to be easier? No doubt, I've done something wrong along the way so the photos will have to wait until I've had time to sort it out. That's enough for now. I'm going to go and admire my finds and swoon one more time before retiring for the night.