Craft Show Pic's

On Friday I went to the Creative Stitches & Hobby Craft Show at Excel, in London.

I didn't know very much in advance that I'd be going - there was an ad on TV for it and Luvbug piped up, "Would you like to go to that?" well I nearly fell off my chair, what a nice surprise!

I explained that you had to pay for a ticket, and also that I didn't think there would be a Man Creche :) but I booked a ticket online and planned to go Thursday. Luvbug said he'd go shopping at Stratford, or make his way to Covent Garden...

After a bit of a panic, during which we thought I was having a dangerously bad allergic reaction to my new meds, it was put off till Friday. After seeing the dr, we set out Friday morning, me dosed up on steroids and anti-histamines and almost asleep by the time we got there! My face and neck were red and itchy, painful and tingly, and I'm sure people must have thought I had been burned. I suppose it may be testament to how the meds are helping me mentally though, that I didn't feel too self-conscious or afraid of the crowds to go.

I didn't think the show was that big when I first got there- I'd never been to one of these shows before- but it turned out to be the perfect size, not too big or small. I was in there over three hours and nearly wore my feet off!

I only had my little phone so the photo's aren't great but will give you an idea...

Bears were there, of course!! These were hanging out on the stall of the Guild Of British Toymakers. 

This was at the end of an enormous display by knitters. It was a maritime theme and this is the head of the Loch Ness Monster!! (where there are bears, there are always dragons...)

A giant Decoupatch Cat!!!! Look at the size of him compared to the woman nearby! I should have returned to this stall to see how much their papers were, but never got back to it :( It was a popular, and very crowded one.

Giant Decoupatch Bear with Decoupatch Dinosaur behind!!! This was their main display, with a rep who was Decoupatching a fridge. Yes, I said fridge.

A display of panels by members of a stitching club...

...this is a close-up of one of my favourites in the display. The maker had printed a picture of a pier and wreck onto a cotton panel, then printed photo's of the seagulls onto chiffon, and sewn them on top. The effect was like seeing reflections of a scene in a window.

Bird panels from the same display.

Embroidered postcards from around the world. Each column is a different country.

This isn't a painting, it's all 3D stitching. I couldn't afford any of her work so I picked up some postcards instead. The artist's name was Gilda Baron.

From a quilt display- sorry it's blurred!

Large Owl and Hedgehog handbags!

Lastly, here is my haul!-

I then took the DLR to Stratford and met up again with Luvbug. We went looking at clothes for a while and I managed to to get some new jeans at last that weren't made for a giant (M&S £12.50!!). We then both admitted that our feet were killing us and, after nabbing snacks to eat on the way, made it back to the car.

We popped in on mum for a couple of hours on the way home, then I made chicken curry. We both fell asleep on sofas, worn out. LOL!

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Love, tea & cake,  
Helena