A fantastic time.

My stand at the Fashion, embroidery and stitch show NEC.

My favourite dress from the Downton Abbey collection.

Keeping my hands busy during the show.

Wow what a week it's been! This time last week (9:15 am) I was on the road to Birmingham with a boot full of exciting stuff for my stand at the NEC and feeling a bit nervous. After 4 1/2 hours I reached the enormous site that is the NEC, I've never been before and was was quite taken aback at how big it was! The hall was a hive of activity with other stand holders putting up their displays and arranging stock and the fashion show people testing the sound system and putting out chairs, the atmosphere was great.

I had an idea of how to display my work, but until I was there it was not a really firm idea. The top image shows part of my stand and the rug I had made especially for the show. I was thrilled with it and it made a real impact on the display. It was based on my design and hand tufted by the lovely people at Turnberry Carpets based in Scotland. It was held in place with velcro, nails and crossed fingers! Fortunately nothing had fallen off overnight, although Stacie and I did get to the show early on Thursday just in case it had.

The show opened to the public on Thursday 22nd and it was a very busy day. The embroidery I did for my fashion project caught peoples eye and drew them to the stand and then they noticed my other work. I received lots of lovely compliments and comments from "your work is lovely" to " you've really inspired me and I love the colours you've used". I may even have an order for a rug which will be fantastic! A few embroidery guilds have asked me to speak at a some of their meetings and I take that as a great compliment as they've all been embroidering for a lot longer than me.

All in all the show was a great experience and may even be tempted to do another. Madeira were very generous in giving me the opportunity and I'm really grateful for it.

Printing!

All lined up ready for ironing and fixing! I've had a fab day printing and only really stopped for the odd cuppa and lunch. Feels great to be printing and getting all inky, although I'm not sure my bath really appreciates it!

Sunny weekend and feeling springy

It's all hands to the pump this week as I prepare for the show that starts next Thursday! Last week I finally got some time to prep my screens and started printing some items. The first few prints were a bit ropey and I started to get a bit anxious about the whole thing, but after some thinking and problem solving and a weekend in the Yorkshire sun, I've got the printing sussed yay!!

I now have several pieces printed waiting to be pressed and finished. Today I will work on some more, happy day. I finished the button packs off and I'm pleased with them, they look quite cute in their sets of 6. My digital lengths have arrived and I'm chuffed to bits with those, I'll take a picture of them and post it up later.

So the plan for the rest of the week................... is to do more printing, packaging, labels, display layout and lots lots more!!

While on the Yorkshire coast at the weekend enjoying the lovely spring sun on the beach, I spotted this ladybird basking in the sun too. Wonder if she had her polka dot bikini on?? I found some tiny fossils as well and they will go in my box for drawing inspiration. Now with having that good dose of sun I'm ready to tackle this busy week ahead and pull things together for the show.

2 and a bit weeks to go!

There are only 2 and bit weeks left until Fashion, Embroidery and Stitch at the NEC. I'm trying not to panic too much and be realistic in what I can and can't do between now and then. I still hope to do some prints and make up some items with them. Yesterday I played around with button making see above. I'm really pleased with the first few and plan to make more, then the next step is to think about how to package them so they look even more special.

I've also been working on an embroidery that I'm reasonably pleased with, just need to finish it off and tie up the loose ends. In between that I've been working on some digital designs, which is a new venture for me and quite a challenge. The designs are based on the theme of seeds and cells and I'm looking forward to seeing them printed out. There's also something really exciting happening, but you'll have to wait and see what that is!

So it's all go here in my little studio what with my new job which is fun, exciting and scary all at the same time and preparing for the show. Today I had an interview with CCAD press and had a photograph taken with all my work, so look out for that on the CCAD website.