CHSI Stitches Trade Show

So the last couple of days were spent at the trade show held at the NEC (luckily only ten minutes away from my home!). My friends Kath Stewart and Anne Redfern came to stay with me - just look at the gorgeous hostess gift Anne made for me. She is on the Eileen Hull design team, and used the Cantilever Sewing Box die by Eileen to make me this perfect little box. I love it! See a step by step tutorial on how Anne made the box HERE

The stunning flower was made with Foamiran......

and Anne also made these really cute cards with her details on the reverse side to hand out at the show - I grabbed this one!

We did a make and take using various inky techniques with Jo Firth-Young and Leandra from Paper Artsy (don't you love those flowers? I got the stamp to bring home with me....)

Some Paper Artsy samples on display........

We stopped off to say hello to Michelle and play on the Stix2 stand, and were given coffee and this yummy scone, which we munched......

and got inky making this tag.......

We goofed around with the guys on the WOW embossing stand - Kath and Marion were crying with laughter in this photo....

I will post more photos of some of the stuff that caught my eye tomorrow, but not before I tell you about the trauma of the car park incident....

Living around the corner, I should know my way around the NEC (National Exhibition Centre). Of course I should....but my usual car park was blocked off and I was directed to another car park. So far, so good. Made my way to the show, and left with Kath and Anne, carrying their overnight bags. The system is that you take a shuttle bus back to the car park, huge huge car parks with hundreds of cars, divided up with low hedges and prominent signs with the number and location of the areas you are parked in.

Prominent did I say? Not prominent enough for me obviously, I had hopped out of my car without taking any note of where I was parked. So when the shuttle bus dropped us off (car parks N1, N2, N3 the driver announced cheerily), I had NO idea where to look. "I parked by a hedge" I whimpered "I remember a hedge". It was dark and freezing cold. Even Nanook of the North (Kath) was shivering. Eventually, a very kind woman took pity on us and offered to drive us around the car parks to find the car (she was clearly disturbed by the sight of two miserable, shivering women standing with their cases, as I ran around in circles like a maniac, pressing the car fob frantically). 

We were incoherent with gratitude, loaded the cases into her boot (trunk), dragged our cold, protesting bodies into the warmth of her car, and settled down to find my elusive car. I sat in the front seat "I will keep pressing this" I announced, pressing the key fob of my car (we hadn't even set off at this point). Flash flash went the lights on a car parked about 20 yards away. Click click went the key fob. Flash flash went the car....

So we unloaded bodies and cases, and slunk apologetically out of her car to walk the few yards to mine......