CreativFestival Goodies...

My friend and I tossed our respective children to our DH's for the day (kids were in school for most of it, so they did get off easy) and spent a wonderful day at the festival.

We wandered, we shopped, we mused on crafts we weren't into, we visited with friends, we sat in on a lecture, we took a workshop, we did a make-it-and-take-it. Basically, we had mucho fun.

Here's the stash acquisitions:


I bought the 'Crabby All Year' series from Raise the Roof - it's the ultimate antithesis to all the monthly series out there right now. It says things like for February - Love Stinks or for April - Taxes or November - Relatives.... You get the idea... :-) I also picked up a copy of TW's Fantasy Collection because it was shockingly cheap - too good to leave behind, even though I know I own at least 2 of the charts in the book already. I also picked up a kit that makes a little tuck away pillow. I've made tuck aways in the past, but the instructions with this kit are better than some I've seen as scaling the pillow for different sized designs is clearer. At some point I'll give it a go.

More stash:


I found a cute little needlepoint canvas of a ladybug with all the fibres for a good price, some fat quarters for as yet undertermined things, a bobbin holder that's purple, and some Piecemaker 26s. The Piecemakers were astonishingly cheap - and I bought them from a sewing notions booth. Happy days all around.

Let's see - class & make-it-and-take-it:

On the left it a little bit of the Thunderline Brocade that was a 45-minute workshop that we took. It was taught by Anna-Marie Winter and happily used one of my favorite fibres, Silk Mori. The stitch is really pretty and will make a nice background or filling stitch. I enjoyed it, plus, I got to break out the new tacks I found at the dollar store - they've all got happy faces on the ends and pretty colours. I'm so easy to please it's stupid.

In the middle isn't a class, but it's stash. I found these little zippered purses in a booth - they were cheap, well made and will make great little fibre pouches. On the right is a make-it-and-take-it class - I made a little hexagonal box. Very cute, very easy, no sewing. It isn't completely finished as I have to stitch a little design for the top (the design was included in the kit) and stick it on. It was lots of fun. ;-)

My new toy:


This light is from the Daylight company - and get this - it runs on 4 AA batteries!!!!!!!! Is that not the coolest thing? It is very light, gives a really bright light (comparable to my OTT floor light) and can clip on to a stitching frame (it has a little lead that goes from the battery base to the clip). It has an AC adapter too, but it'll be amazing to take with me to classes - I won't go blind and I won't be tied to sitting near an outlet anymore. This is good. This is very good. Added bonus - we got an amazing deal on it, so it didn't bankrupt me either. I like new toys.

My last acquisiton of the day:

What's in the tin, you ask? Well, I don't know. One of the shops at the show was selling these tins. The catch? You have to go to the store for a class that will use the contents of the tin. We won't know what we're making until we get there. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I doubt I'll be able to wait until the end of May (when I'm taking the class) to open the tin. We'll see how long I hold out. :-) Watch this space for when I decide I can't wait anymore.

Off to play with my new toys!