Craft Show Shepton Mallet

Hi Crafters

I have just returned from the Craft4Crafters show at Shepton Mallet. Along with craft show at Exeter it is one of the main events in the south west.

Each year there is a 'will I won't I' dance before the event, but this time I decided to go. Like most crafters I told myself I did not need anything but I would go to see what's new and get ideas.

The journey from where I live is approx a 50 minute drive and this is part of the decision of whether to go or not. The show is not big and all the stalls can be visited in an hour and a half easily, as there is just one main hall, with a few stall upstairs. So do I drove for 2hrs to a 1.5hr show.

Needless to say there were road works on route and this made the journey over an hour. It is always very busy in the hall and difficult to get to the stalls to see the products, but this year I started at the back and worked my way to the entrance. The stalls are a mixture of sewing knitting and papercrafts, which reflects the craft industry. As I do all these crafts there was plenty to enjoy. I walked the hall before buying anything and then went back to the stalls to purchase. This seemed to work well and I finished up with fewer impulse buys that were not really needed.

For my papercrafts I picked up some essentials such as sticky tape and blank cards, this suited me as I have a mass of dies, paints and papers. I did see a marbling demonstration that looked very good. The equipment consisted of a block that fed the colours onto a plate and substance that set the colour onto the paper or fabric or stone and made it non smudge and colourfast. It looked really neat, but I was not in the market for another new hobby so decided to pass.I did buy some great value fabric from the "Bombay" stand who were selling fabrics at £2.50 a metre. Who could resist such a bargain. 

I thought I had finished when I came across the "House of Zandra" stand. This is a lady who designs felt animals, you may call them toys but they seem much more. The selection is fabulous and each animal has a story with its name. The mouse is a storyteller, while the penquin is the warm hearted penquin and the Berry eating rabbit, you get the picture. There were so many lovely kits I could not make up my mind, and in the end bought 5 with the idea that at least 2 would make great Christmas presents (if I do not get to them first). 

The journey home went well with no hold ups, and so I was very glad I made the trip. I  miss the days when there were multi-stalls selling stamps with amazing demonstrations and samples to be seen. Also the big Sizzix stand and die companies are not present at this show, I suppose this reflects the way the craft industry is going, with many sales made on-line and via tv. On the plus side there were demonstrations at a lot of stands, make and takes, as well as classes in the upper rooms on all the days of the show, so I could have made a whole afternoon of it, had I wished. Well worth a look and infinitely easier than going to the NEC, although thats a whole different story.

Dee 

Review of Anna Griffin Stamp & Die Greeting Set

Hi Crafters

Another Birthday has come and gone, had a lovely day, off Slimming World plan, with champagne and lemon posset from M & S, but its only once a year.

Part of my present from hubby was a greeting stamp and die set from Anna Griffin. As you know I am quite a fan of AG, and have looked at this set before, but felt at £35 plus p & p it was a little expensive, particularly as I have several greeting stamps already, making it a luxury.
So this made it the perfect gift.

It arrived quite quickly from QVC and I had to wait a couple of days before my borthday to try it out.

The stamps work well and the die cuts cut easily, I then layered them with sticky pads to get the 3D look and depth for the greeting. I was a little disappointed that the effect is not the same as the greetings you can purchase from Anna Griffin and I can only put this down to the fact that they come with a corrdinating sticky backing layer adding even more depth, also the 2 dies per design are quite wide apart unlike the purchased greetings.  

Are they a good product: 8/10     good selection of shapes and greetings on stamps
Value 7/10  you can definately buy cheaper from other makes but not as complete a set

The set will sit well with my Anna Griffin papers, dies and embossing folders. 

Wallet Mini

Hi Crafters

Sometimes when I am selling a new product or make a good sale I like to add a litle extra to the parcel. It always good to open a parcel and find a little free goody. I was looking for a small gift to add to a parcel and decided on a wallet mini.

They are perfect to capture a single event such as a party or prom, I wish they had been around when I was at my college leaving party as a wallet mini would have been just right to pop in the photos to remind me of the occasion and the good friends made during the 2 year course.

Having only one or two left in the box I decided to make some more and not having made them for some time had to remind myself of the measurements and process. It was workth it as they take about an hour to make from start to finish and I now have 2 more to add to my box.

It takes about 3 sheets of 12 x 12 papers and each mini will hold 10 large pictures.

You can add little changes as you want such as the holding section in the middle and on the back of this one I have a little section that will hold a pen or tags. 

the base card is scored at 2.5" and  9.5"
Turn the page and then score at 33/4", 4", 8", and 81/4"
Burnish all the fold and then cut off the four outside corners 

Then add papers to decorate each section. It is best to measure each section and cut half a centimetre smaller. You will have 2 side flaps and these make up the 4 extra sides in the middle of the wallet. I like to use the outer flap to make a storage pocket as shown below 

The Sew Useful Bags

Hi Crafters

Back to sewing now. With some new bags for holidays. I have made a few shoe bags and a couple of lingerie bags for sale on Etsy. 

The bags are simple but very handy for holidays and home storage. I always use shoebags when packing for holiday so that my good clothes are not next to worn shoes, and its great to have a lingerie bag to match. Knickers can be rolled up and placed in the lingerie bag and then the bag goes straight into the drawer when we get to the hotel or cabin. If you want to be super organised you can use the lingerie bag as a nightdress case to keep the room tidy.

The bags are quick to make with the shoe bag having a drawstring top, and the lingerie bag a magnetic clip on the flap. They can be made in an hour, and the selling price is more dependant n the cost of the fabric used. 

Here are the 2 styles I have made so far.

Standard:

These are made from a merchandised cotton with ribbon drawstrings 

Luxury

Made from heavy cotton with a Regency Print with some top stictching and cotton cord drawstring

All are available in my Etsy store and make a great gift, when you put 2 shoe bags and a lingerie bag together  

I think I would like to try a bag for my great neice next, perhaps a shoebag with a cat on??

New Mini Book Card

Hi Crafters

I have recently recieved a new set of dies that make 3D mini books
The dies have 6 sizes for page layers plus a couple of tags and even 2 dies that cut neat little paper clips so really cute touches plus 4 ultra mini page dies if you wanted to make a real mini book about 3cm x 2.5cm.

Here are some of the cards I made 

 
Now I have to work out a box for them so I can sell them at fayres etc
Dee

Another Big Box

Hi Crafters 

All this lovely snow has meant time to craft as we cannot get out easily.

I caught a glimpse of Anna Griffins Blog and she was talking about March being Craft Month. That got me thinking about my Anna Griffin products which I have now sorted into one store box. I got the box out and decided to try some of the items I have, many go back to the QVC days, but some are more recent Ebay buys (Anna Griffin no longer retailing in the UK).

The first make was one of my big boxes as it lent itself well to the lovely papers and card stash I had in the box. I used all Anna Griffin products including the tag in the front (though not the ribbons), which is one of her accents, along with more accents and a sticker on the lid.

I was really pleased with this pretty box that measures 5.5" wide and 5.5" deep x 8.5" high. 

I am particularly pleased with this item as the box is my own design

Dee

Tonic Dies Haul

Hi Crafters 

I said I would give an update when the Tonic dies arrived from CraftyDevils and here it is.

So far I have used the flower set on the left hand side and the lovely tag die in the centre
This stash retailed at £132 and cost me £36 so I am very happy with my buys

The top left hand die is a stencil and matching die set, then there is a pretty arched window, the tag die, a stamp with multi-words in  a panel then a really lovely sunflower background die.
Along the bottom we have the flower set, dragonfly, butterfly and lovely panel die which will work well on edges, or filling in pop up boxes and gift boxes, and then a set of sew dies. 
The sew dies cut out the flower panel with small sewing holes around the edge to add stitches. Never done any of that before but may give it a try.

Dee