In Stitches!

Well I got back from the Craft Hobby & Stitch trade show at the NEC yesterday but it took me a day to recover so I'm only just getting round to yapping about it. For those of you who don't know, 'Stitches' shows off all the new scrapbooking papers and products that will be available to make gaaaaaaaaaaw-geous things with in just a few weeks. Maybe a month or so for some of them. There are other products on display too for people who knit and sew. But as I do neither...*Chrissie shrugs and curls her top lip in a "Am I bovvered" fashion*...I take no notice of those stands except to go "Awwww!" at the cute CUTE knitted things for children, and maybe think "I wouldn't mind a decent sewing machine so I can sew all over my layouts."

Well the day started off more or less to schedule. I stayed with Katie-Jane in Ystrad Mynach the night before and we got up and set off by 7.30, reaching Amber in Newport at 8 o'clock. And then that is where it all went the shape of a great big pear, as they say. There had been a bad crash on the M4 at the top end of Newport, and as we hit the motorway about halfway across Newport, it then took us TWO AND A HALF HOURS to move 3 junctions so we could zip off north up the M50. Man alive, it was boring! However, getting it into perspective, someone or perhaps several people were obviously seriously hurt or worse for them to have closed the motorway altogether, and so it doesn't really matter that we were inconvenienced for 2 1/2 hours, does it?
One of the first people it was lovely to see again was the delightful Marilyn from All My Memories (pictured here with Amber and Kate). She is just a sweetheart, and we chat up a storm about Utah and so on when I meet with her.

She even gave me a big hug this year when she saw me!! Cool! And, we have to say, the new AMM totes and trolleys are just deeeeeeee-lish. I can just see everyone e-baying their old desk totes so they can get one of the new colours (I like the black one with the stripe personally!), and the new Roller Bags are fabulous. I want one and I want one NOW! The bag part slips very very easily onto the handle so it makes a two-part trolley, and (as Marilyn said) you can take the top bag off to go merrily into your classes at crops and such like. "Ha!" said we. "If you were ever THAT ORGANISED - bwaahaaahaaa" said we. But still, very pretty product. They also have matching handbags and clutch bags to go with *sigh* and a bit of bling hanging off the zip...ooooo! The new AMM albums are also just a beautiful beautiful thing...made from softer faux leather, a bit padded, and lovely new colours (raspberry and navy)

We then sat and made a Rusty Pickle file folder book thing (I'm good with my terms - LOL)...got to love a little make 'n take (even though the girl doing it looked for all the world like she didn't want to be there. Perhaps she had jet lag...?) . Here's Amber Dawn proudly showing y'all her little book, in front of the new errr...well...a new collection anyway. Might be Cosmo...might be Crate. No doubt Amber will tell me *Chrissie looks sheepish and ever so slightly clueless*

Edited to say they are 'We R Memory Keepers' papers :D It MIGHT help to zoom in on the photo eh Chrissie...duh!

In our wanderings we then came across Timmy Tim Tim doing a demo surrounded by the obligatory clutch of excited fans. This photo of Katie-Jane peeking through the crowd does just make me laugh. I said hi to him and his manager Alain, and then we wandered off. I am not his stalker, despite what Amber says - LOL!




Other new products we loooooved: the new Basic Grey (no brainer), some lovely acrylic stamps called Studio G (but very irritating that we couldn't order 30 or so of the same stamp for our retreat kits...grrrr! Drives me MAD), I liked some of the MAMBI stuff, and the new Maya Road chipboard and ribbons. It seemed to me that there was a fair bit of turquoise and red about on everyone's collections, which is a bit lovely as it's one of my favourite colour combinations.

While we were chatting to the chaps on the Fiskars stand (or Friskars as Katie kept saying - mwaahaaa), the entourage that is Dawn Bibby came sauntering by. "You're following us" I bantered with her (for we had seen her about 3 times already that day). She then toddled off to partake in the champers and food they had on offer and I put my head down and said quietly to Amber, "Right. I'm going to get a photo of you and her together." You have never seen such wide-eyed urgently quiet hissy fitting in all your born days. "Don't you dare! Don't you DARE!" I was creased. I very nearly did do it too, but figured that annoying your staff (staff who have just completed a truly STONKING retreat class to boot) is perhaps not the best idea.

Later, back at the Scrapgenie stand we ran into Tracie Hudson, who I've chatted to a little bit and whose scrapbooking I admire very much. It was nice to finally meet her in the skin, and here's our cutesy photo to mark the occasion. She told me some very exciting news and I've told her that if certain things do happen, I want to be there! I'm not saying anything more...she knows what I mean :-) That news was definitely one of the best bits of my day.

I ended up staying at Kate's again that night as we were all completely and utterly shattered when we got back to Wales (and I had a blister on each foot from the miles we walked round and round the NEC). I couldn't face another hour drive home (plus stopping for petrol) and was asleep 30 seconds after my head hit the pillow in the Gilmour's spare room. Reports on the jungle drums of my Celyn really missing me made me get up and home before 9 so I could give her some Mummy love! I'm not one for schmoosing about my daughter on here, but (goes without saying) I love her so much it squashes me.

Can I also just say at this juncture that MacDonald's really have no concept of the term 'fast food'. Having to wait 7 minutes for a bagel (not a full-on meal with nit-picky 'no gerkins' or anything...just a bagel) in a drive through when one is the only customer and one is trying to get home is IRRITATING BEYOND BELIEF. Raaaaagh! I'm NOT lovin' it.