Knitting and Stitching Show

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking, after all, it's eye candy you want in a show report really.

I was soooooo organised (for me). To start with anyway. Got to the show before it opened. Bought brochure, ticket, breakfast (yeah - the picnic idea went out the window quite quickly) and, when the doors opened, went straight to Learning Curve Registration Desk to book myself on the Ray Slater class. How cool - a man who makes dolls!! (Ha! More on that later...)

So, then I sat in the refreshments area eating, drinking and perusing my shopping list and brochure to plan whete I was going. This stand was right next to the food area. The lady (I'll find her name in a bit) had created this interactive installation as part of her MA course. The 3 walls of her booth were like an old-fashioned sweet shop, lined from floor to ceiling with these jars FULL of old buttons! I wanted them all. The idea was to select 'ingredients' off the shelves, add them to the mixing bowl and mix them up to make something. I couldn't do it! All those fab little MOP buttons... how could you mix them up with so many other different coloured buttons. So I played safe and just used these ones to make my concoction below.


OK. Serious stuff now.

Shopping!

In no particular order:

Wool tops/roving in white and brown for needlefelting.

White hot fix Angelina fibres for... pretty, sparkly stuff.

Embossing glitter and 5 bargain rubber stamps (doll decoration).

Four tubes of seed beads for £1 each in lovely colours.

Pigma pens for doll faces (are you picking up on the doll trend?).

Multiple needle holder for needlefelting.

Roll of freezer paper.

Bags of fabric remnants from Bombay Stores for £1 each. There are loads of pieces in each one, all sari-type fabric off-cuts. Perfect for dressing dolls. I bought three of them. They also had scarves and shawls in chiffon and organza for a couple of quid each. Perfect for belly dancing so I got a black one of them.

Books.

This one by Sarah Lawrence is fab. I'm just miffed as Crafty Notions (her company) wasn't at the show :o( .

I spent ages at Art Van Go, flicking through back issues of CPS. I love this magazine but only have one or two copies. It's not cheap as it's an American import, but it's one of those mags that you can flick back through again and again for inspiration. (One of my copies was the basis for my Fairy Tale Swap piece - which you'll see soon).

This was my first purchase of the day, when money was burning a whole in my pocket and I was feeling VERY impulsive. It's a fabulous book. I love her work and she's such a nice lady. It's just that I don't think I'm going to be doing any quilts in the near future. It's just diversifying when I really want to try and focus more on doing one thing. SO I kind of regret buying it. Ah well.. That'll teach me. This is where things went pear-shaped. Normally I work my way up and down the aisles in an organised fashion, but cause I'd rushed to book onto the class I'd ended up right in the middle so then I walked around aimlessly, and that's when the pretty book lured me in.
This is going to be my birthday present from my bruv and his family (he's offered to pay for it :o))). It's great. I'm not hugely into beading but there are loads of other great ideas and patterns in it. I have two books by Patti Medaris Culea and they are so good. This one is a great addition and I can't wait to get playing.

Other stuff.

This was my final purchase from 21st Century Yarns (drool... that stand is so beautiful). They were 75p each or 3 for £2. I was down to my last few coins and spent ages trying to work out how many I could get for what money I had left. Doh!! They will make fab doll hair, in case your wondering.

So, onto the workshop. Ray Slater is a lady!!! Well I didn't know did I? She's a lovely lady actually and a great teacher. And cause we were the last session of the afternoon we over-ran a little. This is the wonky-faced woman I ended up producing...

I'm quite pleased with her and learnt a lot. Just need to get practising so that my features are straight and in the right places. I made the bridge of the nose to narrow to begin with so then had to move my eyes. My mouth is a bit lop-sided but here expression shows how I was feeling by the end of the day. Hmm...

I started to play with her when I got home as it was such fun. Out came the coloured pencils.

I think she's looking a bit better now. And with hair attached (kindly provided by Ray)...

... I quite like her in the end. She just needs a body. Now where's my sewing machine...

Other highlights.

I loved Ray's own dolls. They are really funky and I intended to buy her book but didn't! Why? Cause I'd bought the quilting one and hadn't got enough money left. Aaargh!

The Upfront bra art was amazing. I wanted several of them the hang on my wall, or wear for belly dancing.

Ruth Issett's exhibition was amazing. All that colour!

So all in all a great time was had, a lot of dosh was spent, a new technique was learnt and I even managed to escape without paying the car park fee!!!

If you are visitng the show this weekend ENJOY!!! and please could you bring me another couple of bags of the fabric from Bombay Stores? Thanks. :o)

Will post again soon. I've received my Robot Swap parcel of fab-ness from America and I must show it off.

ttfn

xx