Creative Stitches, Fashion Embroidery & Hobbycrafts show

This weekend I traded in the baking for the Creative Stitches, Fashion Embroidery & Hobbycrafts show (wow that's a mouthful). It was at the ExCeL Centre, London and my friend Stacey joined me. The ExCeL is a great location, jumping off the DLR at Prince Regent and strolling straight in was so convenient. It was £10 entry which is a great price however, we did miss out on a half price ticket with Groupon - really need to start checking the deal websites more often!!

Like the name suggests the show has a huge array of different stands including; fabrics, buttons, ribbons, beads and jewellery. There was also a lot of card making, stickers and stamps and several workshops and talks.

I may have made a couple of purchases!

First, the Persian Pink Rosebuds Ivory Heart Car or Room Fragrance Kit from Creative Sents by NaturaLeigh which were 2 for £14, so Stacey and I bought one each. Their stand was gorgeous and the smell of Lavendar and Rosebuds draws you in. As soon as I got home I put it together, the kit included instructions, a bag of Scented Persian Pink Rosebuds, a Shabby Chic Ivory Heart Hanger and Dusty Pink Gingham Ribbon. Very easy to assemble in a few simple steps, the scent should last for 11-12 months and you can buy more dried flowers or potpourri from their website - but I did have a small amount of Pink Rosebuds left over for replenishment. 

I was particularly looking for grey chevron fabric to make two 18" x 18" envelope pillows and I found it :-) It was £12.99 per metre, perhaps a little pricey but great quality. I will hopefully be making them in the next couple of weeks and I will make sure to post a tutorial. The pink fabric below was £2.50 for a fat quarter - what do you think I should I make, any ideas? Perhaps a make-up bag?!  Both these fabrics were from Favourite Fabrics, they had a great collection and even had two separate stands at the show.

I briefly dabbled in making jewellery a couple of years ago but haven't done much since, I loved these Rose Gold drops from Mosaic as soon as I saw them - these were my first purchase. I don't have any Rose Gold jewellery and it is very popular at the moment so I thought it would be a great quick project to get me back into some jewellery making. It's quite difficult to show the process with pictures but here goes. All you need is a small pair of flat-nose pliers and Rose Gold earring wire hooks.

1. The drops had large rings attached that need to be removed. So hold the ring steady with one hand and grip the ring with the pliers on the other side of the join, twist the ring creating an opening. Now you can detach the ring from the drop.
2. Using the same method as above create an opening at the bottom of the wire hook.
3. Now slide the drop through the opening and using the pliers twist the hook closed.

I am also loving long necklaces with statement pendants so the silver heart and the bird disc pendant in antique bronze were a good find!

The ribbons were from RibbonBox, they had a wide selection that was soo difficult to choose from but these were too cute to resist, I am sure I'll find a project for them!!

Stacey and I both absolutely loved this card making stand by Card-io. So professional yet simple to create however, I think it could get expensive quite quickly with all the different stamps ranging from £5 - £10 a pack plus inks and card. Although if you make cards regularly or have a small business I think these are a great find. I was very tempted though - I had to restrain myself. 

It was an excellent show and a great day out I would definitely recommend it but if you didn't get a chance, check out some of the exhibitors websites.


What have you been creating this weekend?

Mel xoxo