Craft, Hobby & Stitch Show

I spent the day the Craft, Hobby and Stitch Trade Show at the NEC, which is always one of the highlights of the year. Maybe its because I went on the Monday and not the Sunday, but it did seem a quieter show than usual. This was actually an advantage as I was able to spend plenty of time stopping to chat as I met old friends and also meant that I could get close to the demos.
Here is Tim Holz demoing a resist technique with embossing powder and Distress Inks...

and this is his floral wreath made from grunge paper.

I also watched Suze Weinberg demonstrating Melt Pot art - nothing particularly new, but it did make me promise myself to have another play with this technique later in the week.

I went back to the Personal Impressions stand 3 times in the hope of seeing my friend Lindsay, but each time she wasn't there!! Where were you Lindsay??

My other favourites from the show were all textile related. Viridian was definitely the best yarn stand -

http://www.viridianyarn.com/ . They produce wonderful sock yarns and have some great designers on board. My hands hurt too much if I use the finer yarns these days, but I still like to admire them.

There were plenty of Ooohs and Aaahs on the The Button Company stand. As well as selling buttons, they are distributing for The Cinnamon Patch. This is a french company producing wonderful kits that are a unique mixture of patchwork and embroidery and combine felt with cotton fabric. They were right up my street! http://www.thecinnamonpatch.com/

So its been a fantastic day, full of eye candy, and a wonderful antidote to the grey, biting cold outdoors. My head is swimming with ideas - now all I need is the time to put them into practice!