Stitches Show 2015 at Birmingham

This year I was thrilled to be attending the Craft,Hobby and Stitch Show ( affectionately known as Stitches) it is running from 15-17th February at the NEC. This was a great opportunity for me to be there with PaperArtsy to see my newest stamp collection launched to the retailers. 

It has been a crazy busy time getting samples ready for the show and sending them down to PA HQ so they could be attached to exhibition boards. Mark and Leandra and Emma have all been working flat out to get things ready at that end. 

Saturday.

So it is now showtime. there will be lots of PA team people there this time. Mark, Leandra, Emma, Darcy, Lin and Jofy... and I do believe Sara Naumann will be there too. 

As I write this bit we are just about to set off, it will take 3hrs to drive there..Hope to be able to put lots of names to faces while I am there. ...

Saturday PM

The drive was hassle free, with a stop off for lunch and before we knew it we were at the NEC... can we say huuuge! After checking in with Leandra I went and bagged a table at the pub..most important job of the day lol Emma joined me soon affter and then Mark and Leandra turned up. We had a really lovely meal, topped off by this yummy fruit crumble and custard. A pretty good way to end the day really..

Sunday

Bright and early(7am) we were having breakfast, fortification to get us through the day.. and then it was off back to the NEC. ..again huuuge!

Last minute bits and pieces being set up..

ooo look that's me!

The stand is looking lush, everything painted in Mermaid and looking so pretty. 

The team having a last minute ipad conference.

All set up and ready to go, time for a selfie. groupie..

Some truly gorgeous,fabulous people dropped by to see us. Here is the stunning Paula Pascual

This is a photo taken by Paula.. 

We demoed our socks off, and after lunch Liz Borer joined us.. 

Leandra did a great job on this Grunge Paste PaperArtsy sign. 

I also got to meet the gorgeous Sara Naumann, such an absolute pleasure, sadly didn't get a photo. 

 Some of these Hot Picks samples are mine, they will be here on the blog soon. 

Extra goodies from Jo Firth Young

Emma's designs looking fab!

Love this lil dsiplay table

All the paints looking lush.... and there is my basket of flowers hanging up..

The stand just looked so professional..

About 2pm I managed to get out into the show for a walk around..

Just love this wooly guy..

There was a lot LOT of fabrics, woolly things, ribbons and notions.. 

oo strokey strokey!

yummy fabrics..

be still my beating heart..

This was at Wonderfil Speciality threads. 

their samples of machine embroidery were just amazing. 

look at this machined journal covers. 

This beauty was at the Wholesale bead stand..

can you see how it is decorated..

yes it is all beads!!!

just wow!

Love these little bowls made from sheets of twisted paper. 

How is this for a button collection, from Italian Buttons. 

Next up we stopped by Ken Oliver for a chat. he is doing great things with his new version of concentrated powder pigments. 

These lampshades were so cool... make your own, and they had bins to match, from Needcraft. 

I could not resist a photo of these sweet needlefelted mice from Hawthorn Handmade. 

When I got back to our stand Lin and Liz were hard at it making samples. 

 These were Lin's samples. 

This is what Liz was working on..

and here are 3 samples that I made throughout the day.. 

I took 6 tags ready made with me, I will be showing you step outs of those over the next few days. 

It was such a fab day, with some great people dropping by the stand.. Some of our patwits..Kirsten, Gabrielle,Julie, Brenda,Karen,.. Lovely shop owners James from Stampers Grove, Marion Emberson, Susan from Country View Crafts, Sandy from The Craft Barn, Nina from Crafting Time.. And so many,many others. I should have taken notes lol We also had the pleasure of speaking to many people from other countries.. Holland, Spain, Italy... 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and stayed for a chat.

Darcy x