Photos of Demo Day

Saturday was a great day, above is the camera shy Amanda Bateman.

Kay Carley has been a friend of Stamp Addicts for so long she has her own personalised apron.

This is Lindsay and Michele from Kuretake showing us the wonders of Brushables.

Lesley was doing wonders with Dad's Truck and Jeans Pants, with a bit of Venice thrown in to spice it up. We also had Jo demonstrating with Distress Embossing Powders and Inkpads and Julie making Christmas cards with Denami's smallest stamps.

And the big surprise of the day - I can bake cakes, albeit bright funky childrens' cakes!

Demo Day

Today is Demo Day in the shop. For the first time we've got 6 demonstrators working all day - Kay Carley, Amanda Bateman, Lyndsey from Kuretake and then 3 of our girls Lesley, Julie & Jo. They will all be demonstrating different products so it should be a lot of fun.

And I have now finished our first Mini-Mag, so this will be in the post to all Stamp Addicts Members over the next week. If you are not a member and would like a copy please send an A5 SAE (a regular stamp). The Mini-Mag contains special offers, projects, new products and the Pirates & Princess information sheet. Also going out with the Mini-Mag is a supplement containing most of the Unmounted Stamp Sets from A Stamp In The Hand.

We've got a delivery on Monday of the new EK Success Nesting Punches, there are only a few available at the moment in the smaller (Whale of a punch type) sizes but the bigger ones will be arriving in a month or two.
We've also got some other bits and pieces arriving next week so keep an eye on the website as we will put them up when they arrive.

I'll try and remember to take photos today and post them here for you to laugh at tomorrow.

And the winner is . . . .

Linda Elbourne, see Linda's card here.

Congratulations Linda. We loved all the cards, its hard not to when everything is purple.

Linda wins the box of ribbons and box of flowers.

We will have another challenge soon.

Purple Challenge Entry

This entry is from Kathy Robinson. Kathy has used stamps from DeNami with water colour paper, Marvy pens, vellum and some zig zag ribbon.

The Purple Challenge

Here it is - our first challenge. Please create a card or project with the colour Purple. The rules are listed to the left.

And the winner will receive this box of Purple flowers and Purple ribbons - well I had to start with my favourite colour didn't I!

The winner will be chosen next Friday so you've got all week (extended deadline) to get creating. Good luck!

Kay Carley Workshop

Kay Carley will be joining us for our Demo Day on Saturday 28th June. She will also be with us for a class on Friday evening of 27th June 4pm-6pm, above are the cards for the class. If you would like to book please call the shop or book via our website.

C&C Weekend - Report

From all the people that I spoke to on the C&C Weekend reports were favourable, they were having a great time. The attendees were split into seven groups for the weekend, each one named after a different sweet i.e. Dolly Mixtures, Sherbert Lemons & Humbugs. There were seven different classes so the groups worked round in rotation and every group got to do every class. The schedule was tight and they only got half an hour between classes so by the time they left on Sunday afternoon they were worn out.

The most common complaint from the attendees was that they didn't have enough time to shop, and all us exhibitors would agree.

The attendees were fully fed and watered and also had evening entertainment. We were allowed to join them for the Saturday night game show 'Crafty Fortunes'. This was a really good evening and Stephanie and Nigel did an excellent job entertaining the crowd. We were having so much fun we didn't make it to bed until after 1am!! I am still recovering.

Although the weekend wasn't a financial success for us (and most exhibitors) it was a positive experience and one that we would be interested in repeating next year - but we want to teach one of the classes.

Now the weekend is over I need to turn my attention to our Demo Day on Sat 28th June.

Create & Craft Weekend

Tomorrow we set off for the Metropole Hotel at the NEC, luckily this is only a short (1.5 hr) drive for us, where we will set up our stand for the Create & Craft Weekend. This is only the second year Create & Craft have run this weekend, last year it was for weekend attendees only, this year anyone can come along and visit the stands (like ours) to purchase fabulous crafting products. I believe the entrance fee is £2 and there are approximately 20 exhibitors - but don't quote me on that.

Aside from preparing for this show I have also started work on the next newsletter and the next TV show. I have to plan everything well in advance, it is very rare for me to do something without having planned it to the enth degree first. Maybe I don't like suprises, I'm not sure. I just want to make sure everything is going to run smoothly and that I won't get stressed out. Poor old Nicky (she'll kill me for saying old) at Create & Craft, I have been bombarding her with emails and calls with questions about this weekend, because it is the first time we have attended this event I had lots of questions, about unloading, access, food!!!. I know lots of people would be happy to turn up and figure it out as they go along but if I can be prepared then I don't have to spend time working out ways around obstacles and can spend more time relaxing and socialising, or even swimming.

If you are part of the weekend I hope you are prepared for a great time, I believe that the welcome pack includes a tote bag and a tool kit. And I know all the guys and gals at Create & Craft have gone all out to make sure this is a wonderful weekend - if you see me at the hotel bar mine's a pint of Evian.

In the shop this week: the Summer issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine arrived, the July issue of Scrapbooks etc arrived and a bigger selection of Petaloo silk flowers also arrived. We received the new Teresa Collins unmounted Travel stamps that co-ordinate with the Travelogue papers and we also took delivery of the Teresa Collins Perfect Closures. Fingers crossed for lots more goodies next week.

Scrapbooking & Beyond

This is an American magazine which I believe is quarterly. I have just ordered a trial shipment of copies to see what we think of it. This is what they say about it:

Scrapbooking & Beyond™ is a unique magazine geared for both the "archival" and "creative" scrapbooker. Learn how to create and display treasured keepsakes. Discover how to preserve special memories in unique ways. Simple to elaborate page layouts, altered books, and both photo and computer journaling are but a few of the exciting projects and articles featured in full color and presented with complete and easy instructions. While other scrapbooking magazines devote the majority of their pages to simply showing scrapbook layouts, Scrapbooking & Beyond™ provides both seasoned pros and newcomers with the inspiration to create the page and the education to make the page. Let us be your guide for learning, creating, and sharing.

Inside the Current Issue — Summer 2008
This issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond is packed with summer fun! We have new products for you to check out and a great selection of books to read at your leisure while relaxing at the beach or favorite shady spot.

The second exciting installment in our Sketch Anatomy series was inspired by The Double Wedding Ring quilt pattern. There are four layout variations for you to see, and the entire summer to make all of them. Wile away those hot, lazy days learning how to make your own "ghost letters". Or simply cool off with one of our Delcious Design recipe pages by making a quick Seaside Snack or Sunshine Summer Salad. Then wash it down with Raspberry Lemonade Punch!

Creating a calendar page layout is a unique and fun way to view weeks at a time in one single glance. We'll show you how to capture all of your summer activities and scrap them into one layout.

I discovered this magazine when I was sitting in the JudiKins library last week and I liked the look of it so I thought we should give it a try. It will go up on the Stamp Addicts website as soon as it arrives but if you want to pre-order and make sure you don't miss out give us a call.

Wendy's DT Work

In case you've missed it on the Crafty Butterfly blog, here is the artwork that Wendy has produced from the new Printworks unmounted sets that we sent her.

New Cricut Machine

We saw the new Cricut machine today - it is sooo much nicer and better than the original. It is the same size as the original (not the Expression) but it cuts as small as quarter inch and has many more functions, as well as looking better.

We also got to see the new Cricut Jukebox - I had seen a picture of this on the ProvoCraft website but couldn't work out what it is. It is a box that can take (I think) 8 cartridges, you plug them in and it comes with a cable to plug into your Cricut, where the cartridge would normally go. You can now switch between any of your 8 cartridges and cut on the same sheet of paper, no need to turn it off and remove the cartridge before installing a different one. Apparently you can even link two of these together and work with 16 cartridges. The container also has space to store the keypad overlays and the books - fabulous idea. I believe this is going to retail just under £80.

Dad's Truck

These are cards that Lesley made for the class on cardmaking for men. The stamp is 'Dad's Truck' by Printworks and can be found on our website. So you see you can make it a card for a man or someone going travelling or even a young lady that has just passed her driving test!

The first card uses the JudiKins Jeans Pants for the background and a guitar on shrink plastic in the boot.
The second card has been made using the JudiKins Popeze for the pop-up effect, the background uses A Stamp In The Hand stamps.
The third card has been stamped onto a pretty paper and then cut out. The bumper and wing mirrors are coloured with Silver Krylon pen.

I will be back with more artwork tomorrow (today is my first day back in the office so my head is still spinning!).