Stitches

Where shall I begin?

Sunday morning driving through the quiet streets making my way to the NEC was a breeze....the journey took me 25 mins.....25 mins to prepare for a day of visual over load.
How excited was I to be meeting Beckie for the first time..we have chatted lots over the past 18 months via the different forums we use but hadnt met IRL before. I arrived at the Scrap Genie stand dumped my bags and had a fabulous squidgy cuddle from Kirsty....what a wonderful way to start the day.
More cuddles from Becks and Beckie and then the fun started.....
the stand was looking pretty darn hot....so many wonderful new ranges to feast my eyes upon.

From dusk til dawn the stand was busy busy busy...a real hive of activity.
I managed to scrap a little...demo'd the Crop-A-Dile...chatted lots and lots to loads of lovely peeps and even found time to wander off and enjoy a quiet natter with Debs.
Roz popped by the stand and hand delivered a healthy supply of Lippy Chick books for me to play with. How cool was is that we got to meet up properly, we had crossed paths at a couple of retreats before hand and had only chatted briefly...this was our first chance to get together and have a good ol chat....I just love Roz's zest for life...she is such a happy person....the sort who just makes you wanna smile smile smile.

I couldnt resist taking a short break from the stand to wander over and watch Tim Holtz work his magic.....that man is a whizz.

Lookey at what he made me.....Im now the proud owner of a signed Tim Holtz tag....tis gonna take pride of place in my newly revamped workshop. :)


Sunday flew by and before I knew it it was time to head home.....back to my Moms for a delish supper and loads of TLC. I spent the evening tweaking a couple of projects that needed to be posted off the next day then hit my bed.
It was strange sleeping back in my old room....those walls have seen and heard every emotion possible....yikes when I think back to my teen years I shudder and wonder how my Mom could love me after all the sleepless nights I must have caused her....I deffo give thanks that I am blessed with boys!

Monday morning traffic....dont you just hate it? Living where we do means we are spared the nightmare of commuter traffic. The 25 minute journey took me 90 minutes! 90 minutes sat trawling along at a snail's pace. Im so glad we escaped the rat race when we did. I looked at the faces of the other drivers and they all looked so grey....so miserable....so sad. Surely there is more to life than being stuck in traffic for half of your waking day....why dont these peeps stop the ride and get off? Why do they work the same old same old every day??? I guess people get trapped in their ways and have to do what they have to do to survive the dog eat dog ways of city life....I just know its not for me and am grateful that we made the life changing decissions we did and escaped the treadmill madness.

So I eventually arrived at the NEC and spent the day in the pleasurable company of Emily Adams from Imagination Project.....



Emily has the most inspiring desire to share her gift of talent....and boy has she got talent. I sat along side Emily as she taught make and takes on the Scrap Genie stand and just had to have a go for myself.....Im just lovin the new Calendar and Office ranges which Emily co-designed.

I also managed to find time to take part in the Rusty Pickle make and take taught by the ever so lubberly Christy.....
Im lovin the new releases....specially Island Summer....its so vibrant with colours that are almost lickable.....think rapsberry ripple ice cream....perfect for lazy summer layouts.
The afternoon was a hoot and I sat giggling as Amy Pilkingtons hubby John decided to have a go at Amy's make and take class. This guy isnt a crafter at all but he managed to produce a wonderfully distressed card for Becks and then continued to make more and more....Im sure he is a closet crafter....Amy had better lock up her stash!


So another day ended....the stand had been busy all day with the new ranges being positively recieved. I was sad to wave bye to Beckie as she headed back to bonnie Scotland but its not long now til Crafteire, so we will have chance to get together.


I met so many people I knew....Chrissie popped by to say hi as did Angela..Kate and Mirielle from Crafteire...Scrapagogo's Lorraine....Sarah(plus the bump) and Lianne...tis always great to meet people in real life when you have chatted online for a while.
I crawled through the traffic back home to Moms and hit my bed with sore and acheing tootsies.

Tuesday's traffic was worse than Mondays due to a rather nasty RTA on the M6....I sat motionless for over an hour whilst the emergency services did their thing....I just couldnt spend my days like this and I feel so sorry for the peeps that have to do it day in day out.
On my way over to the NEC I called into another craft store and have been invited to teach a couple of workshops....dates etc TBC very soon :)

The morning flew by as I sat making Karen a card for her hubby....Happy Birthday Karens DH...he's norty 40 dontchaknow :)

4pm came and it was time for me to head off home.....3 hours with just lil ol Mika and Amy Whinehouse for company.

Tis lovely to be home....the guys came in and made such a huge fuss. I had demo's on how to operate my new conservatory blinds from J and Bobs told me all about his hat trick:) We cuddled up on the bed with a mug of Horlicks and I listened to all their news.

I love going away as it makes me appreciate what I have here so much more.....Im blessed with two beautiful boys, a wonderful hubby and am fortunate to live in what I consider to be the most beautiful place on earth......plus I get to scrap and play all I want....Im feeling pretty lucky atm and feel as if all my dreams have come true.

So that was my weekend away at Stitches....what did you get up to?

Tx