This is one of the highlights of my year as a show, the one that offers one of the best selection of products that suit my interests and some very talented demonstrators and the chance to meet crafty friends from around the country. Sometimes I pop up for the day, and from time to time we make a weekend of it, staying in a nice hotel we have found and talking into the night catching up with each other and usually eating lemon drizzle cake!!!.
This was what greeted me as I left home on Saturday morning, a wonderful sunrise. Excuse the blurry pic, it was taken on my phone, but it still gives you the idea of what an amazing sight it was!
I arrived at Alexandra Palace before the show opened and was ready for some serious shopping. Like a lot of the people I know, first stop is always Paper Artsy whose brilliant range of products is a must see, as are their wonderful demos, on Saturday Leandra and the lovely Lin Brown were working their magic.
I also enjoyed watching Barbara Grey with the gelli plate, Debbie at Inkylicious with her incredible skills with ink dusters and had a lovely chat when it was a bit quieter on Sunday with Andy Skinner about some of the new Decoart mediums which had to fall into my basket.Andy explains his techniques so clearly and helpfully. My purchases included some lovely stamps, a couple of dies, several new mediums and quite a few stencils. My bag was quite a lot heavier on the journey home.
Sunday was especially sunny and I took time for a walk around the building which is magnificent in its own right and one of the reasons I enjoy the show so much.
It is always so sad when we come to take leave of each other, as we never really know how long it will be before all four of us manage to be in the same place at the same time again. For now though we treasure those times we do manage, like this weekend. We have also decided to try to resurrect our shared Crafting Stamping Quartet blog soon as we have neglected it for far too long and will be posting in the next week or two.
Today I have had a slow day at home putting my shopping away and I managed to make a very quick card with one of the Clarity stencils I bought yesterday over a Prima script paper. The stamps is one I bought at the show some time ago, but have never used!
It was a wonderful weekend with plenty of happy memories to warm the heart.
Elaine
It sounds like you had a lovely weekend with plenty of shopping too. Love the card you have made too
ReplyDeleteJackie x
Beautiful card, the stencil work & colours are fantastic. Sounds like a super weekend with good friends and good shopping, what more can you ask for :) Enjoy the play with your crafty purchases. Take care, Shirleyxx
ReplyDeleteWe did have a lovely weekend, didn't we? It's always a special time to share, and inspirational watching demos, meeting friends and seeing new products during our trip to the show. Your card is lovely, the script background is smashing, and the colours are so pretty. The sentiment is really gorgeous. Looking forward to seeing some of your other purchases put to good use soon, love Judith xx
ReplyDeleteThat sunrise was really magical & the building really is spectacular, I'm not surprised you enjoy the venue so much. That's a lovely effect with the stencilled flowers over the script paper & I love the crispness of the white card base against the dark maroon matting.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised your bag was heavier coming home!
Paula (PEP)