Stitches 2016 Part Two - The Show

Hi everyone and welcome to the second instalment of my weekend at the recent UK trade show (if you missed the first instalment it can be found HERE). I was lucky enough to spend my time demoing on the IndigoBlu stand (find out more about that HERE) and on the Craft Stamper stand. The amazing force of nature that is Trish Latimer had worked her boots off to arrange for a few of the Design Team to demonstrate on the stand whilst she took the opportunity to talk to the assembled buyers, retailers, suppliers and designers. It was an absolute joy to finally get to meet my 'cyber boss' and (though it looks like she's ready to murder me here) she was in fact the sweetest and kindest person ever.

I set up camp on Monday morning for a few hours of playtime right next to the fabulous Kay Carley. We also got to see the lovely Georgina Ford and several other crafty buddies (Anne Redfern, Brenda Brown, Nikki Acton and Cathryn Perkins) stopped by to say hi which was so fantastic.

With limited stash (no craft mat and a borrowed heat tool) to hand I put together this canvas...

The base of the canvas had been covered and stencilled in texture paste in advance so I set to work with the new Distress Crayons. To date I only have the neutrals set (the others are in the post!!!) so this was always going to be something of a monochromatic creation. I stamped with Archival Inks and scribbled over the top with the crayons, smudging them with my fingers before spritzing them with water to create the most fantastic splodges and runs. The crayons are pure pigment and non-waxy/oily so you get the most awesome coverage which can also be diluted, since they are water reactive. With lace, tape and a couple of cheap frames attached to the background I set to work on the focal image.

I worked with the IndigoBlu stamps that were to hand (in this case the gorgeous A6 Valerie) and again used the Distress Crayons to watercolour on plain white card. There were a few things I've learned about this process that I'll share in another post as there have been so many questions already. With some gentle stencilling in the background and a decent layer of the new Distress Collage Crazing Medium over the top I was able to go back in again with the crayons to help frame and define the delicate cracks. Previously I've found adding shading on top of any form of glaze or medium to be tricky (Distress Markers can be paler and pencils/markers too harsh) so the crayons are ideal for this.

Can't even begin to describe how much fun it was to be given license to just play for a few hours with absolutely no expectations or deadlines!

Thank you so much for this opportunity Trish.

Other highlights included getting to spend a little quality time with the amazing Ken Oliver and his fabulous Color Bursts, seeing the beautiful Ink Buds, Pauline Wheeler and Hels Sheridan, saying hi as I rushed passed to the lovely Katy Leitch, catching up with the incredible Julia Stratford-Wright (and her sidekick Andy Skinner!) and seeing that man Tim in action again! I've probably forgotten to mention people but it became such a blur rushing from stand to stand and waving like a nutcase as I spotted people from afar so humble apologies if that's the case here.

Right, I'm off again. Deadlines, deadlines, and the small matter of a Tim tag still to do! I will definitely share my experiments, hints and tips on the Distress Crayons soon, but for now have a great weekend!

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx