Tuesday 4 July 2017

Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show

At the weekend I went to the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show at the NEC Birmingham.  I was given free tickets and invited to a Blogger's event. so I felt very excited and important (though clearly I'm not!).  We were given endless coffee, tea, croissants, muffins and food, and 2 craft activities to try.  I was lucky enough to end up sitting with the lovely Julie from Sum of their Stories, it was great to meet another UK general craft blogger.

The first activity was a tapestry brooch with Tina Francis.  This was the perfect stitching project as it was done in tent stitch and it's small scale meant that we could actually finish it at the event.



We were each given a kit with the pattern (erm no, I didn't follow it!), the brooch finding, a needle and some canvas.  There were piles of Anchor tapestry wool on the table for us to chose from.



Tina (who is fabulously friendly and helpful - take a class with her if you get the chance!) encouraged us not to think too much about colour choice, but to just grab something we were drawn too.  I started with a bluey-grey and added a reddy-purple.  This picture does NOT show the correct colours!



For my third colour, Tina pushed me towards an acid-green.  It was perfect.  I randomly chose orange for the final grid colour and I'm loving my choices! 



I managed to get the brooch finished, despite taking the time to drink about 6 cups of coffee, or perhaps because of the coffee!  Then I moved tables to have a quick go at the papercraft project of the day.



We were making paper houses with Cathie Shuttleworth (apologies, that's a Facebook link, her website seems to be doing something odd right now - but it's here if it comes back up).  We were given the templates and I got cutting out.



As the first group were still making theirs, I didn't hear the instructions and so just wung it.  Cathie would have, and did, help when I asked, but hey, I like to do my own thing!  This meant that I did the ribbon slot on the roof wrong and I also put the house together inside-out!



Ah well!  I didn't have too much time so the decoration is fairly minimal.  It would have been nice to have had a bit longer as there were some lovely papers and punches and papercraft bits and bobs to play with.



It's been a long time since I did papercraft and I really quite enjoyed it!



The top flap of the roof lifts off so it's a useable box, and ties with the ribbon.



To sum up the workshop - a paper house, 2 tapestry brooches (one was my friend Laura's, she'd accompanied me in her capacity as my "assistant" - i.e. pass me the coffee....) and a muffin!



AND... most excitingly, we got a goodie bag!  It's a proper canvas tote that I forgot to take a picture of, and it had all this inside!  Above is paper and card.



Beads, glitter, glue, dies, a papier mache monster (that I love!), liquid pearls and a block printing kit.  What a great goody bag!



I did a little, but not much, shopping.  My entire house is in disarray due to the renovations I'm doing and there is craft stuff everywhere which put me off buying more.  I did invest in a House of Zandra kit though.  I've wanted one forever and this was on offer for £15!  



Next we came across the Powertex stand.  I've seen this product advertised, but don't recall ever seeing it demonstrated at a show.  It was amazing!  Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take photos (other than this mannequin), so I'd have a bit of a google as the stuff is amazing!



We were invited to add to the mannequin, I added this heart on her knee and also a W on her bum!  Forgot to get a picture of that...  I bought a starter kit as I have an idea to Powertex the side of my outdoor toilet wall....  watch this space!

17 comments:

Pamela said...

Looks like you had a great time!

Sandra :) said...

Oh my - how could that house be inside-out? It looks adorable! And since the roof is removable - how cool would it be as gift wrap for a little gifty?! Oh - even better - it would be great for gift wrap for a house warming party, lol!

Jane said...

definitely your sort of day out,look forward to seeing where it takes you when you get the time

margaret said...

a very productive day you had, good makes maybe you did the house wrong but it looks great to me. i was on standby to go and help at the show if busy but the exhibitor said it was a terrible show won`t use the word she used!! no one wanting to buy anything rather like when it was in Harrogate a couple of months ago. Are you going to FOQ in august, I have booked to hear the Victoria Findley Wolfe lecture so looking forward to it

Rachel said...

I know Tina - she's great fun - but not the papercrafting lady. It sounds like a great adventure all round!

And the powertex is giving me ideas, too...!

Catherine - Hillview Embroidery said...

It sounds like you had an amazing time! And how lovely Togo to a special blogger party too. More crafts for you to add to your list of things you can do!

Oops-Lah said...

Must have been fun at the craft show! I love both the projects you've made and especially the little paper house (would be great for an advent calendar with little treats in it). It seems you were able to sort out the problem with the pictures. I've just come across this blog post and was thinking of you: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2017/07/photobucket-drops-free-image-display.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Nitecruzr-Blogging+%28The+Real+Blogger+Status%29

Anonymous said...

That looks like an amazing day - cool activities, an amazing goodie bag and muffins - perfect! The colours you used for your brooch are so unexpected but work brilliantly together.

Anonymous said...

Love the little brooches, they are really effective.

Anonymous said...

Loving the little brooches, they are so effective.

Sarah in Stitches said...

Sounds like you had a great time! Lovely goodies too :D

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

This looks like so much fun! How do you get your name on the list for a bloggers' event?
I would love to try some workshops.

FlashinScissors said...

Great makes! The Powertex looks amazing! Oooh! Block printing kit - I'm very jealous!
Sounds like you and your "assistant" had a terrific day, Wendy!
Barbara x

pennydog said...

Well that seems like a fun show, you fancy blogger you.

Unknown said...

Hi Wendy

Just found you online and just wanted to say ‘hi’. I love your blog, particularly the NEC Blogger Workshop as we were there too exhibiting our kits, books, eyes etc to crochet, knit, sew and needle felt teddy bears, dolls and other little characters! We are www.amazingcraft.co.uk and, who knows, we may even have met you there!

I love your craft book challenge (I’m so lucky as I get to choose the books we sell and it half feeds my craft book habit!).

Looking forward to reading your latest blogs and, please do say hi if you see us at any of the Autumn Shows and I'll keep a look out for the heart on the Powertex figure!

Kind regards, Becky

Sum of their Stories said...

I feel bad that I've not popped back to say hi agin sooner - and after you called me lovely and everything....
We did have a fun time didn't we? Your little house is cute, I nearly did mind inside out too but Cathy stopped me just in time.
Hope to see you again soon.

Sok Sareth said...

Awesome blog, i always enjoy & read the post you are sharing!
Thank for your very good article...!

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